[Review] - [Volcano Princess] - Raising a princess' Mind, Stamina and Charisma

I think I should read the genre of the game before picking it willy nilly. Volcano Princess was recommended to me by a friend, and I booted it up without thinking much nor without checking the STOVE store to see what it is about.

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Why do I have a daughter now I have been a single weeb since I was 13 —

ABOUT VOLCANO PRINCESS

Welcome to the parenting sim! You! are a father! Your wife dies in the first few seconds like any anime mother would and now you are tasked with raising this adorable doll of a little daughter! Developed by Egg Hatcher Studio, with Overwhelming Positive reviews on Steam, it is time for you to commit to something half of you would never be able to do: Care for a child.

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Fun fact, my first run was completely blind and I named the father after an abusive anime dad. The dissonance was too great — I had to change to his default name haha. Anyway, tangent aside, my child is too pretty guys, and I am, again, single. I do not think I would score any wife that looks good enough to make a child this pretty. Time to raise her as my home with what looks like infinite money (how are we affording so many classes, it seems insane that we keep buying so many things—)

!!!!Now, what do I think now that I have had some time to try out the game?

THE GAMEPLAY:
I find it slow but quite fun! I like managing resources, and route picking. The game has three main routes, Stamina (Red) or combat related things, Mind (Green) or thoughtfulness, Charisma (Purple) or people skills and talking. There are also additional stats you can raise, similar to an RPG character. Every big choices seems to be relating to the three colors, and you can see the motif propping up frequently.

My first hour with the game is mainly being nice to the townsfolk and people around you. The characters are charming, and reminds me of Princess Maker. This is true as the character grows up and starts having :).. potential harems… I like how there are many male friends for her to be nice to.

Also similar to Princess Maker, you get to raise her stats by scheduling and being nice to her. There are lessons she can take and activities she can learn to improve herself. I do not want to be a bad father though, and I am being extremely nice to her hoping that she will not get stressed. Please. She is said to be doing well at lessons, though. When the daughter grows up, there are a wide variety of part time jobs to earn stats and money.

There is also an RPG fighter section, where you can gather friends to go dungeon crawling when she has reached the age. This is the part that rewards her combat stats.

There is lesser penalty compared to Princess Maker, though, for doing side activities (as far as I can tell), and I love the artstyle.

THE ARTSTYLE:
Draws heavily upon anime, though the shading and character fashion feels uniquely Chinese in my opinion. Everyone is very cute, both the male and female characters, though like many games of this genre, they do suffer same-face syndrome.

I do like the color choice, though. Lots of soft colors and gentle curves, creating a nice place for you to befriend and hangout around the world.

THE STORY:
I love the story so far! Even if it IS the generic girl finds herself between rich people and she also is a princess (I think. it really feels like that), and she gets to enjoy upper-class activities even though her father does not seem to go to work. She is cute and kind and nice and almost perfect and loves her father very much. She also gets to choose whatever she wants because her father (me) is mega-super-nice-lovely, who is really trying to fill the void his wife left behind and — AGAIN. Typical cheesy type of story where everything except the mother lives a lovely life. I enjoy it, it is simple and is a good way to wind down after stressful hours.

I enjoy the little snippets of worldbuilding in the background. It is not a bland world at all, with all the different news pieces, or how the festivals are like (you get a few so far, they are like in game special events where you can raise stats), as well as the houses in the school you study (that somehow relates to the three-color big choice system). The characters are charming and the dialogue is fun.

Well, overall, when heavily inspired by Princess Maker, Volcano Princess has quite a lot of things going for it that makes this a great game!! I have not gotten further in, so if you have, feel free to tell me about it in the comments below!

CHECK THE GAME OUT ON STOVE STORE! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv