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is a series of
social simulation Social simulation is a research field that applies computational methods to study issues in the social sciences. The issues explored include problems in computational law, psychology, organizational behavior, sociology, political science, econom ...
bishōjo game A or is "a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive girls". ''Bishōjo'' games are similar to ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books in the way of narrative, in which the game tells a story but the player may make c ...
s where the player must act as a parental figure and raise a young girl. The series was produced by the video game and
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
production company
Gainax Gainax Co., Ltd. (stylized as GAINAX; , Hepburn: ) was a Japanese anime studio famous for original productions such as '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', '' Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise'', '' Gunbuster'', '' Nadia: The Secret of Blue ...
. The first ''Princess Maker'', while popular enough to be translated into Chinese, was never released in the United States. ''
Princess Maker 2 is a 1993 Japanese video game developed by the company Gainax. It is the second installment in the ''Princess Maker'' series of social simulation games where the player must act as a parental figure and raise a young girl. The player takes the r ...
'' was translated by SoftEgg for a North American release, but this release was cancelled because publisher
Intracorp IntraCorp was a Video game, game publisher based in Miami, Florida, founded in 1984. History In November 1985, IntraCorp released Love Quest which sold 10,000 copies. By 1992, the company employed 40 people. By 1994, the company had sales in ex ...
went bankrupt. ''Princess Maker 3'', ''Princess Maker 4'', and '' Princess Maker 5'' have subsequently been released, as did several spin-off games. The series has been translated and released in Korea (Fujitsu) and Taiwan (Kingformation). An English release of ''Princess Maker 2'' was attempted in mid-90s, but it resulted in failure, and no games in this series were released in English until ''Princess Maker 2 Refine'' in 2016. '' Petite Princess Yucie'', an anime series loosely based on the third game but with characters from all previous games, ran for 26 episodes in 2002–2003.


Main series


''Princess Maker''

The first of the ''Princess Maker'' game was a popular MicroCabin game at the time of its release in 1991. It was re-released in a 'Refine Edition' with enhanced graphics and voices. There is a fan-made English and Spanish translation for the normal
MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...
version. The original version is for the
NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...
system, and the Refine Edition is out for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
as well as
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. The player is in charge of a war orphan, Maria, after defeating an evil demon. This game is similar to ''Princess Maker 2'', but one cannot give pocket money to the daughter, and in this version, the player can send the daughter to town to view the people's opinions of her. The wardrobe is also much larger than the sequel. There are four sets of clothing for each season. These clothes change after aging. Therefore, there are about 28 sets of clothing the daughter can wear over the years. The Harvest Festival has a Combat Tournament and a Miss Kingdom Contest. If the daughter succeeds, her popularity will rise. There are 74 possible endings, ranging from humble jobs such as a soldier or a mason, to prestigious jobs such as Archbishop or Prime Minister, to "dark side" jobs such as prostitute or crime lord. In addition, numerous factors decide whether or not the daughter is successful at her job, whom she marries, and whether she has children of her own. ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' magazine's Reader Cross Review gave the
PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched ...
version of the game an 8 out of 10.


''Princess Maker 2''

The second game in the series, ''Princess Maker 2'', was released in 1993.


''Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True''

Released in 1997, this game was originally revealed in 1994 for a summer 1995 release on
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
. It was then unnumbered and called ''Princess Maker: Faery Tales Come True''. It was released for the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
,
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
(as a collection with Princess Maker 2) and
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...
. In 2019, the HD remake of the game was released on
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
and PC. In ''Princess Maker 3'', the daughter is a young
faery A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Ger ...
who desires to become a human princess. The player's task is to help her reach adulthood. In this version, everything said to the player's daughter and done will help determine the daughter's attitude,
social status Social status is the relative level of social value a person is considered to possess. Such social value includes respect, honour, honor, assumed competence, and deference. On one hand, social scientists view status as a "reward" for group members ...
, and outlook on life. Unlike the previous game, the player has a chance to choose between six occupations. The occupation determines the player's social status in the kingdom, cash at hand, and the amount of yearly wage. The occupation will also affect various factors in the main character, starting with the attitude with which she begins. Along these lines, unlike the previous games where she was either happy, sick, or rebellious, the daughter's attitude can range from happy, to average, to worried, to spoiled. Her attitude will be determined based on both the player's job starting off (Merchant, Performer, Fallen Nobleman, Priest, Retired Knight, and Bard) and how well is she treated by the player during the game. There are 60 endings in this game ranging from the typical ones like General and Hero, to some more distinctive like Gambler and Freelancer. There are also many "magical" endings, with not only the princess ending, but princess of darkness, cats, etc. She can also marry a variety of people. The player's daughter has a number of courses and jobs available, just like in ''Princess Maker 2''. The courses to enhance her status include regular school, ballet class or church. All courses, save for church and fasting sessions, will challenge the daughter with a test/exam based on her status and how long she has dedicated herself to the course. The result of the test/exam will be directly proportional to the daughter's status. Once the result is announced, her reaction will depend on her overall status. The daughter's reactions vary, and it may or may not have effect on status for better or for worse. For all courses with test/exam, the daughter will have an opportunity to encounter her "rival" depending on the player's status related to the course. All courses, save for church and fasting sessions, will offer a unique rival female character. If the status related to the course is high enough, the rival may offer her friendship. Once the friendship is forged, the rival character will bring present on the character's birthday that would boost up some of her status depending on what kind of gift it is. They also would occasionally visit the player's daughter and hang out, which reduces her stress level and boosts certain personality status. School course is rather unusual as she may get a scholarship offer depending on her academic status.


