Slay the Princess is a horror visual novel with a surprising amount of thematic depth. It excels at providing the player with a surfeit of choices in each situation that each almost always feel meaningful and fleshed out. It also manages to weave between subgenres of horror fairly effortlessly in a way that impresses as much as it horrifies.

I'll keep this review brief because I think the game benefits greatly the less information you have going in beyond the basic facts. There is a princess locked away. You need to slay her by any means possible, or the world will end. Good luck.

After my initial playthrough I was hovering between 4 and 5 stars for my rating but was conflicted because I felt that the ending came off as a bit clunky and confusing. To be honest, I still feel that way to some extent after doing nearly all the other routes. Most of the games routes, outcomes, or whathaveyou feel very well-written except for a couple that maybe feel too similar in their conclusion despite starkly unique circumstances. I think the outcomes tied to the Fight and Flight achievements on Steam were the most disappointing in this regard.

All that said, I think there's a lot of value in the way this game explores its themes of trust and morality. It's also a fantastic and effective piece of horror apart from that and the more I delved into it the more I appreciated the flexibility of the writing and visuals. It also has very good voice acting throughout, at least in English.

The game currently plays best with mouse + keyboard if you ask me, due to some odd choices with the gamepad controls, but if those are rectified I could see myself picking up a physical copy for the switch when it releases because I had a great time with this.

I highly recommend you go into this game blind or with as little information as possible. This is a spoiler-free review that goes a bit into the game's internal design structures and what I like about it.

It's honestly been a while since I've played a strictly narrative game and a good one at that. Slay the Princess is a visual novel, made in Renpy, a game engine designed specifically for these types of games.

This game has fully-voiced dialogue and the main story is constructed so that you can pick any choice and go through with it until the very end. This game from the title screen incentivizes you to commit to your choices and you will see why fairly quickly.

The game mechanically has nothing to offer. Like most visual novels it mainly consists of choices and it's consequences. The narrative is what you see and what you'll get, but, that narrative is incredibly well-written and polished.

As the name suggests, you are given the task to slay the princess and this is where it shines the most. How you decide to deal with the situation will affect how the game progresses, something as simple as a question can drastically change the course of the story. As such this creates its sub-story, It could become a story about the cycle of violence, it could be about forgiveness, love, revenge, and so on. This game does a great job of making the player feel a ton of emotions, at one point you'll be laughing your ass off and at another, you'll be feeling disgusted at what you've done.

Because of the nature of the type of story this game wants to tell, for a visual novel, it has tons of replayability. This game can offer an experience that very few games can and hence why I recommend you try it out.

What is it that you see in her?

That damsel shackled to a dungeon, explicitly prepared for execution through your hand. This scenario has been manufactured for your indulgence, so why is it that you find it unsavory? Unease from a lack of context? The absence of rationale beyond the simple expectation that you commit to the deed? Do you not comprehend the folly that is your hesitation? Regardless of one’s naive intent, there is only one way in which a relationship inevitably ends. One, and more likely both of you, lying bleeding out upon the cold stone floor. Do not falsify prolonging suffering for kindness.

But you cannot be so readily dissuaded. The lesson of fire can only be felt through experiencing it’s burns. So in a selfish desire to gratify one’s own validation, you present to her a considered act of mercy. She will indulge you, of course. For your captive has no other recourse. Yet you know nothing about her in which to extend your hand. You can only project upon a blank canvas. An expectation of what you think she is and should be. Belief manifests reality that then codifies that same belief. She adapts to become which she is perceived. Evolving to conform into the creature of your infatuation.

So why is it that you recoil from her? This is what you wanted, is it not? Someone whom understands you, whom is capable in ricocheting both your love and your hate. That which you earnestly sought unshackled, against the ease of an entire world. So why are you hurting? From whence stems your contempt? Is it because you must now acknowledge the dance you share is performative. Does it sting because you see her as insincere? Or because your desires she realised are now laid hollow?

As the blood seeps, and the fire embers, perhaps now you finally understand. She was always just a veneer. That which you formed connection. That which you sought to love. That which you grew to resent. An idealized mask upon that which bears no established form. She never let you in. She never gave herself away. What she was, and is, persists beyond your comprehension. You were only bound together in a shared circumstance. And yet there was also something tangible there. Something you touched. You each have the wounds inflicted to show for it. The honeyed and venomous words which cut deep. From whence did this enamoring monster form? You gaze once more into the mirror. And the Princess glares her daggers back.

(Slay the Princess is a game which seeks to incite you to project upon it. And then have this projection reflected back upon you. Such that it may then engage you with commentary and introspection yet little judgment. How effective and illuminating such an experience is, is very personalized. How much you engage with the premise and its presentation, one’s prior life experiences, and your affinity to its debauched gore, will all play a significant part in how well you resonate with this game. As such, I find it hard to isolate a specific audience for which to extend a recommendation. Perhaps consider playing it if you have yet to get over a Princess in your life.)

I wanted a nice short game to play going into Halloween weekend. This game had caught my attention a few months back so I decided it would be perfect.

I haven't played many visual novels, really just the first three Ace Attorney games. I knew nothing about this game going in and I think that's how it should be. Honestly I don't have a lot to write here. I enjoyed my short time with this game. I may go back in still and poke around with a few different paths/choices and endings, but I technically reached the end so I'm satisfied. I have no idea if there's like an ultimate ending for getting multiple endings or whatever, but I was happy to explore this game and all the different paths it led me down. It was cozy playing on Halloween. It was a little eerie at some points, with a couple jump scares, but nothing too frightening. Honestly a lot of the plot went over my head as it dove into metaphysics, reality, existence, etc, but I was still engaged. I will probably binge some content on YouTube to learn more about the game and the different choices. For now, I'm comfortable in writing a review about my time with the game, and if I don't return to it I won't sweat it.

I'm not sure how much to talk about Slay the Princess here as it is definitely one of those games that you will get more enjoyment out of when going into it blind.

Slay the Princess is a visual novel where you start with being told of a simple task, to slay the princess. You are not sure who she is or why you must do so initially. There are a LOT of different endings to this game and I may periodically go back to it from time to time trying to achieve another ending. As of writing this review I've played it about 5 hours and only have 21% of the Steam achievements. After one complete playthrough, it has a gallery that gives you "hints" about getting the other endings but these are pretty vague to do so. You can do some auto skipping to quickly progress to any dialog choices which makes trying to get other endings quicker. I'm not sure I have the patience to fully go for even 50% of these achievements though due to the vague nature and how much tracking of what you've previously said/done.

The voice acting here is fantastic and done by Johnathan Sims (look up his Magnus Archives podcast!) and Nichole Goodnight who I'm not familiar with her work. The developers behind this had great post launch support adding even more endings and scenarios to the game, though they may be finally done at this point.

Go into this one blind. Even if you aren't a fan of visual novels, if you like horror or intense stories this one is for you!