Game Review #148: The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Chad M.
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Publisher: NIS America
Category: Adventure, Platformer
Release Date: 02.12.2019
Price (at time of review): $19.99 (Digital) | $39.99 (Physical)
Buy The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (digital) from the eShop here.
Buy The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (physical) from Amazon here.
Who’s Got Our Back?
I’ve said it for a while now and I don’t mind sounding like a broken record; NIS America has shown more support for the Switch than any other 3rd party publisher and it has paid off for them and continues to over and over. They seem to bring not just your standard JRPG but quite a few different additions to all types of genres and The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a title that fits that bill as it’s an action-adventure puzzler with a fantastical story-driven plot all wrapped up like an old-fashioned story book fairy tale. Personally, I am a supporter of NIS America because of how active they are on the Switch, but that doesn’t mean that everything they put out is the gold standard. So let’s dive in and find out how The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince stacks up and if it’s worth your money.
Once Upon A Time....
If story is important to you then you’ve come to the right place as The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince has a deep, rich story that is pulled from the pages of an ancient fairy tale. The story begins with a large, monstrous female wolf that lives in a scary forest that not many dare to enter. Every night the wolf leaves the dark and ominous forest, reaches a peak at the edge of the forest, and from that peak sings. The wolf’s angelic, beautiful voice is heard by a prince whose family’s kingdom is near the forest. After the prince comes night after night listening and applauding the beautiful signing voice of the wolf he can’t go another night without meeting the person who has enchanted him with their signing. As he attempts to visit the wolf something terrible happens and the prince is left blinded and scarred.
The wolf knows that deep within the forest lives a powerful witch that she hopes can heal the prince as she feels responsible and wants to help him get his life back. With assistance from the witch the wolf is able to transform her appearance from the huge wolf to a small princess. She goes to the prince and convinces him that they must trek to the witch in the forest to heal his eyes and face. You’ll notice many plot points from Disney films like Little Mermaid, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and many more.
What Do The Woods Hold For Them?
As the two head off into the forest you control the princess and have to hold the hand of the blind prince to help him make his way. While making your way through the forest you’ll have to let go of his hand and turn back into the wolf to dispatch monsters that will kill you both. As the wolf you can jump further and can fight but you can’t fit in certain places. So the game turns into platforming with a large emphasis on puzzles and light action. You can command the prince to walk a short distance but past that you’ll have to lead him and protect him from enemies and traps.
The action and platforming was very simple with the puzzles growing in difficulty as the game went on but never really giving me any true challenge. Now my son (7 years old) played with me and some of the puzzles were tough for him. But as I stated before the main selling point here is the story, but the gameplay is still enjoyable if not challenging. While platforming you have the added task of collecting flowers and flower petals to help unlock memories, which kept me looking everywhere for items.
Fun Factor - Audio & Visuals
My time spent with The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince was one that I can say was fun and one I enjoyed especially being able to play with my son. The start of the game gives us a heavy opening with around 10 minutes in cut scenes that are in Japanese so you will be reading the subtitles like reading straight from a story book. As you play up till the end, which took me right about 5 hours to reach, there will be cut scenes littered throughout. The gameplay is fun and does enough ramping things up slightly each stage to keep you engaged, and it doesn’t hurt that you actually care about the characters since the story is so enthralling.
The soundtrack is done so well with the music being very elegant and softly setting right into this beautiful world NIS has created. The art is gorgeous with hand drawn story book characters and environments. It’s really creatively done as you see the pages turn while the story unfolds.
It’s A Wrap!!!
My time spent with The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince was fun, but more so engaging because of the great storytelling. The lack of challenging gameplay may be off-putting for some, but I had a great time during my play through. This initially was a game I thought would be a one and done during the first hour, but as I went on I found that I’d love to revisit the world and story like a good book later on, so I’ll definitely be picking up the physical that got released.
Extra Tidbit - The physical includes an art book and a soundtrack.
Score: 7.5/10
Buy The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (digital) from the eShop here.
Buy The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (physical) from Amazon here.
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*Review Code Provided by NIS America