|
I highly recommend diving straight in and do not google it, nothing but spoilers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W4cOiqHxG4&hd=1 quote: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. Slay The Princess is a CYOA-style visual novel by husband and wife duo Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard, with voices by Jonathan Sims and Nichole Goodnight. Depending on your choices and what questions you ask, you will go down one of many significantly different paths, and it will take multiple full playthroughs to experience everything, I've still only seen about half. It also has a Stanley Parable-esque adversarial narrator in it, which is great fun. honestly the biggest out-of-loving-nowhere surprise for me of 2023. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Nov 16, 2023 |
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 14:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 08:04 |
|
|
This game is good, go play it
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 14:19
|
|
|
The game is extremely good and very re-playable. Go in blind, you won't regret it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 15:08
|
|
|
Yeah I'm glad there's a thread because I love this game but it's so hard to talk about because so much of the pleasure is experiencing what it is for yourself.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 15:47
|
|
|
Yeah that's a big issue, but I've been able to get some folks interested by showing them a bit of a single run. The writing is excellent and the voice acting is mostly also excellent, I think Nichole is very good but has some lines that definitely could have used another take or two, and Jonathan is phenomenal considering the number of variations on the same voice he has to do I got one person instantly interested by turning around and leaving and refusing to listen to the narrator, that sort of variation and opportunity is like crack to them in stories
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 16:18
|
|
|
this clip is so good, I love when people can completely guess what's about to happen or be said not because the game's writing is bad, but instead because it's what the player hopes it does/says and they are rewarded. this game in particular is extremely good at that I've found https://clips.twitch.tv/SpinelessRichSandstormDerp-DmJ1OkYQyENUcgA7
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2023 10:18
|
|
|
I love games with warnings like "Go into this game blind!" like with Inscryption. I decided to insist on not going to cabin as my first action. Things got really loving weird really loving quickly. There's clearly a lot the game is hiding from you from the word go, like assuming your protagonist is human. The weird quantum princess at the end even said I got to that ending too quickly. Plus I got an achievement saying that the real Slay the Princess game begins now. Really enjoying the Stanley Parable aspect to it all already! 
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 14:59
|
|
|
Game absolutely owns, maybe my biggest surprise and favorite game of 2023. Thorn best route. Pissing the narrator off by kissing the princess is great fun, can't imagine taking the opportunity to do the shittier option.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 15:07
|
|
|
Just beat the game. Wow, that turned out to be pretty cool and wait holy poo poo there are how many achievements still left??? How many variations are there on this game!?  
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 18:43
|
|
|
I feel like the actual ending didn't quite stick the landing for me -- it felt like it was expecting me to take the setting and metaphysics of the game seriously without really having fleshed it out enough to give me reason to do that, which left me feeling like I was making a vaguely defined choice for vaguely defined reasons -- but the process of getting there was pretty fun, in a "Monty Python with all of the gore and none of the homophobia" kind of way.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 00:02
|
|
|
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. and you are a horrible goose. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 06:46
|
|
|
Thuryl posted:I feel like the actual ending didn't quite stick the landing for me -- it felt like it was expecting me to take the setting and metaphysics of the game seriously without really having fleshed it out enough to give me reason to do that, which left me feeling like I was making a vaguely defined choice for vaguely defined reasons -- but the process of getting there was pretty fun, in a "Monty Python with all of the gore and none of the homophobia" kind of way. a lot of philosophical indie games do that sort of thing, but to me this one did it better than others and I really enjoyed the finale. both versions of the finale I experienced, anyways, I'm sure there are others but I'm not going to go wikidiving or whatever for this game. I've seen the "two gods rejoin and reboot the universe kaleidoscope" ending and the "you go into the cabin in her heart to find the core version of her inside and you go outside together" ending Whitenoise Poster posted:You're on a path in the woods  did you make that yourself? it rules
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 13:49
|
|
|
I've gotten a good majority of the achievements by now but just found out that my screenshots didn't actually capture what was on screen, instead saving a blank black screen or otherwise. Just FYI, try using the in-game screenshot feature by hitting S instead of an external screenshot program like Greenshot in case you have issues like I did. I really enjoyed the game, but a minor gripe (major spoilers): I didn't really care for the pseudo-existentialist philosophy during your chats with the Shifting Mound after each vessel is submitted and the final conversation with the God Princess. It just felt like the writer was throwing around words to sound smart but comes off as pretentious nonsense. I did really enjoy her showing scenes from your run from her perspective, though. That was pretty neat. I think my favorite routes were the Witch, The Stranger, The Prisoner, Razor, Arms Race, Adversary and Beast. Either they had really creepy and tense moments, parts that messed with my head or were hosed up, or had the best and funniest moments. If I had to pick an absolute favorite, then either Witch or Razor. Razor was especially hosed up because I was still operating under the assumption that the world only moves when I choose the right options, so when she suddenly said she was bored of talking and charged after me mid-conversation that scared the poo poo out of me. Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Nov 19, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 17:09
|
|
|
This game loving sucks. It's a poorly written visual novel that relies entirely on "don't read about it before you play" - for the simple reason that the writing is mediocre and the dull "metaplot" has nothing to offer by modern perspectives. Complete poo poo, avoid.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 19:06
|
|
|
Tolth posted:This game loving sucks. It's a poorly written visual novel that relies entirely on "don't read about it before you play" - for the simple reason that the writing is mediocre and the dull "metaplot" has nothing to offer by modern perspectives. Complete poo poo, avoid. Narrator: Turn on your monitor, friend.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 19:42
|
|
|
The narrator is a LessWrong comment section denizen. Johnny Sims tears poo poo up.
