Ren'Py - Completed - Long Live the Princess [v1.0.1] [Belle]

I just want to be frank: I have no strong feelings either way about this game, but my experience has been worse than the general sentiment is.

Which isn't to say that the game is bad in its entirety, just that I did not find the method by which the investigative work in this game is done intuitive at all.

As the MC, the main responsibility you have is finding as many clues as you can, most of which are not as straight-forward as you might think.

It would appear to me that a bulk of them are simply found by randomly visiting a random place you would never think to visit otherwise (if it were not for the game telling you to try visiting different areas at different points of day, which is too vague in itself), or behind dialogue options you would never assume would lead to anything but a lore dump that contain the information desperately needed to progress both the main story and the LI "side-quests".
In my playthrough, not being able to find a clue related to just another LI seemingly caused me to hit a wall in the main story - and all because I never thought to perform an action at a certain time of day at a certain location.

I don't want to be hand-held through mechanics like these, but if you want your MC to go on so-called "investigations", you need to add a clearer Quest Journal (which is comprised of simple "I need to achieve this" without any "by doing this" , rudimentary hints of points of interest) and hide clues behind logical next steps - opposed to this game, where acting like a blind chicken and making sure you dip your beak into every possible available location whenever the game allows is apparently the correct way to play it... otherwise you get the "bad" ending, which let's be honest, very few people consider to be a result of proper playthrough.

Maybe I am just a dumbass, but this has killed my interest in the game, regardless of if the sauce is worth it.

This game might be a gem, but it is not a polished gem.

I played v 1.0.1

I really enjoyed this game! Good story and art. Typical VN gameplay. I found the narrative compelling enough to be curious what would happen. If the overview sounds interesting, then I say give it a shot!

Game was excellent

Not much else to add that other people have said

I will also relay that the no harem ending as a good ending kinda sucked. You end up naturally woeing all the different characters so in the end seeing them all being heartbroken because you had to end the relationship kinda sucks.

Writing and story was amazing, game mechanics were simple and amazing, cast was amazing.

I don't think I'll play another game quite like it and like a good book I am sad to put it down.

One of the very best on this site. Great characters, very high replay value. Played through many times just for endings and seeing all the routes. Perfect blend of plot and smut. Will watch Belle's career with great interest.

This was a surprisingly fun game. I don't normally care for sleuthing type games as actually constructing a good game can be very difficult but here I felt it was handled really well. Generally so long as you're going out and looking into every option it never felt like I couldn't solve a problem, but at the same time things were never force-fed to me and I had to genuinely think through some situations to figure out the actual truth. Aside from that, the sex scenes were generally pretty good and the girls were cute so I had no issues there. There are some parts I didn't care for, and I wish we could've had more scenes with the princess, but overall I had a lot of fun playing and would definitely recommend.

This game is amazing, one of the best games I've ever played. The storyline is interesting with many branches to choose. Female characters are beautiful. Good job! Looking forward to playing more games from you.

This AVN is in a sandbox style and has a way of making you replay the AVN through multiple times to really "win the game." Lots of possible endings and replaying this is almost required. (Think of increasing difficulty on some RPGs - same content, but this is in "nightmare mode", or whatever.) I don't care much for sandbox AVNs and the whole sleuthing aspect was kind of corny, but I was absolutely obsessed with getting to the best ending and being able to see each of the relationship endings. I ended up really enjoying the game, despite my misgivings about the style of game.

I really did enjoy the story and the characters. The models were beautiful. The graphics/renders were on the lower end, but the sex scenes were still pretty good. I really enjoyed pursuing a throuple with Selena and her sister, a throuple with Evelyn and Callie, Thorn, and Belle. This AVN/game is recommended.

Excellent story with good amount of sandbox freedom. Animations are great, though no character sounds. Also wish there is harem ending... Does pick your brain though since there are multiple endings to this game.

This game was a really enjoyable experience. The pseudo detective portion of the game was easily the most fun, but I also really enjoyed the story beats as well. Personal preference, but I would have enjoyed more Selena content in the game too, even though story-wise, it would have made little sense. It was a fun little journey that I wouldn't mind revisiting at some point to play more paths. Highly recommend, especially if you're looking to break away slightly from the more traditional gameplay loop of AVNs.

