Originally released in Japan in 2023, Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights is finally more widely available to the English speaking world. Cecilia Farias Temirana is given the title of the “Cursed Princess” by everyone including her two sisters and royal parents. She is allegedly going to harm the kingdom during the Calamity, an upcoming event that will bring countless disasters to Temirana and the neighbouring kingdoms. She is so hated that she is brought up away from the palace where she can’t harm anyone, although she has a devoted maid and an odd little creature who is like a living toy that she lets few people see who are her near constant companions.
That is until the teenager becomes of age and needs to collect some knights to protect her better than the current half-hearted efforts from her current bodyguard. Cecilia chooses her knights based on a mysterious light that illuminated them, a light that in the past that has hinted of grave danger and saved her life. Why would the odd phenomenon highlight people, though, and can she ever lose her cursed status?
Before knowing more than the basic story, the jaunty opening theme tune hints of an upbeat slice of life tale. Cecily’s life does have happiness in it, and quite a lot after her fateful meeting with her knights; however, the depths of despair that she endures are equally numerous. So many people wish her harm. Initially those identities are kept secret, and not all her opponents are unmasked in each route. Cecily’s name can be changed at the start, but it felt regal and thus was kept for this review. The only other aspect that can be changed is her nickname and when her knights gain a group name.
Even if not all the name changes are taken advantage of, their existence matters in terms of immersion in the Temirana world, whose worldbuilding is further explained in the dictionary part of the main menu. There are a lot choices throughout the course of each route, with consequences that the protagonist has zero say in, so a simple name alteration grants a sense of control. Likewise being able to select the volume of the main character voices, and enable casual names for characters to be displayed alongside their portrait when they speak, all add to the general concept of autonomy.
Those images become less necessary as characters become more familiar, but they look good. An unusual extra feature relating to all written text is that alongside the standard transparency settings, the decorative design of the text box has several options. The five different styles are varied and fit the regal theme but allow the user’s personal taste to be accommodated. Furthermore, the overall colour of the text box changes for new speakers. People are not assigned particular colours – that would be too much to remember – but the variety is an additional aid in remembering who is present in a conversation.
Throughout the tale there is an affection section in the menu, which uses points for the available suitors. Although every crossroad in the tale has the best route highlight itself after selection with sparkles, it seems most of these choices increase affection for the suitors. Keeping an eye on affection level may or may not make it easier to gain enough points for romance. Due to time restriction in producing this review it was not possible to test the hypothesis that slightly lower affection rate if a best choice answer was skipped meant that the very best of the two endings available for each bachelor might be impossible to attain.
The worst ending, unlike some visual novels, is not always a life full of doom and gloom. It’s not the fairytale super-happy-ever-after conclusion, but there is still joy in it and perhaps a touch of realism too. A few incorrect answers lead to an abrupt end, but simply saving in one of the one hundred slots prior to selecting one of the two choices means that death be avoided.
The common route before a romance option is followed has six chapters. Once a certain point is reached, that sixth chapter then becomes one of the bachelor’s routes, signified in the save menu with a different colour and title. These in turn have six additional chapters to the tale, which take quite a significant amount of time to get through, even for speedy readers. It might not be necessary to play the entire common route to obtain each bachelor route, but it felt prudent to do this to ensure the affection for that man was at the maximum. Thankfully it is easy to skip already viewed text and still be able to make choices because of the options for the skipping feature that can be altered at any time in the menu.
Part of what makes a visual novel entertaining is the imagination within the story. Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights has some stereotypes for character and events, but it is almost impossible for a game to exist without using generally known personalities and scenarios. Cecily’s story is engaging because so much of the events are unexpected. Specific examples need to be glossed over for the sake of not using spoilers. However, where the young princess lives in different chapters occurs because of situations that arise out of the blue. Character alliances are as fickle and underhanded as real-life politics and family drama is off the charts.
There are overlapping scenarios in some of the character routes, and slowly a wider understanding of Cecily’s situation becomes clear from completing more of them. It is unfortunate that parts of text that have been seen in one route can’t be skipped over in a new one, but technically they are new to that route, which is why the skip feature may not work on that first playthrough. This is almost the only minor issue, other than some character mouths when speaking seeming to not open up enough.
Alongside what feels like a fairly unique concept of people’s social status and job being dependent on when and where they are born, certain other story elements are particular to Temirana that add to the imaginative layers of this game. Each route examines a difference slant of the tale, in part because whichever bachelor is chosen has certain skills and knowledge that make exactly copying each route unnecessary (aside from being a boring way to construct a visual novel). Even the least liked characters become endearing once learning more about their life.
Kiya is the youngest looking suitor, and for so much of his route his nature feels more like a younger brother than a love interest for Cecily, from the view of a middle-aged gamer. However, the power of the story means it feels realistic when it becomes blindingly obvious they have feelings for each other, something that certainly seemed completely out of the question at the start. Tobias has health issues that are more pronounced than Cecily’s own issues. The other suitors – Axel, Josephy, Adel and Milan – have their own quirks to conquer. There is a secret route that is well received and makes sense why it is not an obvious one.
Reflecting on the title of Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights is necessary, as how on earth can a cursed princess be lucky? This is demonstrated time and time again in the outcomes of various incidents. Without the existence of her initially inept knights, Cecily’s life would be most unlucky as it is their intelligence and physical skills that help her out of increasingly dangerous situations. She helps them train physically and emotionally so they can fit into the knight role. That isn’t to say Cecily is a helpless Mary Sue incapable of changing her own fate. She is unwell a lot with her symptoms not always understood, making her a popular and relatable character for those with chronic illness. Her inner strength is honed from years of being underestimated, and by trying to be perfect to gain recognition and maybe even redemption for her cursed status.
Despite Cecily’s alleged curse she is well educated and has reasonable logic skills. It is combining her intellect with her heroes’ knowledge that lead to great things happening, not just her life being saved. There are categorically quite tragic moments for each knight, who in the early stages seem incapable of turning their faults around into making them competent people, yet they do it because of their princess. At times her persistence and desire to help others changes their lives rather than solely her own. Her amiable nature is a big factor in why the story becomes an edge-of-the-seat read. It feels more like an actual book when played on the Nintendo Switch Lite, although handheld on the original Switch is also possible for more of a book feel than a TV screen would be. Finally, completing certain parts of a route unlocks mini dramas that are fun to watch.
