Developer: Egg Hatcher
Publisher: Gamera Games
Release Date: April 20, 2023
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox Series X|S
Price: $8.79 (Steam Summer Store Promotion, Originally $10.99)
Reviewed On: PC

Volcano Princess was a game that had been on my recommended page on Steam for quite a while. I decided to finally give it a chance because I was in a lull between different games and wanted something to put my time into. I had played other similar simulator role-playing games (RPGs) to this one, so I gave Volcano Princess a try. 

Analysis

Story

The game is about raising a daughter, increasing certain stats and attributes through classes to shape her future. She wishes to become a knight (though the term “knight” is a bit more loose in this universe) as there is an unexplainable rise in the demon population.

There are 58 possible endings, all with their own nuances that are influenced by stat values and activities players choose their daughter to go through. 

Players can build up points with non-playable characters (NPCs) to forge relationships, both platonic and romantic. There are 18 total NPCs (male and female) of which only two of them are not romanceable. The relationships do not influence the ending that players can achieve. 

Basically, there is a career ending and a romance (or lack thereof) ending for the daughter. 

Game Play:

There are three main stats which are Charisma, Stamina, and Mind. All of the classes funnel into these three stats which in turn affect the kind of jobs the daughter can work and their success in completing activities. Alongside these stats are the amount of Fame the daughter has and Patience. 

Fame influences the amount of love letters the daughter receives which can come with prizes and their own stat bonuses/downfalls depending on how players respond. The Patience value is consistent with each cycle and is the amount of times the daughter can do an activity with an NPC whether that be consulting the NPC or simply engaging in battle with them. 

The classes that build up the main stats consist of Sword, Archery, Science, Beliefs, Ritual, Literature, Art, and Tone. Favoring one class over another greatly impacts the ending players can achieve. These classes all have their own unique courses and can build up four substat values: Strength, Intelligence, Emotion, and Imagination. These substat values also dictate the endings players can achieve. With 58 different endings, there are many ways the developers have utilized these different stats to achieve branching routes. 

The game runs in cycles, and each cycle is a month. The game starts the daughter as a child before time skipping to her as a teenager that is raised to a young adult. 

Each cycle is spent utilizing energy and maintaining the daughter’s mood. The energy allows for the daughter to do activities such as fighting in the forest or participating in a horse competition. It also is used to hang out with NPCs in order to improve the daughter’s relationship with them.

The mood is important for the daughter’s success. If players go into certain activities or into classes with a low mood, there is a penalty that comes with it. There is also a gold currency that makes it possible to buy things for the daughter in the game and participate in certain events. 

There are many things to be aware of and maintain when starting the game. However, it becomes easy to see how all these components work with each other and make the game flow as players become comfortable. 

Combat

There is turn-based combat in this game. The daughter is able to learn skills in order to better defeat enemies as well as gain different accessories and weapons to increase her abilities. Players can also utilize their relationships with NPCs to invite them to fight in battle with them, though this is limited to only eight characters. 

I actually greatly enjoyed the combat. I often worry about going into combat and being able to mindlessly go through it. However, this combat is varied through different enemies with different abilities that make it unpredictable. I have to strategize and figure out the best routine for certain enemies to go through the battle. 

Combat comes with many benefits as well which makes it enticing to go through their battle system.

Fights between the daughter and NPCs are a bit different in which they are entirely stat reliant, but it still flows well. It’s a less involved turn-base fight that doesn’t involve skills or anything. It’s a simple back and forth attack and defend written out. Though, the writers definitely made the written combat seem filled with energy and movement.

Criticisms of Volcano Princess

One of the issues of the game lies in its translations. The translations are pretty solid throughout the game, but there are definitely moments where I could tell the words became wonky. It wasn’t super noticeable, but it happened often enough that I caught on to it. 

Another downfall is the overarching story. I think it was intended for players to repeat the game many times in order to reach the final ending. It works in this type of game with so many endings, but it still requires quite a bit of time and effort. 

The true ending requires a few specific decisions that aren’t always apparent to players that it’s a right or wrong choice situation. The issue I encountered was that the main story was limited in such a way that there weren’t any other decisions that could be made which would not stray from the main story. I won’t delve too much into to avoid spoilers, but it certainly was a bit disappointing.

To be fair, my curiosity of the overarching story made me not mind that process as much as proven by how I’ve spent over 40 hours to get the true ending even though I haven’t gotten all of the endings yet.

Final Score:

Overall, I give Volcano Princess four out of five stars. There are still quite a few elements to the game I didn’t mention like Talents and many other activities or even the way that Fame can act as a currency to complete classes. The game has many nuances that made me want to play it again and again to get as many endings as possible. 

I believe I definitely spent my money’s worth and will continue to play through the game for fun. Are you interested in this kind of game? What sort of endings would you go after? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or in our Boss Rush Discord!

Featured Image Source: Gamera Games

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