Volcano Princess Review (Coco Banana 0 Sugar)
Amazing Artwork, Married the Principal! But Polygamy Endings?
So yes this is an amazing piece of work which I heard created by two tag team individuals. I adore their time and effort to make this one, it's amazing considering the fact that the game has tons of content which you can play for more than 50 hours. This is a half VN, half RPG, time management, raise your child simulator where you can raise your kid to be a warrior, researcher, a courtesan (lol) or a painter. Tbh there are nearly 60 career paths which you can use and it has romance endings with at least 15 partners. There are romance endings with multiple characters at once and if that's not your cup of tea, yes better to not give this a chance. Tbh it shocked me and i still dunno what to think about it. Also this is one game where i told myself I ain't gonna finish all achievements because there is 234, i managed to get 167 but it's so time consuming.
Story: Cute and Emotional
The story has a lot of elements it is cutesy, you are a dad and you are responsible for raising a child as a single parent. The whole story unfolds at Volcano kingdom where a mysterious degeneration disease starts. It affects the parent too and the child sort of become independent and tries to get the bottom of this. When she grows up a little she has to follow the path of a contributor under the 3 lords of the kingdom. So raising the stats releated to the lords will give you many different career paths and a romance ending. There is one TRUE ending of the game which is vague and I do need to read up on it to figure it out. There are tons of characters male/female which you can befriend. When you get close to them you learn their character stories. All in all, it paints a cute and emotional storyline with some plot-twist at the ending. Also well maybe there is a little bit of darkness in the game but its not heavy imo. Each particular romance or career ending is unlocked after the coming of age ceremony at 18 years old.
Characters: I lost count
There are many characters in the game you basically marry any of them, you can get close to anybody via giving gifts and dating. The character development is very very good. I liked Benson, the prince and Ze the demon hunter. You can even romance the lords (yes marry the principal of your school hehe) In terms of your character the father, you also get to be a lame dad, an average dad or a super awesome protective dad. You get some choice options to control that. I discovered very interesting quirks and tastes of the characters through dating and it's fascinating. You can enter their routes and you unlock three important events related to them. The girl herself has a very brave upfront persona and she goes through a nice smoothing development through your actions.
Gameplay: so many functions/activities bro
I think i can write a 2000 word essay about the small mini games in this game. First the game has it's own festivals and the stats are strength, emotions, intelligence and Imagery(art). The game has certain activities that can raise the stats like rowing, painting, exploring forest etc. There is also a dice game where idk how to play that. You can debate/duel characters, date them as well. You can participate in plays and banquets. You can hunt for horses, adopt them and go for races. You can enrol in school and raise stats, you can choose the courses yourself. You can do part-time job at the bathhouse for money. The game also has a light/darkness feature which high or low can trigger more endings. You also accumulate fame with the choices you take. Yes there is a church and you can pray there for 200g. You can yes cook for dishes, you can gather ingredients in the forest with an RPG style monster hunting mini game. You can go to the back alley and hunt criminals. Yes there is fishing as well. You can buy items or do alchemy to research more great equipment. You can invite teammates for the forest exploration and fighting. This game has so much stuff to do! but i defn enjoyed it to the max.
Art and music: VN creators TAKE NOTE!
Art is simply freaking amazing and mesmerizing, every ending has a separate art/CG drawing and so pretty! Devs I implore you please make a visual novel! The music is so exotic too and calm/relaxing vibes.
Achievements
So there is a lot of achievements in the game, i don't know anyone who has all of them in my friendlist to say if its glitched or not. There were some translation glitches in the achievements but they unlock nicely. I do feel like the career paths are too many but ugh the art is so good i can't complain.
Recommendations
I wish I had a small cute pet to interact with and help in battle. I wish that Anna had a diary where I can read her personal thoughts. But yes, in terms of activities I can't think of anything haha!
Overall
I think the game is worth the price point with all the features in the game. This is a freaking very SERIOUS stat building simulator. It explores the struggles of a father raising a child in more depth and choices too. It is very LGBTQ friendly and has a nice story. If you are bored and need a game to chill with for the long term i'd say buy it.