Yay or Nay: Be My Princess (Otome Game)

Inside every little girl is a princess. Personally, I love this trope of a game. And yes, it is such a trope but I do not regret playing it one bit. So, I recently had to transfer my old Voltage standalone apps to the new unified Voltage app "Love 365". While scrolling through, I tried two of the games offered to me. "A Knight's Devotion" (which I will review at some other point, but it's awfully boring and I stopped playing), and "Be My Princess". 

Obviously. 

So, what's the premise? 

The Story

You are an exchange student who has just begun to live in the "Charles Kingdom". You run into an older man (who reminds me of a stereotyped version of the wizard, Merlin) who seems to be ill so you comfort him until he feels better. In exchange, he gives you his number and says if you need any help at all, to call him. At the same time, you go to a flower shop where a car splashes you and ruins your clothes. A man in very flashy and elegant clothing standing under the said awning of the flower shop asks to make it up to you (as it was someone he is kinda maybe associated with). To make it up, he asks you to a party at the castle, Nobel Michel. Turns out that you've met the Prince Edward of Charles Kingdom, and are not at a party with all the eligible and future Kings of neighboring countries. 

When you return home, however, your apartment is on fire, and you have no choice but to call the old man you met earlier (whose name is Lord Michel, but you call him "Mike"). You wake up in an unfamiliar room the next day, and at this point, you are asked to pick a prince to be your love-interest, as who you pick depends on whose house you're put up at. 

So firstly, let me just comment on the story alone. This is NOT the first time this storyline's been used. I've played numerous games where some variation of it has come up. And I'm okay with that. At first, I was apprehensive, because it can become such a boring story! Like in "A Knight's Devotion", it was a similar type of concept, except a little more, well, boring. Which is why I don't want to buy it. But luckily, I was able to sample a route on Love 365 to make sure I liked the premise before (and if) I decided to purchase it. This storyline is a beloved one, as who doesn't want to be the commoner who marries a handsome prince? While also trying to be a strong independent MC (I mean Voltage MCs aren't exactly that, but in this case, I suppose we can overlook it, as she wasn't really annoying in this game). 

So, there are 6-7 Princes you can choose from in the game. 

Each country, and prince, while fictional is mirrored after a real country. 

There are 6 Character Routes to Choose: 

1)Prince Wilfred: Country: Philip (Probably England) 

2)Prince Keith: Country: Liberty Kingdom (I'm thinking America) 

3)Prince Roberto: Country: Alteria (Italy) 

4)Prince Joshua: Country: Dres Van (Germany) 

5)Prince Glenn: Country: Oriens (Japan) 

6)Prince Edward: Country: Charles (Possibly France?) 

*Totally forgot* There's another route: Prince Yakov of Sanct Sybil Kingdom (Likely Russia). I believe he was added as a result of the sequel game, Be My Princess 2, since there's literally no mention of him in the prologue. As of now, I've played Yakov's route, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it seemed a bit rushed and short, so I suspect he was added last minute. 

My Thoughts (Wilfred's Route)

So, as you can see, the first route I decided to pick was Wilfred of the Philip Kingdom. Why? You ask, well, in the prologue the only interaction we got with him was a sly smirk from the corner. He also is blond, and I love me a blond boi. 

So, Philip Kingdom, as I've mentioned is very reminiscent of England. Prince Wilfred is a prince, as we find out, in line to his throne for the reason that his brother, Prince Stephen, stepped down to become a Doctor. Wilfred, on the other hand, is quiet and sometimes comes across as cold. He has a butler named Claude (who, for most of the story is an asshat, but don't worry, he's redeemable).

MC and him get along fairly well, firstly on civil terms until she decides she would like to return the favor to the Royal Family by taking care of the plants in the hallway by her room, and more specifically, the ones in Wilfred's office. At first, this is kind of a big deal because she's not supposed to interfere with the day-to-day goings, which Claude makes abundantly clear. As for Wilfred, he doesn't let people take care of his flowers, as they are his comfort. The flowers become a common source of bonding for the MC and Wilfred over the course of the story. And it's a good story. I had expected his to be boring, but trying to dig into the depths of why Wilfred was the way he was as his backstory was pretty interesting. Even side-characters, like Claude, had a place. I thought this was a nice addition because it wasn't like things were placed in the story for no reason. This was a cohesive narrative, and from what I saw, everything had a purpose to it. 

Wilfred too, was also adorable. Shy, and quiet, but adorable. He doesn't like to express emotions, but when he does it made me squeal. His interactions with MCs were adorable. 

He's a white knight in shining armor! 

Wilfred is the prince that didn't want to be a prince, essentially, but took up the duty. This kinda solidified it being the U.K. Royal Family lookalike because it reminded me of the King George/Edward abdication (for more info watch The Crown, they do a nice summary of the event). As well for the fact, there's a scene where MC and Claude look at the country's most renowned Queen, Sylvia. My theory is this is an alignment to Queen Victoria, or Elizabeth I (but likely Victoria). 

When Wilfred realizes he's in love with MC this hinders their relationship because he wants to be with MC, but has to marry a noble lady, named Cecille, to be his queen. This becomes a major plot point, and, that MC is actually threatening Wilfred's image and  claim to the throne by being around him. And most people just want what's best for him. Even MC. And the story is essentially a dilemma of MC trying to figure out how to deal with her emotions while doing what is right for Wilfred. 

MC may not be "strong" as we conventionally want her to be, but I think emotionally, she is pretty strong, and isn't completely bland. I didn't really have that problem with her. She legitimately is trying to do the right thing for the person she loves. While she may still have "MC Syndrome", I didn't find it glaringly noticeable. Nothing about her character is forced, she is what she is. 

I can appreciate that, and it works for this story. Wilfred is kind of the same way. Awkward and adorable, but trying to be emotionally ready for his duty (and knowing his not exactly what everyone wants). I felt that was also something they had in common, and worked well to develop throughout. 

Apparently, the fandom on Tumblr refers to him as "The Beast"

At first, I wasn't a fan of the art used in this game. However, it's grown on me. My reasoning for that is, because, in scenes like the one above, it looks nice and relatively in proportion. Wilfred looks attractive (to me), and nothing really seems off. However, then sometimes you get CGs like this: 

Like, it's fine and really quite beautiful in itself. However, something about Wilfred's face seems off. Am I the only one who sees that? (It could be a me thing.) Something about the proportions seems off. However, the CGs are still really lovely. 

One of my favourite moments is when they go out for ice cream, just like normal people. Building on that, there's this beautiful ending scene that links with the beginning. So Wilfred comes to Nobel Michel to find you at the end of the route. He wants to propose to you, you're the only one who he wants to make his queen. To do this, he places a crown on MC's head. This links back to an earlier chapter where she and Wilfred go into the basement of the castle and see the Queen's crown. Wilfred says to her that it can only be worn by the Queen of Philip herself, and has been in his family for generations. 

Well, that's the exact crown he brings to make MC his princess. And I just about died at that point. What a lovely link. It's the little things in this story that makes me happy. 

I've also moved onto Wilfred's sequel and I'm really loving it. I plan to actually play Joshua's stories after this, and that's how I know that this is a good game. If I want to continue and explore it more, then it has some appeal storywise. 

My Rating 

Well, this app has a lot to offer, especially in the Love 365 app. If you're not sure if you want to put up the money, you can sample a good deal of the stories listed (main routes only). That's a major plus that I wish all companies did. As well, the story was good and enjoyable. Other than the minor CG problem I've mentioned, the story and art was good as well. 

As a result, I was very impressed! It earns a well-deserved ⭐⭐⭐⭐

~Meghan