Princess Maker

Princess Maker
Genres Life simulation game
Developers Gainax
Publishers Gainax
Platforms MSX2, MS-DOS, NEC PC-9801, FM Towns Marty, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, PS2, Sharp X68000, Dreamcast
First release Princess Maker
1991

Princess Maker (プリンセスメーカー) is a series of Japanese life simulation bishōjo games by the video game and anime production company Gainax. The first Princess Maker, while popular enough to be translated into Chinese, was never released in the United States. Princess Maker 2 was translated by SoftEgg for a North American release, but this release was cancelled because publisher Intracorp went bankrupt. Princess Maker 3, Princess Maker 4, and Princess Maker 5 have subsequently been released. The series has been translated and released in Korea (Fujitsu) and Taiwan (Kingformation). No English translations have been made after the failed attempt of Princess Maker 2.

Petite Princess Yucie, an anime series loosely based on the third game but with characters from all of the games, ran for 26 episodes in 2002-03.

Main series

Princess Maker 1

The first of the Princess Maker games was a popular MicroCabin game at the time of its release in 1991. The player is in charge of a war orphan, Maria, after defeating an evil demon. This game is similar to Princess Maker 2, but one cannot give pocket money to the daughter, and in this version, the player can send the daughter to town to view the people's opinions of her. The wardrobe is also much larger than the sequel. There are four sets of clothing for each season. These clothes change after aging. Therefore, there are about 28 sets of clothing the daughter can wear over the years. The Harvest Festival has a Combat Tournament and a Miss Kingdom Contest. If the daughter succeeds, her popularity will rise.

There are 74 possible endings, ranging from humble jobs such as a soldier or a mason, to prestigious jobs such as Archbishop or Prime Minister, to "dark side" jobs such as a prostitute or a crime lord. In addition, numerous factors decide whether or not the daughter is successful at her job, whom she marries, and whether she has children of her own.

This game was re-released in a 'Refine Edition' with enhanced graphics and voices. There is a fan-made English and Spanish translation for the normal MSX version.[1]

The original version is for the MSX2 system, and the Refine Edition is out for PlayStation 2 as well as Windows.

In February 1995, Famitsu magazine's Reader Cross Review gave the PC Engine version of the game an 8 out of 10.[2]

Princess Maker 2

Main article: Princess Maker 2

In Princess Maker 2, the second game in the series, you play a swordsman who adopts a ten-year-old girl, Olive, and raises her to the age of 18. The player controls the girl's schedule from the age of 10, filling it with activities such as education, part-time work, adventure and free time. During 'adventures', the player controls the girl directly, using a top-down view similar to that seen in role-playing video games of that period. As with the other games in the series the girl's eventual fate is decided when she reaches 18 years of age, based on her experience and statistics. Princess Maker 2 is the only game of the series to have been officially translated into English. However, the translation was never finished and the game was never officially published. The translation was leaked onto the internet and is considered abandonware, despite a statement from SoftEgg requesting that it not be distributed.[3] The game features at least 70 possible multiple endings.[4]

This game was re-released in Japan in a 'Refine Edition' with enhanced graphics. It has versions for Windows and Macintosh, with the Refine Edition being available for Windows and PlayStation 2.

Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True

This is the only game in the main series to have two titles, both as Princess Maker 3 and Princess Maker Faery Tales Come True. In Princess Maker Faery Tales Come True, the daughter is a young Faery who desires to become a human Princess. The player's task is to help her reach adulthood. In this version, everything said to your daughter and done will help determine your daughter's attitude, social status, and outlook on life. Unlike the previous game, the player has a chance to choose between six occupations.

The occupation determines the player's social status in the kingdom, cash at hand, and the amount of yearly wage. The occupation will also affect various factors in the main character, starting with the attitude with which she begins. Along these lines, unlike the previous games where she was either happy, sick, or rebellious, in Princess Maker Faery Tales Come True your daughter's attitude can range from happy, to average, to worried, to spoiled. Her attitude will be determined based on both your job starting off and how well your treat her during the game. Your choice of jobs starting out are, Merchant, Performer, Fallen Nobleman, Priest, Retired Knight, and Bard.

There are 60 endings in this game ranging from the typical ones like general and hero, to some more distinctive like gambler and freelancer. There are also many "magical" endings, with not only the princess ending, but princess of darkness, cats, etc. She can also marry a variety of people.

The player's daughter has a number of courses and jobs available, just like in Princess Maker 2.

The daughter will have a number of courses she can take to enhance her status, such as regular school, ballet class or church. All courses, save for church and fasting sessions, will challenge the daughter with a test/exam based on her status and how long she has dedicated herself to the course. The result of the test/exam will be directly proportional to the daughter's status. Once the result is announced, her reaction will depend on her overall status. The daughter's reactions vary, and it may or may not have effect on status for better or for worse. For all courses with test/exam, the daughter will have an opportunity to encounter her "rival" depending on your status related to the course. All courses, save for church and fasting sessions, will offer a unique rival female character. If the status related to the course is high enough, the rival may offer her friendship. Once the friendship is forged, the rival character will bring present on the character's birthday that would boost up some of her status... depending on what kind of gift it is. (It is generally a bouquet of flower, a poetry novel or teddy bear) They also would occasionally visit your daughter and hang out. (This would reduce her stress level and boost certain personality status.)

