David Wesst

Blue Prince is a rogue like puzzle game where you explore an ever-changing mansion in order to try and discover its secrets. Based on the feedback of some of my trusted media sources-- this was going to be a game I did not want to miss.

In short, my sources were right. It was quite the ride.

What I Didn't Like

Post-Game Difficulty Spike

The game itself is great and there are more mysteries post-game than there are in the main game. As you explore, you discover new ways to play, new things to analyze, new lore to explore. Some of these things are part of the main game, while others are meant for the post game (i.e. you don't need them to beat the game).

The thing is-- when you are going through this adventure, you don't know which parts you need and which you don't and they are all intriguing.

So what's the problem? The problem is that now that I've completed the game, I've learned that the difficulty to solve these post-game mysteries is exceptionally difficult. As in, I was making some progress in discovering things, but now I can't even do some of the things I did to complete the main quest.

Not only that-- the strategies that I had developed for the main game almost seem inapplicable as the RNG (random number generation) seems like it is no longer working with me, but actively against me. I don't know if the actual RNG changed or not, or if I was just getting exceptionally lucky during my playthrough. Either way, it feels like I've hit a wall and a part of me regrets beating the main quest so I could continue my blissful adventure through the estate.

All that being said, I don't regret beating the game. I really just wish I had more time and patience for some of these other mysteries. Maybe one day they'll patch it and plebs like me will be able to enjoy the post-game a little more.

What I Liked

A Roguelite with Puzzles

I appreciate rogue-lite (or roguelike-like) games, along with traditional rogue-likes, although the standard dungeon-crawling, action-RPG style of those games usually loses my interest. Probably because I'm bad at them, but they just don't keep my interest enough to "git gud", as they say.

Blue Prince was more my speed. It focuses on thinking and puzzles rather than reaction times and battle mechanics. No enemies. No attacks. Just puzzle mechanics, resource boosts, and clues scattered all over the place. All tied together with that familiar looping mechanics to do it again and take another run at it.

It was a refreshing take on the genre, and I'd do it all again if I could.

Music and Sound is Not Repetitive

I want to have a clever title for this, but I'm not that poetic.

We spent about 33 hours playing this game, wandering the estate. Going into the same rooms and areas, over and over again. But somehow the sound and music did not feel repetitive. It was always present, even if you didn't notice it, playing quietly in the background reacting to current situation waiting to hit you in the feels when you make that next discovery.

Beyond the music, there is a lot of silence. It's just the sound of your footsteps as you wander the estate, but even those sound effects didn't get on my nerves. Even when things were going wrong, or the wrong choice was made, or a bad roll killed a run.

The sound design was amazing on all ends. 10/10. No notes.

Player Autonomy

In terms of player controls, there is very little. You can move around and you can interact with things you find, usually in a very simplistic manner (i.e. push the button). With respect to the rules of the world, the game gives you what you need when you need to know it—but it doesn’t provide clues on what to do with them.

The game leaves you to figure out your own strategies on how to use the rules of the world to make progress.

For example, they tell you early on that this is the sort of game that is best enjoyed with a physical notebook on hand to document clues. Many times my partner and I would use our phones to screenshot discoveries that felt were important, although we were never quite sure how we would use them.

I would include a picture of the notebook contents we created, but I do not want to leave spoilers for this game anywhere on this gamelog. Just know that if any game embodies the infamous GIF of Charlie, from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, smoking trying to figure out if Pepe Silvia exists, it's Blue Prince.

The Conclusion

Games like Blue Prince don't come very often.

These are games that are so good because they rely on you, yourself, making those "a-ha" moments on your own terms, with your own deductive reasoning and thinking. The only problem with them is that once you make the discovery, you can't un-learn them. Every other playthrough will never be like the first.

I know there is more to discover in Blue Prince, but I'm going to leave that for the ARG-types that I respect so much and wait to see the first set of patch notes to see whether I'm truly as bad at the post-game as I think I am, or if the RNG really isn't in my favour anymore.

P.S. (Five hours later...)

I came back from supper with family and took another stab at the game. Although I had looked up some spoilers (we were overthinking it and would have been lost in our own minds for days), the run we just had went well where we nearly filled the entire house.

Plus-- we finally earned our first achievement. Think about that. We beat the game yesterday, played a few more hours into the post-game, and only just got our first achievement.

As much as I didn't like the post-game difficulty wall, I really appreciate that feeling when you do achieve something. I suppose that's what it feels to be a Souls-Like player. 😊