Princess Maker is a series that I always knew about but I have no idea how I got to know them (or who told me about the series). So, this year I wanted to play short games and decided to play the series. I started with PM3 then played 1 and 2, and now I am playing PM5 (I skipped the 4th game because there is no official or fan translation available). And I am already a fan of the series

PM5 is probably the longest of the series (I have played it for 2 months now and my daughter just turned 14 lol) and it has it's problems (English version only because it has a terrible translation and it's locked on windowed mode) but I am enjoying it so far (I love how your daughter can actually have friends and dates and this game and some of her friends/guys who have crushes on her may get jealous ).

So, any PM enjoyers here?

And for anyone who doesn't know what Princess Maker is, PM is a child raising sim series produced by Gainax (the same Gainax that did Gurren Lagann, Evangelion and it's now dead). In the game you play as the father (or mother in PM5) and you organise your daughter's weekly/monthly schedule (depends on the game) choosing her classes and part time jobs where she can gain or lose statuses and there is a bunch of different endings! Some are great like being a princess, queen or queen consort, some are alright like getting a job as a teacher or as a carpenter and some are bad like being a bar hostess or a loan shark (or worse ).

I think that PM is surprisingly tame for a visual novel-like game, the only creepy stuff in the game are that in PM1 and PM2 there is some illustration that your daughter is swimming naked (but it was censored in the steam version, thankfully) and there is a ending that she can marry her father (but luckily this ending is hard to obtain lol)

Also PM has gorgeous illustrations like these:

omg the art is gorgeous!! i think the only similar game i played was tokimeki memorial girl's side on the DS. its also all about scheduling classes to max out specific skills, going to certain areas to romance boys lol. i cant remember for certain but im pretty sure one of the dating options is a teacher (YUUUUCK!!!). its art is not nearly as cool but it has some really cute UI details.

omggg, YES!! i have no recollection of how i came across it, but i somehow managed to download princess maker 2 on my dad's work laptop as a kid in like 2000 (which is SO hilarious to think about now - sorry dad!) i got my brother and sister really into it, also, and i remember we'd stay up late playing ;-; i remember there definitely being some very sus moments in PM2, but not as bad as other visual novels i've seen. i remember the path where you could marry your daughter, and being thoroughly weirded out by it (but still didn't see any issues with downloading the game on my dad's work laptop!!!) but i recall it being something you have to really be intentional about.

i always wanted to play the others, but for a long time they were either impossible to get ahold of, or not translated. i noticed they were on steam a few years ago, but i never got around to playing them. maybe now is the time!

humanfinny wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 9:18 am omg the art is gorgeous!! i think the only similar game i played was tokimeki memorial girl's side on the DS. its also all about scheduling classes to max out specific skills, going to certain areas to romance boys lol. i cant remember for certain but im pretty sure one of the dating options is a teacher (YUUUUCK!!!). its art is not nearly as cool but it has some really cute UI details.

Tokimeki Memorial I've tried playing but the fan translation didn't worked (it was the super famicom version, I think). I've watched a episode of GameCenter CX and I've found that it was a cool vn-like with no sexual stuff but a shame that I don't know Japanese to play it lol

jessica wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 5:12 pm omggg, YES!! i have no recollection of how i came across it, but i somehow managed to download princess maker 2 on my dad's work laptop as a kid in like 2000 (which is SO hilarious to think about now - sorry dad!) i got my brother and sister really into it, also, and i remember we'd stay up late playing ;-; i remember there definitely being some very sus moments in PM2, but not as bad as other visual novels i've seen. i remember the path where you could marry your daughter, and being thoroughly weirded out by it (but still didn't see any issues with downloading the game on my dad's work laptop!!!) but i recall it being something you have to really be intentional about.

i always wanted to play the others, but for a long time they were either impossible to get ahold of, or not translated. i noticed they were on steam a few years ago, but i never got around to playing them. maybe now is the time!

I saw on the wikia that it's harder to get the married to father ending than the true princess ending (in PM3) so you have to really want to get this ending to obtain it (also event endings get a priority, at least in PM3).

I think that the only problem of the steam version is that they ruined the pixel art trying to "improve" it:



(this only in PM1 and PM2, I didn't see any differences on PM3 and PM5 isn't pixel art)

Also the translation has some mistakes, that I've mentioned, but I don't think it ruins the story.

Ame wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 9:22 pm

Tokimeki Memorial I've tried playing but the fan translation didn't worked (it was the super famicom version, I think). I've watched a episode of GameCenter CX and I've found that it was a cool vn-like with no sexual stuff but a shame that I don't know Japanese to play it lol

yes its very sweet overall, I also played a pretty wonky fan translation on the 3DS, it worked tho lol.

Ame wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 9:22 pm I think that the only problem of the steam version is that they ruined the pixel art trying to "improve" it:



(this only in PM1 and PM2, I didn't see any differences on PM3 and PM5 isn't pixel art)

Also the translation has some mistakes, that I've mentioned, but I don't think it ruins the story.

argh, yeah that 'improved' art leaves a lot to be desired... i have the same problem with the UI in ace attorney games for PC and other modern consoles, like its so bare and sad compared to the OGs..

jessica wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2024 5:12 pm omggg, YES!! i have no recollection of how i came across it, but i somehow managed to download princess maker 2 on my dad's work laptop as a kid in like 2000 (which is SO hilarious to think about now - sorry dad!) i got my brother and sister really into it, also, and i remember we'd stay up late playing ;-; i remember there definitely being some very sus moments in PM2, but not as bad as other visual novels i've seen. i remember the path where you could marry your daughter, and being thoroughly weirded out by it (but still didn't see any issues with downloading the game on my dad's work laptop!!!) but i recall it being something you have to really be intentional about.

i always wanted to play the others, but for a long time they were either impossible to get ahold of, or not translated. i noticed they were on steam a few years ago, but i never got around to playing them. maybe now is the time!

i also downloaded many sus things onto the computers of parents lol. somehow avoided trouble tho but one time my brother downloaded some kind of mobile shooter onto my dads phone via mobile internet (back when that was an expensive transaction lol) and he got so much shit for it lmao...