Hello, Dragon Quill! This is Ember with a guest review!

Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem is what the developer calls a political fantasy/otome VN, but I personally like to refer to it as a diplomacy simulator. You play a young noblewoman from one of seven kingdoms (well, one of six, really — one of the titular kingdoms isn’t playable) who’s been sent to an international summit to foster peace between the nations. Part of that peace-fostering process involves intermarriage, which is where the otome/romance element comes in. But there’s a lot more to do on Vail Isle than scout out a future spouse (or paramour): there are mysteries you can solve, secrets you can uncover, and a world-alteringly important diplomatic process you can attempt to influence for personal gain, the good of your nation, or the continued peace and prosperity of the known world.

So far, the game is only a demo, but even at 3/7 completion, it’s already longer, more complex, and more satisfying than most VNs I’ve ever played. The full version, due out sometime next year, promises to be my favorite VN of all time, as well as quite possibly one of my favorite games of all time.

7KPP has been compared to Long Live the Queen, and it’s similar in the sheer number of stats you have to balance growing, but the narrative philosophy is much more forgiving of idealism and any desire your character might have to balance duty and survival with the pursuit of happiness. There’s also a more merciful “story mode” you can play where it’s impossible to die or be kicked off the island, though you’ll still have to work to accomplish any goals you may have beyond mere survival.

In addition to skill and knowledge stats, there are well over a dozen relationships you can build — and I don’t just mean romantic relationships. The friendship, romance, respect, and rivalry each character feels for you is tracked separately. Some characters are only interested in friendship. Others prioritize romance to the point that if you catch their interest, it will take a great deal of finesse to let them down gently and convince them to see you as just a friend. Some are easily befriended or romanced or antagonized, while others take considerable skill to get to like you or an utterly egregious lack of tact to get to dislike you. Some will only like you if you’re a good person, and others will only like you if your morals are as loose as theirs — though, with one exception, they can all be tricked into believing you are more or less ethical than you actually are. And every last one of them has their own personality, history, goals, and secrets.

One of my favorite things about 7kpp is how unabashedly feminine it is. You play a noblewoman, possibly even a princess, who wears dresses and make up and jewels, and who curtsies and dances and flirts (though some player characters will be vocally less happy to do all of these things than others). The central mechanic of the game is managing interpersonal relationships, romantic or otherwise, and circumventing rather than participating in violence. You can play a badass lady with formidable fighting skills and a knowledge of battle tactics, but while those skills do have their uses, you’ll get a lot more mileage out of ones that help you talk your way out of trouble.

The game also has moderately good representation of LGB people and POC. Three of the characters you can romance are women, one of whom you can actually marry with full societal approval — different kingdoms have different laws concerning marriage, and Princess Ana is from matriarchal Skalt, where same-sex marriage is perfectly accepted, and female/female relationships in particular even seem to be valorized. Two more female love interests will be available in the full game, both of whom will be marriageable. As for POC representation, three of the seven kingdoms are populated mainly by non-white people. There are some unfortunate stereotypes in the portrayal of the kingdoms themselves — not!China is a land of scholars, and not!the Middle East is notoriously restrictive of women (though not really any more sexist, per se, than any of the majority-white nations save Skalt) — but individual characters from those nations break the stereotypes as frequently as they uphold them.

Aside from representation issues, the only real criticisms I can levy against the game are that the background “art” (which consists of filtered stock images) and user interface in the demo are unpolished and unprofessional, and the lack of CGs makes some of the more dramatic scenes play a bit awkwardly (in lieu of them, the character sprites get VERY CLOSE to the screen, which is unintentionally hilarious). But all of those problems are going to be corrected in the full release, and none of them make the demo unplayable.

Right now, 7KPP is up on both Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight. On Kickstarter, you can preorder for ten dollars, or get alpha access (including new content as development progresses, starting as early as next month!) for fifteen. On Greenlight, you can support the game for free by voting and commenting.