I actually wasn't interested in the style of the game. It was especially the font that turned me off. I actually thought this couldn't be good.

But I was totally wrong. The game is extremely well designed. The plot is awesome. The characters, especially Belle, are great. The sexual themes are great too.

I think two things could be better: the character models (there are DAZ models with better looking faces) and the font. I believe a font rebrand would really help this game. It's subtle thing but it was the key reason why I didn't play it for so long.

But then, this is really an exceptionally well made game.

Really incredible game, the character, the background and the art in general look really well done. The whole mechanic with exposing secrets is really fun . And the story is just really incredible, I have rarely seen such a well done story and the plot twists are amazing too

The definition of came for the porn, stayed for the plot. As far as visuals go, I prefer more curvaceous and exaggerated proportions yet I've still played the game three times to get the good end. Pretty well written sorta mystery, though I think there is one plot hole I spotted. Nevertheless, a great game, not only in porn genre, but in general.

The plot is predictable but still pretty decent,
The renders are great
and the choices are meaningful as they can drive you to various endings.
The mechanics can be boring some times but the pros more than make up for it.

Awesome game overall

This game turned out to be great one, I have to say It surpassed my expectations. Here are some of my impressions after beating it for the second time (NG+):

-Story: Very good story with interesting and intriguing plots, loved its humor. Endings are decent.
-Characters: MC is well written (I know he can be a bit controversial to some people, not my case xD). Girls are great as well (Belle is the best sidekick! hahah)
-Renders: They're not bad, just not HD.
-Animations: Good Enough I'd say.
-Music: Great background music.
-Playabilty: I enjoyed gathering those clues and uncovering those dark dirty secrets while managing my time. In my opinion, very engaging.

Overall, the game is great but I think it lacks that litle"something" so I'd give it a solid 8.5/10. I highly recommend it.

I think Long Live the Princess is very easy to summarize: One of the best titles that I found here, but it didn't become one of my favorites. The main reason for this, is that I'm biased against any sort of "detective work" in videogames, and my mind immediately starts rejecting the concept and any associations (I feel abject terror, thinking of the trials in Danganronpa). So basically, what we have here is a simple "It's not you, it's me game", and Long Live the Princess makes for an amazing partner, that ends up being wasted on me (I can't fully appreciate it).

The idea that I want to transmit, is that this is very good, and you should try it, despite what I said above.

The longer version and the important stuff:

- The Fairy/Pixie - I don't know the difference, but I can tell you that writers, in general, seem to get inspired when portraying this particular creature (it could be a collective unconscious type of situation... or just a cool archetype). Long Live the Princess has a great Pixie sidekick character. Among the best and the most funny, definitely the one with most presence/screen time, and a substantial amount of my enjoyment with the game came from her (guess who I picked at the end?). It's very clear they had this character well thought out from the get-go.

- (Almost) Everyone has an actual problem - A reason to feel down on their luck. This is not exactly a credit to the game in itself, but it becomes one when you compare it, to some of the idiocy you see "flying around" in the competition. The sister, the librarian, the seamstress etc... The secrets they carry have weight (especially if you consider the imaginable time period), and you can clearly understand why such things bring them down, or stop them on their tracks. Appropriate emotional conflicts, for the most part.

- The protagonist - Usually, I don't give two shits about protagonists, but this one is pretty good. Have you ever complained about the virgin protagonist getting all the girls, thanks to the whole universe conspiring in his favor? Well it's a little bit better here. Some of the tropes still stand, but you can see a clear evolution in how he deals with the girls and becomes more confident. Adding to that, he is funny, especially in his inner monologue, and his interactions with the pixie (while repetitive in the long run) are very enjoyable.

One thing I would change, is him already being (very) attracted to his sister from the start. I like the incest tag (one of my favorites, alongside monster girls), but it DOESN'T work for me, if it's already established in any form. (I'm more about the journey and not so much the destination). Just a thought for future reference: Visual novels that start with family members already lusting after each other don't make good incest, at least for me (I know how good incest sounds).

