| Long Live The Queen | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Developer |
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Publisher |
Hanako Games |
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Engine |
Ren'Py |
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Latest version |
1.3.23.4 |
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Platforms |
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux |
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Release date |
June 2, 2012 |
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Genre |
Visual Novel, Raising Sim |
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Modes |
Single player |
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Media |
Online distribution/Download, Compact Disc/CD |
Long Live The Queen is a visual novel role-playing video game developed by Hanako Games and Spiky Caterpillar, published by Hanako Games. It was released on June 2, 2012 for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The game uses anime-style graphics and is written in English. The latest patch was released on October 2015.
The story of the game follows a young princess who is training to become queen after the death of her mother. The objective of the game is to keep the princess alive for 40 weeks until she turns 15 and gets crowned.
The game can be purchased either from the official Hanako Games page or Steam.
Plot
From the official website:
THE QUEEN IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN
Being a Princess is not an easy job. Being a Queen is even harder. Especially when you're only fourteen years old, and the reason you've inherited the throne is that your royal mother has just met an untimely end.
Now power is up for grabs. You may be the official heir, but much of the country's nobility would love to steal the throne for themselves. Aggressive neighbors will take advantage of any weakness to enlarge their borders at your expense. And that's not even mentioning the magical dangers which are lying in wait...
Can you survive long enough to reach your coronation?
For more details see Events by Week and Calendar.
Characters
- Crown Princess Elodie: The player character. The goal of the game is to ensure she makes it safely to her coronation. She has recently returned to the castle after the sudden death of her mother, to be crowned as the next queen. The depressed princess must learn to maneuver around the world of politics if she wants to survive at all.
- King-Dowager Joslyn: Elodie's father. He's regent of Nova until Elodie is crowned, which means that he handles most of the country's administration while his daughter gets much-needed education to prepare for her coronation. While well-intentioned, his duties and depression leave him little time to interact with Elodie, and he will be one of the main obstacles for the princess to regain one of her birthrights...
- Queen Fidelia: Elodie's mother. She died suddenly a few weeks before the events of the game. Her death left many matters for Elodie to resolve, and became the catalyst for others.
- Duchess Julianna: She arrives during Week 2. She pushes for Elodie to assume the role of a Lumen, a magical person, as the queen and her ancestors did. If accepted, she will become Elodie's tutor and main informant in most things concerning magic.
See Characters for the full list.
Gameplay
The player reads through the story and schedules the protagonist's weekly lessons and weekend activities. Based on the choices, various stats are raised and influence the course of the story. To avoid death scenes the player has to raise some stats to a certain value. There are multiple ways to finish the game.
For more detail on the game see Mechanics.
Development
The game was developed by Hanako Games and Spiky Caterpillar, creators of Cute Knight, Cute Knight Kingdom, and Magical Diary. It was made with the Ren'Py visual novel engine.
Long Live The Queen has darker elements than all the previous titles: themes of intrigue, politics, murder, espionage, abuse and war make most of the story, while also using archetypes of Magical Girl fiction.
The game has received many updates since release, the biggest being the Steam Greenlight update which added new characters, gave old extras more dialogue and portraits and added more events and epilogues. The latest patch is ver. 1.3.23.4, dated October 2015.
Reception
Technology Tell gave a score of 90/100 to the game, writing:
"It’s really an unusual adventure and I admire Hanako Games and Spiky Caterpillar for stepping a little outside their comfort zone to release a darker game that requires players to think smart and manage emotions to keep a character alive."
IndieGames was positively reviewed , writing:
"Long story short, Long Live The Queen is a solid title."
As of 05/17/2016, this game holds a 94% approval rate on Steam.
Trivia
- The game's setting, Nova, and it's duches and counties share a volcanic and planetary naming theme. According to Hanako Games this is "Because, after all, this is a game about dying horribly. :D"
Gallery
Trailer
Long Live the Queen trailer