Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True Critic Reviews

Princess Maker 3 is both funny and charming, and the core gameplay loop, limited as it is, is compelling if only because there are so many different endings to aim for that the game both encourages and rewards people that experiment with it. I'm often in the mood for simple but rewarding gameplay loops over stuff that is overly complex and exhausting, and I can see myself coming back to Princess Maker for quite some time to come.

PRINCESS MAKER -FAERY TALES COME TRUE- is a neat little simulation game, and a trip down nostalgia lane. The ultra-steep learning curve is frustrating, but it is worth it if you’re willing to put in the grind work. Sixty different endings will keep hardcore fans coming back for more.

Princess Maker is a tough series to get into. The horrible translation is enough of a barrier to entry on its own, but the total lack of tutorials to explain the complexity of the different stats only serves to make the game very difficult for newcomers. If you manage to get over that steep learning curve, there’s a surprisingly deep simulation game waiting on the other side, but it is a tough sell with a mediocre localization of one of the more middling entries to the series. Hopefully Princess Maker 2 Refine will eventually come to Switch with a better localization, since I can hardly imagine enjoying Faery Tales Come True if I didn’t already have experience with its predecessor.

If you're a fan of the Princess Maker series you'll already know whether or not Princess Maker - Faery Tales Come True is your bag. You'll probably be able to overlook the complete lack of tutorials, abysmal translation job, sometimes backwards attitudes towards women and repetitive nature and get down to enjoying a strange little sim/management game that's unquestionably suited to the portable nature of the Nintendo Switch. However, newcomers should beware that this really is a careless and sloppy port of a very old game that doesn't show any real effort on the part of its developers to reward you for parting with your cash.