Recent reviews by ♥ Jen ♥

I followed the development of this game from really early on and was still caught off guard by the full release. Every choice you make, big or small, comes back to you somehow. Whether it changes the narrative, earns you a comment, or shapes your entire playthrough, it deeply impressed me how many things the game accounts for. So many things I thought were throwaway statements or gestures were referenced later on. I normally don't feel compelled to replay visual novels to see the different outcomes but with Slay the Princess I'm genuinely enjoying seeing just what minor variations cause everything to change. There is so much information scattered throughout individual playthroughs and choices that I feel I'm always piecing more things together as I go.

The voice acting, art, character design, writing, music, atmosphere - everything is incredible. Like I said before, I'd already seen the demo and still went into the full game surprised by the overall story. It's very rare for a game to make me feel the way Slay the Princess does, the way it makes me think about its meaning. There are so many things I want to say but I don't want to give away even the tiniest hint of story. It's that good.

If you're worried about the horror content, their website contains a list of content warnings. While I can't speak for everyone, I'm pretty sensitive to certain subjects yet didn't have a problem. Specifically: I don't handle gore well, both shown and written, but I wasn't too bothered by anything here. It's not over the top and not too realistic for me. I think the content warnings make things appear much worse than they're actually depicted, but that's just my opinion so please take it with a grain of salt.

I can't recommend it enough. Thank you, Black Tabby Games, for making something so utterly wonderful. I can't wait for the pristine edition. The Princess will definitely always have a place in my heart no matter what form she takes. <3

A cute, relaxing game with a pretty aesthetic. I really enjoy the flexible character customization and amount of clothing you can buy. The art style, music, and character design are also great!

The game itself is a bit barebones right now and can feel a little aimless/unpolished, but the devs have said they're working on adding more content. What *is* there is a nice way to unwind but it's easy to exhaust the content.

I recommend waiting and picking the game up on sale.

Elsword is a pretty fun game - it feels quite unique and unlike any other MMO I've played before. The characters are generally pretty appealing and each handle quite differently than the last, the story (what I can grasp of it so far, at least) is mildly interesting, and the game design and graphics are fun and nice to look at. While that opinion alone may make Elsword seem pretty uninteresting, it has quite a few things that set it apart from other free to play MMOs of its kind - some good and some bad. (Though decidedly more bad than good, but we'll get to that.)

Pros:
- With so many different characters and job paths to choose from, you're bound to find someone that will suit the playstyle you enjoy best.
- Playing with friends is a good way to kill some time, and running those repetive dungeons over and over is 10 times more fun with friends than random strangers or by yourself.
- The music is nice to listen to and doesn't get grating to listen to unlike some other MMOs I've played in the past.
- The dungeons are themed, which each looking different. It feels like a nice touch.

Cons:
- Unfortunately, like many other free to play MMOs, Elsword is pay to win. You have to pay real money to unlock the second half of your hotbar, which leaves you only able to bind 4 out of the various skills you can aquire per character. Cash equipment and items come with the best buffs and stats and I can only imagine this leaves free players at quite a disadvantage in PVP. (Aside from that, you can also only get certain things like pets and mounts from the cash shop.)
- Almost all character customization and clothing also costs real money. Aside from small accessories like cat ears and backpacks that cost ED (the in-game currency) all clothing and hair must be aquired through the cash shop and, like another Korean MMO, costs extra if you want it permanently instead of for a limited time. If you want to aquire these cash items via players, good luck! The economy is in shambles and it costs tens of millions of ED to buy an item worth at least 100 Kching. If you get scammed, have fun getting your currency back - you'll only be refunded if you record the trade with a video recording software as proof.
- Due to lack of free customization it can be hard to tell players apart. All characters look the same in their default and job promote costumes and after awhile all Adds and Elesis start to blend together.
- The game gets old pretty fast. Almost every quest you'll receive will follow the same formula and will require you to run the same dungeon 3-4 times before telling you to run ANOTHER dungeon 3-4 times, the only difference being which difficulty it wants you to play and with a handful of field quests after your 10th dungeon or so.
- Running dungeons, at least in my experience, is considerably less fun in a party of 4. Especially so with strangers. Trying to actually get a hit in between everyone else spamming their skills and ganging up on the same monster makes things hectic and feels more counterproductive than anything else. You could probably sit the entire dungeon and no one would notice.
- Because there is such a large playerbase and server microphones are so readily available, you're bound to see some unsavory and uncomfortable stuff on your screen.
- For a certain amount of players (myself included) the game tends to glitch when you exit it. The music will play and Steam will act as if you're still in-game despite the client being closed - you actually have to end the process in task manager to truly exit.

Despite that, I somehow still recommend it. The characters are the shining gem in the rubble that is Elsword, and I've found myself coming back just to job advance my characters and see not only their paths to the end, but their various skills. I've had fun playing with my circle of friends despite all the bad things lurking about in Elsword, so who knows? You might too.

When I was gifted this game as a present for Christmas, I was ecstatic. I'm a big fan of Princess Maker 2 and other similar games that are a mixture of raising sim and strategy. Sadly, after playing through enough to die in a variety of stupid ways, the game just sits untouched in my Steam library and probably will stay that way forever until I decide to just uninstall it out of pity.

The art in this game is quite nice. The game's premise and story are also both incredibly interesting and I found myself replaying just to see more of it, even after I was frustrated and ready to quit. Unfortunately, that's about all the good things I can say about Long Live the Queen. For a game with such pleasant art and story, the game mechanics just aren't up to par. Although it was advertised as strategic, the game is actually more about picking something at random and hoping you chose the right skills so that you won't accidentally die by chocolate, or a stray arrow, etc etc...(I will say, though, I did quite enjoy the way Elodie's mood affected the outcome of her classes. It felt like a nice touch.)

The only way to win (and by win I mean not die by something incredibly idiotic and actually get Elodie to adulthood) Long Live the Queen is to either follow a strict guide or just get lucky. I had thought that the game's mechanics would be similar to Princess Maker in that your choices help to shape Elodie and her future. Have her study magic? She'll become a magician. Study war strategy enough? She becomes a tyrant queen. That's...the complete opposite of what happens here. Unless you skipped out on studying something you were actually interested in to take a poisons class, or a swimming class, or an etiquette class, Elodie is going to fall victim to her own stupidity and end your game short. I'd probably even go so far as to say that if you actually try to rear Elodie in the way you find most interesting, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Would I recommend this game? No, not really. Not unless you feel like following a strict guide just to actually see the story and keep yourself from dying from the most inane of things after only playing for 30 minutes.