Hanako Games and Spiky Caterpillar are old hats in the Visual Novel world. In the past they have brought us games like; Cute Knight, Cute Knight Kingdom and Magical Diary. A staple of their partnership is the creation of Novel games following the development of a single character as she progresses and learns. They are often aimed towards girls but designed to allow any individual to enjoy.
Long Live the Queen follows this formula and executes it brilliantly. Unlike it’s older predecessors, Long Live the Queen takes a much darker, harsher direction to it. The story follows Princess Elodie of the Kingdom of Nova, after the death of her Mother the Queen, as she handles the events leading up to her 15th Birthday. Once 15, Elodie is officially old enough to be crowned Queen and her birthday is only 40 weeks away. Unfortunately however, with the current Queen gone, some are eager to seize the throne. It is down to you as the player to choose where Elodie focuses her education, how she handles political situations, and how she manages other influences, like mood and relationships to enhance, rather than hinder her learning.
Hanako Game’s tagline for Long Live The Queen on their website reads “Rule the World or Die Trying.” I certainly don’t know about ruling the world, but I’ve certainly managed the die trying part during my experience with the game. If looking back on the behaviour of Human history over the ages is anything to go by, it’s quite fair to say that politics are a ruthless business (Especially in an age when your opposition is able to back up their argument with a sword). The goal of the game is just that, survive. There are numerous ways to go about it and everyone will probably tackle it in a different fashion.
For those who like to go a little further and investigate, they may discover a much deeper underlying plot. While equally valid, a player could also choose to be a recluse and focus on nothing but self preservation. Just don’t be surprised when your kingdom begins to revolt and comes knocking on your door wondering what you’ve been doing this whole time. The story really is free to shape as you please. This is in my opinion, the best part about it and what gives it a real level of replayability. I guarantee at some point you will start a new game, grinding your teeth, wondering how much better things could have gone if you had just focused on that one vital skill you needed towards the beginning of the game.
The game’s core mechanic revolves around choosing skills to develop during education each week. Skill are attributed to certain moods which can boost or penalize your progress. During the weekend you can choose an activity which will manipulate the mood of Elodie. Utilising this is key in making sure you are progressing skills fast enough to handle any situation. Each skill has a cap of 100, with milestones every 10 points. As you progress through the game many scenes will have trigger points that test a certain skill. If you have a high enough value in that skill to pass, it will affect the scene in a relevant way. Situations can arise which can play out differently or can be handled differently depending on the skills you have developed. The aim of it all is to utilize your skills to win over your people, overcome your opposition, and most importantly, not die!
After playing through the game a couple of times, it became apparent that some skills are definitely more useful in the long run than others. It can be frustrating to invest all your time into one area, only for it to help you out once and never be used again. If Long Live The Queen really does have a downside, it lays in the requirement to play through the story once or twice first to really grasp which skills are going to help you. You might find yourself doing very well on one playthrough, only to suddenly out of the blue be caught out and killed. All because you hadn’t thought it was necessary to invest some points into that Banana peel avoiding skill that you thought seemed awfully niche at the time.
Do not let that deter you however. There is a lot of enjoyment to be had in this game. The time spent debating over where to focus your attention can be really rewarding when you are able to overcome very serious or threatening situations. At times even your mistakes can pay off for you and it all comes together to make a very satisfying experience. An experience that is shaped and progressed completely by your input.
There is a huge array of endings for you to discover based on your decisions. Some are happier, some are not, but I have found there is no true “good” ending. Regardless of the choices I made I could never achieve an ending where everything came together in a perfect finale. I was always left wondering how I could have changed my actions to avoid certain conclusions, but when I tried I was always left with another problem. In this way the game really delivers on it’s premise of choice, as I’ve said, there is no “best” ending. There are final outcomes to the journey you’ve taken, but every action, no matter how noble will have negative repercussions. Rather than binary good or bad, your ending holds much more depth and personal meaning.
Visually speaking the game isn’t bad. The genre of Visual Novel rarely lends itself to show off flashy 3D graphics or engines. The artwork is pretty and sets a nice aesthetic for the game, although the anime art style for the characters feels a little out of place for the setting. Our protagonist looks more like a magical girl in an anime series rather than an upcoming Queen, However the developers are sticking to what they know and for all intents and purposes, Elodie is just as cute as a button, so I can forgive them. Even if the characters don’t strictly look like they belong in this brutal medieval world, it still is visually pleasing and doesn’t complicate things with anything flashy or distracting. The text for the events is supported by a simple backdrop which sets the scene for where events are taking place.
All this is accompanied by a charming piano score throughout the game which, depending on the situation, helps to capture the urgency or sadness of the moment. The developers have made good use of these techniques in lieu of full rendered cutscenes or voice overs. When the castle is being stormed by rebels, I really feel the panic as the music shifts into this fast-paced, unsettling melody. This method of using music and setting to convey the atmosphere and emotion of a scene is something commonly seen in the Fire Emblem series.
So should you play this game? In my opinion, yes. It is available on Steam and direct on the publishers website. They even have a demo you can download to give the game a try. If you have any interest in Visual Novel games then this is a must play for you. Even if you are not familiar with, or into said genre, I would heartily recommend that you give this game a try. It really stands out from the normal formula by giving you all this ownership over Elodie and her path to Queenhood. It is a great title for people just getting into the genre due to its hands-on approach to story telling. You might find it’s over too quickly, or certain situations have you dying unexpectedly. If you are like me however, all this should motivate you to try again and consider a different method in which to approach the problems you may face, maybe even try to avoid them altogether. While some may not find it terribly exciting due to it’s more passive play, anyone with an appreciation for good story telling and/or long term choice-based gameplay, should enjoy this unique title.