[Let's Play] Long Live The Queen [now with sequel?]

cj iwakura

Long Live The Queen is a visual novel/royalty/patricide sim wherein we will try to raise an aspiring young princess to the highest role in the land.

Unless, of course, she dies in the process.
(She will. A lot.)

Let's begin, shall we?

Prologue:

I know it's hard to leave your school and all your friends, but I've arranged for the best possible tutors in every subject. You'll have to work hard this year to prepare yourself before your fifteenth birthday, but I know you can do it. You'll learn quickly and make a wonderful queen. Or DIE.
It's what your mother would have wanted.


This is NOT what mother would have wanted! She wouldn't have wanted to die and leave me.
...uh, right?


No. She wouldn't. At least I doubt it.
But sometimes bad things happen. We have to pick up and carry on. All of Nova depends on us. On you.
(I knew I should've had the Prime Minister handle this crap.)


*sigh* You could've put me up for adoption, but NOOOOOO, you had to be a 'responsible father'!


I will be here to guide you until your coronation, but the decisions you make are ultimately up to you. Come. Your maids are waiting.
God help them.


I knew I should've eloped with that bard.



The skills she learns will provide different choices in the ongoing plot. Learning the right skills can mean the difference between life and death!
You also need to keep an eye on Elodie's Mood. With her mother's tragic death, Elodie is not very happy right now. (Nor is this likely to change anytime soon.)

The Mood button will take you to the emotions screen for more details.



Elodie's current mood affects her ability to learn. It gives a bonus to some skills and a penalty to others.



Every week Elodie can study two skills. So if she studies history, she will earn 2 points per 5 days; 10 points.
Because Elodie is depressed, she has -2 penalty to the Social skillset Conversation. She doesn't feel like talking to people right now. If she studies conversation, she will earn [2-2] points per day: that is, 0 points!

However, she has a +1 bonus to the Expression skillset. If she studies one of the Expression skills, she will earn 2+1 points per day. Which means 3 points a day, 15 points for the week.
If you study a skill you have a penalty for, you could be wasting your time and not learning anything. If you study a skill you have bonuses for, you will learn much faster than normal.
All of these bonuses and penalties will change when Elodie's mood changes. She can also gain bonuses to skills by studying related skills.
Check the skills screen every week to see your current bonuses! Once you know your mood, skills, bonuses, and penalties, you are ready to choose your classes for the week.


Choose a class option for both Morning and Evening classes, then click the 'Done' button which will appear in the lower-right corner. As you play through the story, you will sometimes see feedback bubbles appearing over the text.


These tell you what's happening behind the scenes. Bubbles like these will show you when Elodie's mood is being altered by events.


Bubbles like these will show you when the story is changing based on what skills Elodie has learned so far.
If the test fails, there is some option being missed because she doesn't have enough points in that skill yet.
This feedback is very helpful in figuring out different options to try!
Now, get ready to become a corp-- Queen!

Elodie can take one class for the day time, one at night. Each class has three subjects under it.

Class Details:

Royal Demeanor: Composure, Elegance, Presence
Conversation: Public Speaking, Court Manners, Flattery
Expression: Decoration, Instrument, Voice
Agility: Dance, Reflexes, Flexibility
Weapons: Swords, Archery, Polearms
Athletics: Running, Climbing, Swimming
Animal Handling: Horses, Dogs, Falcons
History: Novan History, Foreign Affairs, World History
Intrigue: Internal Affairs, Foreign Intelligence, Ciphering
Medicine: Herbs, Battlefield Medicine, Poison
Economics: Accounting, Trade, Production
Military: Strategy, Naval Strategy, Logistics
Faith: Meditation, Divination, Lore

Class Benefits
I should've been more specific about the class benefits, this should help:

Sadly it's hard to know exactly which are valuable until they're needed.

Royal Demeanor
Your ability to look and act like a queen.

