Princess Maker 2

The Good
While not a terribly unique concept in Japan, Princess Maker 2 is one of the few "real-life" sims that has (sort of) come across the ocean. It is vastly replayable, due to the large number of endings. In addition to the base ending (ie, your daughter's chosen career/lifestyle at age 18) there are other factors such as whether and to whom she marries, whether she considers her childhood to have been happy, etc. There are some truly bizarre endings out there... a few trial runs should be enough to figure out how to max out her stats... and messing with stats is the key to determining her future. I got the Princess ending once, ages ago... but its really far more interesting to seek out some of the obscure endings.

The Bad
It gets repetitive... in order for your daughter to accomplish ANYTHING in any field, she needs money and you will therefore spend a lot of time having her work or fight for the sole purpose of raising money. It also becomes important to make sure that she doesn't do the same job too often, unless you want her to go into that field. Too much cooking and cleaning will get you a housewife every time. It seemed like a waste to spend hours on the game only to get ANOTHER housewife, artist, dancer, or hooker (those were the ones that kept cropping up for me at least), knowing that there are around 40 endings that I have never got, it was frustrating to do something different and get the same ending over and over again.

Princess Maker 3 actually has more endings, and it is a bit easier to ensure a different ending by changing your actions to a lesser degree than is necessary in 2. But for those who don't read Japanese, this is just about the best--if not ONLY--game of its type.

The Bottom Line
Yes, it sounds dorky. Who wants to play a child-rearing sim? Well... I do, for one. It is AMAZING how addictive this game is once you give it a shot!

The Good
The premise alone is original: raising a daughter. The game analyses your every move which is quite rewarding; and the incredibly detailed game system allows you to map out your ideal daughter quite easily. The possibilities are huge and it's fun to see how one choice affects another. For example, having your daughter work at a sleazy bar ups her "sin" level; but if you combine it with a job at a church, you can nullify it. The graphics are charming and heartwarming in a typical Japanese fashion, and the small animations are good and quite funny sometimes. The sheer open-endedness of the game is great and the, count 'em...74 endings have got to rate among surely the biggest number in any game. Like someone said it's "replayable to the point of insanity". I personally found a lot of affinity with my daughter and I felt a bit sad when she had to leave home at the end, but -hey- I'm always like that. I also managed to pretty much create what I'd want my daughter to be like anyway. The endings are suprisingly thorough and it's amazing how your daughter's final stats make a difference to each ending. Which means that even after you've seen ALL SEVENTY FOUR you can still replay the game again and see something new.

The Bad
Princess Maker 2 does unfortunately get repetitive. I found this to be it's biggest problem. If you want your daughter to grow up to be an artist or whatever, it's quite easy to pile her into art school and get her a job at a hair salon, and she'll ace the competitions every time in less than 2 years. After that, there is no real need to keep her in the art school because it's costing you a bomb and she'll win the next competition by a mile anyway. So you're kinda stuck with what to do because if you try something else like fighting, it'll lower her artistic skill or push her in the direction of becoming a professional warrior. There could have been a few more random events I think. The schedules do seem to turn out pretty similar for every month too. You'll get your daughter into a routine habit and this may get boring if nothing happens very often either. It's also a pity your daughter doesn't say much as well, but then that may just be my inadequacies as a father.

The Bottom Line
Sweet, fun, light-hearted, and warm. Japan always seems to be able to produce games with so much more charisma than American ones. It's just a pity that not quite enough is happening most of the time; and after completing it, you won't feel the need to jump back in right from the start again. But how can you complain when this game has 74 endings? I mean...74?!...Wow

The Good
You don't see this kind of thing often. For those of you who haven't played it, another appropriate title would be "Sim Daughter". The objective here is to guide the daughter, and then depending on your actions, she will end up in one of several professions.

It's an original concept that is rarely seen anymore, especially in America. Somehow, this thing is strangely addictive, and you'll find yourself replaying, wondering what sort of outcome you'll get.

The Bad
If you're like me, and know little or nothing about Japanese culture, you're going to be exposed to some strangeness.. most apparently in the weight/height ratio of the child. When I played, she turned out to be 17 years old, 5' 7" and 97 pounds. With these statistics she complained about being "too fat" and the game would not allow her to wear some of the fancier clothes. I had to slim her down to 87 pounds to resolve the problem.

There's also the whole Child Pornography issue. Yes, you will see naked cartoon preteen art. At no time are sexual acts depicted, but nudity is not exactly scarce. It's my understanding, though, that the North American versions have been censored, and that the art for that is simply not available.

The Bottom Line
If you want something unique, try it out. It's fun, addictive, and just downright nifty.