Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut
Developer: Black Tabby Games
Publisher: Serenity Forge
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $17.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
Perhaps one of the most common narratives that is used in stories, whether they are books, video games, or even plays, tends to be about rescuing a princess. Either the princess has been kidnapped and is being held by an evil monster or perhaps never had freedom to begin with and it is up to the noble knight to rescue her. Throughout the countless iterations of this trope we’ve seen various twists, turns, role-reversals, and much more as a simple premise leaves plenty of room for variations, but few, if any, have handled in the way that Black Tabby Games did last year with the release of Slay the Princess. Now, with Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut refining the cult classic and expanding on the visual novel with a slew of new content on consoles, is this unique take on a classic story a must play?
Story
You’re on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin. And in the basement of that cabin is a Princess. You’re here to slay her. If you don’t it will be the end of the world. Who are you? It doesn’t matter. How will she do it? Doesn’t matter. Just know that she will do everything she can to stop you, be it deceit, charm, or force. Or at least, that’s what The Narrator tells players upon beginning the game for he is their only ally in this fated encounter. Or is he? Could she be? Or is the best option not an option at all?
It is somewhat of a challenge to discuss the storyline of Slay the Princess because it is both simple but at the same time incredibly complex and going too far into detail about some of these complexities would spoil the many twists and revelations that players will have throughout the game. That being said there will be some spoilers in the following should players truly want to experience everything as blind as possible, though things will still be described as vaguely as they can be. At its heart Slay the Princess is a horror story and a love story twisted together in a way that few could possibly think of let alone expect and it is only through the incredible writing of the developers combined with outstanding performances by two highly skilled voice actors as well as hauntingly beautiful hand-drawn artwork that ties the entire package together.
The storyline for Slay the Princess involves making choices. Some of these are simply probing for information while others are direct lines of action, but even asking a question can be seen as an action at times. Everything that players do in the woods or in the cabin, all before reaching the basement containing the princess, can play a role in how an encounter can play out. Taking one specific item will lock away an entire version of the princess until that route is seen through one way or the many, many others. All the while through the initial chapter players will find themselves accompanied by The Narrator and The Voice of the Hero who will comment and question the player’s choices and interactions with the princess who, herself, will react accordingly to how players are treating her, be it with cold hostility, a warm guiding hand towards potential safety, or a cautious observer, or even any combination of these as that is just how many encounters and routes are there for players to stumble upon.
After completing the first chapter is where things go from strange to any number of places. They could simply be stranger, or more horrific, more hostile, twisted, romantic, any number of routes that are unveiled all with a new voice joining the player’s head depending on how their previous chapter concluded. Aggression can bring out The Hunter, the questioner can trigger The Contrarian, the defeated may summon The Broken to chime in along as players witness the results of their actions and the new form that the Princess possesses now.
The princess herself is an always changing being, but one that also has some set personality traits that remain consistent even throughout the myriad of forms that the player may encounter and it is through the writing of the princess’ changes and her voicework that really makes these experiences memorable. Combine this with the writing of The Narrator and the many voices that players will be joined by along with the myriad of choices available at nearly every turn and the title rarely fails to surprise. Interactions had me chuckling as the voices bickered with The Narrator or the blunt responses from the princess, others saw me as tense as possible, not sure what move to make next that might derail a plan, and even more turned out to be as heartbreaking as they could have been heartwarming. This is a game of many sides and the title ensures that players will see at least a number of these throughout their first playthrough.
An initial completion of the game will take roughly three or four hours, depending on the routes taken as some are far longer than others and even others can be cut quite short depending on the actions taken and it is here that players will find that the game’s gallery system serves as not only a way to revisit some of the gorgeous artwork, but also gain hints as to routes yet unseen, encounters and endings yet to be unlocked. Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is a title that revolves around replayability and thrives on it, especially since this version added new endings, new forms of the princess, and also expanded on some previously available routes. Even as we saw our first ending come to a conclusion that felt as natural as can be, a glance showed that there was far more to obtain and that tracking down some of these encounters and endings would be far more difficult than they may seem, especially some of the more meta ones. Combine this level of replayability with some of the best writing a horror visual novel with tinges of romance can have and you have an excellent story that will have players hunting for missing routes long after their first completion.
Gameplay
Being a visual novel, the actual player interaction is quite slim. The title is designed to appear to be similar to “choose your own adventure” style of novel where players can have questions that can be, usually, asked without consequence displayed as (Explore), though be wary as some of these do have consequences, while direct choices will spirit players along their current route or change it altogether depending on their selection. It is worth noting that the game does feature a handy “Skip Previously Read Text” option that can be triggered with RB. This can make some of the early repeatable scenes far easier to zip through to see what new routes await these three characters and the voices in your head. It is interesting to note as well that, at least throughout a single playthrough, the title also will begin to lock out certain choices to avert players from running down the same route they have already completed for that playthrough. This is incredibly useful, though it is worth noting that any subsequent playthroughs won’t feature this option unless they repeat a route once more.
One thing that is a bit of an annoyance is the game’s user interface when it comes to the extra options. While players will generally only be making choices on the dialogue tree, the cursor will occasionally appear out of place on the tree until it is moved and should players tap to the left they can easily find themselves on the settings, save, auto, or log options instead. This is a minor nitpick but one that happened frequently enough to be a bit annoying.
Audio & Visuals
We’ve already mentioned before how critical the presentation of Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is to its storyline and this is thanks to the truly striking art style that the developers have chosen to go with for the game. Every background, character, and other element is completely hand-drawn and in almost entirely monochrome black-and-white with an extensive level of detail provided thanks to impressive use of shading and shadow techniques. There are splashes of color though these are reserved for only the horrific moments that can occur, be it a sudden appearance of blood red or a truly brutal looking drawing accompanying an especially brutal event, with more than a few of these being outstandingly gross in nature and easily unsettling for those without a stronger stomach. Combine this with some truly unique looking takes on the princess’ countless forms, including the hauntingly beautiful look of her eyes in nearly every form and players will find themselves in for a truly splendid visual treat.
Another mentioned aspect that makes Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut so outstanding is the game’s voice work. Most impressive is that there are only two voice actors for the entire game, Jonathan Sims, who pulls countless duties as The Narrator as well as the numerous Voices that accompany the player, and Nichole Goodnight who voices the princess in all of her unique and horrible forms. Both of these voice actors show incredible range providing unique sounding voice work here, with Sims providing unique voices for each of the emotions the Voices represent and Goodnight masterfully handling the constantly swinging emotions of the Princess, with one route being loving, the other a sadistic monster, another completely detached, and many more. This voice work really drives home the game’s writing and does wonders when accompanied by the game’s simple but effective soundtrack. The soundtrack for the game is simple in nature but used to great effect, with a general track played more often than not but either silenced completely for tense effect or swapping to other tracks, a few brand new to this version of the game, to show how truly far the players have wound themselves into the current route with the princess.
Overall
Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is an outstanding visual novel with such a fantastic presentation that it elevates the already impressive writing that players will experience through the myriad of routes available. There are some minor quibbles with the user interface, but other than that players will find themselves in for a real treat throughout the entirety of the game as they never know what route their next choice might bring them down and the emotions they’ll experience. Combine this with the now expanded and added routes in this enhanced version of the visual novel and Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is a must play for any fan of visual novels or even those who like subversions of the genre.
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