The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince – Review

Review by TKDBoy1889

Reviewed: 04/16/19

Someone should make an actual book from this

There has been a fair share of videogame adaptations when it comes to fairy tales, but how about an original fairy tale for a videogame? Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to play out an original fairy tale, and not one that's already been written? If so, then The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince will probably be right up your alley. This game doesn't just take influence from fairy tales or children's stories; it is a fairy tale. It narrates the story like a fairy tale, it's visually designed like a fairy tale, you name it. Even the title is incredibly befitting for a story that what might tell their kids for a bedtime story, or teach during school. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince could easily fit among many other stories. In fact, somebody should make this into an actual book and publish it. Right now, someone go out and write this book because I want to read it.

The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, which will be shortened to LPBP from here on out, literally narrates it's story like it's coming from an actual book. The gist of it is that a wolf's beautiful singing voice attracted the curiosity of young prince, and when the prince tried to gaze upon her, she accidentally blinded him in an attempt to hide herself. Feeling an odd sense of guilt, as wolves in this world are heartless monsters, she strikes a deal with a witch that gives her the ability to become a beautiful princess at will, so that she may attempt to guide the blind prince to the witch and give him back his eyesight. All the while, she struggles to hide her true nature from him and grows in various ways. It's definitely got that fairy tale vibe of being a story, and that doesn't mean it's necessarily “childish”. The original versions of many children's tales are actually quite dark, and LPBP definitely fits that. It may be a story about a princess and prince and monsters and witches, but it can get very emotional and heavy at various points. It conveys some powerful themes that revolve around lying, being selfish or selfless, and accepting consequences for one's actions.

So, what kind of game is LPBP? Is it an action game? A puzzle game? A platforming game? It's all of the above, to an extent. The mission of the game is to have the princess wolf guide and direct the blind prince through a dark and dangerous forest filled with monsters, keeping him safe until they can find the witch. You control the wolf, who can freely transform between human form and wolf form. As a wolf, the princess is invulnerable to enemies, can jump higher, and can easily fight off monsters with her claws. As a human, the princess can fit through smaller spaces and directly guide the blind prince through the stage. As the prince is largely helpless due to his disability, you can hold his had to direct him through the stages. This little feature gives me flashbacks to the story of Ico, physically guiding a character through the game by physically holding their hand. Such a simple gesture, yet so effective for conveying a bond between characters to the player. As you help the prince through platform-sections of the game, he becomes essential in figuring puzzles so you can bypass certain obstacles. On top of that, you must make sure that he does get hurt by any creatures, who will attack if they see him. All of these various elements- platforming, puzzling, and jumping- are incredibly simplistic. Combat mostly compromises of swiping away enemies, platforming is about bouncing off mushrooms and landing on soft ground, etc. But simplistic does not mean bad.

LPBP a straightforward, simple game that's more about atmosphere and intuition than complexity. While the controls and mechanics are relatively simple, the game still offers up a fun challenge. I wouldn't say that this game is necessarily hard, but it can be tricky at times thanks to some strict rules; the prince will die in one hit from anything, neither of you (at least in human form) can take much of a fall without dying unless you land on a soft mushroom, and some places are crawling with patterns of enemies. The game is a mixture of scouting ahead along with trial and error. You may want to explore ahead a bit yourself, so as to make sure there are no surprise monsters lurking around. There are spots where you have to figure out when to become a human and when to become a wolf, sometimes with quick timing. You might have to become human to guide the prince through a tall jump or a narrow space, and then quickly transform into a wolf before enemies on the other side can strike. A few mistakes are inevitable on the first go, but once you memorize everything it's quite easy, except for areas where you need to be quick with your timing.

The meat of the gameplay is in its various puzzles, most of which require the prince's help in some fashion. While blind and defenseless, the prince can still be instructed to perform various tasks in order to bypass obstacles that bar the path. He can be instructed to pick up small obstacles like stones and lanterns, and then place them on top of pressure plates in order to trigger a platform. Sometimes a lantern must be lit and then used to light up obstacles. You can also instruct the prince to move a set distance to the right or left, which is sometimes needed to walk over areas that will collapse under the weight of him and the princess at the same time. The great thing about the puzzles is that they are simple and intuitive for the most part, but may still require some thinking in order to figure out. Many puzzles end up with different phases where you must guide the prince to a spot, turn into a wolf to move ahead, clear out enemies, trigger a platform, have him move forward to trigger a certain spot on the next phase, etc. Some of them can definitely becoming tricky to figure out, especially when you have to utilize a specific pattern to prevent getting stuck. All the same, it feels satisfying every time you solve the puzzle and move forward. No puzzle is exceptionally unforgiving, but plenty of them will require some thought. The gameplay is basic but very organic and fun, which is a strength to its design.

Another strength of LPBP is its personality and visual charm. When I said the game is like an original fairy tale, I wasn't just talking about its narrative structure. The visual design of them game makes it look like it came straight out of a storybook. The graphics are all 2-dimensional and flat, in a sense, but they aren't your typical retro pixelated look. Instead, the game looks as of it was literally drawn out. The backgrounds and the characters have a design that looks like outlines were penciled, and then the details were filled in. It gives the game a very picturesque vibe with its hand-drawn art direction, and it perfectly suits the whole theme of imitating a children's story or tale. In fact, intermittent cutscenes are literally laid out as flipping pages of hand-drawn illustrations, which adds to the games overall charm and identity immensely. This goes to show that more primitive visuals are not just good because of nostalgic love for 16-bit pixels. When it fits the overall vibe of the game, simpler visual design can be just as good as hyper-realistic graphics. Equally as impressive is the game's soundtrack, which is quite atmospheric and does a good job at not only conveying the theme of any particular level, but also the feelings and emotions of the overarching plot during cutscenes. Further adding to the style of the game is the overall personality displayed through little details that you pick up on as you play the game. For example, every time the princess and prince hold hands, they will both smile and appear happy. The princess will immediately stop smiling when she lets go. If the prince is killed, she will showcase her sorrow and despair very vividly. At certain places the princess can also find flowers to present to the prince, strengthening their bond. These little moments are incredibly fitting because it is the relationship between the prince and the princess, and they way they develop that serves as the main foil to the entire story, it can be quite emotional at times.

On the downside, not every single design is well implemented. While most of them are intuitive and well-designed, there are a few puzzle segments that feel like they require just as much luck as strategy in order to progress, and as a result dying or having to repeat the segment results in some frustration. One puzzle even gives you the option to completely skip it because of how tough it is, and a couple also require a bit of tedious backtracking. The majority of the game is intuitive and enjoyable, but it definitely has its more annoying segments. Some various collectibles in stages feel like they are impossible to reach even after a long time of exploring for a way to reach them. The game is also on the short side, beatable within just 5-6 hours. Given the game's overall vibe as an indie title, however, that's to be expected. It might also make the game more enticing to those that no longer have the ability to partake in multiple hour-long gaming sessions every week.

In the end, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a whimsical yet emotional and slightly dark title that is charming and compelling in its simplistic, novel design and execution. The story is surprisingly gripping with themes of maturity and selflessness, and while there are some more frustrating or annoying parts to the game they are overshadowed by its organic and intuitive journey. Those who prefer shorter titles that can finished in a weekend, or more relaxing and simpler puzzle-platformers should definitely give this one a look.

Final Score: 8/10

Rating:   4.0 - Great

Product Release: The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (Storybook Edition) (US, 02/12/19)