Side-scrolling adventures have always been close to a gamer’s heart. Even with its long name, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince from Nippon Ichi Software offers a fun adventure through the forest. With environmental puzzles and a plot that has human elements, this game is worth the time.
Originally released in Japan in May of 2018, the developers have now decided to bring the game to the western audiences starting February 2019. Now that the game is available on the Switch and PS4, more people can enjoy this unique story of remorse.
A wolf-monster is one day singing in the woods and a prince not too far away hears the beautiful voice and wanders until finding the person behind it. Startled, the wolf-monster scratches the prince causing him to lose his sight. Feeling horrible, the wolf-monster changes their identity and decides to get the prince his vision back.
In this game, you control both characters. This can be tedious at times but changing at different times is just part of what makes the game enchanting. At times, you will need to transform from a princess into a wolf in order to remove things that are in the way. Other times the prince will hold special items but the catch, of course, is that you, the princess, have to lead the prince the whole time during the game. You are his muscle, he is well, your object holder.
The environment is muted in color and the whole game looks hand drawn. Every character seems to present trouble in some way while the prince and princess have simple golden crowns that make them stand out. The characters are actually quite cute compared to more grotesque creatures that we normally see.
Mechanically the game is smooth and moves as it should. Sometimes the puzzles are very easy, while other times you need to stop and think how the physical elements of the game need to be changed. The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince feels a lot like Unraveled but set in its own universe. Not that I think the games are identical, they just happen to have similar mechanics such as the physical elements.
Overall, the art style is catchy. Mechanically not a lot needs to happen in order to keep the game moving and the story progressing. In the end, I think a lot of people will be discussing how the story ends. No one wants to hold someone’s hand through every single thing, but what happens when you feel bad about something? After all, the princess did sort of lie, about, everything. Right? Give this game a play and let us know what you think!
8/10
Available on: PS4, Switch
