Princess Maker 2
Princess Maker 2 is a social simulation video game developed by Gainax and originally released on June 15, 1993, for the NEC PC-98 personal computer in Japan.[1] In the game's fantasy narrative, the player acts as a parental figure raising an adopted daughter who descends from the stars amid a demonic invasion, guiding her development from age 10 to 18 through monthly decisions on schooling, part-time jobs, festivals, and home activities that build her attributes in areas such as strength, intelligence, charisma, and morality.[2][3] These choices culminate in one of 66 distinct endings, ranging from noble professions like queen or archbishop to unconventional paths such as gladiator or entertainer, reflecting the game's emphasis on emergent outcomes from stat interactions and random events.[2] Praised for its depth and replayability, Princess Maker 2 pioneered elements of the child-rearing simulation genre and inspired later titles, achieving cult status through ports to platforms including Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, and modern remasters like Refine (2001) and Regeneration (2024).[4][5] Certain endings involving mature themes, including prostitution or alliances with demons, have generated debate over content appropriateness, prompting selective censorship in releases such as the PlayStation versions of Regeneration to align with platform ethical guidelines.[6][7]Story and Setting
Plot Overview
Princess Maker 2 is set in a medieval fantasy kingdom where the player assumes the role of a celebrated hero who has repelled a demonic invasion orchestrated by the gods as retribution against societal corruption.[8] In the aftermath, the hero receives a rural manor and noble status from the grateful monarch, establishing a quiet life with his wife and young son.[9] The central narrative begins when a divine voice guides the hero to a hilltop, revealing a glowing sphere that hatches into a 10-year-old girl, presented by a fairy as a heavenly charge to raise until her 18th birthday.[8] Over the subsequent eight years, simulated in monthly increments, the player directs the girl's upbringing through choices in education, part-time labor, training, and leisure, influencing her stats in areas such as strength, refinement, intelligence, and morality.[10] Random events, including illnesses, accidents, friendships, and romantic pursuits, introduce narrative branches and potential subplots, such as rivalries or divine interventions.[9] The storyline culminates at age 18 with a finale tailored to the girl's developed profile, where she enters professions or fates like court noble, warrior, artist, or merchant, often involving a tournament or evaluation by the king.[10] Negative outcomes from imbalanced or negligent rearing can lead to paths of destitution, crime, or exile, while exceptional achievements enable marriages into royalty or heroic quests against lingering demonic forces, echoing the hero's original triumph.[11]Character Backgrounds and Worldbuilding
The world of Princess Maker 2 is depicted as a medieval-inspired fantasy kingdom where human society faces divine scrutiny for moral failings. Deities, acting as overseers of humanity, dispatch Lucifon, the Prince of Darkness, to lead a demon army in punishing the populace's sins, initiating a cataclysmic invasion that threatens the realm's survival.[12][13] The kingdom itself comprises a central town hub with structured locales including a royal palace, church, academy, farm, mine, coliseum, and merchant districts, enabling activities from education and labor to combat training and social events.[14] The player embodies a retired warrior-hero who previously repelled the demonic onslaught, earning royal favor in the form of a modest countryside home and an annual stipend of 500 gold coins from the king. This hero, portrayed as a nameless, steadfast paternal figure in his prime, discovers the adoptive daughter as an infant amid the wreckage of a fallen shooting star, interpreting her arrival as a celestial gift or portent tied to humanity's potential redemption.[14][13] The daughter's upbringing over a 10-year span—from age 8 to 18—serves as a microcosm for broader existential judgment, with her achievements or failings symbolically determining whether mankind merits divine forgiveness.[13] Cube, the household butler, originates as a diminutive, winged demonic entity who pledges eternal loyalty to the hero post-victory over Lucifon, functioning as a diligent servant despite his infernal heritage. Tasked with domestic management, financial oversight, and occasional guidance, Cube maintains a polite, unflappable demeanor, bridging the mundane and supernatural realms within the home.[15] Supporting characters enrich the worldbuilding through interactions that reflect societal hierarchies and mystical elements. The king, a benevolent monarch, hosts annual festivals and evaluates the daughter for roles ranging from courtier to consort, underscoring feudal obligations.[14] Fairies, ethereal beings visible solely to those with pure sensibilities, inhabit nocturnal forests and offer whimsical encounters or blessings, embodying capricious natural magic.[16] Antagonistic forces linger in the periphery, with Lucifon representing chaotic retribution from the underworld, while human NPCs—such as skill instructors, merchants, and suitors—provide grounded, profession-defining opportunities amid the kingdom's recovering stability.[12]Gameplay Mechanics
Raising Simulation Elements
In Princess Maker 2, the raising simulation revolves around managing the protagonist's adopted daughter over eight in-game years, from age 10 to 18, with time advancing in monthly increments.[17] Each month, the player sets a primary activity schedule, such as attending school classes, taking part-time jobs, resting at home, or going on vacation, which determines stat gains, losses, income, stress accumulation, and potential random events.[18] The objective is to cultivate the daughter's attributes to optimize her final career, marriage prospects, or social standing at age 18, with outcomes calculated based on a composite score from key stats, reputations, and behaviors.[17] The daughter's core statistics form the foundation of progression, categorized into primary attributes (ranging typically from -999 to +999), derived skills, and secondary metrics like stress and sin. Primary stats include:| Stat | Primary Influences and Effects |
