Slay the Princess

I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of this game’s deep story. Despite the simple gameplay, it seems to account for EVERYTHING. Start over? It will call you out. Killed the princess last time? She’ll say different things now. Turned around multiple times? The narrator gets annoyed, and unless you completely delete your files, it takes EVERYTHING you do and how you do it and factors it in. Beautiful game.

This game forever changed me, especially about love and forgiveness. There's also other very powerful themes to get lost into.

This review contains [b][u]unmarked spoilers[/u][/b] (the formatting would be weird) for [b]Slay the Princess - The Pristine Cut.[/b] I doubt I will ever 100% this game. I'm not entirely certain I'll play it again. If I do, it will not result in another ending than the one I received this first run through. This is not because I hate this game, quite the opposite. My journey here was so personal, so perfect, I cannot imagine experiencing another result. The more you play something, the more you squeeze the content and enjoyment out of it, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. To stop feeling moved. It isn't a given, not hardly, but it is possible. I speak as myself and as [b]The Long Quiet[/b], it is hard to tell which thoughts were mine and which were his. After all, isn't that the point of immersion? I know this is a game, that's clear and obvious. What happened here was the result of programming, voice acting, and art made by real humans for the purpose of getting across a message. One has to decide their relationship to fiction themselves. In this instance, I allow myself to feel completely. The first time I started this game, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd seen some of the art, and had a vague understanding of the gameplay loop. I went in not sure if I wanted to Slay or Save the Princess. My hesitation cost me everything, and I first met [b]The Adversary.[/b] I tried to outspeed her, outthink her. I failed. I died. I met [b]The Eye of the Needle.[/b] I lured her into the open and slew her. I thought of the Princess as my enemy, as the opposite force to me. So that's what I first met. And she made for [b]a burning heart.[/b] I wasn't sure what to make of what I would come to know as [b]The Shifting Mound.[/b] Upon first meeting Her, I expected betrayal in the end. I was prematurely heartbroken, because She seemed so kind. I wanted Her kindness to be genuine. Out of compassion, I agree to help Her, and begin the loops in earnest. Now, I abuse my knowledge as a being outside the game. For my second sacrifice, I wanted to give Her something completely different. So I attempted to run, even though The Long Quiet does not keep his memories from loop to loop. I ran. And then it stopped working. By the time I went to the impossible, broken Cabin, I knew this was sufficiently new. A fresh perspective, just as She asked for. I went down the center stairs. By the time I found the Princess, I was already unravelling, and then so was she. I met [b]The Stranger[/b], and lamented for a moment that I could not separate her. But She came, and took her away, and everything was okay. She was [b]a rich and vibrant heart.[/b] I was aware of this game's nature as a game, and thought of the Princess as multiple things at once. So that's what I saw. I go again, throwing away my hesitation. At least, in theory. Yes, I killed her. I stabbed her through the heart. But I didn't really believe that, so it wasn't true. She had a hidden weapon and slew me with it. I met [b]The Razor.[/b] I met her again, and she slew me again with a blade hidden in her very leg. Again and again and again, I went, every possible Voice trying to tell me what to do or think. In the end, I didn't need them. Not even the Narrator. I bested the living blades, the absolute rejection of intimacy. I delivered Her [b]a piercing heart.[/b] Here, I began to fear. Fear I was losing my connection to these Vessels, seeing them as less important than [b]The Shifting Mound,[/b] whose affections and approval I sought. Yet, isn't it my treatment of them that influences Her? So with love, I wanted to Save the Princess this time. I cut her free, yet the Narrator tried to intervene. I found myself wondering why, if he can so control me, he hasn't done this himself yet. Something is strange. The Princess took her freedom and gave me mine, slitting my throat. I saw the Princess as a captive, so I met [b]The Prisoner.[/b] When I saw her again, I wanted to save her. But in my foolishness, I just trapped myself. She was only 'freed' by the decay of time. By Entropy. When [b]The Shifting Mound[/b] came, I thought, "I'm sorry." What use could such a stagnant reality have? Have I wasted one of my limited attempts? What am I making Her? If all versions The Princess will, in the end, collapse into Her... what am I changing? She said I had given her [b]a patient heart.[/b] She seemed happy. She told me that I only needed to give her one more Vessel. One more time. One more story. But I can't explain to you why I tried to imprison her this time. I think she frightened me, and she knew I was scared. Which is why, after she frightened me unto death, I met [b]The Nightmare.[/b] This time, I was truly petrified. I saw my fear, my terror at the end of this journey reflected in her. I slew her, somehow. I drove the knife into her heart. It stopped nothing, and I met [b]The Wraith.[/b] In the end, her final permutation, she tried to use my body to escape. But I didn't let her. I flung myself from the Cabin, and delivered unto Her [b]a driven heart.[/b] A burning heart, a rich and vibrant heart, a piercing heart, a patient heart, a driven heart. [b]The Shifting Mound[/b] is complete, as the rest of her collapses. "Are you happy? Are you proud of me?" I want to ask Her. But first, I finally speak to the Narrator. His Echo. His last will and testament. [b]The Shifting Mound[/b] is change, entropy, and death. Fool, isn't she also improvement? Movement? Change and death scared the Narrator so, but I don't blame him. Being human, being finite, must take incredible strength. And he died for his ideals. It's here that I learn what I am. I am [b]The Long Quiet[/b], the space between spaces. Stillness. And once, part of Her. I tell the Narrator that I disagree with him before he fades. Her. There wasn't a fight. There wasn't an argument. [b]There Are No Endings.[/b] She and I were always on the same page. There was no betrayal or slaying. I took her hand into eternity because death is what defines life. Yes, it is beyond unfortunate and unfair. But it is. And without it, things would all halt in time. Come to nothing. It is my belief that love makes all things worthwhile. Even broken and lost, it can still be returned. Time, Change, [b]The Shifting Mound[/b]... heals all things. Don't go hollow, not if you still have choices to make. Learn and grow and change, because the only person who can decide which direction in right is you. ...unless you believe in a religion, then things may get grey, but you get it. "Though conflict is in your nature, the two of you will never be alone, and the two of you will never know fear. You and She are finally home." There is nothing in this world worse than being alone. [strike]But who cares about that nerd ♥♥♥♥, I want eternal life with super-waifu Shifty.[/strike]