Princess Maker games are pretty appealing to me on a conceptual level, but they've always had a hard time being compelling enough mechanically to work properly. Volcano Princess is almost there, but it still suffers from a couple of big problems, enough that I couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Biggest problem is that the English translation is incredibly rough. You can understand what they're trying to say, but it becomes very unenjoyable after a few hours. It makes it hard to tell how good the story and characters are, since the flow of dialogue makes them sound like weird robots regurgitating dialogue that only hints at their character traits. It seems like there's very little going on with the story as well, since it does a poor job of developing it in a way that the player can get invested in. Raising your daughter is all you can latch onto. Granted, it is at least pretty cute and your bond feels genuine enough.
The rest of the mechanics aren't quite compelling enough to pick up the slack. It's initially engaging, as you figure out how you want to raise your daughter and get familiar with the mechanics. Once you settle into a build, it becomes a tedious grind until you hit the end. There aren't enough wrenches thrown in your way to make the gameplay more interesting. While there are mini-games, they're very bland and don't add much. Not even the tacked on turn-based RPG section, which just feels bad to play.
Despite all that, it's not that bad of a game per se. It at least does an okay job at giving you the illusion you're raising a daughter. The art is very cute when the effort is put in. While the mechanics are generally lacking, there's still some fun to be had in an overall sense, planning out your run to be efficient and get the ending you want. There's some alright moments sprinkled throughout, even through the bad translation.
Which is my main problem here. I could be much more forgiving of what's here if the developers got a proper, professional translation. I'd at least be able to invest in what's going on and latch onto the characters easier. I can tell what's here isn't half bad, and I like what they're going for. But until then, I can't be bothered to finish it.
Biggest problem is that the English translation is incredibly rough. You can understand what they're trying to say, but it becomes very unenjoyable after a few hours. It makes it hard to tell how good the story and characters are, since the flow of dialogue makes them sound like weird robots regurgitating dialogue that only hints at their character traits. It seems like there's very little going on with the story as well, since it does a poor job of developing it in a way that the player can get invested in. Raising your daughter is all you can latch onto. Granted, it is at least pretty cute and your bond feels genuine enough.
The rest of the mechanics aren't quite compelling enough to pick up the slack. It's initially engaging, as you figure out how you want to raise your daughter and get familiar with the mechanics. Once you settle into a build, it becomes a tedious grind until you hit the end. There aren't enough wrenches thrown in your way to make the gameplay more interesting. While there are mini-games, they're very bland and don't add much. Not even the tacked on turn-based RPG section, which just feels bad to play.
Despite all that, it's not that bad of a game per se. It at least does an okay job at giving you the illusion you're raising a daughter. The art is very cute when the effort is put in. While the mechanics are generally lacking, there's still some fun to be had in an overall sense, planning out your run to be efficient and get the ending you want. There's some alright moments sprinkled throughout, even through the bad translation.
Which is my main problem here. I could be much more forgiving of what's here if the developers got a proper, professional translation. I'd at least be able to invest in what's going on and latch onto the characters easier. I can tell what's here isn't half bad, and I like what they're going for. But until then, I can't be bothered to finish it.