So, I'm the only one who actually liked the simple gameplay?

I like that's pretty simple. Just aim for two characters in each game. There's no way to miss event that way. In the first play through I even got Jessie, Mariette and Becky.

In the second half is even easier, because you just have one character. And the game waits for you, reaching the end without triggering the final event just make "void" weeks without events.

So, there's not need to even savescumming. And I have nothing against savescumming, I'm an avid save-scummer (just ask X-Com, the old and the new one =3). Just that in this game I didn't needed to do it.

I feel it's more "needlessely complicated" that actually simple. Simple would be not bothering with the random part that doesn't bring much, if anything, to the game. ^^; And I did focus only on 2/3 girls, doesn't really change the feeling of not having much control on the "developpement" of my character, especially when the helpbox tells me to "carefully plan the week". I did, turned up a complete mess because of bad rolls.

I'm much more lenient on RNG on game like X-Com, myself, where losing soldiers on a "bad luck" is part of the game and makes things more intense, but for VN, I like it more when you have more control on things and failures are your own fault. :p

Oh, don't make me talk about X-Com... I have quite a grudge against it.
With the enemy patrols spawning magically in your back because... alien magic! And my whole squad not only missing a gigantic sectopoid while perched in an elevated position but blowing all their cover in the process.
That time I just stared at the screen and said... "How...!?". And after that I used a bit "colorful" language at my squad...
But, I'm derailing... and ranting...

Anyways, for me was cute the "gathering the cute icons" and then in the second part was not cute, not cute at all.

Of course, after having slammed my head against the wall countless time both in Long Live the Queen and Black Closet maybe has influenced my thoughts.
(And regarding LLTQ... the first thing that I though when Lavinia offered chocolate was... POISON!!!)

It just seems like the devs didn't know how to do a proper dating sim with choices and branching routes and so they used this currency system that didn't really fit in right.

It just seems like the devs didn't know how to do a proper dating sim with choices and branching routes and so they used this currency system that didn't really fit in right.

I don't think that is a matter of don't knowing, but more about not wanting. After all is pretty simple, just add a menu at the end of the week where you have to choose one of the girls.

By the way I kinda liked that most of the event were related to the cute icons. I noticed more on the non-cute icons. Like in the event where Sara suffer from hunger, you need to gather hunger icons.
Or maybe was my imagination. =3

I did notice that the slavery icons seemed to match up with the following scenes. Like I had the chill icons pretty full once and the following scene was about her tramping through the cold and muck... but that's just one play though, so it might have just a coincidence.

The mechanics for this are pretty simple, in some of the more advanced dating sims, choices you make at certain interactions determine which person's route you get locked into. So it might have just been a matter of them not wanting to write a bunch of different endings.

rincewind posted:

I like that's pretty simple. Just aim for two characters in each game. There's no way to miss event that way. In the first play through I even got Jessie, Mariette and Becky.

I was going for Ermengarde and Mariette. I was prioritizing Ermengarde first and then Mariette. I had to use 6 believe for Ermengarde event and then next week I had to get 8 for Mariette. So if I wanted to not skip this week without event, I had to get 6 believe. I choose all options to get it and got 5. So I had to loaded save and rolled again as I didn't want to miss event. So even if you go for 2 characters and try to max all stats, you can find yourself in situation where they need similar stats 2 time in a row and if RNG is a bitch, you won't get it.

The system is simple per se, but it doesn't change the fact it is a poor thought one. It would just work the same with normal choices and re-loading them if you didn't like the way your first choice went.

rincewind posted:

I like that's pretty simple. Just aim for two characters in each game. There's no way to miss event that way. In the first play through I even got Jessie, Mariette and Becky.

I was going for Ermengarde and Mariette. I was prioritizing Ermengarde first and then Mariette. I had to use 6 believe for Ermengarde event and then next week I had to get 8 for Mariette. So if I wanted to not skip this week without event, I had to get 6 believe. I choose all options to get it and got 5. So I had to loaded save and rolled again as I didn't want to miss event. So even if you go for 2 characters and try to max all stats, you can find yourself in situation where they need similar stats 2 time in a row and if RNG is a bitch, you won't get it.

The system is simple per se, but it doesn't change the fact it is a poor thought one. It would just work the same with normal choices and re-loading them if you didn't like the way your first choice went.

But I think that you don't need to have a event every week to unlock the events of two characters. You can afford a week or two without events. Or maybe even three.
If you want to unlock three routes, that can be more complicated, yes.

Uuuuugh... I've been messing around with Long Live The Queen today... It's like the Dark Souls of visual novels... >.<
I have to git gud. =ω=

rincewind posted:

But I think that you don't need to have a event every week to unlock the events of two characters.

