Review: Princess Maker Refine (PC)

Once upon a time, a land was cast into turmoil. A war waged, people died, children became orphans. In the middle of all of this, a nameless, faceless hero arose. He fought off the evil, conquered the bad and became a dad? So begins the tale of Princess Maker Refine.

Originally developed by Gainax, the studio behind Evangelion and released in Japan in 1991, Princess Maker Refine recieved a remaster by CFK Co., Ltd. and released by Bliss Brain. Keeping the original game play and adding English subs, Princess Maker Refine is a simulation game that uses similar learning mechanics like Monster Rancher. Over the next eight years, your darling girl will grow and become a woman. She may be the next princess of the land, or she may end up a maid reaching for greatness. It all depends on you.

Not an easy job

As any parent will tell you, it’s no easy task to raise a child, especially one with aspirations of royalty. As her doting father, it becomes a balancing act of making sure she grows up properly. There are several ways to go about this. Our princess starts out at a child with no stats. Time passes by monthly, with the player setting out her schedule a week at a time. It can be divided into education, work, rest, and vacation. Each one will cost money.

Speaking of money, we have a certain amount at the outset. The money can go for hiring tutors for her lessons. To start off, there are three to choose from. Each one will cost a set amount that goes up as she improves. There is the possibility of failure, and she will not be able to advance until she can pass a test.

When funds are low, you can send her to seek employment from others in the town. Some of the jobs will raise her stats, like wisdom and strength. Although it is weirdly difficult to get several of those stats to rise at all. Stats are also raised by purchasing items at local vendors-for a price.

Highs and Lows

Throughout my gameplay of Princess Maker Refine, she consistently had high grace and wisdom, and low charm or power. At times, even those high stats were not enough to keep her from messing up repeatedly. And if she can’t complete the task, or she makes a mistake, she will be docked that day’s wage. This could mean an entire week wasted.

The fatigue stat is the one to watch and the only one we can influence directly. If our lil princess’ fatigue gets too high, or even a slightly jump past zero, she may not finish her tasks, lessons and will become dejected. This can also result in the loss of work opportunities. Either way, it is best to keep this as low as possible.

As she grows, you must do your fatherly duty and listen to all the gossip about her! This is a valuable way to find out what people think about her. The better the remarks, the higher the possibility she might get into the castle to see the king.

And, of course, in keeping with realism of parental experiences, there are times she will become rebellious and choose to slack, which also results in the lowering of some stats. She’s incredibly stubborn. I have yet to figure out how to bring her out of it. I also have not gotten her an audience with the King, but I aim to have multiple playthroughs.

Pretty as a Princess

Graphically speaking, Princess Maker Refine has the same charm of the visual novels from the 90’s. Yes, it is basic, and even the controls are easy to understand. However, there is something sweet about the pastel color pallet and big eyes of our lil Princess.

There were some community complaints that the re-release removed the nudity. If that’s an issue… yeah, you might want to seek help.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Princess Maker Refine is a charming simulator that invoked nostalgia. It is a fun way to pass the time, easily understood and repeatedly had me questioning what the heck I was doing! If you’re looking for something layback with a side of existential crisis, pick it up.

Princess Maker Refine is available for PC on Steam. Review code provided by Bliss Brain.