As a seasoned gamer who has navigated through countless digital realms, I must say that my recent foray into Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut left me utterly spellbound! Last year, I had stumbled upon its initial release on PC and was immediately captivated by its narrative prowess, akin to the enchanting tales spun by the Bard himself. But alas, the latest iteration has elevated this already magnificent creation to new heights, making it a veritable masterpiece in my humble opinion.
Approximately a year ago, there was plenty of talk about the game “Slay the Princess” by Black Tabby Games and Serenity Forge on Steam. It seemed that I had overlooked a demo at the time, and people urged me not to delve too deeply into it but just play it. I was aware that it offered a visual novel-style experience, yet I knew little else when I first began playing. The game started out as an intriguing narrative journey with multiple choices, but I didn’t anticipate the impact it would have on me – it far exceeded my expectations.
Moving back to the recent past, Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut was launched as a complimentary update on Steam, simultaneously making its console debut. Over the past week, I’ve been revisiting Slay the Princess on Steam Deck to explore the fresh content and also starting new saves on Nintendo Switch and PS5 to gauge the quality of the console adaptations. This review will steer clear of any significant plot spoilers, but it will delve into the new additions and their impact on the gameplay experience for veteran players.
Although I typically advise players curious about visual novels or narrative-heavy games to approach them without prior knowledge, it’s crucial to mention that this particular game is a horror title with plenty of graphic violence. Please be aware that there’s a content warning for the same. The charming artwork in promotional materials might be misleading, but I personally chose to steer clear of trailers when I first played this game. New players should know what they’re stepping into here.
If you’ve never played Slay the Princess before, it offers an experience similar to a visual novel, featuring a storyline that branches and loops, interwoven with elements of horror, gore, humor, and exceptional writing and acting. Your journey begins on a forest path, leading towards a cabin at its end. The princess resides in the basement of this cabin, and your mission is to eliminate her. She will make attempts to thwart you, and it’s the manner in which she does so that sets Slay the Princess apart.
In this game, you’ll find yourself immersed in a tale that unfolds primarily from your perspective. The key characters include a narrator, inner voices, and a princess. However, as the game advances, things can change significantly as you explore different paths. Each action you take carries weight, and while it may initially feel like you’re just following a routine, the game cleverly eases you in before plunging you into more complex situations thanks to its loop structure. This same approach is used for the voice acting and the inner voices that become accessible as you delve deeper into the narrative web of possibilities.
In the game, your character faces choices such as venturing downstairs with a knife or examining a mirror. The princess is constantly trying to thwart your attempts to harm her, but there’s an element of uncertainty – is she truly the one in peril, or is there more to her story? I intentionally left out details about the game’s narrative progression to preserve the same immersive, unpredictable experience that I had when I first played it, much like in games such as Gnosia.
“What I loved most about Slay the Princess was how it kept surprising me throughout. Even though I knew it had multiple endings and additions for returning players, it wasn’t until an hour or so into the game that I started to question both the game and myself – a clever touch that isn’t immediately obvious.
If you have experience with games like “The Stanley Parable”, you might assume you know what to expect in this case, but “Slay the Princess” offers a lot more than just a repetitive narrative. Typically, its non-linear structure involves going through various loops, where your choices in earlier ones significantly influence and alter the course of subsequent loops.
In simpler terms, “Slay the Princess” is a game where you navigate through specific levels to collect certain items. Once you’ve accumulated enough of these items, you can unlock one of several possible endings, with the main goal being to see the primary conclusion. While there are earlier endings that can be achieved, the real appeal lies in collecting the items and reaching one of the main endings. I was astonished by the diversity in the levels and endings last year, but the recent content significantly enhances an already exceptional narrative journey.
Games featuring looped narratives often struggle with repetition, but this game manages to stand out despite some degree of repetition. In fact, since I revisited “Slay the Princess with The Pristine Cut” on PC and consoles, it’s been a while since I’ve been as impressed by a branching narrative as I was with “Disco Elysium”, one of my all-time favorite games. In fact, it’s climbing its way up my list of favorite stories in the gaming medium.
Despite almost achieving 100% completion on both the PC and console editions, I’m still unsure about how Slay the Princess monitors your progress for unveiling content in the updated gallery. This feature is fantastic with the latest update, but a visual flowchart would have made it more intuitive. To be honest, the absence of such a chart and certain interface aspects are my primary concerns in this release. The repetition didn’t significantly bother me except for a brief period as I familiarized myself with its structure.