I have no clue. I played LLTQ for like 10 minutes then got overwhelmed with possibilities and never touched it again. It is second time I use this kind of system so I don't know how it works. And I don't know how much time I have to interact with characters so I just assumed every week matter.

rincewind posted:

But I think that you don't need to have a event every week to unlock the events of two characters.

I have no clue. I played LLTQ for like 10 minutes then got overwhelmed with possibilities and never touched it again. It is second time I use this kind of system so I don't know how it works. And I don't know how much time I have to interact with characters so I just assumed every week matter.

I'm officially confused. Are we talking about LLTQ or A Little Lily Princess?

If is the latter, you can take your time, as long as you have enough week left to do the remaining events for the character. So, losing a week is not a big deal.

If it's the former, Long Live the Queen, then if you missed something, you're probably already dead or in way to a nasty death. =3

rincewind posted:

rincewind posted:

But I think that you don't need to have a event every week to unlock the events of two characters.

I have no clue. I played LLTQ for like 10 minutes then got overwhelmed with possibilities and never touched it again. It is second time I use this kind of system so I don't know how it works. And I don't know how much time I have to interact with characters so I just assumed every week matter.

I'm officially confused. Are we talking about LLTQ or A Little Lily Princess?

If is the latter, you can take your time, as long as you have enough week left to do the remaining events for the character. So, losing a week is not a big deal.

If it's the former, Long Live the Queen, then if you missed something, you're probably already dead or in way to a nasty death. =3

My bad. By second time I meant while playing ALLP.

rincewind posted:

But I think that you don't need to have a event every week to unlock the events of two characters.

I have no clue. I played LLTQ for like 10 minutes then got overwhelmed with possibilities and never touched it again. It is second time I use this kind of system so I don't know how it works. And I don't know how much time I have to interact with characters so I just assumed every week matter.

Certain events have a timer, but it is mostly rather generous. While I was savescumming to some extent, it wasn't too hard to manage three routes in the first part of the VN.

All characters only have a certain amount of events, so if you put one event off in favour of another, it will still be there waiting next week, and provided you do one event a week, you have more than enough weeks to manage 3 characters/routes.

And if the event is about to expire, the little chibi in the choose event screen give you an warning. "Last chance" or something like that. Just like the "Sets route" warning.

By the way, Becky is the default route. You don't even need to complete her events in the first part to do her route.
Which is kinda logical, because she's your companion in disgrace, fellow scullery maid and is just besides you anyways.

I'm glad becky gets a good ending even when you're not doing her route. If not, it would've been even more heartwrenching.

I'm glad becky gets a good ending even when you're not doing her route. If not, it would've been even more heartwrenching.

I'm glad! I was going to feel horrible with the replays otherwise.

Jessie has such pretty CG's! The second is my favourite, the first one was wallpaper-worthy. Her story is kinda depressing though, and Lavinia is such a disgusting person.

last edited at May 31, 2016 10:58PM

By the way, Hanako's comment about the bonus image when a poster on steam asked why that pairing :

Behind the scenes, the artist needed some time off during development, and offered to do an extra two-girl graphic afterwards. I thought about a few possibilities, including a Jessie/Lavinia picture, or a custom title screen or other advertising poster, but then decided that since

the big CGs on Lavinia's route are all about the tension between them and don't have much in the way of 'payoff', fans of Sara/Lavinia might otherwise feel that they'd been left hanging.

It seemed like that pairing needed the additional closure more than any other did.

So it doesn't fit into the game anywhere and doesn't fit into the gallery, it wasn't part of the original plan.

Ermagerd's was pretty sweet, I loved Sara's imaginings for her and the kissing cg was really lovely!

Ermengarde is indeed pretty sweet. Is a shame that she didn't got a full CG for her kiss.

I think that I would love if Hanako makes a epilogue, showing us their lives a few years after the ending. Maybe as a DLC. I wouldn't mind paying for it.

I'm sad.

Seems that A Little Lily Princess sold poorly, so we don't gonna get the epilogues that Hanako was planning to do if the game did well.

That's why we can't have nice things.

Now, if you all excuse me, I gonna go to a corner a cry for a while.

Well, that sucks! D:

This is why we can't have nice things indeed...

Yeah, is just depressing.
Now the only thing that could make it worse is Hanako making next Wolf Hall, being a huge success and making Hanako not doing more yuri games, but a bunch of het/yaoi games.

By the way, I created a Tv Tropes page for the game (since nobody was doing it) and since I'm a novice troper if anyone wants to give the page more love I would be grateful.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VisualNovel/ALittleLilyPrincess

No epilogues? That sucks.

Aw, puts a damper on the day.

I'm curious how this one sold compared to Hanako's other works ?

It's a pity considering this one had really great art compared to most of her other work.