Tuesday Short: My Top 7 Routes for Voltage's "Be My Princess"

My Monday bus-rides home is back! And if you've been following my reviews on otome you know that means I've been back on the bandwagon playing. But if you don't know what that is, I love otome games, which are like tiny romance novels with an anime boy where you play as a character and pick choices to get a certain ending. Briefly, that's the barebones definition. If you want a more thorough one, see my earlier reviews.

Basically, I got the same tutorial teaching time at my grad school as the last term, and I have to stay all day to teach two 50 minute tutorials, which results in me catching the late bus (1-hour ride) back to my city at 9 pm. During this time, I'll try to play my stockpile of otome routes that I otherwise don't get the time to play.

Since my initial review of Be My Princess which you can read here I've played a lot more routes, sequels, and all around had a good time with it. It's my second favorite Voltage Game, next to Star-Crossed Myth, which, if you've also been following this blog, you already know we did a whole week of reviewing that game for Valentine's Day. Which means, save for Zain's route, I'm done all of the main routes, just finishing Keith's last week. I want to preface this list with saying firstly: 

This is my own opinion based on my own liking of each character, this is not a reflection of their story per se. It was just what my tastes were, and it's totally cool to disagree! 

Second: If a character is not in my top 3 spots, that doesn't mean they're shit either. I loved this game, and I love all its characters. Seriously, my rating for each character probably wouldn't fall below a 3-- there are no bad characters or routes in this game, to me, its all based on how much I liked them (and that's totally subjective). 

So now I'd like to present to you all: My Top 6 Routes (since there's only six I know) of Voltage's Be My Princess. Just a note, this does exclude Zain sadly, and the sequels, but when I've played enough of those, I figure, I'll do a short on that. 

And we'll start with #6! 

Number 7: Prince Yakov Chernenkov of Sybil Kingdom 

Ah yes. Male Elsa, as the story goes. A lot of people make that joke with this one, but he's far from a guy with a frozen heart! He's actually pretty care-free as a personality, but a hard-ass when it comes to politics and uniting the kingdom. That was a highlight of his personality and his story. And I know right? Meghan, you're giving the guy with long blond hair the bottom spot? WHY? 

He sits a number 6 since, as enjoyable as his personality is, I couldn't get into it. I didn't really feel the romance with him, but he would make a pretty awesome friend in real life. That...and I felt there was a lot of stereotyping going on that baselined his personality and character as a whole. And it was blatantly obvious. He also moved a bit too fast into the romance so, like I said, I couldn't really connect with it as much. But overall, he was a generally okay route and guy to play with!

Number 6: Prince Roberto of Altaria Kingdom

                                    

Do not kill me! I had such a hard time placing Roberto, and I know he's quite popular as a route. Truly, I didn't hate his route! I promise you I didn't. His was very enjoyable, and very much "romancing", in the sense of the word. He really did have a sad story, and you really get the chance to connect with him and build that relationship throughout the story. But I found the end to be a bit fast-paced and resolved quickly, and I live for the endings in these games! They're exactly my type of trope, depending on the ending you get. Roberto is sweet, funny, and totally fun to be around. Which makes the running issue of his story even more interesting. If you get a chance, definitely get around to playing his route! 

Number 5: Prince Edward of Charles Kingdom (The True Route: Please don't murder me for placing him here!) 

It was not because his route was a bad one, I promise! I just didn't enjoy his story as much as some others. But Edward, our True Route (I think), is your typical fairy-tale prince living in a modern world. He's the one who takes you in, cleans you up, gives you a dress to the ball, invites you to the ball, and lastly, believes in love at first sight. Which I also love! But for all of those perks, the story went on past when it should've, which made those lovely, lovely qualities of Prince Charming (I mean, Edward), overused and overdone. Edward is truly the perfect gentleman, and the perfect prince, in my opinion, but his execution could've had so much more potential than what it gave.

Number 4: Prince Glenn of Oriens Kingdom

Ah, now we get to my top 4. At first, I honestly didn't like Glenn, I'll be quite honest. He never had much appeal for me in the beginning. But after reading his route? He SHOULD be the True Route, for spoilers I won't say here. And it's these spoilers that make his otherwise quiet, uptight personality shine. That, and there's a love triangle among other drama, which I actually was surprised to see in a game like this. I was expecting a sort of copypasta route, but I was wrong. And you'll see that its the routes where there were more twists that I tended to like. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm aware of my own biases. Regardless, I love Glenn's personality, although it was a little distasteful in the beginning, it ties beautifully in with the story. Don't knock it till you try it, and give this a read! 

Number 3: Prince Keith of Liberty Kingdom 

You know, Keith I had avoided all this time because, in EVERY route, he comes across as a stubborn asshat. BUT, after playing his route, and worrying that he was going to just be an asshole with no development, I was very surprised. MC is wonderful in this route, and she calls him out on his bullshit constantly, and as it turns out, he's a true tsundere through and through! And I love tsundere! He's not overly an asshole to sour the story, and he's just enough of it to actually create a convincing story arc that shows he can in fact change, and has the potential to be, you know, an actual likable person and a very loving person. Along with some good twists and drama, his route was incredibly enjoyable for me, and his character, even more so! 

Number 2: Prince Wilfrid of Philip Kingdom

Wilfrid is amazing! He's the quiet bookworm that I love. His story, while close to Edward's, I enjoyed a lot. This may be my bias as he was the very first route I ever played. But he was both charming and realistic, maybe that's the difference for me. He was also really kind and the story had a nice gradual buildup towards romance which really made it easy for me to get into. He's a great character, and a great first route to play! 

And now...My favorite route from Voltage's Be My Princess...

Number 1: Prince Joshua of Dres Van Kingdom

Joshua! Yes, he was my absolute favorite character to play. He's uptight and stoic, and at the end, melts your heart. His story is a sad one, but underneath all that "uptight" personality is a guy who's a softie, awkward, and shy, and it was really nicely done throughout his route. It sucked me in right from the beginning, and I devoured his story in a day. Definitely read his route, whatever you do! 

So that's my top 7! What were your top 7 for this game? Let me know in the comments below! 

~Meghan