Composure - staying calm in the face of danger or surprises
Elegance - looking graceful under pressure
Presence - motivating people with the power of your personality

Mood Bonus: Yielding
Mood Penalty: Lonely, Depressed, Afraid, Willful, Angry


Conversation

Public Speaking - giving speeches and convincing people of things
Court Manners - etiquette
Flattery - complimenting others(whether genuinely or otherwise)

Mood Bonus: Lonely, Cheerful
Mood Penalty: Depressed, Pressured


Expression
Artistic ability.
Decoration - painting, sculpting, fashion, visual arts
Instrument - musical instruments
Voice - singing

Mood Bonus: Depressed
Mood Penalty: Angry


History
Novan History - your country's past
Foreign Affairs - things that happened between Nova and other countries in the past
World History - big setting overview stuff (only really useful for backstory)

Mood Bonus: Yielding
Mood Penalty: Willful, Pressured


Intrigue
Spies and secrecy
Internal Affairs - secret information about Novan nobles
Foreign Intelligence - secret information about other countries
Ciphering - how to safely write or read secret information

Mood Bonus: Willful
Mood Penalty: Lonely, Afraid, Cheerful


Medicine
Herbs - how to use plants
Battlefield - how to treat injuries
Poison - how to identify poisonings and treat them

Mood Bonus: Lonely
Mood Penalty: Angry


Economics
Accounting - math and budgeting
Trade - how international finance works
Production - what Nova's resources are

Mood Bonus: None
Mood Penalty: Willful, Pressured


Military
Strategy - land battles
Naval Strategy - sea battles
Logistics - moving people and supplies around on time

Mood Bonus: Willful, Angry
Mood Penalty: Afraid, Cheerful


Agility
Dance
Reflexes - reacting quickly
Flexibility

Mood Bonus: Afraid
Mood Penalty: Injured


Weapons
Swords
Archery
Polearms

Mood Bonus: Angry
Mood Penalty: Yielding, Afraid, Cheerful, Injured


Athletics
Running
Climbing
Swimming

Mood Bonus: Cheerful, Pressured
Mood Penalty: Depressed, Injured


Animal Handling
Horses - riding and grooming
Dogs - training and hunting
Falcons - training and hunting

Mood Bonus: Depressed
Mood Penalty: Angry


Faith
Meditation - like Composure, keeps you calm when bad things happen
Divination - gives you warning of upcoming events
Lore - legends and mystical history

Mood Bonus: Yielding, Afraid, Pressured
Mood Penalty: Lonely


Lumen (must unlock this before you can study it)
Sense Magic
Resist Magic
Wield Magic

Mood Bonus: Willful
Mood Penalty: Yielding

We'll go by consensus, and I'll update accordingly.

In the highly likely event of Elodie's death due to popular vote causing her to fail miserably, I'll revert to the last viable save point.

cj iwakura

If there's no responses by tonight, I'll roll with my own choices.

Lanrutcon

This won't end well for her.

Ok, given that I know nothing about this game at all I'll cast a vote based purely on gut instinct:

Royal Demeanor seems obvious. Intrigue seems vaguely important. We choose 2 classes, not 2 subjects, right?

PLA

Running and Polearms.

Let's stab destiny in the jugular.

cj iwakura

Lanrutcon wrote: »

This won't end well for her.

Ok, given that I know nothing about this game at all I'll cast a vote based purely on gut instinct:

Royal Demeanor seems obvious. Intrigue seems vaguely important. We choose 2 classes, not 2 subjects, right?

Right. And there's several class choices over the first few days, so I'll just apply them throughout updates as needed.

Polaritie

Lanrutcon wrote: »

This won't end well for her.

Ok, given that I know nothing about this game at all I'll cast a vote based purely on gut instinct:

Royal Demeanor seems obvious. Intrigue seems vaguely important. We choose 2 classes, not 2 subjects, right?

You have to be more specific, e.g. Composure and Ciphering.

Anyways, I have to abstain since I dont want to troll nor do I want to hand you a win.

cj iwakura

Updates will be smaller due to the bite-sized nature of this game's passing of time, but I'll try to make them more frequent to balance it out.

Week 1

I applied the recommendations of Royal Demeanor, and decided Elodie needs to be more composed if she's going to hide that depression, and she'd better brush up on her cardio if she plans to outrun the likely flood of suitors.





Sadly, neither subject does her much good, due to said depression.
Don't worry, a cure's on the way!





Oh! It's my cousins! And my aunt and uncle.
Little do they know we already spent the life insurance. Ha-ha!




More like sorry you didn't kill her yourself you trifling bi-




Thank you.




Hi, Lottie. I haven't seen you in ages! Will you be staying long?
They're not cooking for two, you know.


Yup! Mummy said we'd be here all month.
So where's the booze?


Maybe we'll have some time to talk later.
Who told her we had rum?


