Video Game Review: Long Live The Queen

Developer: Hanako Games

Publisher: Ratalaika Games

Reviewed For: Nintendo Switch

Also Available On: PC

Long Live The Queen was previously available on PC in 2012 and it made some waves with how cute but deadly it was. Now a decade later, the new heiress to a kingdom graces her first console with the Nintendo Switch version. With so many visual novels on the handheld, how does Long Live the Queen hold up?

In short, pretty well. Long Live The Queen is a game full of crunching numbers for stats, difficult decisions, and restarting over and over again. Despite the title, the queen will not live very long at all. She will drown, be poisoned, or even explode. The game looks incredibly cute, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Long Live The Queen is a game that isn’t very cute it at. It’s tactical, it’s cruel, and it’s often frustrating.

Visual novels with an overwhelming amount of bad endings are fairly uncommon. Many have tons of routes that are just different types of good. In Long Live The Queen, a good ending is earned. Players need to get protagonist Elodie to survive for 40 weeks so she can be properly named queen. To do so, they will need to balance their emotions and improve their skills all while making the correct decisions along the way.

There are a multitude of skills that will help Elodie survive. Being skilled with swords or a polearm can help Elodie get out of an assassination attempt. Strong animal handling or acrobatics can help avoid tragic accidents. Of course, just surviving isn’t enough. Elodie also has various social and intellectual skills that will allow for her to thrive and avoid her kingdom being taken over by the wrong party. Unfortunately, being skilled isn’t always enough. Too much a negative emotion can lead to failed skill checks and Elodie’s untimely demise.

Because of this system, Long Live The Queen acts as much of a daughter raising simulator as it does a visual novel. Players will want to ensure that Elodie gets the best, especially since she is so young. Like Ciel Fledge, players don’t have full control over their protagonist’s success, but they can heavily influence it. Still, players will get frustrated, as the system can feel unfair. Players are expected to constantly fail as they learn what stats and emotions are important for what situations. It gets easier through subsequent playthroughs, but those who don’t like trial and error will want to avoid Long Live The Queen. 

For those that Long Live The Queen appeals to, they will find this to be a very enthralling experience. Most visual novels don’t feel like they have so much choice. Every move is impactful, and even the bad endings are satisfying sometimes. The narrative itself actually holds up well, with many interesting characters that can be both allies and enemies to the player. It’s a well-constructed visual novel, especially when you consider the game’s budget.

Unfortunately, the low-budget does show in the Long Live The Queen‘s presentation. The art is fine, but not nearly as high-quality as you would find in bigger visual novels on the Switch. The backgrounds don’t have much detail, and the CG’s aren’t spectacular either. Fortunately, the character designs are memorable, with plenty of personality showing in everyone’s appearance. The music can get repetitive, but most of the tunes are earworms that will stick to players for a while. Those who have played this game on the pc might even feel nostalgia when the music hits their ears.

It’s not without its flaws, but Long Live The Queen is a satisfyingly difficult visual novel that overcomes it’s presentation issues. Those who are okay with dying all the time will likely enjoy this unique piece of visual novel history.