Hanako Games

Question for the people who have played this game.

#1 by Yuki - Mar 19 2012

I know there's only a limited pool of players right now, but what did you like about it the most?

Re: Question for the people who have played this game.

#2 by LateWhiteRabbit - Mar 19 2012

Yuki:

I know there's only a limited pool of players right now, but what did you like about it the most?

The fact that it is hard, and your skills make all the difference. I like the balancing act that has to be performed, and the fact you can't be a "perfect" queen. There is always someone you have to let down or some area where you'll HAVE to fail, just so you can succeed on something else later.

I also admit that I love the politics angle. I love fantasy politics - the whole reason I made the map was to study it with the political situation in mind.

I love discovering all the ways people try and kill Elodie, too! In fact the first time I got the chocolates scene I went, "Hmm, that's nice I - WAIT A SECOND! Don't eat those!" But my poor Elodie had none of the proper skills and died - which was awesome. When I finally reached coronation it felt like a significant achievement, and not something just handed to me.

#3 by Yuki - Mar 20 2012

Interesting. I was just wondering, because a while ago I was designing a game that has some similar features and plot devices to LLTQ. Although it's still fantasy, it's very different gameplay-wise, you're not playing a princess and the setting isn't medieval.

I was wondering if it was worth continuing with its development.

Re: Question for the people who have played this game.

#4 by RedSocialKnight - Jun 11 2012

LateWhiteRabbit:

the first time I got the chocolates scene I went, "Hmm, that's nice I - WAIT A SECOND! Don't eat those!" But my poor Elodie had none of the proper skills and died

Were you just roleplaying not getting it, or does the game not give you the option to not eat them if you fail all the checks? I failed everything except court manners, which only tells you that "the note is a little high-handed" and I had the option to save them for later.

One thing I love is the mysterious failed checks. How would a high dog-handling skill save you from poisoned chocolates? And what earthly good is falconry against a sword-wielding maniac?

#5 by hanako - Jun 11 2012

If you fail every check you don't get the choice and Elodie automatically indulges herself.

#6 by RedSocialKnight - Jun 11 2012

Yuki: of course you should keep on! If you're looking for encouragement, there are a couple of online groups that will provide all the tools you need, as well as a (small, but still) built-in audience. I know the guys who write the "Choice of..." series, and they are trying to crowd-source more games using their Choicescript language.

Choicescript has no graphic support (Dan is a text-adventure purist from way back) but there are a number of other free applications that are set up to incorporate graphics - the one I remember the name of is Ren'Py, which I think was used for some of the non-Hanako games hosted on this site.

To keep the focus on LLtQ, I have to say what I'm most pleased by is what a leap ahead it is in terms of challenge and intricacy.

#7 by Oki - Jun 11 2012

It's a tie between the backstory of Togami and his possibility of salvation in Elodie, and the art

oh the art

#8 by Hicks - Jun 11 2012

It's different, well made, lots of replayability, art style fits right on the button.

Re: Question for the people who have played this game.

#9 by Soulbringer - Jun 11 2012

RedSocialKnight:

LateWhiteRabbit:

the first time I got the chocolates scene I went, "Hmm, that's nice I - WAIT A SECOND! Don't eat those!" But my poor Elodie had none of the proper skills and died

Were you just roleplaying not getting it, or does the game not give you the option to not eat them if you fail all the checks? I failed everything except court manners, which only tells you that "the note is a little high-handed" and I had the option to save them for later.

One thing I love is the mysterious failed checks. How would a high dog-handling skill save you from poisoned chocolates? And what earthly good is falconry against a sword-wielding maniac?

If you really want to know how the animal handling skilsl come in handy, try ^^

As for the game itself, indeed the fact that it isnt "auto coronation", and the fact that the skills are part of shapping the story (and the few choices you have between learning stuff). I must admit i found the world fascinating and a good source of inspiration for fantasy monarchs. Atleast that is how im using it, might also be why im exploring every single outcome of each encounter ^^ - I want to get the entire picture of the story and the world Elodie live in.

(As I noted, ive used the game as a source of inspiration for a Table Top RPG, ofc I was against using the system, however certain aspects of the game was very... Interresting to use)

Look on the bright side, there is not A LOT of people wanting to kill Elodie from the beginning

(as yes playing with the map in mind does change a few things ^^ atleast your perspective)

#10 by Muse - Jun 11 2012

I think I love the overall feel of it the best, to be honest. How a game 'fits' together is very important to me, and I feel like Long Live the Queen got the feel of a young princess forced into regency down to a T. The difficulty, the art, the writing; all of it match up perfectly.

#11 by Yuki - Jun 20 2012

Thank you all for the input.

RedSocialKnight:

Yuki: of course you should keep on!

Thanks, however, the choice has already been made - I'm going ahead with it. I'll keep you all posted.

#12 by mjm1215 - Jun 21 2012

I absolutely love the Princess Maker series, but I was always kind of disappointed that about the only way you can die in them is to get really sick from neglect. To me this game basically has all the things I liked about the PM games, but excludes all the things I didn't like so well (working for money, adventures, no 'end game' scenarios).

#13 by Alfilaria - Jun 22 2012

I'm probably the odd ball out here, but I like the writing most. Seeing how Elodie reacts when you do and don't pass checks is so much fun XD I just cracked up when I rejected the Duke of Sedna's suit before polishing up her court manners and she replied, "I am NOT marrying you! I'm only fourteen!" Besides wanting to see as many events and variations of events as possible, I just like taking care of Elodie and watching her mature. It took reverting to saves a few weeks back a couple of times, but I was happy for her when she finally made it to coronation alive and had a pretty happy ending. Although my successive playthroughs haven't been too successful...I don't know why, but I'm not the only one who's had this experience apparently XD Ah well.

#14 by Ikaru - Sep 14 2012

I loved practically everything about this game. The political intrigue, the fact that you can die (oh man, can you die), the fact that you can choose so many different paths, but can not choose everything. it is such a micro-managing monstrosity......that I spend hours and hours on it. There are so many side stories, so much background. I keep finding new nuances....it is just fasincating.

#15 by cae - Sep 17 2012

When I played the demo, I wasn't really expecting much. But since I am a huge fan of Princess Maker, and I previously (long, long ago) bought CK from Hanako. I figured, why not. They're similar.

So I played... and the sheer complexity of the game amazed me. I don't think I even hit the end of the demo before I closed the game and made my purchase.

What I liked, was the complexity of not only the choices you can make; but of all the characters. Of course, as we all know, complexity doesn't end there, Hanako has made LLTQ far beyond my expectations. The story was compelling, and the game was frustratingly fun.

Although I had asked for the cheats from Hanako, I didn't end up cheating very much because I would actually miss interesting text about skills and information that you (as the player and the Queen) learn about your area of study. It was well researched, and I enjoyed every moment of that.

The checklist also gets you excited for possible story developments, even when you've just started the game.

Moods, selections, outfits... etc, etc... I could probably go on forever.