[DS] Princess Debut (English)
Princess Debut Cover
Developer: Cave
Publisher: Natsume
Genre: Simulation
Introduction
I believe most people think looking for a date in a game is kind of strange, creepy and pathetic. This might be the reason most dating simulation game (a genre that is hugely popular in Japan) always fail to find audience out of its native country. However, as the Japanese culture gain more and more popularity in the recent years, Natsume decided to release a hybrid of dating simulation-rhythm game in the NDS. Its title; Princess Debut shows that this game tries to attract young female gamer. Can they manage to do so?
Gameplay
There is two aspects of Princess Debut. You are a Princess in this game and you will need to woe one of the six eligible bachelors in the game. The game main objective is to find a partner by having daily communications with the princes; you will also need to practice dancing with your dance partner.
The first mode of this game is the ‘Dating Simulation’ mode. Every day, you are given the opportunity to travel around the Flower Kingdom. The princes’ locations in this game are random – if you can’t find anything interesting in a location, you can move along and try to search in another location. Once you find a prince, you are given the opportunity to talk and get to know them better. The princes in this game have their own distinct personality, so choosing the right answer according to their personality shall raise their affection to you. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it seems. As long as you play being a ‘good girl’ and politely answer all of those princes’ answers, you’ll have their affection to you rising to 100% in no time.
The second part is the ‘Rhythm Game’ mode. Once you arrive in the Flower Kingdom, you will soon learn that you need to dance in the Ball of St. Lyon. You can start your training with one of the princes that will be your partner in the Ball. The dance part itself is quite simple; all you need to do is follow the path shown in your lower screen. If you ever play rhythm based game like Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan or Elite Beat Agent, this part will be a piece of cake for you. The movements in the dance are pretty simple and most of you will achieve the perfect status in one or two attempts. Dancing and mastering a song will raise your level. Higher level gives you a higher charm and more stamina to perform another dance. Once your level is enough, new dance moves will be available to try.
As a game geared for the female audience, the game allows you to transform (think of a Sailormoon like transformation) by using accessories. The accessories can be obtained by dating certain princes, raising your level, or by simply winning a dance competition.
Story
One day, Sabrina (you can change her name) wishes to be a princess surrounded by princes. She never thought that her dream is about to come true. When she went home from school, there’s suddenly a vortex in her room. And POP! From the cupboard comes out a girl that looks exactly like her and a strange animal that could talk. The girl quickly introduced herself to be the Sabrina from the other world, here’s the surprise (not): she is the princess of Flower Kingdom. It appears that Sabrina the Princess is having some trouble dancing and decided to escape to normal Sabrina’s world.
Soon, Sabrina agrees to exchange places with the princess. Anyway, it’s like a dream come true. She gets to be a princess and dances with handsome princes around her. Once Sabrina arrives in the other world, Kip (the talking animal that accompany Princess Sabrina) informs her that she needs to find a partner for the big dance ceremony: the Ball of St. Lyon. She is given one month to prepare for her dance. Thus begin the ‘princess days’ for Sabrina.
Graphic / Sounds
The graphic is really shoujo-ish (girlish). Most of the artwork are okay (not superb, but it does have a unique style compared to most games). My complain for the graphics mainly came from the dancing part. Instead of using hand-drawn animation, the game developer decided to use very-very-very bad 3D animation. It’s horrible to see the pretty Sabrina and the handsome princes suddenly turn into ugly 3D characters with huge eyes once they start to dance.
The sound is a big turnoff as well. Most of Japan’s dating simulation games include the voice acting of the character. Princess Debut does not even have any voice acting at all (not even snippets!). The music for the dance is subpar at best, and the extensive use of classical music will mostly turn most gamers away from playing the game.
Play Time / Replayability
There is a lot of reasons to re-play Princess Debut. It is impossible for you to collect all the accessories and all the songs in the first playthrough. You need to replay the game for five times to marry all the five bachelors. In fact, the game actually introduces you with the sixth bachelor only after you finish the game once! That said, the monotone dancing aspect of the game might make some people avoid replaying the game.
I have played this game twice (and ended up with different princes as well) and my total play time did not exceed 10 hours. There is really not much to do in Princess Debut (other than talking to your prince or dancing with him) and I think that this is such a wasted opportunity. If only the game developer inserted challenging mini-games or make the conversations livelier, I think it will give people more reasons to come back play Princess Debut.
Final Recommendation
I really cannot recommend this game for anyone. For dating simulation lover, there are a lot of Japanese dating simulation games far much better (with more dialogue option and better character personality) than Princess Debut. For rhythm based game lover, it’s better to try Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan series or Elite Beat Agent which definitely offers you more action and fun. Princess Debut tried its best to combine the best of two worlds, but sadly, it fails miserably.
Score: 3
