Long Live The Queen

When I was much younger, I used to play this old text-based adventure game entitled Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That game really stood out for just how dedicated it was to screwing you over, killing you over mundane acts like forgetting to feed a sandwich to a dog. Long Live the Queen is no different in that regard. Dying is Fun, and you *will* die a lot. If this doesn't sound appealing, then you should probably leave now instead of trying to play it. Genrewise, LLtQ is within that stat-raising visual novel zone, akin to older works like Princess Maker and Tokimeki Memorial - just, you know, with a lot more deaths. I really like these sorts of games, where you're given tons and tons of choices that all affect and interact with one another. It's a puzzle of sorts, where everything you do has longterm consequences and the potential to utterly doom you. LLtQ is pretty open-ended puzzle at that, as most events can be passed with a wide variety of checks, only absolutely requiring multiple in succession in late-game or optional events. Unfortunately, while I really enjoyed the gameplay, the writing is a bit more hit-and-miss. In general, I found it to be "breezy" - fast-paced and not the most substantial. This makes sense, as you don't generally spend *that* much time around any given person. This is most obvious in regards to the romantic interests, which, again, makes a form of sense: most of these are purely political affairs. I do wish that one particular romantic option had an extra letter or similar, mainly because they're attached to some of the hardest checks in the entire game (those of the Old Forest). I'm also decidedly *not* a fan of one particular romance route and how its handled. I'm avoiding spoilers in this review, but there's a Cruel-only route that plays sexual assault in the same breezy manner as everything else, even though the other Cruelty routes generally have a more serious tone. It's a frustrating part of an otherwise really good experience, and one that definitely left a bit of a bitter taste. Still, despite what I've said about the writing, most of it is actually pretty fun. There's even one character who, in hindsight, gives really awful advice - genuinely a pretty fun way of nigh-guaranteeing people get swept up into bad situations. The final week writing is pretty cool, too - it feels awesome to watch your perfectly-honed skills *finally* defeat the big bad, whether that's through swordplay, persuasion, music, magic, or something else entirely. Add in the really fun puzzle-y gameplay, and I ended up definitely enjoying the game overall.

After buying, I spent a whole day trying to win. Haven't yet, but I'm having fun

It's probably not the best of these sorts of games, but I still had fun playing it. To 100% it's definitely one of those games you will need to look at guides for otherwise you would waste way too much time.

Composure is the ultimate life hack. Become This is fine dog and nothing can hurt you.

로판 빙의물의 주인공 되고싶으면 이 게임 해봐라. 진짜 좋은 퀸이 되고 싶어서 온갖 난리를 쳤는데도 불구하고 독살당했다...

내 라이브러리에 플레이 타임 9.9시간이 찍혀있다. 분명 내가 플레이한 기록이다. 하지만 소름 돋게도 내 기억엔 이게 무슨 게임이었는지 전혀 기억이 안 난다. 간신히 단편적인 기억만 떠올려보자면... 나름 재밌었다? 난이도가 좀 있다? 빌런이 있었나....? 프메랑은 좀 다르네... 이 정도의 파편뿐이다. 그럼에도 불구하고 나는 이 게임을 추천한다. 내 심연의 기억 저 편 어딘가에 이 게임에 대한 본능적인 혐오감이 없기 때문이다. 내 무의식이 허락한 게임, 당신도 뇌를 맡겨보시라.