It was released for PlayStation, Windows, and Sega Saturn.

Princess Maker 4

Unlike past installments, Princess Maker 4 was developed by GeneX, although Takami Akai (original series creator) remained on hand as a supervisor. This time, character illustrations were handled by Tenhiro Naoto, the creator of Sister Princess.

Structurally, Princess Maker 4 draws much inspiration from Princess Maker 2, although an adventure mode does not exist anymore. As with PM3, full voiceovers have been recorded, including contributions from famous voice actors like Sakurai Takahiro (Prince Sharul/Charles).

PM4 is highly drama-oriented. Throughout the game, there are various event scenes that offer clues about your daughter's past, not to mention the war between humans and non-humans and her demonic roots. This is probably what differentiates it the most from previous PM games. Another change is that most of the vice related jobs are less "adult oriented" as it is impossible for the daughter to receive more sinful jobs such as Carabet Dancing or as an assassin.

The story begins when the player is a soldier. The player falls in love with a mysterious woman. However, she disappears, only to be found by the player few years later. She hands you the child whose default name is Patricia along with Cube (The butler). And so the journey to fatherhood begins...

A Japanese PC version of Princess Maker 4 was released on July 28, 2006. It contains many more endings and events compared to the original.[5]

A PlayStation Portable version of Princess Maker 4 was released in Japan on October 12, 2006.

A Nintendo DS version of it was released with a few more endings and "extras" not released in the original PC version. These extras are, like ending galleries, only accessible after finishing the first ending and credit sequence.

Earlier, there was an entirely different Princess Maker 4 in the works. Under development at Ninelives, the game was to take place in modern Tokyo rather than the medieval world featured in the final game. This project was eventually abandoned due to Akai's health failures. However, the concept went on to be the basis of Princess Maker 5, for example - the modern Japan setting and the fact that Cube can transform himself into a dog.

Princess Maker 5

Main article: Princess Maker 5

Princess Maker 5 is the newest Princess Maker title. This version has been set to play in Modern Japan. It was released on March 3, 2007.

It has several differences from previous titles in the series. The environment has become a modern setting presumably in a fictitious city somewhere in Japan, and instead of being only able to take on the role of a father, the player can now play as a mother or a father.

The gameplay has received several major changes as well, including changes to the scheduling of her courses/work, which no longer follows the monthly timeline but follows a more lengthy weekly timeline. More detailed choices are available on how lenient you are on her diet, curfew, allowance and her disposition towards school, people around her, and how she should think. RPG elements have been implemented as well, though nowhere as intensively as Princess Maker 2, the player can now let his/her daughter go explore in the worlds that are parallel to her own.

The player in this game is a retired hero of a human realm parallel to the modern world. The daughter is a girl from a royal heritage, and one of many candidates to assume the role of princess. However, following the assassinations of the other candidates, she became the target as well. Her entire family is killed during the attempt on her life. As her protector, Cube saved the player's daughter and requested the player to take care of the daughter until she reaches the age of 18. So the journey of parenthood unfolds with Cube's help.

This game was released for Windows, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. There are two versions for the PSP, a regular edition as well as a Limited edition.

Princess Maker: Legend of Another World

This 1995 game shares many similarities with Princess Maker 2 and was released only for the SNES by Takara. Unlike the other games, your daughter does not have a default name, but is named Melody Blue in GoGo Princess. Your butler is Raphael, a man whose origin is speculated among the fans.

Related Games

Anime

Main article: Petite Princess Yucie

The anime, Petite Princess Yucie which is loosely based on all the Princess Maker games, has the character of Cube from Princess Maker 2 appearing as Yucie's steward in the anime, looking nearly identical in style and design to how he appears in the game. Yucie herself looks almost identical to the character of Lisa from Princess Maker 3, including the hairstyle and unusually large forehead. The final "villain" of the anime shares the appearance of Maria, the daughter from Princess Maker 1. Ket Shi the demon cat, a minor villain in one episode, is also from Princess Maker 2, although in the game he is the god of the Wildcat tribe, and can be helpful to the player rather than harmful. Other characters in Petite Princess Yucie can undoubtedly also be found in other Princess Maker games.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fan translation group announcing release of PM1 translation
  2. ↑ 読者クロスレビュー - プリンセスメーカー1. Weekly Famitsu. No.323. Pg.39. 24 February 1995.
  3. ↑ SoftEgg Enterprises - Princess Maker 2
  4. ↑ "Princess Maker 2". IGN. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  5. ↑ http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0606/15/news057.html
  6. ↑ MGAME and Cyberfront announcement on 17173.com (Chinese)
  7. ↑ Official Princess Maker for KAKAO facebook page (Korean)

External links (Princess Maker)