Written By: JP Developer: Nekomura Games Platforms: PC, Mac and Linux Genre: Trading Card Game, Otome Release Date: July 23, 2013 Official Website | You know what I don’t talk about enough on this site? Having fun. Yeah I’ll be the first to admit that I am a sucker for a solid drama story or murder mystery. Much of my maturity in life can be directly connected to a dramatic film or a darker genre of fiction that forced me to re-evaluate my own goals and train of thought. But at the same time, as much of a Child of Darkness I am, even I want to enjoy myself from time to time. That isn’t always possible due to writing abilities, types of visual novels I play and what not, but an escape is always welcomed here on this site. With that in mind, let’s try and enjoy ourselves with this review shall we? Nekomura Games is a brand I’ve heard a lot about in passing, but have yet to actually play one of their titles. That changed when I downloaded a copy of what has to be the most manically fun I’ve had playing an EVN this year: Princess Battles. |
Story
This type of setup is a shonen staple and Princess Battles doesn’t deviate very hard from the typical tropes associated with it, which is actually a good thing. I’m sure it’ll piss off a few followers who are used to me hammering the importance of innovation and well-thought out plot lines and this isn’t even close. But at the same time if the game tried to dig deeper and mature the Princess to a point where she realized how bad her choices have been up until now, it feels like it would’ve just gotten stuck. It’s a price to be paid with sticking to this particular genre and I’d be lying if I said that the lack of a strong story was a positive for the game: far from it. I just appreciate honest dumb fun over an attempt to be deep.
The best parts of the plot are the ‘romances’ that, again, barely attempts to be anything more than a typical gaming love interest only with the genders switched. The role each guy plays depends on the player’s preferences so there isn’t really a bad choice. If you would like to talk to a guy, then the option is available. Nothing deep is added but it is refreshing for a group to embrace what are I so often refer to as targets…as targets.
Probably the biggest surprise is despite how bare bones the story is that by the end you do connect with the Princess. She’s extraordinarily flawed and doesn’t magically become the greatest person alive by the end, but she is clearly a much tougher person that when she started the journey. ‘Better’ is up to interpretation, but it is what you’d expect from any typical shonen anime or manga and it is nice to root for someone who has ambition despite their flaws.
Another interesting positive is while it doesn’t give you a deep, complex world, it does set up an interesting universe that can be expounded on. We get just enough explanation of the wider world, this demon race in the sky and the origin of Prima to set up for sequel upon sequel. The brilliance of sticking to just being a fun story here is that you have no real desire for them to dig into the dark princess or any of the other dangling plot threads.
Often times I’ll chide a VN, or more recently RWBY, for not going all in on its insanity. Instead of keeping their foot on the gas, they’ll try and slide in a quiet moment to try and connect the reader and cast. Here, either you connect or you don’t. Either way the roller coaster will not stop until the end and I was laughing and shouting with joy through all of it.
Yes she JUST so happened to Be Overhead When She Overheard
Presentation & Gameplay
However I loved the soundtrack which perfectly mixed typical romantic fare with the adrenaline-rush that you can only find in a fighting game score. The pinnacle of this is, of course, the Card Battle theme. While I wish there was a remix for the final battle or even for the battle with the demon princess, I am more than happy to have what I got with it. Also there is some sound work from a few voice actors that is nice, but really doesn’t bring much more to the table other than a random laugh or gasp.
But now we’ve come to it…the GAMEPLAY. Prima is glorious: there is no other way to say it. It’s a turn-based system where the first to reach a certain stat level wins. This is achieved by playing Red Cards that raise traditional categories like Intelligence and Charm. Because there is a cost in either money or energy, there is a separate class of Blue Cards that have to be used strategically during a match so that you can afford to use the stat raising cards. There are also Black Attack and Defense cards (are you starting to see why I called this thing glorious?) that employ the more catty nature of societal women and can drop the opponents stats or protect you from Attack. Finally there are the Gold Class cards that can raise more than one stat, but ultimately cost the most to use.
This system basically takes everything tedious about stat raising in an otome game and turns the volume up. It is a very intelligent twist on the trading card genre and manages to be both fun and strategic…as I quickly learned when I just started playing a bunch of stat cards only to run out of money. Yeah that loss sucked but it’s all a part of learning how this game plays and once you get started you’ll be surprised at how much time will pass before you have to stop. Especially considering you can save at any time and the card selection is always at random, so if you lose you can just go back and pick up where you left off.
Although, just like with the rest of this one it isn’t without its flaws though unlike the artwork or even the story, those ‘flaws’ are really much more of a wish list. As a console gamer, I come into trading card games with a few expectations and at the absolute minimum I want to be able to customize my deck; which you cannot do in the Story mode. I would’ve love to have built my own special deck that focused on Attack cards or just hording money to use the most expensive Red and Gold cards I could. And while Free Play mode not only allows you another romantic route, but also the customization option, I still wish it was in the game proper.
Also I wish the dress up mechanic was given more importance. Oh I should’ve explained that. In Prima, the winner is given a dress as a trophy…which is much more bad ass than it sounds. It would’ve been great if instead of just being nice outfits for the princess to switch in and out of that they were more like buffs and gave you a certain strategic advantage in battle. Maybe the outfit the common people gave you greater Charm stat and the higher class outfits raised the amount of money you started with or something. Again it’s another ridiculous system that would’ve had to have been figured out on top of the already complicated card battling system, but it would've been fun.
Another feature that is sorely missing is something I talked about on Twitter: online play. This game NEEDS online play and I don’t just say that because I want to stomp Blane and Ayu Sakata with it, but it also would increase it lifespan and marketability. I’m sure there is a perfectly good explanation as to why it didn’t happen with this installment, but I do hope this game gets the attention it deserves and I get my sequel WITH online play…and if it doesn’t I may just have to stick up the money myself.
Overall it is an excellent start to what could be a great card game concept. Hopefully we’ll see more of it in the future.
It's Time To D-D-D-SHOT-
Replay Value
Of course, some may balk at the fact that this title costs $20. Personally, for what is offered, I think it’s worth it because it’s less of a price for a stand-alone game and more like an investment in future Princess Battles titles. Long story short: it’s worth it.
Overall
Final Score
8/10 | + Fun Story With Entertaining Characters + Excellent Trading Card Game Mechanic - Otome Elements Felt More Tacked On Than Anything - Presentation Is Basic At Best |