If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: there just aren't enough princess related dating sim/rhythm games on the Nintendo DS. I can have my pick among a dozen horse riding and grooming games, but if I want to make cute Japanese boys fight over my affection I have to import games.
Natsume has seen the opening an filled the hole with
Princess Debut. It's half a game about making cute boys like you, and half a game about learning to ballroom dance. If either of those things sound like activities you're interested in then Princess Debut may be the game for you. Princess Debut is a fantasy game that transports the main character, a young schoolgirl, to a parallel universe. There she pulls a Prince and the Pauper and switches roles with her doppelganger. Over 30 days she, posing as the princess, must learn to dance, and find a date for the royal ball. The prospective suitors are all very different, but follow the stereotypical dating sim boys. There's Cesar, the snobby pretty boy. Liam, the sweetheart that keeps talking about his sister. Vince the happy go lucky clown. Kyle the dream boat. Keifer the silver-haired genius. Luciano, the brooding mysterious one. And Tony, the uh… six foot tall talking rabbit. Okay so they're not all stereotypical. Each day players get to explore around the kingdom, and practice their dancing skills. There's usually at least a couple things to do, in terms of meeting up with fellas and going on dates. Branching dialogues have the player develop relationships so that the boy of their dreams will ask the princess to be his partner. As far as dating sims go the outcomes are robust. Each prince has two endings and players must unlock all the endings before getting the secret prince. The dancing portions of the game are interesting because of their unique control. Players follow a ball through various loops and twists, mimicking the footsteps of actual ballroom dances. The dances are the staples like the waltz, foxtrot and samba. The songs are public domain classical songs, done in a style that accompanies the dance. The style of it is different from most touch screen music games, and generally has a more fluid feel to it.
Boys calling me beautiful and fighting to be my dance partner. This is like a life sim for me.The main problem with the game is the slow progression. There are eight different dance styles, but players have to unlock each one through the story mode. In order to level up enough to get new songs players have to play the same songs over and over again. The game is really easy too, so mastering the songs doesn't take long. So the game becomes repetitive and a bit tedious early on in the story mode. The dance sequences look pretty good for a DS game. The 3D models are a little goofy looking, but they move fluidly, since they've been mocapped to follow the actual dances performed. The 2D manga style dating sim portion is pretty well done too. Each person has multiple expressions. Princess Debut features a Ballroom Mode that allows players to go through the songs in a tournament setup. It also saves the video of the last dance and players can watch it from any angle, as well as follow along with the dance steps.
Closing CommentsPrincess Debut is a cute little game for the wannabe princess in the family. The extremely easy gameplay and rather basic approach to romance may limit the appeal to the pre-teen age bracket. The dancing mechanics are unique and fun, but the progression is very slow. Still Princess Debut does fill the dating sim gap that arguably needed filling. The storyline is pretty interesting and the style is perfect for young girl gamers. If they have the patience for this game they may just want to take up real ballroom dancing.
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