I love this room! It's so much bigger than mine back home.
A closet's not so bad once you get around the whole constant upright position thing.


You should visit more often. It's awful that the only time I get to see you is...
... something like this. I know your brother and sister are still too young, but why haven't you come to school?
Slacker.


My mother worries about me. She doesn't think anywhere but home is safe.
That's okay, I just climb out the window.


I understand. I'm probably not going to be allowed to leave this castle until my birthday.
But at least we can have fun together here!
(I'll use the cheap scotch from last year.)



She gets a Cheerful+1 from hanging out with her freeloading cousin. Why was she happy to see her again?

From time to time Elodie can do other things to improve her mood, learn about events in the castle or visitors, and try to become somewhat queenly.



So, how will Elodie spend her weekend?

Talk to your father [???] Attend court [+2 Yielding +1 Depressed +1 Pressured] Explore Castle [+1 Lonely +1 Afraid] Visit Tomb [+1 Depressed +1 Afraid] Attend Service [-1 Depressed] Walk in the Gardens [+1 Lonely +1 Cheerful] Sneak Out [+2 Willful +1 Lonely] Play With Toys [+1 Yielding +1 Lonely +1 Cheerful] Visit Charlotte, Lady Merva [???] Visit Dungeons [No Effect]

Current Mood:

Lanrutcon

So...this game looks confusing! I say we attend court. Let's see if we learn something there?

What does visit Dungeon entail, btw?

PLA

Looks like being in the middle of those sliders could be good. Needs more Angry. I say something with [???]. Charlotte?

cj iwakura

Lanrutcon wrote: »

So...this game looks confusing! I say we attend court. Let's see if we learn something there?

What does visit Dungeon entail, btw?

Later in the game it offers stat changes and story tidbits, nothing yet.

Lanrutcon

cj iwakura wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

So...this game looks confusing! I say we attend court. Let's see if we learn something there?

What does visit Dungeon entail, btw?

Later in the game it offers stat changes and story tidbits, nothing yet.

I see. So we never don armor and go out to bash monsters, yes?

cj iwakura

Lanrutcon wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

Lanrutcon wrote: »

So...this game looks confusing! I say we attend court. Let's see if we learn something there?

What does visit Dungeon entail, btw?

Later in the game it offers stat changes and story tidbits, nothing yet.

I see. So we never don armor and go out to bash monsters, yes?

Well... that depends on how you define armor.
But there will be other elements. Sort of.

cj iwakura

I realized that the last few parts of that conversation reflected the 'visit Charlotte' choice, so a few more class votes will be needed.
(Possibly several.)

ani_game_bum

This reminds me that I still need to harvest my last 3 Steam trading cards for this game; leaving it idle didn't seem to drop the cards as much as I had to actively play it for an set amount of time.

It's been a while since I played LLTQ and I only seem to make it about halfway through the time given to me until something fatally dire happens to Elodie so I do not remember what actions are the right survivable moves. If I may join in the fun, I will vote "Attend Service" to cancel out the Depression a bit.

cj iwakura

I'll be sure to apply that next. What's up now are classroom/study choices. I may start asking for several just to not hold up proceedings too much.


Also, there's only two prereqs for survival that I know of, but we're just rolling with whatever until they happen.

LostNinja

PLA wrote: »

Looks like being in the middle of those sliders could be good. Needs more Angry. I say something with [???]. Charlotte?

Actually being in the extremes can be good, depending on what stat you want to increase in class because they can give you bonuses.

This really makes me want to pick this game back up, I quit when it got too depressing watching her die horrible deaths over and over.

PLA

Interesting.

Is "Battlefield" under "Medicine" like first aid or something? Because if it is, I vote Battlefield. If it is not, I vote Reflexes instead.

Also Running.

Takel

Oooh, this is going to be interesting... This game has a lot of dead ends, the question is which ones to avoid... Going out of your way to pass some of the early events may not be the best thing if they cripple stat growths. To that end, I propose that we really crank out to the extreme emotive states.

Ok, I admit, I'm a bit of a softie on Elodie so I really didn't like moving her into a depressed state, but no reservations when I'm not pulling the trigger!

So I vote on attending court!

cj iwakura

Week 2: Uninvited Guests

Elodie decides to gear up for war.


And practice her M*A*S*H tactics.


Good to know.


Rule #1 of surviving patricide: cardio.


Armed Rebellion!? It's about damn time!