''Princess Maker 4''

Unlike past installments, ''Princess Maker 4'' was developed by GeneX, although
Takami Akai is an illustrator, game creator, character designer and animator. Career history Akai attended Osaka University of Arts majoring in fine art . While studying there, Akai created the character designs for the Nihon SF Taikai, Daicon III openin ...
(original series creator) remained on hand as a supervisor. This time, character illustrations were handled by Tenhiro Naoto, the creator of ''
Sister Princess is a Japanese light novel series written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Naoto Tenhiro that began serialization in 1999 and ended in 2003. In 2001, a manga series and a bishōjo game for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation were r ...
''. It was released in 2005 on the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
. Structurally, ''Princess Maker 4'' draws much inspiration from ''Princess Maker 2'', although an adventure mode does not exist anymore. As with ''PM3'', full voiceovers have been recorded, including contributions from famous voice actors like Sakurai Takahiro (Prince Sharul/Charles). ''PM4'' is highly drama-oriented. Throughout the game, there are various event scenes that offer clues about the player's daughter's past, not to mention the war between humans and non-humans and her demonic roots. This is probably what differentiates it the most from previous ''PM'' games. Another change is that most of the vice-related jobs are less "adult-oriented" as it is impossible for the daughter to receive less reputable jobs such as Cabaret Dancing or as an assassin. The story begins when the player, a soldier, falls in love with a mysterious woman. However, she disappears, only to be found by him a few years later. She hands him the child, whose default name is Patricia, along with Cube the butler, and so his quest to fatherhood begins. A Japanese PC version of ''Princess Maker 4'' was released on July 28, 2006. It contains many more endings and events compared to the original. A
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
version of ''Princess Maker 4'' was released in Japan on October 12, 2006. A
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
version of it was released with a few more endings and "extras" not released in the PC version. These extras are, like ending galleries, only accessible after finishing the first ending and credit sequence. Earlier, there was an entirely different ''Princess Maker 4'' in the works. Under development at Ninelives, the game was to take place in modern Tokyo rather than the medieval world featured in the final game. This project was eventually abandoned due to Akai's health issues. However, the concept went on to be the basis of ''Princess Maker 5'', including the modern Japan setting and the fact that Cube can transform himself into a dog.


''Princess Maker 5''

''Princess Maker 5'' released for Windows in 2007.


''Princess Maker: Legend of Another World''

This 1995 game shares many similarities with ''Princess Maker 2'' and was released for the Super NES by
Takara was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy, Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Tomy, Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was("playing is culture"). The company focused on traditional toys and board games. They cr ...
. Unlike the other games, the daughter does not have a default name, but is named Melody Blue in ''Go! Go! Princess''.


Related games

* ''Princess Maker Pocket Daisakusen'', a puzzle game using ''Princess Maker'' characters. * ''Princess Maker Go! Go! Princess'', a board game using ''Princess Maker'' characters. * ''Princess Maker Q'', a quiz adventure game using ''Princess Maker'' characters. * ''Princess Maker Social'', an online version of ''Princess Maker'' developed by MGAME Korea. * ''Princess Maker for KAKAO'', a mobile app version of ''Princess Maker'' featuring previous characters and clothes.


Anime

The anime ''Petite Princess Yucie'' is loosely based on all the ''Princess Maker'' games, has the character of Cube from ''
Princess Maker 2 is a 1993 Japanese video game developed by the company Gainax. It is the second installment in the ''Princess Maker'' series of social simulation games where the player must act as a parental figure and raise a young girl. The player takes the r ...
'' appearing as Yucie's steward in the anime, looking nearly identical in style and design to how he appears in the game. Yucie herself looks almost identical to the character of Lisa from ''Princess Maker 3'', including the hairstyle and unusually large forehead. The final "villain" of the anime shares the appearance of Maria, the daughter from ''Princess Maker 1''. Ket Shi the demon cat, a minor villain in one episode, is also from ''Princess Maker 2'', although in the game he is the god of the Wildcat tribe, and can be helpful to the player rather than harmful. Other characters in ''Petite Princess Yucie'' can undoubtedly also be found in other ''Princess Maker'' games.


See also

* '' Angelique'' * '' Cute Knight'' * '' Long Live the Queen'' * '' Volcano Princess'' *'' Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project''


References


External links


''Princess Maker'' series
at
MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

Nuriko's Princess Maker Nexus

Kit Kat's Princess Maker Corner

Story of the failed translation






{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Maker (Series) 1991 video games 1997 video games 2006 video games Bishōjo games Fantasy video games Gainax MSX2 games NEC PC-9801 games Nintendo DS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Raising sims Sega Saturn games X68000 games Takara video games TurboGrafx-CD games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1991 Video games about princesses Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games featuring non-playable protagonists Windows games