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

I'm not really a fan of sandbox games, but this one does pretty well.

The addition of the "clues" somehow made the usual gating of things behind specific conversations a bit more interesting. Some element of time pressure in certain situations also changed things up a little.

The writing is good overall, and the story is interesting enough to keep you going.

The general sandbox elements are ok. It doesn't take a long time to get to places, and it's possible to see which people are in locations. There are still some specifics about what events happen on which days which are somewhat confusing but overall it's fine. There is the usual problem of working out exactly what person you need to talk to when is present, but this seems unavoidable without providing a hints system. I'd say it's fairly clear what you need to do at each point.

Sometimes it can be a little bit difficult to work out if you have to search a place to get clues, or talk to a person or invade them to get the clues you need.

The characters are all fairly distinctive, both in terms of model and writing. There are no inhuman bodies here either, which is good to see.

Scenes are nothing to write home about. Some are good, some are a little lacking, and I'd say there is some variation in quality as well. There are certainly worse, but there are also better.

In combination, all of these things make for a game worth playing.

Good game is good. Maybe the most actual "game"-like sandbox I've played on here or maybe just getting edged out by the more recent "Being a DiK" updates. Story is solid, puzzles and ordering are interesting and somewhat challenging without becoming really annoying. There was only one time where getting the exact sequencing and day-timing of conversation triggers was a little off-putting, but it was still rewarding when I figured it out.

Definitely among the very best written dialogue on this site with interesting characters that don't really wear out their welcome. Hot scenes are hot as well. While I wouldn't necessarily say this game is a huge stand-out in any singular aspect (aside from maybe the comedy and relationship with the Pixie), this game should still be the 5* standard that games are weighed against. Very high quality stuff that you won't regret playing.

I played this game in 2019. It look very good specialy the story. But it is now 2022. So a story what goes already 5 years. I still like to play it. But its sometimes hard to get in the story again. I hope the story goes on. Like to see what the end is. I hope the updates will not take so long. Wish the dev good look with his work and story

So well written. Fun to play and puzzle things out. Genuinely one of the best I've played cos it had real characters. I felt bad for playing it like a harem game. Great fucking game.
Apparently I have to type more... But I've said all I wanted to.

0.39.1. The story was very entertaining it really brings you into the world right at the start and throughout the game, the actions you choose to take will have dire consequences like making a major character disappear forever. It felt hard to shut the computer off and go to bed because I really wanted to seduce the next woman and see what would come of it. These female characters are very appealing in both character and looks, you of course do not know everything about them at the start but then learning all their secrets is fun. Now about their looks that got me really going especially the characters that took a while to lay. After putting the time investment in the game was worth it, one of the best pieces of art in this genre.

This game is interesting to play .fun .im enjoying to play it .I generally play SoL but magic stuff is really good when it is well written ,writing was fine but kinda boring sometimes i prefer full visual novel mode .Im a pixie fan so its easily 5 star for me. Lesbians are only bad thing about this game but its personal preference i said its bad because i was playing Yuri games for weeks then started normal games again. this feels boring . in the end even if this game was bad i would play it because of belle. play it if you like any character then romance her this game is worth to try.

Some of the best actual gameplay I've seen in a smut game. Ending is outstanding, plenty of fun times, more replayability than would ever be fair to expect. Plus good smut, fun kinks. This game takes you seriously, but isn't overly serious itself.

Nice story, well done art.
There are different outcomes for your choices, altough not many.
Using the power to change sizes could have some other cool applications as well, like interacting with other charaters, spying (should be avaible earlier)

(Version reviewed 0.39.1)

Let me start this review with a quote. A side character mentions "I thought I was watching this for the porn, but now I'm watching for the comedy". This is not entirely true - but it unashamedly points to the strongest asset of this game. This game offers really great dialogue, a sidekick with snide remarks (actually you are the sidekick according to her, but, well ...) and a compelling storyline - and still porn.

As you can already see from the rating and the opening paragraph, I like this game. I will offer some caveats first though.

If you are not into sandbox style games, this one will probably not be enjoyable. Not only do you have to wander around a lot and discover stuff, you're also doing it in parts against time. There is a quest log but it can be vague in parts. The UI is very serviceable but could do with a few more tweaks. Also, while this isn't exactly a slow burn - if you follow the main story events, you will see some action soon enough - some girls will take their time and need some more convincing.

Next caveat is: there are puzzles. No minigame puzzles but deduction puzzles. Basically you need to find out about stuff not adding up and suggest an explanation. Thanks to RenPy's rollback they're easy even when they're not obvious but depending on your skills it might take some time. And as it is common for sandbox games, sometimes you might have to try a bit to advance a specific storyline.

But that is just matters of taste - they suit my taste. As does the rest of this game. There is an overarching plot besides "bedding every female in sight" which might not win a Hugo but is interesting enough in itself. The king is dead, his daughter is to be crowned, something's afoot and you're the only truthsayer in town - even if with very limited abilities. The characters are great. Some might be a bit more standard than others though. And I am not entirely convinced of the models. The models themselves are good and look different enough from your standard fare while staying within realistic realms (no oversized tits, even though some girls are well endowed), but some don't really fit the character in my opinion, or their heritage, or contradict the storyline - the black girl is from somewhere else, who'd'a thunk? But it is a "secret" to uncover even if everybody sees something is off at first glance. Some models are also a bit too "smooth" for my liking, given the background, and thus look too modern.

But the story is still good enough, but it is topped by the dialogue - which is actually funny. (Also some scenes are funny in and of itself - ever asked yourself how a grown man and a pixie could have a mutually beneficial sexual experience?) Heck, this game can even pull off a "come" double entendre and it works despite the basics being known to mankind since the word exists and it usually being the lamest possible pun by the lamest possible people. The writing is phenomenal and to be recommended. Also I consider the characters likeable enough on their own. I especially enjoy that your sister for once is neither an adoring fan nor a bratty asshole but just a caring family member which does not consider sexual options at all (well ... spoiler alert ... in the beginning - this might change).