Oh, it's just her.


You have no respect or honor. It's because of you and your powers that my wife is dead!
Well, that and the guillotine. Mostly you.


What?!?
You told me she tripped on her cape!


I am a Lumen, as was she, and like every Lumen I am willing to give my life if necessary to protect our domain.
Not the jewelry, though.


Your line has been traitors for two hundred years. I won't have you corrupting my daughter.
But she IS for sale...


That is for the Crown Princess to decide.
Elodie, your mother trusted me, and I have much to teach you.
You wouldn't BELIEVE the raves we have up north.



What's it gonna be, what's it gonna beeeeee? [/monokuma]

The Anonymous

STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!

Takel

Raves? Awesome! Let her stay!

Phyphor

AND WHAT DO WE DO WITH WITCHES? BURN THEM UP

Magic is boring! Arrest her!

PLA

Witch? Hmm. Unlimited power is handy. Don't know how I feel about dying for network-security, though.

Albino Bunny

Feels cheating as I've already played the game but let her stay.

just saves time over arresting her. Plus people reaching the 'must learn economics!' Frenzy to get magic sets up the first death

cj iwakura

PLA wrote: »

Witch? Hmm. Unlimited power is handy. Don't know how I feel about dying for network-security, though.

I'm going to count this as 'Let her stay'.

Polaritie

LostNinja wrote: »

PLA wrote: »

Looks like being in the middle of those sliders could be good. Needs more Angry. I say something with [???]. Charlotte?

Actually being in the extremes can be good, depending on what stat you want to increase in class because they can give you bonuses.

This really makes me want to pick this game back up, I quit when it got too depressing watching her die horrible deaths over and over.

Nope, how far out they are isn't relevant - having 0/0/0/1 or 0/0/0/5 is the exact same bonus.

The only thing that matters is the dominant mood. This is whichever slider is farthest from the center. If there's a tie, it's the leftmost of the tied sliders. The exceptions are neutral (all sliders at 0... pointless, it gives no bonuses) and Injured (story event, penalizes lots of stuff).

cj iwakura

Another series of class votes will be helpful for the next update. Heck, people can start leaving them in succession.


Also, visiting the Duchess is now an option, unless the preference is for Elodie to attend court as suggested earlier.

PLA

There are a lot of good things to learn, but it's hard to get good at anything if you're doing too many things.
Even so, I vote for getting some Reflexes. Don't let your guard down!

Also Running.

Goumindong

Our mother trusted her and now she is dead. Burn the witch!

Tentative vote for leading how to use a sword. If we have to go to war we will have to lead from the front. But I don't know our bonuses (let us know before holding the vote)

PLA

Elodie is tiny, though. Polearms would give her leverage, and reach!

The Anonymous

Divination and Poison. The future can't kill you if you know what comes next!

cj iwakura

I should've been more specific about the class benefits, this should help:

Sadly it's hard to know exactly which are valuable until they're needed.

Royal Demeanor
Your ability to look and act like a queen.

Composure - staying calm in the face of danger or surprises
Elegance - looking graceful under pressure
Presence - motivating people with the power of your personality

Mood Bonus: Yielding
Mood Penalty: Lonely, Depressed, Afraid, Willful, Angry


Conversation

Public Speaking - giving speeches and convincing people of things
Court Manners - etiquette
Flattery - complimenting others(whether genuinely or otherwise)

Mood Bonus: Lonely, Cheerful
Mood Penalty: Depressed, Pressured


Expression
Artistic ability.
Decoration - painting, sculpting, fashion, visual arts
Instrument - musical instruments
Voice - singing

Mood Bonus: Depressed
Mood Penalty: Angry


History
Novan History - your country's past
Foreign Affairs - things that happened between Nova and other countries in the past
World History - big setting overview stuff (only really useful for backstory)

Mood Bonus: Yielding
Mood Penalty: Willful, Pressured


Intrigue
Spies and secrecy
Internal Affairs - secret information about Novan nobles
Foreign Intelligence - secret information about other countries
Ciphering - how to safely write or read secret information

Mood Bonus: Willful
Mood Penalty: Lonely, Afraid, Cheerful


Medicine
Herbs - how to use plants
Battlefield - how to treat injuries
Poison - how to identify poisonings and treat them

Mood Bonus: Lonely
Mood Penalty: Angry


Economics
Accounting - math and budgeting
Trade - how international finance works
Production - what Nova's resources are

