The Queen to Be, is Rising to Action- Long Live the Queen Review

Long Live the Queen is a fun game about a young queen in the making. Her father is a duke, and he has been raising her for her new role since birth. Despite this, she has a lot to learn and is quite clueless, but this is where the player comes in. It’s necessary to be sure that she is learning the right skills, as the wrong ones could lead to her ruin.

Our young Princess might not know much, but she’s lived a peaceful life and must continue to learn and grow as she waits to take the throne. There are a variety of skills, from diplomatic skills to skills relating to weaponry and animal husbandry. Each skill offers up more chances for the Princess to succeed.

The Princess is dealing with a lot this year, and her emotions might hinder her, but they might also help her as she is given bonuses for her feelings. After choosing lessons for the day, the Princess can explore a little, and doing so will give her boosts to her emotions. It’s important to take care of her, and let her do things that will more positively affect her. She might have a lot on her plate, but she’s a kid and deserves to relax too.

Learning skills continues to be the most interesting part of the game, and with the emotions in play, it feels strategic. Depending on her emotions, different skills will pay different dividends, if she’s happy for instance, she will be more likely to want to talk to people, and it will boost her ability to learn. The game starts with the Princess being depressed and scared for the future, so it’s an uphill battle to be sure.

After a long day of learning, she’s offered the chance to talk to people, experience an activity or spend time by herself and each of these choices can change the story. For instance, one character will offer her insight into her magic if she is talked to. Depending on her skill levels she can participate in different events, and things can change depending on how she fares at the events.

The game itself is multilayered, and I love how everything works together to push the Princess to be the best. She might be a little whiny at first, but she learns a lot in the year, and that will change her for the better. Seeing her actions change the world, pushes the player to want the best for her too, and she does change things. I wouldn’t have expected my young Princess to be so vicious, but I made her quite formidable, and it was frankly awesome.

Learning everything a job has to offer might even give her a new costume, which offers buffs to skills and the ability to succeed in classes at a faster pace. It might offer a lot of time, but a little help can go a long way. Using a costume during an event might buff her up enough to live through it. This is true especially on a first run when players have no idea what could be coming.

The art style is lovely and feels more akin to old-school anime, with characters that are nicely drawn, and show so much emotion. Watching my Princess change from being sad to smug, is always fun, and it’s interesting seeing how she changes roles. I didn’t expect costumes, but they are all so different, and it makes me want to collect them all in a single run.

There is also the chance for the Princess to get married, depending on who she might leave alive or meet. There are a number of bachelors, and while I would have liked a heart system, like in Harvest Moon, it doesn’t feel necessary. The game isn’t about her royal courtship, it’s about her becoming the best Queen she can be. While it is understandable she’d need a King, she also becomes worthy of the crown, because she fights so hard to attain it. It’s a beautiful game, and I wish it didn’t force marriage at the end like it tries to.

The game has a nice museum section of sorts, where players can view the different scenes, and see how many deaths they’ve encountered. In a visual novel game, it’s always nice to note these types of events. It helps the player understand how much left they’d have to play to see it all and being a short game, it’s easy to drop a few hours to play through it again to see other routes.

Long Live the Queen is a fantastic game and one that tells a few tales. The future Queen might save the day, but she’ll have to work for it. She might not have the biggest support system, but her people are rooting for her, as is her father. Choosing the best classes might be hard at first, but it’s possible for her to live through things, if the player is determined to keep her alive. There are only 50 weeks till her coronation, will she make it to the ceremony?

Disclaimer: A review key was provided