Slay the Princess (PC, Steam) Review

Unravel a Chaotic, Beautiful Mystery One Choice at a Time

Shut up, stop what you are doing, and play Slay the Princess. This game is offensively good. Slay the Princess is a surreal horror visual novel and RPG, which is oozing with style. It is also fully voiced, so for those of us with short attention spans who zone out after reading too much, you are in luck. The voiceover is also phenomenal and easily one of the game's best and most entertaining aspects.

This game is undoubtedly not terrifying by any means, as it has no jump scares, loud noises, or environments to creep your way through or risk painful death. What it lacks in sheer terror, it makes up for in storytelling, narration, presentation, discovery, and an overall sense of mind-blowing realizations with each new playthrough.

So, how is the game played? You may ask. Everything in the game happens from the perspective of your character, "The Hero," who is being instructed by "The Narrator." The Narrator is very much like a DnD Game Master in that he explicitly explains every detail of a scene and advises you on what to do and where to go. The funny thing, though, is you don't have to listen. Almost like a choose-your-own-adventure game, you are presented with choices after every main dialogue. Your decisions directly affect the next scene into a continuous series of branching paths. The very first thing I did when starting the game was follow the most direct route to "Slay the Princess," and I did. In only 10 minutes. Yay! Go me. But then you find yourself back at the start, hearing the Narrator giving the exact exposition, only this time, you remember what happened. You can question the Narrator about what happened, but he has no memory of it.

This is where things get interesting. As you try different options, you experience more of the story and more of the crazy, weird, and utterly spooky versions of this world and the Princess. It became my goal to see the most F'd-up versions of everything the game has to offer. Each new attempt kept surprising me with unique elements that I absolutely loved. At this point, I am doing my damndest not to spoil anything; sadly, I need to share. One of the most insane aspects of the game is the alternate personalities of The Hero that manifest with different approaches. These show up as new voices with entirely different personas and opinions on each scenario, which affect the outcome and options to choose.

For my fellow horror aficionados, there are many, many brutal and visceral scenes to be experienced in this game. They take a little work to get to. In the meantime, you can bask in all the amazingly detailed and beautiful hand-drawn sets throughout the game. Every element in the game is hand-illustrated by award-winning graphic novelist Abby Howard, one of the cofounders of Black Tabby Games. Part of the charm and what makes this game so brilliant is the dark comedy writing and sense of ease that can then be shattered in a moment by a sudden jarring turn of events, like watching the Princess gnaw at her wrist like a trapped animal. Or have giant blades shoot out from her limbs, leaving the skin flopping around them and looking like one of the monsters from The Suffering.

I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling or robbing you of the pure brilliance of this game. You really need to experience it for yourself to truly feel the charm and get sucked into the rabbit hole. You may think you are making mistakes as you play, only to learn there are no mistakes, just different paths. Often, this leads to new and bizarre outcomes that have you wanting to come back for more. Some of them are hilarious, and some of them are terrifying, but all of them are amazing.

Learn more about Slay the Princess by visiting the official website. As of this writing, the game is available on Steam and GoG with console versions planned in Fall 2024.

DEVELOPED BY:

Black Tabby Games

PUBLISHED BY:

Black Tabby Games, Serenity Forge

*This review was originally published in Issue #1 of Fearzine Magazine which was distributed in June 2024.

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