Mood Bonus: None
Mood Penalty: Willful, Pressured


Military
Strategy - land battles
Naval Strategy - sea battles
Logistics - moving people and supplies around on time

Mood Bonus: Willful, Angry
Mood Penalty: Afraid, Cheerful


Agility
Dance
Reflexes - reacting quickly
Flexibility

Mood Bonus: Afraid
Mood Penalty: Injured


Weapons
Swords
Archery
Polearms

Mood Bonus: Angry
Mood Penalty: Yielding, Afraid, Cheerful, Injured


Athletics
Running
Climbing
Swimming

Mood Bonus: Cheerful, Pressured
Mood Penalty: Depressed, Injured


Animal Handling
Horses - riding and grooming
Dogs - training and hunting
Falcons - training and hunting

Mood Bonus: Depressed
Mood Penalty: Angry


Faith
Meditation - like Composure, keeps you calm when bad things happen
Divination - gives you warning of upcoming events
Lore - legends and mystical history

Mood Bonus: Yielding, Afraid, Pressured
Mood Penalty: Lonely


Lumen (must unlock this before you can study it)
Sense Magic
Resist Magic
Wield Magic

Mood Bonus: Willful
Mood Penalty: Yielding

PLA

A lot of stuff that sounds useful.

cj iwakura

You generally get a benefit at each 10 point level, including lore tidbits for the background ones.

cj iwakura

If Elodie were to be told not to move, would she do as she was told or look to see what's going on?
First answer decides.

Polaritie

Irrelevant, you'll fail the skill check (You have to take two courses in the skill at a -1 penalty for the first two weeks to get enough to pass. It's... harsh.)

Stay still.

cj iwakura

Oh yeah. Oh well. (Also, you should probably spoil the latter part and similar observations in the future.)

cj iwakura

Week 3: Reptilian Warfare

Also I like her pearls.




As you wish.
Do bear in mind I will cremate your remains.


Elodie opts to attend a court session.


It mostly sucks.


Build a bridge out of her!

But it has its charms.


Elodie's under pressure, but at least she's less prone to drama.


She decides to brush up on her reaction time and stabbings, just in case she has to play ParaParaParadise while wielding a glaive.


Hey, you never know.


Could also be helpful for Sailor Saturn cosplay.




Lottie, do you have a boyfriend?
If so, can I have him?


Not really. I just like to play with the flowers.
They don't make me pay for dinner.



I KNEW IT.

No, not at you. At your... feet?


Oh.



Princess! Don't move!
Those shoes are a fashion nightmare!


Elodie makes a valiant attempt, anyway.




Grumblegrumble worthlessd20junk grumblegrumble

You look down where her sword is pointing. There's a snake in the grass!




Mm, deliciousssss princessssss.


No!
No one gets to kill her but me!


wait what



Oh well, plan B.


Lottie!
Tuck and roll!


Ow.

Too late, Julianna swings her sword and cuts off the snake's head.




Bit late, cougar.


Your daughter's been bitten by a milk viper. They're poisonous. Get an herbalist, right away!


I RESENT THAT! Oh wait, I'm dead.


I will treat my daughter. I certainly can't trust anyone here to keep her safe!
She'll be much safer surrounded by scheming men!


I'm sorry...
Though to be fair you really kind of brought this on yourself.


I don't feel good.
Rum... why is the rum always gone...


We will be returning home to Merva immediately.
Bring the cart!


Your aunt has a point. Milk vipers are not native to this area. That snake should never have been here.


I GO WHERE I PLEASE.


Someone may have tried to kill you.


It was a love bite!


Will Charlotte be okay?
We were gonna go clubbing later...


I don't know.
But if she dies, think of the lawsuits!


Elodie decides to drown her sorrows at church.




I swear I'll never drink again!

I guess the confessional helped too.


Current Mood:


So, since I'm not too shy about meta-gaming the hell out of this, we can try to save Charlotte from a poison-filled future, or carry on.

I have enough class votes from the previous posts for maybe two more selections.

Polaritie

Ironman it.

Speaking of which, I vote for classes in Taxation and Overtaxation.

PLA

Goddamnit, should have brought a spear.

The Anonymous

See, what'd I tell you? A little paranoia goes a long way!

And I'll also vote to move on. It's no fun if you get to undo every little mistake.