Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 97%2023

$17.99

US Steam price, checked 6 h ago

The verdict

A hugely acclaimed, voice-acted branching horror visual novel about love, loops and philosophy. Skip it if you dislike heavy reading, repetition or abstract, philosophical writing.

Great for

Story-driven players who love branching narratives, philosophy and voice acting, and don't mind lots of reading

Main risk

Repetitive loops and abstract philosophy can feel shallow or pretentious, with choices that seem not to matter

What players love

Deep, moving story and themes

Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews

“The story has such a simple premise, but it's so beautiful once it all comes together. It's a love letter to, well, love.”
Steam review · 4.4 h played ↗

“When I finally chose to slay her, I shed a few tears.”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

Gorgeous art and music

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“The art is incredible. Everything is so stylized and feels fitting for the section your at.”
Steam review · 49 h played ↗

“It looks pencil-drawn, only in light and dark tones, making the game more eerie and oppressive.”
Steam review · translated · 13.7 h played ↗

Huge branching routes and replayability

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“has an insanely large branching narrative, with so so many options, to the point where you could finish several playthroughs and have yet to explore more”
Steam review · 67.2 h played ↗

“there are so many options and routes that give you insane replay value”
Steam review · 55.1 h played ↗

“it takes EVERYTHING you do and how you do it and factors it in”
Steam review · 5.2 h played ↗

Outstanding voice acting

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews

“the voice acting is an absolute masterclass.”
Steam review · 4.4 h played ↗

“Amazing visual novel made a million times better with Jonathan sim’s narration the entire ride through”
Steam review · 3.9 h played ↗

“The people who voiced the narrator and the princess fully embodied their roles.”
Steam review · translated · 16.6 h played ↗

Best experienced blind

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“Don't read this review. Don't read anything. Don't do any research. Free up an entire evening. Go in blind.”
Steam review · 14.7 h played ↗

“Go into this game blind. It will surprise you in every possible way.”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

Memorable, varied princess versions

Mentioned in ~1 in 15 positive reviews

“I got hooked on discovering the ever-new versions of the princess—each one interesting and coolly designed”
Steam review · 27.1 h played ↗

“each princess is so different than the last”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

What players complain about

Repetitive loops and dialogue

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“you have to go through the same, repetitive gating mechanisms, which cause a "Groundhog Day" level of irritation.”
Steam review · 3.1 h played ↗

“Listening to the voices in your head for hours and replaying the same location in variations is a dubious pleasure.”
Steam review · translated · 3.9 h played ↗

“The intrigue wears off too fast and then it's quite linear and repetative”
Steam review · 4.4 h played ↗

Pretentious, pseudo-philosophical writing

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“coming across as a 14 year old who just had their first semi-deep thought”
Steam review · 6 h played ↗

“Pretentious and empty. No interesting statement, not a single interesting thought.”
Steam review · translated · 5.8 h played ↗

“A masterwork of pseudo-philosophical pablum.”
Steam review · 2.4 h played ↗

Choices feel weightless

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“I could have used a random number generator to make my choices and I feel like it would have been the same experience.”
Steam review · 4.8 h played ↗

“it's like they matter so much that they don't matter.”
Steam review · 2 h played ↗

Short and poor value for the price

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“I've finished it in 80 min, for $20: that's really terrible value.”
Steam review · 1.4 h played ↗

“18 dollars and i got the happy ending in less than 15 minutes.”
Steam review · 0.7 h played ↗

Confusing or unsatisfying ending

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews

“the build up to it and the pay off were nearly entirely disconnected”
Steam review · 8.2 h played ↗

“It's a one-time novel, all because of a botched finale spoiled by its philosophizing.”
Steam review · translated · 4.4 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 7

Processor2.6 Ghz Quad Core

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsIntegrated Graphics

Storage13 GB available space

OSWindows 7

Processor2.6 Ghz Quad Core

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsIntegrated Graphics

Storage13 GB available space

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