Reviews

• gamedeal user

  May 22, 2016

  If you know the story of Sara Crewe, you know most of what's going to happen. The visual novel aspect is about developing relationships with the secondary characters. You develop stats based on what you choose to do with your free time and trigger scenes with the other girls if your stats meet certain requirements. There isn't enough time to get through everyone's scenes but I've gotten through three girls' scenes in a single playthrough. In Act II you have to pick one girl to have scenes with but if you save at the beginning of Act II you can avoid repeating Act I for everyone. As any shoujo-ai fan will tell you, "Lily" being in the title means there's gonna be some girl-love. It's very mild. Some cuddling and only one girl actually pushes past "romantic friendship" into "schoolgirl lesbian" territory. I think this game is suitable for any little girls who can read well enough. But be prepared to discuss death, poverty, classism, and romance between girls as necessary. Because everyone seems to ask: No, there is no death ending.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 25, 2018

  A Little Lily Princess is lite on the Yuri, heavy on the drama and heartstring-tugging, and just right in the time-spent department. The story follows young Sara as she leaves her father in India to become a "proper English girl" at a school in London. There are ups and most certainly downs along the way. The common route is all about Sara, but the individual routes focus on the different girls/women that Sara meets while there and the relationships that develop. If you're looking for deep yuri, this isn't it. While there are 6 routes you can take, only a few focus more on the romance side; the rest tend to be about familial love and bonds that form between the girls. While I whole-heartedly recommend this VN, I wasn't a fan of the "gameplay" where you must accumulate specific stats to reveal individual scenes with your chosen girl(s). It all felt a bit random and unecessary. I can understand the point in doing so, but if I became "blocked" due to bad luck with the RNG, I felt compelled to save scum and reload until I got what I needed. Also, the "payoff" felt more satisfying in certain routes; but that could simply be because I felt more personally attached to those characters. All-in-all, time well spent, and for once I ACTUALLY read all 6 routes. [spoiler]Well, I skimmed Lottie a little.[/spoiler]
• gamedeal user

  Jul 14, 2016

  I absolutely loved this romance sim. It was very delightful and interesting. There are 4 romance routes, and 2 friendship routes. It involves stat raising, but it is not tedious or annoying. It takes place during the Victorian era in London, England. That is a vague time frame considering Queen Victoria ruled for 63 years. However, since the book this visual novel is based on was published in 1905, I would assume the story took place late in her reign before she died in 1901. The young protagonist arrives at a boarding school for girls after living in India her whole life; do remember that The British Empire ruled over India for a long time. She is a tad out of place in her school for having grown up in India, and for also being half-French; The English and French are long-time rivals, after all. Although, elitist English aristocrats would have prejudice against anyone who wasn't completely English anyway. The protagonist leads a comfortable, pampered life since her father is quite wealthy ... until things take a very tragic turn for her. However, through her formed bond with one of the 6 characters with a story route, she can survive. Among the characters the protagonist can form romantic bonds with include: Lavinia (a snobby aristocrat student), Jessie (a student who desires to be beautiful), Ermegarde (a plump student with low self-esteem), and Becky (an ill-treated scullery servant). Among the characters the protagonist can form friendship bonds with include: Mariette (the protagonist's personal French maid) and Lottie (an 8-year-old student). What I really enjoyed about this visual novel, besides the various cultural aspects one can learn about, was the important messages it projects. It tells the audience that women/girls can make a life for themselves, with or without men. It tells the audience that a person shouldn't stay with an abusive person whether they're capable of doing good things or not. It informs the audience about how women were treated like property in that time and the very few opportunities they had to escape that fate. Above all, it teaches the audience that classism and elitism are horrendous and cruel. [spoiler]I think Becky is canon, and I liked her route best.[/spoiler] I recommend this VN to anyone who enjoys stories with culture, history, strong friendships, and lovely romances.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 24, 2016

  You play the game. Piece of cake. Everyone is happy, everything is fine. You're a Princess in all of her glory. Life slaps you back. Now you don't have anything. You rage, you cry, you curse. The little princess in the game never loses hope. You wish for Death to come and take the lives of the ones who mistreat your princess. You wish for revenge and pain inflicted upon them, The little princess just wishes to live on, always hoping. You see the light, the final turn of events. Life is bright again. People reunites once again, all is well. You cry. Not a single drop of blood was spilled. 11/10 I couldn't sleep
• gamedeal user

  May 19, 2017

  For those of you who are looking for LGBT representation and are hestitant about buying this game: Buy this game. It's adorable, faithful to the novel without sacrificing originality, and overwhelmingly heartwarming.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 21, 2016

  I usually don't sob like a little girl while playing video games, but I'm totally okay with this game making me do that.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 25, 2016

