It has been some time since I saw a good visual novel with a deep plot, good graphics, and a very good sound. Enter Slay the Princess. But let’s start at the beginning: the whole game is built around the narrative and heroes, and the atmosphere created from the interactions.
The development was carried out by a small indie studio, Black Tabby Games, founded by a married couple, Abby Howard and Tony Toward-Arias. Abby is responsible for the visuals of the game, with everything, literally everything down to the smallest details, being created by her hand. Every background, sprite, and characters are hand-drawn, which makes the visuals both beautiful and uniquely charming.
Jonathan Sims and Nicole Goodnight voiced the characters, and did a titanic job. Preserving the identity of each voice in the game while also giving them unique characteristics is an incredibly difficult task. Composer Brandon Boone wrote the soundtrack.
Grab the dagger and set out to the lonely road in the middle of the forest, this is our Slay the Princess review.
The concept of the game is deceptively simple. This story begins on a path in the middle of the forest. The longer you stay in place, the clearer it is that you have to see where this path leads. As you look around in confusion, you can hear the voice of the Narrator in your head, who insistently demands you follow the road to a house right ahead, and kill the Princess that is being kept in the basement. You have to do it to save the world!..
The game immediately gives you an option to pester the Narrator with some questions, however, he doesn’t offer much in terms of explanation, mostly just some vague hints. Which doesn’t help the fact that there might be dozens of questions popping up in your mind, is it worth killing her? How and why was she imprisoned? Why would the world be doomed if you don’t slay the Princess? Could the Narrator be lying? What if you defy him, what if… what if you just go and kill the Princess without any regrets, or just remain standing on this very road without making a decision?
The Narrator is somewhat of a guiding hand, he will give you advice and vividly describe surroundings. He might be a bit taciturn and not very verbose at first, but he will become more talkative as the plot thickens. And not just him…
As you approach the hut, the Narrator lays down the rules: don’t talk with the Princess, she will certainly attempt to lie and deceive you! Don’t even think about freeing her, you’ll doom the world. And, lastly, you have to kill her, and then it all will be okay.
And that’s when you can hear another voice, belonging to a hero. He vehemently disagrees with the Narrator and parries his suggestions. After all, the path of the hero is to save princesses, not slay them!
This is how you meet another voice that accompanies the protagonist through this story. The further you move through the plot, the more voices will pop up.
Your decisions will decide which voices will speak up in the hero’s mind. Did you grow frightened? Then you will hear the voice of the Coward. Broke down? There will be the Broken, echoing your thoughts. The Skeptic, the Paranoid, the Stubborn, the Hunted, the Smitten, the Opportunist, the Hero… each voice is unique, has its own character and sonority.
And each reveals themselves and the protagonist in a new light. Their discussions and conversations reveal a lot about the world of the game and the plot. How many voices can there be in one head? And yet, it feels like someone is missing…
At this moment, the game gives you complete freedom – within the framework, of course. You can take the dagger, descend the staircase into the basement, and kill the Princess without exchanging a word. Or you can leave the dagger, and attempt to talk to her. Try to free her, putting your trust in her, or suspect duplicity and betray before she gets a chance to do so to you. The plot reacts sharply to your questions addressed to the Narrator, to your conversations, and even thoughts. And then it changes accordingly.
After your first meeting with the Princess, you will end up on the road again. Except, this time everything looks somehow different. The Narrator starts his tirade again, about how you need to go forward, get into the house, grab the knife and kill the Princess. You already know every word he says, and that this had happened before.
But his voice gets drowned out by another, the voice of the subconscious. Intriguing? Extremely so! Yet, when you descend into the basement, you will see that the Princess has changed as well. And she remembers your previous meeting. The voices also remember how the last meeting ended, which leaves the Narrator confused, him being the sole person who does not have that knowledge.
He insists that it can only mean your previous decisions have destroyed the entire world. Well, let’s take it into account, and maybe try to do things differently this time?.. And yet, regardless of your decisions, it’s back to the forest road, changed again. This time, the Narrator doesn’t even get a chance to get a word in before the voices in your head already jump into a lively discussion.
Each cycle, the plot will present you with a new side, the visuals will adjust, the conversations will become more intense and informative, and something will change.
However, there are quite a few things that will remain constant. The Narrator is always with you, he is always set categorically against the princess (no matter what), he always provides the bare minimum of information, always answers questions quickly and evasively. The Narrator obviously has plans of his own, and he keeps pressing that the Princess is poison, and the protagonist is medicine.
The house and the dungeon that contains the Princess are unchanging as well. The Princess is an independent character, however, her appearance, behavior and mood will change depending on the hero’s decisions.
If the protagonist is afraid to meet her, then you’ll run into a monster. If he wants to try and romance her, then you will be met by a sweet and kind princess. But the appearance of a naive beauty is not the final one, and the Princess will turn into a monstrosity if you attempt to use the moment and shiv her with the dagger.
However, being guided by such logic also gives you a chance to correct the mistakes of the past!
It always comes back to the untouched blade. The weapon is the marker of your attitude towards the Princess. Picking it up means subconsciously creating situations where we will be forced to use it. By ignoring the blade, the hero increases chances of a warmer and friendlier meeting.
There is also the mirror, it appears in the hut after the very first cycle. The voices comment on it, however, the Narrator does not see it, which is a very strange occurrence. And every time we try to dust it off, we’re left with nothing. The very end of the game will shed some light on what the mirror actually is.
After completing several cycles, you’ll be able to reach the end that will have the plot unfold from an unexpected side. You will learn who is the Princess, who is the Narrator and what he was hiding, who are you, even.
But simply reading about it is hollow and doesn’t provide even a part of what you will actually feel upon reaching the end of the game for yourself. I hope you try to experience it for yourself, find out the whole truth, see all the different sides of the Princess, study the voices in the protagonist’s subconsciousness. Reveal the secrets of the Narrator and his almost manic confidence that slaying the Princess will save the world.
And also, the secret of the Mirror. At the very end, you will get to make a choice that will decide how your story will end. Not just the game, but your story.
Slay the Princess is an amazing game that will draw you in to thoughtfully read dialogues, attempting to piece together who lies and who tells the truth. Or maybe everyone is lying, or simply has their own truth? It is very difficult to put the game down once you’ve started, because there is still so much to see.
It is hard to ignore the sheer amount of love the developers have put into this project. Everything in Slay the Princess is tied to how YOU see the game, and everyone will understand it in their own way.
