Finally I got my copy of the Japanese version of PM4 for PC. Fortunatly I knew someone going to Japan since Gainax doesn’t like shipping it’s Japanese titles to the US anymore.
For those who don’t know hiragana or katakana you won’t be able to use Roman lettering for your sirname or your daughter’s name.
Story:
You are a soldier who falls in love with a woman who mysteriously disappears as quickly as she comes into your life. Then almost 11 years later (your daughter starts off at age 10, but quickly becomes age 11), she reappears with a young girl and a butler named Cube and asks you to take care of her. Of course, you do so.
Game Mechanics:
Those of you who have played Princess Maker 2 (which is most of the people here who played any Princess Maker game) will be familiar with the setup of Princess Maker 4 as it derives many of the features from it.
You have, for example the same calander structure, the ability to control your daughter’s diet, the same basic jobs & classes, the same tournaments at the harvest festival, etc. Cube even returns as your butler!
However, there are numerous changes as well. Gone completely is adventuring mode seen in the first two installments. Also gone is the ability to visit the court at the beginning of each month. Many jobs and classes are now event-controlled as far as whether you can get them, unlike PM2 where it was just based on your age (for jobs atleast).
Some elements from Princess Maker 3 did make it into this installment, such as multiple rivals, and more robust personality. Like PM3, your daughter won’t run away, her attitude will just change. However, it seems overall, very little was taken from the previous installment compared to the new one.
Development:
Like the previous game, your daughter has a more in-depth personality, even more than PM3. There will be many events along the way that will not only develope your daughter’s personality, but also give clues to her background because unlike the other Princess Maker games, you don’t know what that background is (because she isn’t your biological daughter, that is made clear).
Stats are pretty much the same, except, unlike PM2 (and this more like PM3) Jobs and schooling do not always have the cost/benifit ratio for stats of PM2, wherein stats would both raise/lower with jobs, but only improve with schooling. In PM4, like PM3, that isn’t always the case. Certain jobs will just raise your stats, while most schooling with both raise and lower stats.
Like I said before, you start out with some basics, more like PM1 than any of the others. You get bonus money if you do a perfect on a job, but not double like PM2 or random like PM3, but a set amount. I haven’t figured out the exact ratio. The one exception is working for Cube, who doesn’t pay your daughter. Instead a perfect session will remove all the stress she gained while working under him.
Art:
This time they had Tenhiro Naoto, the creator of Sister Princess as the lead artist, and there is a lot more artwork, from realistic background drawings to the Chibi drawings for schooling and training. The artwork is very well done, though I prefered the style of PM3.
Music:
The music is much the same as PM3. Just remixes of the songs from that game. There are some new songs as well that go well with it, but overall nothing major and nothing that stands out.
Overall:
This is a very good game and a great successor to the previous installments. It’s closer to PM2, minus adventure mode, than PM3 though, which the latter my favorite of the series. Still this might come in close. The artwork and character depth of your daughter has vastly improved with each installment.
