Rating: E
Company: Natsume
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Oh god, how many years has it been since this game came out? 3 years, maybe? Anyways, for being one of the very few actual otome games that was localized, Princess Debut was not that bad. Besides Yo-Jin-Bo, this was the only other localized otome game I have played (I don't count Persona 3 Portable because it just has otome elements in it; The entire game is not an otome game with the heroine). I guess what pushed it's localization is that Princess Debut is also a rhythm game where the player uses the stylus to trace a large circle in patterns that resemble actual dance maneuvers. This kind of gameplay definitely makes itself stand out from the standard fare of pressing/clicking your way through tons of dialogue.
Story: The game starts off in a modern city where Sabrina (default name, you can change it) wishes there was some kind of prince charming that existed in the world. Her childhood friend
Gameplay: For the first two playthroughs, I can guarantee for those hungry for 100% completion will be busy trying to unlock all the songs and outfits for your heroine, Sabrina. That's right. There are about 15 outfits in total or so, getting them from various story events as well as getting outfits in the form of personal gifts from whichever guy you pick. There are about 8 songs or so, for both the classical and Latin categories of dance. You can only play through the blue classical set first, and then play the red, Latin set in the next playthrough, and each playthrough switches back and forth.
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| Funny how the 3D models look older than the characters... |
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***Spoilers Ahead***------------------------------------------------
Klaus Route: This guy was the 2nd guy I was willing to go for because he looked decent. Getting this guy as your partner was slightly tricky to the point where if you're not lucky enough, then you have to resort to a FAQ to figure out how because there's only like one or two days open for you to get him as your partner.
This guy was "meh" because he wasn't that interesting. He has his fangirls cockblocking him in all directions so he has little alone time and whenever Sabrina tries to get close, his two henchwomen of fangirls get all like "Who are you? What makes you think you deserve to talk to him?" Seriously, those kinds of girls I'd like to pull out their hair. After a while, *gasp* you can't get him to be your partner. Why? Because he's TAKEN. He was with some chick named Cynthia,
Later on if you fail to get him as your partner the first time, you have another chance where he comes into your room and talks about how he was really close friends with the real princess. Since Sabrina is impersonating as the princess, she just plays along. Eventually, Klaus practically confesses his feelings for Sabrina by asking her to be her partner. The two practice and when the final competition came along, that obnoxious pig-tailed girl that hates the princess for some strange reason decides to crash the party and rat out Sabrina's disguise. At first, nobody believed her because she was a troublemaker but the real and stupid princess thought it would be a wonderful idea to sneak back into her kingdom to watch Sabrina compete. Hiding under a suspicious cloak, the real princess got caught, Klaus is dismayed, and Sabrina is in danger of being disqualified. At this point, I figured "Hey, it's not Sabrina's problem since that lazy princess dragged her into it, but Sabrina wasted a month of her life dancing so it better not be the end". And of course, it wasn't the end, Sabrina dances to the end and the ending can be decided by either winning and losing. If Sabrina wins, Klaus or whoever dances with her will propose to her and you can say "Yes" or "No". "Yes" will mean getting married or dating and will get you a happy ending and "No" just sends you straight back to the real world flirting with the modern counterpart of the guy you were partners with. I have yet to lose on purpose, but to save time and effort, I suggest making a save on the last day and reload the save to get both the good and bad without wasting time.
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| Popular guy |
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| WTF is up with that hair, Sabrina? |
Luciano Route: Ah, Luciano. I don't care that you're hopelessly lost wherever you go. You and I are the same when it comes to competition. And best of all, you're hair is not a part of the rainbow...
The moment I saw him, I did whatever it took to get him to be my partner. At first, he's like "Oh noes, I can't because you're not good enough" but he agrees once you stay single long enough to win a contest and prove your worth. Seriously, he was the most aggressive of all the guys when it comes to quitting practice. He'll get all mad and stuff, which at first, I felt somewhat guilty because I hate doing things half-assed. But after going through multiple playthroughs for the endings, I was like "Fuck it, I'll just dance a day and call it quits". The entire time Sabrina and Luciano spent together was talking about how Luciano dreams about winning the world dancing tournament. Sabrina's like "I can be your partner" but Luciano's like "No, because you're not good enough and crap".
Eventually, somewhere like halfway through the game, Luciano's kingdom calls saying it wants him to come back to compete in the world dancing competition. He needs to go because his royal family's reputation is on the line and he can't refuse. He's conflicted and this is the part whether or not Luciano will come back. Of all the things in WTFery, Luciano will come back if Sabrina tells him to go back in an angry manner. If Sabrina's all nice and tells him to go because it's the right thing to do, then he'll never come back. Personally, I'd let the one I love go somewhere if he needs to in a gentle manner and I'm sure he'll come back. Doesn't make sense to angrily tell the one you love to GTFO and he'll come back. Anyways, if you didn't know how to get him to come back, then you have wasted almost the 2nd half of your time waiting around being single, refusing to partner up with anyone else. On the day of the amusement park, however, he comes back and the two of them have fun before the competition. Shit goes down, yada-yada, and pick your good or bad ending. Same thing, except Luciano and Sabrina win the world tournament together this time and are not married... yet.
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| Childhood friend |
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| He loves to cook... that should be a plus, right? |
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| Dude looks like a lady |
His baggage: Always concerned with how he looks
He's always flirting it up with Sabrina, but for the sake of game completion, I decided to trudge through it. I forgot majority of his story, not that I care but it was definitely shallow. There was that one day where he takes Sabrina to the clothing boutique and makes her wait for him to dress himself up. One gaudy outfit after another, Caesar takes too long at one point and Sabrina gets impatient. She invades his dressing booth to notice a large scar across his back and Caesar just brushes the awkward moment off like nothing ever happened. Thing is, that scar was never explained in the entire game so it was pointless. So it goes to the competition, blah blah blah, and endings... Oh yeah, by the way, since every guy Sabrina is partnered up with gives her a dress as a final present at the final contest, Caesar gave her a Las Vegas showgirl outfit for her to wear. WTF?! That is definitely not E rated material.
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Vince Route: Ugh, Vince... the shota of the group. Even though he looks like he's 11, he's only a year younger than Sabrina. He loves to play pranks on Sabrina and he's also one of the easiest guys to find a partner with. He offers to be your partner so often that it's almost sweet... But I still don't like him.His baggage: He's self-conscious of his short height
The entire time, it's just tomfoolery with Vince and other than that, there really wasn't much of a story. Competition goes around and you get the idea.
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| He still looks like a kid to me. Not enjoying the wedding, eh? |
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| Dude looks like a lady who's a secretary |
His baggage: He doesn't understand what joy there is to dancing.
His characterization is that of a calculating dude who see's no joy in dancing and hated being forced to participate in the kingdom's dance competition. In order to get his route, you have to play through the game once in order to unlock him and you have to be dancing alone at the practice hall by yourself, not at Tony's place. He was somewhat hard to get because I had to rely on a FAQ and he wasn't that available. He remains cold and calculating until the day there's a concert held by animals comes around. During the last 14 days or so, after the concert, Kiefer will ask Sabrina to be her partner and I happily said "YAY!" But then, I WAS WRONG. Fricken' Kiefer was so annoying because he practically harasses you to come to the forest and practice. Why the forest? Because Kiefer loves animals. Who knew? Same shit goes down... and there's the end.
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| Isn't that adorable? |
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| You don't even know him, Sabrina. |
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| That's Tony, you know, your RABBIT INSTRUCTOR? |
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| Leave me alone! Let me drown myself in hot chocolate | and shit! |
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