  Classic story told in a different way. I absolutely adore this game. There are no choices within the plot (which bothered me slightly at first). Gameplay is based on raising statistics, that you're trading to unlock events with the character you wish to know better. At the same time, I wouldn't call it a stat raising game - it's not challenging, it just feels a bit like there were need for some sort of game mechanic to be there, so they went with that. Which means - it won't make you rage quit, for sure ;). Story is beautiful, heart-warming and well written. All characters are different and likeable. Music and art are just gorgeous. Absolutely worth the price and a must have for every visual novel fan out there.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 1, 2017

  [b]I don't often give such praise, but A Little Lily Princess is one of the most unique, compelling visual novels out there - not only artistically impressive but also delivering a beautiful, touching story that will stay with you for a long time. It uses simple "dating sim" mechanics (resource management), but describing it us such or calling it a "yuri" game would be rather misleading. While there is some romance involved, it’s very mild and tactful and some routes are rather about friendship than love. And above all, it focuses on the main character and her life and hardships.[/b] What makes this VN especially unique is the setting – it’s a loose adaptation of an English novel [i]A Little Princess[/i] and the story is deeply connected to the context of Victorian-era London. The writing and art-style do a very good job of creating an appropriate climate and representing the strict social divisions of XIX century’s England, which are crucial to the story. Unlike many western VNs, that copy the formula of Japanese ones to the point of setting the story in Japan, this one is has a strong identity that makes it stand out from the crowd. The storytelling itself is a bit slow and often painfully sad and cruel, but the climate and characters make it captivating most of the time. Especially the protagonist, Sara, is a wonderful character that it’s hard not to fall in love with. Some might find her a bit too flawless, but she’s definitely not a Mary Sue, having a lot of interesting traits and reacting in believable ways to the misfortunes that fall upon her. The rest of the cast is also rather interesting and they all show a significant amount of depth in their respective routes. Every one of them has a different relationship with the main character and most of the time it’s very interesting to see how their relations develop and change through the plot twists that the main storyline offers. I would describe only three of the character routes as explicitly “romantic”, but all of them had an impact and a lot of charm (even with all the sad/unsettling elements in most of them). The art and music are very good, with sprites, backgrounds and CGs being both nice to look at and characteristic. CGs are not that numerous for a game that can take around 15 hours for a full playthrough, but their quality makes the experience very pleasing to the eye. [b]Maybe the weakest part of the game is the resource management mechanic, which is very much dependent on RNG and doesn’t by itself add any real challenge to the game[/b], unless you strategize to unlock multiple routes in the first chapter. Also the choice of “events”, that means choosing with what characters you’ll interact, is the only thing influencing the story – there are no dialogue choices per se. The UI can be a bit confusing at first, but the whole gameplay, while extremely limited, is at least very thematic and adds to the mood of the game. [b]In summary, while it's not without some faults and limitation, I think A Little Lily Princess is a great and exceptional game - a true must-buy for any VN fan.[/b] The yuri romantic themes are a bonus, but the game doesn’t rely on them that much and can prove a great experience even if you’re not a fan of the genre. Even at full price, it’s a good value proposition and when on sale it’s hard for me to not recommend it not just to fans of visual novels, but anyone who’s interesting in reading a touching, memorable story. -------------------------------------- PS If you're interested in more quality western VNs, check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32980295/]my curator page[/url].
• gamedeal user

  May 26, 2016

  Finished the last route in "A Little Lily Princess," which is another amazing game from Hanako Games (under the name Hanabira). As per usual with games from Hanako, you play a young girl, in this case Sara Crewe, who performs activities every week to increase a number of skills (such as Sympathy or Grace). With these skill increases, you unlock different routes and scenes for each of the six potential girls that you can romance (which is where "A Little Lily Princess" differs from Hanako's acclaimed "Long Live the Queen"). You will, through these interactions (as well as the weekly slice, as I call it), learn about these characters. You have the fire-haired Jessie, a ballerina with an eye for curiosity; Lavinia, the haughty model student at Miss Minchin's Seminary; Lottie, the little girl who knows how to throw a tantrum; Ermengarde, the soft country girl who makes up her lack of wit with her heart of gold; Marriette, Sara's personal maid from France; and Becky, the poor, downtrodden scullery maid. If you recognise a few of these names, then perhaps you have read the book that this VN is based from: "A Little Princess," written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in 1905. If you have read it, then this will be a lovely treat, but if you haven't, do not seek this book out if you do not wish to be spoiled. You have been warned. Going back to the game, I cannot recommend it enough. You may ask me a favourite route, and I will simply chuckle and say "All of them!" Each one of these girls has their own story, their own motivations, their own wants and desires and fears, and truly I felt ever the better to experience their lives, if only for a moment.