- The visuals and the adult content - In terms of presentation the title needs work, but I think the H-scenes (let's call them that, for my convenience) are still well above, some of the other titles you can find here. The reason is the build-up and set-up (psychological components). Here comes the "brutal honesty train": You have seen many girls more attractive than the librarian, but how many of them pull off seductive mannerisms while constantly talking about their father? Long Live the Princess is all about that (not the father part. The sexy part, and the mental aspect).

- Humor - The pixie adult content really cracked me up, it's so imaginative. (No Black Souls or From Frontier type of material unfortunately. Fortunately?). The pixie sexuality is a twist I did not see coming, and I'm gonna mark that approach as bold/positive (they go to places in this department). Overall I had a good time with the game, but do note that most of the humor is coming from the same source (the pixie), and that shows a lack of resources.

- The time limit (it's optional) - I don't understand the why of it, but if new game plus is the cause, then the causality is not working properly. The last time I went for new game plus was on Monster Girl Club Bifrost (go up 3 paragraphs... Surprising, isn't it?) The main reason was enjoying the game so much, that I wanted more.

In other words:
A great game, may equal interest in new game plus. The notion of seeing more content in itself, DOES NOT equal new game plus interest. It's not a problem, it's just the principle.

Snark aside, there's one great thing in the time management aspect of Long Live the Princess: Free events (not-time consuming). I like how things are clearly marked and somewhat balanced between the 2 approaches. It's "oranges and apples", but the reduced number of free events in Magical Girl Celesphonia, is one of the reasons why I favor Ambrosia (same developer) over it. Just another thought.

There's more to talk about, like the smooth interface, the fact that some thought was given to the audio parameter, or the role of the main story being diminished by all the different pursuits, but I'd say this paints a good enough picture.

Overall, this is one of the few titles that I genuinely believe, deserves its spot at the top of the ratings. This is a 10/10 (from a fair POV), but personally, pegging it down to an 8 or 9, feels more in line with my own experience. Great game, highly recommend it, and this is definitely one of those titles that deserves to be supported.

The f95 community and the developer recommend playing the game with the time limit to encourage multiple play-throughs but in my opinion the game isn't good enough to warrant an immediate second play-through so I recommend playing without it.

+
decent story with lots of dialogue.

+/-
low-quality film-grained renders (could be taken as an artistic choice).

-
every female body-type is near identical but with a different shade of color.
poorly implemented RPG elements in the form of currency and inventory management.
poorly implemented mind-control core-mechanic; whats the point in mind control when all the girls will fuck you for merely talking to them a few times?

i'm so glad that i finally tried the game out after i stumbled over it multiple times but was a bit scared about the "netorare" tag (easily avoidable). this game highly surprised me and exceeded my expectations.

the writing, story, wonderful looking girls (seems like belle has the same taste in girls as i do ) and that this games keeps me interested in playing it multiple times, places this game in my favorite list.

sure there are things that could get improved (i hope in the next game) like render quality and giving the player the freedom to avoid any Li he wants to. specially, i would like to praise the dev's decision to NOT make this game a typical harem game.

P.S. I Love Girl on Girl content the scenes that are in game are pretty hot!

While I think there's an attempt here at interesting gameplay with the clues and blackmail system, its largely just another horribly written, unengaging porn game with a braindead main character and a cast of women who are either bland and boring or so annoying I'd rather they didn't exist. The fairy character was so obnoxious I could hardly stand her, she's basically just an NSFW version of Navi quipping and constantly piping up when she's entirely unwanted. All in all, I just hate this style of H game where the cast is largely vacant of character and the author thinks they're a comedian when their humor just comes off as cringe.

This is an amazing game. Every aspect of it is perfect, from the writing to the tone to the art to what happens is you fuck everything up. It's bone-chilling, refreshing, hilarious and heartbreaking all at once. Play it.

I love the fact that the dev actually monitors reviews. Of course, the game is great and has some replayability potential if you want to see more endings or minor and not so minor plot branches.

Errr, well, the website requires me to add more characters, so here comes a filler sentence to hit the threshold of 200+ characters. Much love to Belle once again!