The original Princess Maker 2 was released thirty years ago, in 1994, and hasn’t gone away since. Some English-speaking players may remember the DOS version (or DOS Box, depending on your age), but it finally got a proper release, followed by two improvements: Princess Maker 2 Refine and now Princess Maker 2 Regeneration. The latter is a 30th anniversary release localized by Bliss Brain. While it’s still essentially the same game, it has some new visuals, voiced dialogue (including for the main female character), and a constantly-open stat window so you can better track your progress.
©YONAGO GAINAX ©Bliss Brain
As the inclusion of statistics suggests, Princess Maker 2 Regeneration, like all the other games in the series, is a child-rearing simulation. The premise of the game is that you are a hero in a war against demons, and as a reward for your bravery, the gods will grant you a daughter to raise from the age of ten to eighteen. The specific god you interact with is determined by the birthday you choose for your child—you can also choose her first name and yours, which becomes her last name—and the blood type you choose will also affect her starting stats, with B being the easiest to work with for beginners as it reduces stress by two points. The game involves setting her schedule each month, with choices between studying, work, misadventures, and downtime. Every choice you make affects her stats and the idea is to aim for one of seventy-four specific endings. Needless to say, with so many possible endings, the replay value is high.
On the surface, the real goal is to raise your daughter to be a princess, as in marrying a prince. Technically, you can make her three different types of princess—she can marry a human prince, a dragon prince, or go to the dark side and become a demon princess. (In an incident that has become family legend, one of my sisters aimed for the game's equivalent of a dominatrix but overachieved, becoming a demon princess instead.) She can also completely bypass the prince and become a queen or one of the king's concubines. If you don't like the idea of raising a daughter just to marry, that's fine—most of the true endings involve work. There are a variety of jobs, from the refined (prime minister, artist, knight) to the basic (innkeeper, lumberjack, maid) to the more dubious (barmaid, prostitute, crime lord). In the Steam and Nintendo Switch versions, you could also have your daughter grow up to marry you or the Cube butler, but those endings were removed from the PlayStation releases, along with the purchasable item “buxom pills.”
© YONAGO GAINAX ©Bliss Brain
As you might expect, the game still has some very sexist undertones that were really off-putting in the 1990s and certainly aren't now. Many father-daughter conversations feature your daughter talking about cooking, cleaning, or her bust size even when it's completely unrelated to what she's doing in class or at work, and conversation options with people in the palace also tend to lean toward comments about pleasing women. men. Yes, the game is set in a pseudo-medieval setting, but since so many traditionally male jobs are over, that feels particularly jarring. Additionally, managing your daughter's weight is a part of the game, with three meal portion options. This could be an issue if you're prone to disordered eating.
The key to the game is finding what balances the different stats you need to get the ending you want. For example, being a Hunter will increase your combat skills but lower your finesse, making it harder to talk to higher-ranking people in the palace, a must for any royal ending. Studying science will increase your intelligence but decrease your faith and magic. This means that if you want to balance things out, you could increase your intelligence with science classes and then increase your faith by having your daughter work at the church. Each ending requires a different balance of stats, and part of what I always find interesting about the game is trying to figure out which combinations of stats will get you which ending. In my experience, the two easiest endings to get are the housewife and the prostitute. While some are quite intuitive (a nun requires high faith and morals, while a soldier requires high combat reputation), some require careful balance. Stress also needs to be managed along with more class-oriented areas, as high stress will have a negative effect on her progress and may also cause her to run away.
© YONAGO GAINAX ©Bliss Brain
In addition to these elements, the game also has a “mistake” option, which is when you send your daughter on an RPG-style adventure. This game plays like a classic JRPG and is a nice variation on the gameplay, although if you send her out with too few skills, she will die and you will lose progress when she “recovers at home”. Additionally, you can buy items to help raise certain stats or make her more comfortable in hot or cold weather, with a variety of weapons and armor available for her adventures. Once a year, the kingdom holds a festival, which can be very useful; winning any competition will earn you a huge amount of money needed to take classes, as the 500 gold a year that the kingdom grants you is clearly not enough. Periodically, a traveling fortuneteller will stop by and assess your daughter's progress for a fee, which is how you can see what path she's on and make adjustments if needed.
© YONAGO GAINAX ©Bliss Brain
Princess Maker 2 Regeneration is a fun game despite its issues. The numerous endings give it a lot of replay value, and while the new artwork isn't drastically different from previous iterations, it's still a blast. The translation is mostly smooth, and the addition of voice acting is a plus. Not being a fan of censorship, I can't recommend the PS4 and PS5 versions at all because of the removed content, but if you're into sims (child or otherwise), this is worth a try. You don't necessarily need to buy it again if you own the older version, but if you're still playing that DOS Box version, this is a good chance to get the official release with all the bells and whistles.