|---|---|
| Stamina (Constitution) | Gained from farming, masonry jobs, dance classes, or robust diets; determines hit points (HP) in combat and resistance to illness (illness triggers if stress exceeds stamina). Lost via weight-loss diets. Target: 100+ to minimize health risks.[18][17] |
| Strength | Increased by farm or lumberjack jobs, fencing classes; contributes to combat attack (+1 attack per 8 points). Lost in hairdresser roles. Essential for physical labor jobs and fighter paths.[18] |
| Intelligence | Boosted by science, poetry, strategy, or theology classes, reading books; enhances magic points (MP, 150 sufficient for most needs) and job success rates. Diminished by bar or cabaret work.[18][17] |
| Elegance (Refinement) | Raised via manners or poetry classes, teacup training, elegant attire; required for palace access (e.g., 800+ for queen candidacy) and high-society endings. Reduced by manual labor like farming or hunting.[18] |
| Glamour (Charisma) | Gained from cabaret, illegal bar jobs, dance classes, or beauty items; attracts suitors (200+ ideal) but drops if overweight. Lost in roles like babysitting or gravekeeping.[18][17] |
| Morality | Improved by church or tutor jobs; prevents delinquency (keep above stress levels, ideally 100+). Minimal direct losses but tied to ethical choices.[18] |
| Faith | Elevated by church work or theology; counters delinquency and sin accumulation (100+ recommended). Decreased by illegal activities or science-focused pursuits.[18][17] |
| Sensitivity | Accrued via babysitting, poetry/painting classes, mountain trips; aids evasion in adventures (200+ reduces monster encounters). Lost in strategy classes or housework.[18] |
Activities, Stats, and Decision-Making
In Princess Maker 2, the player's daughter possesses a core set of eight primary statistics that evolve based on chosen activities and events over the 10-year raising period, influencing her health, skills, career viability, and eventual endings. These stats include Stamina (determines activity endurance and recovery), Refinement (measures cultural and artistic aptitude), Intelligence (governs academic and magical proficiency), Morality (tracks ethical behavior and resistance to vice), Charisma (affects social appeal and performance in public roles), Strength (physical power for combat and labor), Constitution (overall health, size, and HP in battles), and Sensuality (linked to maturity and certain adult-oriented paths).[18] [17] Secondary derived stats, such as combat HP (base 100 plus Constitution modifiers), Attack (Strength-based), and Defense (Constitution-based), emerge during adventures, while auxiliary factors like Stress (accumulates from overwork, leading to illness or sin if exceeding 100) and monthly passive gains/losses tied to blood type (e.g., Type A adds 3 Morality but 2 Stress per month) further modulate growth.[19] [17] Birthday selection at the start sets initial values and patron deity bonuses, such as Mars for Aries granting +45 Constitution and Strength but lower Intelligence.[19] Each in-game month divides into three 10-day periods, during which the player selects one primary activity per period from categories including rest, schooling, labor, adventures, or vacations, with outcomes varying by current stats, age, and randomness. Schooling options—unlocked from the outset—encompass ten classes like Etiquette (boosts Refinement and Charisma), Fencing (raises Strength and combat readiness), and Sorcery (enhances Intelligence for magic use), each costing gold but rarely incurring stat penalties.[20] [21] Labor jobs, available from age 10, include low-skill roles like Farmhand (increases Stamina and Constitution but risks injury) or advanced ones like Merchant (elevates Intelligence and Charisma for trade success), paying wages that scale with performance thresholds (e.g., Stamina >50 for farm efficiency) while potentially raising Stress or lowering Morality in exploitative work.[22] [17] Adventures involve labyrinth combat against monsters, consuming Stamina for loot and stat gains but heightening injury or death risk if underprepared, with auto-battle resolution based on derived combat stats.[21] Rest or vacations mitigate Stress and heal ailments, though idleness forfeits growth opportunities.[17] Decision-making centers on trade-offs to sculpt the daughter's path toward one of over 70 endings, such as Queen (high Refinement, Charisma, and score >7000) or Fighter (elevated Strength and combat feats), requiring strategic allocation to avoid pitfalls like obesity (from low activity, reducing Charisma by 2 monthly until corrected) or sin accumulation (from high Stress or poor Morality choices, triggering demonic corruption events).[17] [18] Random monthly events, festivals (e.g., Harvest contests testing specific stats for prizes), and commands like scolding (lowers Stress but risks rebellion) or outings (builds bonds via mini-games) introduce variability, with long-term planning essential as early physical focus (e.g., repeated farm work) can lock out refinement-heavy paths due to irreversible Constitution growth affecting appearance.[19] [21] The game's score formula weights stats (sum of key attributes multiplied by coefficients), job history, and marriage quality, penalizing sins (-1000 per instance) to quantify overall success at age 18.[17]| Primary Stat | Key Influences | Typical Activity Boosts |
|---|---|---|
| Stamina | Activity duration, recovery | Farmhand, Labyrinth runs[22] |
| Refinement | Arts, nobility paths | Etiquette, Music classes[20] |
| Intelligence | Academics, magic | Sorcery, Mathematics[20] |
| Morality | Ethical endings, sin resistance | Theology, Church work[17] |
| Charisma | Social roles, marriage | Dance, Public performances[18] |
| Strength | Combat, manual labor | Fencing, Lumberjack[17] |
| Constitution | Health, HP, size | General exercise, rest[19] |
| Sensuality | Mature paths | Specific events, aging[18] |