Ragnar34 fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Nov 19, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 20:17
|
|
|
Guess we found one of the 3% lol
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 20:50
|
|
|
Narrator: This game loving sucks. It's a poorly written visual novel that relies entirely on "don't read about it before you play" - for the simple reason that the writing is mediocre and the dull "metaplot" has nothing to offer by modern perspectives. Complete poo poo, avoid.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 20:51
|
|
|
looks like reddit cringe, I shan't be playing it
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 22:26
|
|
|
Horizon Burning posted:looks like reddit cringe, I shan't be playing it dumb bitch, its obviously tumblr cringe. learn some media literacy, dipshit!
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 22:59
|
|
|
Teriyaki Koinku posted:I love games with warnings like "Go into this game blind!" like with Inscryption. I decided to insist on not going to cabin as my first action.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 23:41
|
|
|
Captain Invictus posted:I think it sets things up well enough by the time you reach it, but when you meet the narrator, it's pretty easy to avoid the questions in the limited time you have that actually explain what's what outright. the narrator is an echo of a mortal who managed to split apart and trapped god in a construct designed to have you kill off the part of god that allows death, so that his universe would lose the ability to die. the ending is you coming to terms with rejoining with your other half and rebooting the universe, setting things back to how they always have been. I got most of that, but the stakes felt a bit too abstract to hit home for me; you get told there's a world full of people outside the cabin but you don't ever really see them or find out anything about them, and the princess changes so much between runs that it's hard to feel like she's a defined character. Also I brought the knife into the cabin at the end, figuring I could just not use it if I didn't want to, and it turns out doing that kinda gives you two lovely options to pick from; I probably would have liked the second ending you got better.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 01:51
|
|
|
I felt that the whole point was that everything was immaterial outside of what you see. regardless of whether there's a whole world outside of your view, all you know is the woods, the cabin, and the basement, and you only have the word of The Narrator otherwise. this becomes INSANELY evident the moment you go the Contrarian route, where you immediately try to leave repeatedly as soon as you get control until eventually Something Happens. I highly recommend hopping in and trying it if you haven't yet, because it definitely set the tone for me for the rest of the game.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 02:15
|
|
|
Captain Invictus posted:I felt that the whole point was that everything was immaterial outside of what you see. regardless of whether there's a whole world outside of your view, all you know is the woods, the cabin, and the basement, and you only have the word of The Narrator otherwise. this becomes INSANELY evident the moment you go the Contrarian route, where you immediately try to leave repeatedly as soon as you get control until eventually Something Happens. I highly recommend hopping in and trying it if you haven't yet, because it definitely set the tone for me for the rest of the game. I would have been okay with that, except that even the things I did get to see felt too ill-defined for me to really grab on to and care about. It felt like more of a thought experiment than a story, and I've seen the thought experiment before. I did try out the contrarian route, and after the first loop in it I kinda went "okay, yeah, I see where this is going" and decided I might as well get back on the rails. Thuryl fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Nov 20, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 02:31
|
|
|
Captain Invictus posted:I felt that the whole point was that everything was immaterial outside of what you see. regardless of whether there's a whole world outside of your view, all you know is the woods, the cabin, and the basement, and you only have the word of The Narrator otherwise. this becomes INSANELY evident the moment you go the Contrarian route, where you immediately try to leave repeatedly as soon as you get control until eventually Something Happens. I highly recommend hopping in and trying it if you haven't yet, because it definitely set the tone for me for the rest of the game. More major spoilers: Having played through the game several times and clicked through the different possible limited options when you interrogate the Narrator through the broken mirror's reflection, this gets spelled out more or less explicitly. As in, the Narrator somehow died and created an artificial simulation/construct to split and trap two parts of the same god, isolating the parts of death in the Princess to manipulate the player/The Long Quiet into killing that part of themself. The simulation is put on repeat until this or some other outcome finally ends the simulation and only exists for that purpose, so there's nothing else actually outside of the cabin when you finish that particular iteration and kill the Princess or die. But once you break out of the simulation, either by assuming your true godlike form or joining with GodPrincess, the simulation shatters and you go back to the "real world". Either that or you go hand-in-hand with the Princess' heart and enjoy the fake simulation together. Sorry if that explanation was poo poo, but it's really convoluted even if you do understand the plot. I still don't get the symbolism of the mirror mirage in the different third chapters in the game, for instance.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 02:40
