Princess Maker 5 Reviews

Definitely not the best Princess Maker game, but not the worst one either. It is a slightly tipped to a "yes" on the scales for me. Is it fun? Yes. But I'm also the queen of menus and statistics. I even made my own spreadsheets. This is a strategy game, make no mistake. And that's what makes it fun to me. Are there a ton of options to increase and decrease your stats? Yes. Is the romance and relationship mechanics between characters the best it's ever been? Yes and can actually be challenging. Do the body stats actually change the appearance of your daughter besides fat and not fat? Yes. Like if she's flat chested, her sprite is actually flat chested, if she's tall she was physically appear taller while you talk to her (my first play thru my daughter was so tall that by the end of the game her sprite was nearly at the top of the window, cool touch). Is the challenge of the game balanced? I would say yes, but this is not a simulator I would recommend for a first timer because there are so many stats to keep track of it's gonna be impossible for people that don't know what stats are important and which ones are more accessory. PRO TIP: ALWAYS FOCUS ON UPPING STAMINA FIRST. It'll make it so you can handle more stress so you can up other stats later. I would also say that there are not any stats in the game that are truly useless. Even the "accessory" type stat have some use elsewhere in game (ex if increase the music skill you can sing to the monsters/bosses during adventures and decrease their will to fight). Also everything you do in game is going to increase or decrease a stat. You have to pay attention, the game shows you this each time, but it can still be easy to lose track of a stat you're not focused on increasing/decreasing and accidentally become clingy or rebellious, or even too depressed to function. Is there varied game play? No. Not in this game. They completely got rid of the RPG mini games for adventuring, also they changed the combat mechanics in this game to something I still don't have a full grasp on. There are times where I miss for seemingly no reason, even when my stats and combat skills are high level or even maxed out. And I've done the research, looks like its a mystery in general between players. Big down grade. I will say though, besides that huge down grade, there's still tons to do in the game. Lots of events to trigger, special CGs, magical creature run-ins, assassinations attempts, friendships and romances to persue, stuff to buy, food to eat, and of course a growing girl still needs to go to the dentist. Hows the art? Very inconsistent. I am not a fan of the character designs in this game. Not even for the daughter. I happen to think she's the least visually appealing in terms of character design out of all the daughters. They made her look more unique than the other daughters but I think that takes away from it. Having a relatively simple character design imo, fits the daughter more as a visual symbol that she's a blank slate and can become anything. The full CGs are beautiful. Talking sprites are ugly. Chibi version is the cutest. For all characters. And again, could just be me but Miho looks like she's from a different game. I will say however, that the large cast of characters is a big plus though! Is getting a certain ending less arbritrary? This is also inconsistent. Like: 2nd play thru I had all the requirements to trigger the true ending events, but the last event never triggered for unknown reasons. I've seen other reviews saying the same thing for other endings (likely completionists like me-gotta get those fun pop ups). But there is more wiggle room to get the ending you want. You have more time to grind in general as opposed to needing to start your strat right away like in the previous titles.