“I think women should be more independent. In society, we’re
portrayed as people who simply wear make-up and sit around. We need a Princess
Charming—a woman who rescues her man and slays the dragon instead of the other
way around.” -Adora Svitak
Source: Itch.io
Princess Charming is exactly what Catfish Crews delivers in
their free to play game, Lads in Distress. It’s no secret that otome and dating
simulators are a guilty pleasure of mine, so when I saw this game on Itch.io I
was intrigued. The art caught my eye as it’s just beautifully styled. I can
sometimes be a little shallow when I play otome and dating games. I was to see
cute looking guys and gals. Not necessarily gorgeous, but well drawn at least.
In this game, we play as Princess Charming herself! She is
the Princess of the Lunar Kingdom, but unfortunately, the Lunar Kingdom is also
near a financial crisis. To help save Lunar Kingdom from being completely
broke, it is decided that a ball will be help and Princess Charming will choose
a suitor from a, hopefully, more affluent kingdom. Doing this will form an alliance and therefore remedy the financial
situation. Charming is not thrilled at the idea, preferring to focus on her magic. Her closest friend Nicholl, who doesn't seem thrilled either, advises her that three of the potential suitors on the list of guests are to be
avoided at all costs.
Source: Itch.io
Our three princes are Prince Mer of the Water
Kingdom, Prince Snow of the Snow Kingdom and Prince Zel of the Forest Kingdom.
You get the opportunity to briefly meet Prince Mer and Prince Snow at the ball,
however Prince Zel has been missing for years. I have played through all of the
Princes and gotten both endings for each of them, and I have to say that Prince
Mer is my favorite of the 3. His story genuinely surprised me at the twists and
turns. Both of the endings are so starkly different that after the second
ending of Mer’s, I stared at my computer screen, mouth agape in surprise at the
whole thing.
Normally I go into otome and dating sim games expecting
typical clichés and tropes… and Lads in Distress takes them and reverses the roles, throwing the clichés and tropes out the window. I was overjoyed
with each Prince’s story and the surprises held within each one. Mer's story was unlike anything I had heard before, and I loved it. I won’t talk
about them too much because I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but it was
worth it to replay each path to get the other endings, especially Mer’s.
Source: Otome Twist
This game plays as a visual novel, with beautifully crafted
characters and stunning background locations. The visuals are just lovely, and
the music is a great compliment as well. The game did have a few spelling
errors I happened to notice, and the game did crash on me once during my second
play through of Mer’s path. There were no serious flaws or anything that I
noticed otherwise.
The game is not complete. Catfish Crews is currently working
on an expansion, with more princes and more wonderful fun. I’m going to keep a
close eye on it so that I can play it when it does release. I’m genuinely
looking forward to it!
If you want to try this wonderful creation for yourself, which I highly recommend, you
can find it on Itch.io *here*. The game is free to download and play, so you
have nothing to lose, and a few hours of enjoyment to gain, so get at it! Then
be sure to leave comments of encouragement for the creators, cause that’s the
nice thing to do.
Happy Gaming, Friends!
Bell
View the Gaming in Pajamas Completed Compendium *here!*
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Email me: Bellannmae@gmail.com
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