|
|
|
The parts of the game that aren’t ‘philosophical’ are fun, the rest is so-so. It’s a cool and unique game though, I recommend it
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 02:45
|
|
|
an iksar marauder posted:The parts of the game that aren’t ‘philosophical’ are fun, the rest is so-so. It’s a cool and unique game though, I recommend it Yeah I think its a really good VN but ultimately the setting and big picture stuff is pretty bog standard. The game's charm lies with presentation, humor, and the princess being cute even when she is "scary". (I put scary in quotes because I only found two of forms actually scary, and even then it felt just mild scary.) I am surprised how many people like the thorn route the most. I think the bad version of this game would be more like that in tone as whole lmao. Its the most standard type of narrative you would see in something like this. Snooze Cruise fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Nov 20, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 03:04
|
|
|
Snooze Cruise posted:I am surprised how many people like the thorn route the most. I think the bad version of this game would be more like that in tone as whole lmao. Its the most standard type of narrative you would see in something like this. Still, what really sells me on that and the Damsel route is how hilariously disgusted the Narrator feels describing the player and Princess being in love making goo-goo eyes at each other and hates you for making him do so when all he wants is for her to be slain instead.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 03:25
|
|
|
Thuryl posted:I would have been okay with that, except that even the things I did get to see felt too ill-defined for me to really grab on to and care about. It felt like more of a thought experiment than a story, and I've seen the thought experiment before. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Nov 20, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 03:43
|
|
|
For the record, the vessels I saw in my run were the Eye of the Needle, the Razor, the Stranger, the Spectre, and the Damsel, I think in that order. Seeing the Eye of the Needle first gave me a very different impression of what the game was gonna be than what it ended up being, and I think I was more hyped for that game than the one I ended up with.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 03:46
|
|
|
Thuryl posted:For the record, the vessels I saw in my run were the Eye of the Needle, the Razor, the Stranger, the Spectre, and the Damsel, I think in that order. Seeing the Eye of the Needle first gave me a very different impression of what the game was gonna be than what it ended up being, and I think I was more hyped for that game than the one I ended up with. I think my first order went Stranger, Witch, Wild, Razor/Arms Race/Mutually Assured Destruction, (warped) Damsel which gave me a weird Stanley Parable/Virtue's Last Reward impression of the game. Weird, tense but oddly satisfying. Basically toying with the game at first to see what it could do, then being distrustful and freaked out by the Princess to ultimately feeling bad for her and antagonistic toward the Narrator. Also I was usually more interested in talking with her and choosing as many Explore options as I could which usually got me killed in time-limited situations or made things really weird lol. Teriyaki Koinku fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Nov 20, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 04:18
|
|
|
It's a good game. Surprised me that the branches that go off of Witch are some of the best ones and because they both branch off of Witch, they're mutually exclusive on the same runthrough. Of course you could make a save to go back and see it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 04:52
|
|
|
The best branch is the Razor, The Princess being all "No, I definitely do not have a weapon, now come close to me where I definitely will not stab you" is an incredibly funny bit.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 05:36
|
|
|
It's... Ok enough. A bit purple prose-y, but with nice enough aesthetics. Good way to spend a few hours, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 13:34
|
|
|
Considering this was, what, a small side project made to take a break from the actual full game they are working on, it's pretty drat impressive imo. I actually really liked it, there's a LOT more reactivity and alternate routes than I thought there would be
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2023 21:19
|
|
|
Good game, if a little bit overhyped, with absolutely amazing voice acting.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2023 12:56
|
|
|
I can't praise the voice acting enough. It won me over completely when I heard an impersonation of Lazlo from What We Do in the Shadows.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2023 15:58
|
|
|
Is this like lamentations of the flame princess the game?
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2023 20:44
|
|
|
Hey hey hey, the thread's stickied!
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2023 21:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 08:04 |
|
|
kneelbeforezog posted:Is this like lamentations of the flame princess the game? No, this game is not made by a loser.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2023 22:01
|
|