As a gamer, I encountered some frustrations across different platforms when playing “Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut.” On the Nintendo Switch, the interface felt sluggish compared to other versions, which was particularly annoying in certain story sections. Similarly, I struggled with scrolling on both PC and PS5, where occasionally the game would consume an input or two during scrolling, leading to unintended selections.
From a visual standpoint, Slay the Princess is outstanding. I’m particularly fond of the diverse designs for the princess, which change depending on the path chosen, as well as the animation quality, clever use of color, and how the environment adapts accordingly. The charming hand-drawn style is quite misleading. However, there are two visual effects (boil effect and parallax movement) that caused a bit of motion sickness for me. Fortunately, you can disable both of these effects.
Following the conclusion of last year, I was determined to acquire a comprehensive artbook, and I’m pleased that plan is coming together. The enhanced experience, however, comes not just from the purchase itself, but also from the new music in The Pristine Cut. The haunting piano melodies, orchestral pieces, and overall sound design of Slay the Princess are all exceptional. Initially, the voice acting may seem peculiar, but the voice actors who play multiple roles in this production displayed remarkable versatility, effectively portraying a wide range of emotions as the narrative unfolds.
As a dedicated enthusiast, I must say that when it comes to customization for optimal user experience, the PC variant truly shines. It offers an array of accessibility features such as adjustable line spacing and text size, high-contrast text, and even alternative font options like Opendyslexic, catering to a wider range of preferences and needs.
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut new story and features
Last year, I found Slay the Princess simply fantastic, but this updated version takes it to another level with its fresh content and improvements. It’s like experiencing a Persona 5 Royal scenario, as it offers an abundance of new content such as a revised ending, enhancements to previous routes, additional branching paths, a user-friendly gallery to keep track of unlocked items, and the unique feature to replay older versions on PC.
The newly included music and voiceovers significantly enhance the game, making it even more impressive. It’s hard to believe that these additions are free for existing owners, considering the substantial amount of content and upgrades they provide to the game.
Additionally, I appreciate that the creators simplified navigation to fresh content by modifying certain typography and design elements towards the conclusions. This sparked my interest even further in discovering overlooked enhancements from earlier iterations within a particular sequence of events.
In simple terms, the present version is officially compatible with Steam Deck (Steam Deck Verified), and I encountered no problems while playing it on both my Steam Decks and MacBook Air. Although there are a few limitations associated with the console versions, these do not affect the flawless PC version at this point in time.
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut PS5 & Switch impressions
As a dedicated gamer, I’ve taken on the challenge of Slay the Princess’ latest edition across multiple platforms, including my trusty PC setup. But I’ve also dived into the action on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 to get a feel for how smoothly it’s adapted for console play.
In its current state, the Nintendo Switch port of Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut has some bumps. It’s slow to load at first and experienced freezing during certain animations, particularly in two endings, which was concerning. Additionally, there are visible loading times when transitioning between areas, even as simple as moving from the cabin into the basement on specific paths. Given these issues, I would advise potential buyers to hold off until a patch is released before purchasing it for the Nintendo Switch.
The one advantage the Switch version does have over PS5 and Xbox is touchscreen support and being able to play it on the go. I haven’t tested the Xbox version yet, but the PS5 version is excellent with much faster loading. I haven’t run into any crashes on PS5 yet, but I’ve not seen every single route there yet.
Additionally, I appreciate that the game creators incorporate gyro controls in both Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 editions, mimicking the parallax effect observed in a computer mouse cursor. Personally, I have turned off these features due to motion sickness concerns, but it’s impressive to see them striving for such detail on console versions.
Playing “Slay the Princess” last year on PC was an exceptional adventure for me, rivaling Disco Elysium in narrative depth. Now with “Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut”, developed by Black Tabby Games and Serenity Forge, they’ve refined, expanded, and elevated the core experience to make it one of my top picks for this year. If you appreciate distinctive visual novels or horror games, I highly recommend giving it a try.
9
Tested variations: PC. In “Slay the Princess”, you can also enjoy “The Pristine Cut” on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
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2024-11-06 08:26