Game: A Little Lily Princess
Genre: Adventure, Simulation, Visual Novel
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam)
Developer|Publisher: Hanako Games | Ratalaika Games
Age Rating: US T | EU 12+
Price: US $14.99 | UK £11.99 | EU € 12,99
Release Date: May 28th, 2021
Many thanks to Ratalaika Games for the review code!
The summer holiday is here and it’s time for two things in the minds of students everywhere: new games and summer reading. A Little Lily Princess won’t fulfill any required reading, but it is a game that will put a different spin on a classic you may have read in the past since it’s an adaptation of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. How does this Yuri tinted version play out? Read on to see what I thought!
Story
Sara Crewe leaves her beloved father in India to go to an all-girls boarding school in Victorian England. As she tries to make friends with her new acquaintances, her fortunes take an unexpected turn or two. Will Sara’s new friends stick by her through her changes in fate? And how will her determination to behave like a princess hold up under her changing circumstances?
Gameplay
This is one of the more engaging visual novels I’ve tackled. You don’t select conversation responses like many novels. Instead, it has a simple schedule-based stat raising element. The game is broken into weeks, and each week you select one task a day to complete. Each task has 3 different sets of icons you could receive. After you set up your week’s tasks, a Chibi version of Sara randomly selects a set of icons. These icons award you various stats which unlock scenes in each girl’s route. If you miss a particular scene’s time frame within the story, that route will become locked to you. As you progress, you narrow down your options until you select one girl’s route to play through to the story’s conclusion.
Characters
Sara Crewe is a charming protagonist. This game is populated by a possibly stereotypical array of girls school characters (the bully, the crybaby etc.) but I still found their personalities and relational development with Sara to be fun to follow. Their stories are touching and varied. I have enjoyed spending my gaming time in their company.
Controls
I had no problem with them! Easy to use, and touch screen is an option to navigate as well.
I was VERY happy with the text speed. I often am annoyed by slow text speed in visual novels, as I am a fast reader. In this title you can set the text to a nice fast clip and buzz through the scenes at a comfortable reading speed.
The skip is equally quick and easy to adjust. Ideal for going back in older save files and playing additional routes.
Art and Music
At this point, I have played multiple titles by publisher Ratalaika Games, and I have been uniformly impressed by the character/background design and music in all of them, regardless of what I thought of the game itself. A Little Lily Princess is no exception in this regard.
Special mention for the game designer’s success in capturing the era in their scenery. I could easily believe I was witnessing a story unfolding in 19th century London.
The music is pleasant and appropriate to the time period. I never turned it down due to it getting irritating. In fact, I found myself turning it up to hear better!
Yuri
I will fully admit that I was a little thrown when I started because some of the route characters are much younger/older than Sara. However, as the story progressed it became clear that not all the routes develop into romantic stories. Several develop into other types of relationships.
The Yuri in this title is very light indeed. Sara herself is fairly young, so this content stays age appropriate by being little more than instances of cuddling, the pondering of feelings, and youthful declarations of love. It all comes across as very innocent and sweet.
Any content to be aware of?
This is an adaptation of an older novel. As such, regional and racial stereotypes and language can be problematic. Please consider the context of the era this title is set in when playing.
Some darker content is hinted at. I won’t say what, in case I misread and am assuming too much, but it seemed pretty clear that not everything has been well in the lives of the side characters in this game.
Some characters are notably mistreated and bullied.
Conclusion
I had my doubts when I started, but this game has played out in a satisfying manner. My time with this title has been enjoyable and well-spent. The adaption text reads very much like books I read in my youth that were set in this time period, but with very light romantic overtones. Overall, this is a pleasant way to spend a day or two on the Switch.
Final Verdict: I Like It
