Slay the Princess is a surreal horror visual novel from Black Tabby Games, the developers of Scarlet Hollow. You play as a nameless hero who is tasked with going into a cabin in the woods where a princess is trapped in the basement. And as the title plainly states, you have one simple goal. However, that goal isn’t so simple in practice. Featuring fully-narrated dialogue, voiced by Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives) and Nichole Goodnight (The Leviathan Chronicles), Slay the Princess is sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure audiobook that presents you with questions that are as unique and grim as the visuals they accompany.
In my short review of an admittedly short game, I wanted to focus on two main points: aesthetics and conflict. Let’s take it alphabetically. The aesthetics of a game don’t just determine if it looks good or not, but also if it fits the theme and subject matter. A game can look one way and sound another and the disparity between the two can lead to games that often don’t land their mark. Games that players might quickly forget.
That is not the case with Slay the Princess. Right from the opening frame, the striking visuals act as a North Star, informing the tone of the entire game while also setting the stage for the player. They very much so embody the style of Abby Howard, graphic novelist and co-founder of Black Tabby Games. While the gameplay loop is straightforward, the various branching paths opened by player choice can be haunting, horrific, and sometimes wholesome, yet none of it ever feels out of place. Whatever direction the game moves in, the art style somehow fits. There’s also a cool parallax effect in the game (which is sadly lost when playing on the Steam Deck) that adds a bit of flair to the presentation too.
All that is accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack that, just like the narrative, slowly mutates over time, setting a tone that you can hear as well as see. Of course, all that isn’t much if the writing is lackluster and, thankfully, it is not. There are lots of dialogue options in the game (all with voiced responses btw) and they’re written pragmatically. Real questions that feel right to ask at that moment. I often find that stories that deal with deep existential questions tend to get in their own way with clunky writing and though Slay the Princess isn’t flawless in that regard, it manages to walk the line with grace.
The next point is conflict and not within a story. This isn’t a writing lesson after all. Instead, I am referring to a good game’s ability to make players feel conflicted. Throughout the game’s three to four hour playtime, I found myself flipping back and forth on my beliefs, on who to trust and what to do. This is a result of well-written and well-performed dialogue that actually feels like the characters of the story are trying (and in some cases succeeding) to convince you to see their way. This is different from choice paralysis because it has less to do with the number of options you have to pick from and more about the idea that characters are withholding information from you whenever you do select those options.
I want to briefly touch on spoilers in this paragraph so please skip ahead if you have not played the game. The aspect that really stuck with me about Slay the Princess is its rather brilliant design. You see, while there are many names for it, at the end of the day, you the hero are there to vanquish change. And by that logic; death. But doing so doesn’t bring on a happy ending. Rather the complete lack thereof. Now whether the game is trying to make the player reach a specific personal resolution, I am not sure, but I do think that by the very nature of the game’s cyclical narrative, players have to accept change to move forward. The themes of Slay the Princess can certainly be discussed in books and movies, but it’s by its specific design that makes it an experience only a game can deliver.
If reading all this has made you curious about the game then you should know that now is a great time to check it out. The game just got its first major content patch, which adds new animations, over 3,000 words of additional and restructured dialogue choices and conversations, and several orchestral renditions of climactic tracks recorded by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. And if that’s still not enough for you, until April 8, the game has a Midweek Deal that chops a nice 20% off the price tag.
Slay the Princess is one of those games that sticks with you after the credits roll. It presents odd, complex, and grim questions that you will keep tossing around and thinking through. My biggest hesitation in recommending the game to everyone, similar to other games in the genre, is that some players tend to write off visual novels instantly, not willing to engage with its storyline due to gameplay limitations. But to do so would be missing out on a weird ride that you sort of have to play to appreciate. Slay the Princess is available now on PC via Steam. A review code was provided by the developer.
