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Would you kill a princess to save the world? Slay the Princess is game about impossible choices

6K View2023-10-20

Slay the Princess

10.0

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SHOULD I PLAY SLAY THE PRINCESS?

If you have even a passing interest in choice-based games, Slay the Princess is a must-play. When the game begins, you’re on a path towards a cabin hidden deep in the woods. When you reach that cabin, you’ll find a princess, and when you meet her, a mysterious voice tells you that she’s destined to end the world. Will you slay her, or will you save her? It’s a simple enough question, but somehow, the game stretches it to endless possibilities. What happens if you start to save her, but change your mind? What if you don’t go to the cabin at all? Slay the Princess is a unique, fascinating experience unlike any visual novel I’ve played. I’ve entered the same cabin many, many times, but the game is still finding ways to surprise me.

TIME PLAYED

Currently, I’ve played five hours of Slay the Princess. During that time, I’ve slain—and saved—many princesses, but I’ve only managed to uncover a small portion of the game’s many secrets. At this point, it feels like I’ve tried just about everything, but I’ve only seen two of the game’s endings and unlocked thirty-nine out of ninety-eight achievements. Slay the Princess feels less like a visual novel and more like a puzzle game, and I can’t wait to figure it all out.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT SLAY THE PRINCESS?

• A narrative filled with twists and turns. Slay the Princess bills itself as a horror story, but it’s much deeper and more fascinating than that. It’s got some spectacular scares, sure, but it’s also a hilarious comedy, a heart-wrenching tragedy, and a moving contemplation on the meaning of existence. It’s a story about storytelling, but it’s also an intimate, personal tale about two people stuck playing the same game over and over again.

It’s hard to talk too much about Slay the Princess without spoiling its story, but I don’t think there’s anything I could say that would diminish its power. It’s a game about discovery, but part of that discovery is learning how you respond to the choices you make. Even though it’s a visual novel, no two players will go through the game in quite the same way. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience that I can’t recommend enough.

• Creepy hand-drawn visuals. The black-and-white visuals in Slay the Princess might not seem like much at first, but they’re absolutely perfect for the constantly-evolving story that the game is trying to tell. There were times when the visuals felt sparse, but there were also scenes rendered in incredible detail. During a few moments, I was reminded of Stephen Gammell’s illustrations for Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which is one of the highest compliments I could possibly pay.

• Astonishingly good voice acting. According to the end credits, Slay the Princess has just two voice actors, but it contains far more voices than that. Both of its actors seem capable of transforming into another person on the fly. Sometimes they were soft and gentle, sometimes they were terrifying, and sometimes they were both at the same time. I was blown away by what the voice actors accomplished here, and their performances were absolutely essential to the game.

• Tons of replay value. Story-driven games can be tedious to replay, but in Slay the Princess, I’m constantly finding ways to take the narrative in a new direction. Even when I’ve found myself going down a path that I’ve already followed, I’ve discovered ways to alter the story and do something that I’ve never done before. Not every ending in Slay the Princess is a happy one, but there are no bad choices here. Every option deserves exploration, and every route is worthy of playing through.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT SLAY THE PRINCESS?

• It can get repetitive. Slay the Princess goes in all kinds of directions, but there are still sections of the story you’ll see over and over again. I was able to quickly click through repeated dialogue, but some players might not like having to go through scenes they’ve already seen in order to get to something new.

💬 Will you Slay the Princess, save her, or choose a secret third option? Don’t forget to share your favorite choice-based games in the comments!