Zorana will die. Probably a few times. I’m sorry, but that’s just how it will go. It’s not your fault. I’m sure you’ll do your best the first few times going through Galaxy Princess Zorana, but as a Long Live the Queen successor in the Princess Maker-like category, it’s going to demand foresight and planning that only comes from multiple runs. And there will be multiple runs, as each death will make you even more determined to help her reach any ending where she’s still alive.
The emperor of the Celestial Empire is dead. When inspecting a lab to see progress on a type of teleportation technology, there was an unfortunate accident. In the rumble, it was discovered he was gone. Not long before he did, he pulled his daughter Zorana out of boarding school exile. Which is good! It means there are options, especially as the prepared heir, her elder brother, abandoned the empire and was disowned in the process. The bad news is, as she was the “spare,” she never had any formal leadership training.
This means it is crunch time in Galaxy Princess Zorana, as there’s a little more pressure when building her stats like in Princess Maker than there was in Long Live the Queen. The first order of business is to ensure she starts to get some experience in various categories that relate to book smarts, street smarts, emotional intelligence, physical prowess, governing, and actually managing intergalactic travel and rule. The second is to manage her mood in order to get boosts in certain topics to build her up faster. The third is to travel around the galaxy to build ties, meet electors, and create a cabinet of her own officials to aid her. The fourth is to stay alive long enough for all of that to matter and maybe get her elected to the role of Celestial Empire empress.
Compared to Long Live the Queen, there are already some types of quality of life adjustments in the actual scheduling element that help a little with Galaxy Princess Zorana survivability and personal development. It’s still putting a wall of boxes in front of us, which might be overwhelming! On the lefthand side, there are categories that feel like general knowledge she’d need that feature three specific spheres under them. So her Emotion area would feature Allure, Empathy, and Menace as areas to focus on, while Condition would involve Reflexes, Strength, and Tumbling. On the right are topics more focused on elements of ruling, like Bureaucracy, Galactic Relations, Imperial History, Intrigue, and Media. This time around, we always know what our subject’s mood is at the top of this grid. How that influences growth during that turn will also be immediately visible. If the background is green, it’ll result in a bonus if you study that topic during one of the two slots that turn. If it is a shade of red, you won’t do as well and it should be avoided.
The element of picking people for important roles to both ensure their votes in the election and offer support in different ways is also a boon. When we start the game, we pick a pet for Zorana that can help bolster two stats, making it easier to survive checks on them during events. When we pick cabinet members, their influence can also affect performance and provide a boost. However, it’s also important to know who to pick. Some folks will very easily support Zorana, which means you shouldn’t pick them. Others may have enemies of their own, and that makes her more of a target. They also might just have trash skills, which can hurt you.
As you’re probably gathering, Galaxy Princess Zorana is a game that will involve multiple playthroughs. The first two or three runs feel more like tutorials and learning experiences than genuine playthroughs. Those familiar with games like Long Live the Queen and Princess Maker will already be in a good place to approach Galaxy Princess Zorana and be fine, but for newcomers to the genre I imagine it will be daunting! Especially since, though there are some explanations, they aren’t especially extensive or helpful.
The general progression of a turn in Galaxy Princess Zorana follows a set pattern. You pick a destination on the Celestial Empire map. You pick two subjects to study that turn. You interact with people at that destination, which can involve investigating them, making a proposal to win them to your side, taking a side quest for them to prove yourself, proposing marriage, or blackmailing them. You also choose how she will spend some free time, thus changing her mood for studying the next turn. On some turns, you’ll be briefed about situations in the Celestial Empire that will affect your situation or require a decision, such as a potential hazard or a disease hitting a region. Other events can also come up when not studying, which in turn affect the experience.
But about 50% of the time, maybe more, those events can end in death. Is Zorana too oblivious about a topic to realize somebody is a threat? Dead. Did you ignore combat skills? Very dead. Is she unaware of some spiritual element? Dead! Oh, you forgot to teach her about how the internet works with Media classes? That will kill her dead. You decided she should spend her free time writing in her diary alone in her room? Turns out she wasn’t alone and she’s dead!
At least you might get to see some fun chibi art of dead Zorana whenever that happens!
Since Galaxy Princess Zorana is such a text-heavy game, the stories that come up need to be interesting to keep someone invested. Fortunately, the ones I’ve seen are fascinating. Early on, if you don’t invest in Empathy, you won’t pick up on folks’ intentions toward you when you first meet them, but I appreciated how even that could help set the tone for elements. The personal quests and “tests” from certain electors were interesting, and I loved how one basically involved helping a mother with her kid and, even if you aren’t perfect, there’s a pretty fun result. As expected from a game that can get quite political, there’s a lot of potential for intrigue here, and replaying can help provide opportunities in check out plotlines and learn more about some folks. The art is also pretty solid, and even portraits for characters like the Heru tend to have some distinguishing features for ones you should probably remember as a notable potential ally or enemy.
Because of the nature of Galaxy Princess Zorana, that does mean it isn’t going to be for everyone both due to the Princess Maker-like stat building demands and the Long Live the Queen degree of difficulty. Like it is the Dark Souls of simulations. When I played, I had a series of notes nearby to mark down areas I should focus on based on certain early altercations and experiences. I’d mention stat checks that came up a lot, so I’d know to invest in those. I’d mark down observations about certain electors and possible marriage prospects, so I’d know who was useful and dangerous. It demands patience and attention.
Galaxy Princess Zorana is a worthy successor to Long Live the Queen and a stat-management sim Princess Maker fans shouldn’t ignore. Is it harrowing? Absolutely. Will you need to keep notes and a slew of save files? Definitely. Is it worth all the trouble? I think so! However, if you’re unfamiliar with the Hanako Games’ previous entry or the genre, I’d recommend going with something more forgiving like a version of Princess Maker 2or Mushroom Musumebefore attempting to help Zorana take the throne.
Galaxy Princess Zorana is available for PCs.
Galaxy Princess Zorana
Galaxy Princess Zorana is a worthy successor to Long Live the Queen and a stat-management sim Princess Maker fans shouldn’t ignore. Review copy provided by company for testing purposes.