Princess Maker 2 Regeneration is a life simulation, stat raising game with RPG elements developed by Bliss Brain and Monkey Craft and published by Bliss Brain. You take on the role of a male hero who fought against a demon army and pretty much single-handedly saved a kingdom. As a result, the king thanks you and offers you permanent residence in the town as well as a yearly stipend. Of course, you take up the offer. One night, one of the star gods (inspired by Greek/Roman mythology) appears before you and presents you with a 10-year old girl, declaring you to be her father and to raise her for 8 years. That's the basic story synopsis. ^^

In regards to the gameplay, it is a stat raising game, so you're presented with a bunch of varying life stats for your daughter (whom you can customize her name and determine her date of birth), ranging from stamina to intelligence. Basically, you plan out your daughter's schedule by the month, choosing her classes, part-time jobs, etc. You can even send her out on errantry (adventures) or take her to the beach or mountains on vacation. Once your daughter turns 18, the game ends and you get one of 74 social/job endings and possibly, one of 6 wedding endings. There are several Steam achievements, too, although it's only all of the wedding endings, a few of the special social endings, harvest festival contest events, and so forth that count as Steam achievements, which count towards a user's global total. At the time of this review, no Steam trading cards are present. Also, there are plenty of ending and vacation CGs as well as a varied soundtrack and full-on Japanese voice acting.

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. The Princess Maker series highly caught my interest ever since I first heard about it and played a couple of games inspired by the series. Even though I have all the available games on Steam, Princess Maker 2 Regeneration is my first actual experience playing the series. (However, I definitely have plans to play the other games in my library. ^^) Thus, my review will come from the perspective of someone who hasn't played the other games although I did look up information about Princess Maker 2 Refine for comparison purposes. With that said, I'll start off with the story. I liked the story's premise, and the introduction isn't long. I was able to get the basic idea, but I should note that if you choose to play the story intro (you can opt to skip it and get right to raising your daughter), the auto text speed is way too fast. I can read quickly, but the text scrolled at almost lightning speed. :o It would be best to watch a video if you want to take your time reading the story. However, the story itself is very enjoyable, and I liked witnessing my daughter's life journey as she grew up, went on adventures, and eventually became an adult, determining what she wanted to do with her life. There are lots of different endings, and the game makes it somewhat obvious that some endings are better than others. For example, if your daughter becomes Queen Regnant, that's considered the best ending as well as if she ends up marrying the prince. Bad endings are present, too, such as if your daughter becomes the Demon Lord. For anyone curious, my favorite ending is the one in which the daughter decides to follow in her dad's footsteps. ^^

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3292310132

Next, I'll touch on the gameplay. When I first opened up the game, saw my daughter, and then saw all the different stats and options to choose in regards to raising her, I admit that I felt overwhelmed. However, I took my time to choose her classes, work schedule, etc., and observed her changing moods. The option to have the stats always visible is great, as I read that this wasn't an option in the Refine version. There were times that I got a little frustrated because on subsequent playthroughs, my daughter would turn rebellious or run away. (However, I never had the event where my daughter got sick, so I guess I'm probably somewhat a decent parent in game. lol) After looking up some guides and doing a bit of testing, I figured out better how the gameplay mechanics worked, which had my daughter being more obedient and allowing me to obtain certain endings that I struggled with. I was able to obtain all of the Steam achievements although it took me a while. For full disclosure purposes, I didn't go for all of the social/job endings because a lot of them don't have Steam achievements. Also, as I plan to eventually play and review the Refine version, I figured that I would go back to play this game at some point later. As for technical issues, besides the fast text scrolling that I mentioned in my previous paragraph, I noticed that you can't really put the game in windowed mode. When I tried to do so, it still took up almost the entire screen, so it would be great for a few screen resolution options to be present, as I tend to prefer playing in a suitable windowed mode.

As for the art, it is gorgeous. Based on some screenshots that I've seen from users who played the Refine version, the art here looks to have been touched up. The colors feel softer. Also, it appears that the CGs are more censored, as I didn't notice much nudity. In addition, from what I understand, this version actually has a CG gallery, so you can see all of your daughter's vacation and ending CGs that have been unlocked as well as some bonus art.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3292309796

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3292310645

Regarding the music, I enjoyed listening to the tracks that are present. They vary in mood, ranging from the everyday theme to the adventuring one. (Personally, I enjoyed listening to the adventure track.) Also, I liked listening to the Japanese voice acting. All the characters are voiced except for the main character since he doesn't actually have any lines. It was a joy to follow along with the voices as I read the English translation. (Before I forget, I should note that the English translation in this game has been reported to be better than in the Refine version.)

Overall, would I recommend Princess Maker 2 Regeneration?

• Fans of the Princess Maker series
  
• Want better English translation
  
• Want to view beautiful art in a CG gallery
  
• Those who enjoy life sims/stat raisers

• Those who might be on the fence because of the price point
  
• Have issues with the technical problems that I noted earlier
  
• Want Steam achievements for all of the possible endings

Personally, I enjoyed this version of Princess Maker 2, but I haven't played the Refine version, so perhaps my opinion may change later down the road. It does have a few quality of life issues, which I'm hoping that the devs will fix, maybe after the Playstation version is released. I can understand if some are reluctant to pick this one up because of the price point. I do feel like it's worth it, especially after improvements are made, but if you're uncertain, you can wait to pick it up on a sale.

Finally, I want to give a major thank you to Bliss Brain for the review copy. It was an absolute joy and pleasure to have the chance to play this game, and I hope that old and new fans alike will take the time to try it out. ^^

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

Here is my pros and cons list as someone that 100%-ed refine and has not played the DOS version.

Pros:
- I like the translation 1000x more than refine.
- I like the inclusion of the gallery as a way of tracking progress.
- I like being able to see the stats at all times instead of opening the menu constantly.
- I like the new illustrations. (mostly)
- It's princess maker 2, same as always.

Cons:
- The max speed option in Regeneration is. So. Slow. Compared to Refine.
- There's only 19 achievements this time instead of 162. (this is minor with the gallery but still)
- It's princess maker 2, same as always, but this time twice as expensive.

Ultimately I don't regret buying it and have every intention of getting all the endings all over again ('cept maybe father marriage) but can absolutely see it not being worth it for others.

love this <3