As for the action: once you convinced a girl to try you out, there are multiple options, multiple camera angles - which really add stuff - nothing too kinky though. Girls also get repeatables. The animations are a bit rough around the edges sometimes but still very workable. But as the opening quote already gave away: that is more the icing on the cake. The real plus is the running around, trying out, and getting comments from your sidekick.

All in all this is a fantastic game if you like the sandbox style. If you're looking for VN fun, or looking for sex scene after sex scene, it might take away a few stars. I would still recommend trying it out for the humour alone.

First and formost, i have to say i did kinda become hesitant playing this after many attempts at trying to figure out how to play & achieve somthing with certain characters i was trying to get close to, However after comming back for another attempt and finding the path through all the puzzles the game has to offer (the rights and wrongs with the dialogue choices) and finaly getting to the ending of the story, i was quite taken aback & speaking with complete honesty, i choked up more than once in some scenes because of the feels & how well the characters made me legit feel for them.

Having said all that, i will be eagerly watching out for further updates for this & certainly will be doing more playthroughs.

(The best LI character in the game imo, is without a doubt the first fairy queen. (without getting into spoilers by naming names. )

TLDR
This game is first and foremost a fantasy game and secondly a sex game. It should have been the other way around.

Obviously a lot of effort went into this game. It has dept and quality to it, so I do understand why people (especially fans of the fantasy genre) would like it.

But!.. in my case.. I felt like someone had just put a book in front of me and said: "now read this". There is so much text and not enough "give", it just made me want to get through the wall of text faster. But the problem is that if you get tasks and if you don't read everything you have to go back to figure out what to do. You'll be stuck by default. So even if you find the quests tedious to do, you cannot skip them.

For me, the pay off was not worth reading through the manual. But to each their own.

Edit:
I have to agree with another reviewer who talked about the lack of build up or logic behind the sex scene's. This results in scene's that are sexual but not sexy.

junkage
The sex scenes that are a result of the story have no reason for happening. Half the women just force themselves on to the main character and the MC is just happy someone is fucking him. Why are they fucking him? Because the characters are made to fuck. There's no game or corruption. They just meet the MC and almost instantly fuck him.

Well thought out, well written, and the NG+ feature makes replaying actually worthwhile! No longer do we have to grind up our skills everytime we want to try for a different ending, and boy are there a lot of different endings!

A really good game,
Lots of H content inside a very good plot.
The best part of the game is the originality, it's a harem-like game but the universe and story are very profound.

This game is not just a porn game.

great story and artwork but the animation is just ok. It's more of a short animation in a loop. But none the less it's a completed game AND best of all it has sleep sex wish is rare in games. If you're into sleepsex this is the game.

Good story, interesting game design, good art. Altogether a great game that warrants multiple playthroughs. The only con to the game is that it can be frustrating or interesting with the clue mechanic.

Solid and has multiple endings.. Better than 90% of the games here. Belle is the anti-MilkStor. The game is fun to play, hot renders, good storyline. Plot twists and involved gameplay! What more could one want?

I had put aside this game two years ago, hoped for a lot, I liked the way the game left open choices and a good scenario..... I was wrong down all the line, the game leaves the impression that the choices are yours, sometimes yes (Evelyn can be saved from Thaddeus.), sometimes no (Forced relationship.), and finally the sandbox is the place where we spend most of our time, which is not a good mark, there is also a crazy numbers of back and forth.

I'm not going to lie, I stopped at Samarra's relationship, why? She did not interest me and the relationship is forced with her, if this character is forced, it means there will be others, here, that does not interest me at all, if I had to continue it would be by cheating to skip events and gain skills, that's not how I want to play.

Long live the princess, has some interesting ideas but done in a way where we believe in multiple choices, our so called "choices" come down to having different ways of having multiple relationships... I understand why it was done this way, I read the story, but it's clearly not for me and think it could have been much better, too bad. 3/5

Very good Story, well defined and rich content. Good stories are what keeps me coming back for more and more. Would have loved to see the story between the Ice Queen(the one that tried to take his life force in the ruins) and the MC maybe develop a little further after she realized she liked being nice again.

Multiple paths and story endings are a good thing. Especially for re-plays.

Great renders and artwork.

Again, Great Story and sub-stories throughout. Definitely back for more!

My review of Long Live the Princess [v0.36.0]

A pretty decent game overall.
Good story and writing, but boring and annoying sandbox gameplay.
It felt like I must have spent hours of one playthrough randomly clicking locations and skipping time to find certain characters.
On my first playthrough I also took 8 instead of 7 ingame days to prove a certain character's innocence, which locks you into the very short bad ending later (which is total bs).
You literary get a bad ending hours later because a character had to spend a few ingame hours in a jail cell before you rescue her unharmed.
edit: This was apparently fixed in v0.39.0 and you no longer get locked into the bad ending for missing a quest's time limit once.
The sex scenes are also very vanilla and nothing special.
Game length is about 5-10 hours.

What saves the game is the "good" ending (which basically is an extra chapter and very interesting) and the cute pixie.

Overall barely 4 stars.
If I didn't check guides and replay it for the "good" ending it would only be 3.

v0.37.0

An interesting story with pretty good writing, hot girls and solid sex scenes. The plot is interesting, but the gameplay is a bit of a chore. I eventually had to turn to walkthrough because there was just no way I was going to figure out my way through using trial and error. There is a lot of game too, which if you're liking the game is great but I eventually ran out of steam.