Princess Debut (DS) Review

Ballroom dancing, Bunny butlers, Handsome boys, oh my!

Princess Debut was released by Natsume back in 2008. I found it in a Toys R Us store and picked it up because of the Natsume label on it. I have a big weakness for the Harvest Moon franchise so I picked up this game with high expectations hoping Natsume published another fun little game.

However Princess Debut is not a farm simulation game, its an Otome game. In games of this genre your main objective is to woo your favourite Bachelor (or Bachelorette depending on the game) and ultimately get their ending in the game which usually includes marriage and happily ever afters- you know, the fluffy junk. Princess Debut is also a rhythm game where one must tap the proper icons along with music. Quite an interesting match up if I do say so myself. Lets see how well it held up:

Story:

Imagine yourself one day coming home from school and HOLY CRAP A CHICK WHO LOOKS JUST LIKE YOU AND SOME FLOATING HAMSTER BUST INTO YOUR ROOM THROUGH YOUR CLOSET. Apparently she's you from another world and she want you and her to trade places for 30 days because she's a spoiled brat and doesn't want to dance(actually she can't dance). So you agree and WOOOOSH you become a (fake) princess who now has a choice of 7 men she can woo and dance with. Hooray.

Points: 4 Weak

Characters:

I'm not going to go into all the princes and their pros and cons but this game did a good job or making each one an individual with an OK back story. In the end though their all stereotypes I’ve seen before.

Points: 6 Try Again

Graphics:

Very nice. The overly saturated sparkle colours can be a bit blinding at times but you either get used to them or get a headache. When your in dance mode there are full 3D models of you and your partner as you glide around. For the most part they look good....until your wearing a super duper puffy dress and the pixels from your dress and your partner's pants mingle together and it looks a little....awkward. When your not grooving on the dance floor you and all the other characters are represented by 2D anime sprite busts that change emotions depending on the mood and such. To move from place to place on the world map is done my simply selecting a building while a little sprite of yourself jumps around like a monkey in a speech bubble.

Points: 7 Pretty Graphics are Pretty

Sound:

The music is kiddy and very forgettable. However none of the tracks are annoying so I'm okay with it. The sound effects in this game made me want to punch a wall in hope of a better sound. Every single time you get a step right in dance mode your character shouts “WOO” “YEAH” “WOO-HOO” and so forth and there is no way to turn them off. A-nnoy-ing. Also when your talking with someone the text makes a “blipblipblip” sound which is common in games but it began to grate on me very quickly. I think the only piece of sound I enjoyed in this game was the midi of Swan Lake which was the only dance I ever preformed.

Points: 4 Guhhhhh

Mechanics:

Gosh, finally. This is the good part of the game. I'll admit the whole concept of basing a game (almost) completely on having a relationship is a refreshing change. It was fun hunting down my man and having him shower me in love and praise. The rhythm part of the game was good too. Using the stylus and having to get everything exactly right or you basically fail the entire thing, no crutches for you. There were some dance numbers I had trouble getting 100% because of my shaky hand. Also the fact that you only have 30 days to complete your love route and memorize the groove puts you on a bit of pressure.

Points: 8 Good

Lasting appeal:

I'll admit it, I played this game twice through because I had a goal of getting all the endings but then it got repetitive and boring. I know there are those over achievers out there who don't stop playing a game until they've unlocked every crumb of content but i'm not one of those people. Once it gets boring I stop playing.

Points: 4 Not for me

Overall:

I should have looked at the pink cover and knew this was a kids game but I can imagine some little girl crying over this game because she couldn't get the dance move right. For what this game is it provides a nice couple of hours of entertainment but the re-playability is low once you’ve unlocked everything. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone though unless they were specifically looking for an Otome game that was released in English (they are very scarce). Other than that, this review is (mostly)over.

Points: 6 good for little girls who want to be princess

TOTAL 39/70

Wow higher than I thought.

Hope you enjoyed my first review. I'll have a new one up as soon as I can

-Anna