Slay The Princess: A Meta-Horror Nightmare, and Love Story

You're on a path in the woods. You're here to Slay the Princess. Over and over.
Watch more Metafiction Horror: • The Stanley Parable: A...
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Everything you see in my videos is edited livestream highlights taken from my Twitch channel. My schedule is Tuesday & Thursday @ 7pm, Saturday & Sunday @ 3pm - all times based in Ireland.
Edited by Ashtaric (Cloé), you can find her here: / xashtaricx
And here: / ashtaric

[@RTGame]

This game is genuinely great, and I thoroughly enjoyed slaying the princess. KZbin has been weird in flagging this video so I've had to censor specific parts of the gore. The vast majority of intense violence and bloodshed is fine, so I'd recommend showing those parts to your children. Thanks KZbin :)

[@Emihana]

KZbin is weird with certain things, thank you for playing the game!

[@skurwysyn100]

yeah, it's a great game

[@Smile_Bunny]

LET THE PRINCESS SLAY

[@StickMaster500]

Twitch Chat needed to touch grass after this stream

[@brandaflan]

Yeahh woo KZbin

[@kuva]

Stanley, what are you doing, Stanley! You were supposed to slay the princess! You’ve doomed us all; Stanley!

[@segadoeswhatnintendont]

Stanley slayed the princess on his right

[@eyupyavuz7751]

​@@segadoeswhatnintendontno not the one on the left! Stanley, you doomed us all!

[@greenhydra10]

Stanley walked up to the cabin in the woo-No, Stanley, you're supposed to walk *up to* the cabin, not go the other direction!

[@donpollo3154]

Voice of the Bucket: You should kill her again Stanley

[@leithaziz2716]

"Did you get the ghost princess ending, Stanley? The ghost princess ending was my favorite" Edit: I've seen the Thorn route/ending, and it's now my favorite for blending a sincere romance and redemption story ^_^

[@smokyoderpsiau]

Narrator: be careful she will gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss you

[@leithaziz2716]

"There will indeed be slaying. By whom though is unsure."

[@shortinsomniac76]

Slaaaayy (the princess)

[@wallylamamaggie]

is the princess helen

[@oslonicl6251]

​@@leithaziz2716 Please never talk again

[@KelgorothTheFinalShape]

@@wallylamamaggie*proceeds to cause an entire war*

[@8666]

"maybe i shouldnt kill the defenseless women" "wait shes a monarch" "say no more"

[@imtheonewhoaskedlol]

Dan has the mandatory British PTSD that is given to Irishmen like himself.

[@randomrock.]

A true Irishman

[@selfloathinggameing]

Irish instinct

[@toasterhavingabath6980]

fair

[@souvikrc4499]

A true Irish republican.

[@madmanmax120]

The ending where the Hero gets obsessed with that broom closet was kinda weird, but definitely one of my favourites.

[@markbertrand6052]

Stanley parable reference

[@pixelator5312]

I find this concerning

[@vincesaenz2760]

I find this concerning as well

[@beast7842]

“Oh did you get the broom closet ending? The broom closet ending was my favourite!”

[@adrianen4644]

For me it’s a tie between the broom closet ending and the beloved bucket

[@selfloathinggameing]

I think it says a lot about the RT fanbase that Dan had to stop the game MULTIPLE TIMES to tell chat to stop saying "mommy step on me" to multiple different princesses

[@greenhydra10]

Okay, normally I'm very controlled with that sort of thing. HOWEVER, I can't blame chat entirely for some of them. That said, having seen clips, clearly chat and I have different tastes.

[@orangetangyvideos]

Wait MULTIPLE TIMES? The only one I remember is the time he put the chat on screen LMAO

[@thejulinks]

And what's even worse... IT WAS MOSTLY LESBIAN VIEWERS. Like, yeah straight guys can be quite gross, but to see that sort of spam from the female parts of the audience was.. something. Although I guess it was not entirely out of the blue after the way chat kept losing their minds over Franziska von Karma (the worst prosecutor in the original trilogy and an all around awful character) during the Ace attorney streams.

[@kingra2541]

I mean what does anyone expect? The VA was LITERALLY told to be a "dommy mommy" for that version of the princess.

[@honkstheclown8631]

​@@thejulinksFRANZISKA VON KARMA HATE SPOTTED!! GET THEIR ASS LESBIANS

[@BananaWasTaken]

It’s impressive the game can do all this with just 2 voice actors

[@Afferodolor]

If you like Johnny Sims (male voices), check out The Magnus Archives. Similar vibe to this game, all written and mostly acted by him

[@greenhydra10]

I would be in total shock at that, but I've seen enough comic dubs to believe it.

[@pollyanna0014]

⁠@@AfferodolorSo it was the Johnnyman Sims himself! I thought the narrator sounded familiar but wasn’t entirely certain. I can also recommend the magnus archives, good spooky podcast!

[@ladydovedove2240]

i know it really shows just like the range of peoples voices and what audio software can do!

[@kingofravens215]

Anyone know the va for the princess her voice sounds familiar 🤔

[@sparklepool101]

Okay the voice actress for the Princess needs MAJOR props because she pulls off like, at least seven different (yet still recognizable as the same character/entity) voices through out this game

[@niftyskyblue]

so does the hero- this game only has two voice actors!

[@sparklepool101]

@@niftyskyblue I know!! It's incredible!! I've just seen a lot more comments talking about the Hero/Narrators voice actor so I wanted to focus on the Princess :p

[@niftyskyblue]

@@sparklepool101 completely understandable! nichole goodnight does a superb job

[@feder28]

Her voice and line delivery reminded me a lot of Michaela Laws. I was convinced it was actually her until I saw someone else in the credits. Huge props to Nichole Goodnight, that was a stellar performance.

[@roryschussler]

She has multiple voiced lines for whether you come back moments later after closing the game, or days, weeks, months, years, decades, or a whole century. Crazy.

[@thinking6548]

Do you just change the date on the computer?

[@thinking6548]

@@leeroyjenkins0 oh ok then.

[@jonahtitelbaum4702]

What did someone delete a comment

[@sr.fluffuls]

@@jonahtitelbaum4702 yes, usually happens.

[@zorinus3340]

what are they? is there a compilation on youtube somewhere?

[@mintytheslime]

I legitimately think this is the first time I’ve EVER seen RT actually engage with the love story plot and choose the more romantic option in a video game. This isn’t something he usually does, right??? Have I just been blind to it or is that actually the scariest part of this whole video?

[@RTGame]

For the Smitten.

[@allingquilatonestacion4353]

​@@RTGamefor the POWER OF LOVEEEEE ❤

[@bpplays]

he's a bottom so i think the giant dommy mommy got him

[@cameronweaver2013]

@@bpplays OH?!

[@wildfire9280]

@@bpplays That’s odd, I thought he was a Nintendo Switch?

[@44hydras28]

Glad we got justice for The Smitten

[@jblitz200]

Love wins

[@KelgorothTheFinalShape]

Best character

[@kingofravens215]

I think we all have a bit of the smitten in all of us or at least I’d like to hope that we do ya know?

[@arcticseanachai2283]

For The Smitten!

[@faroangames]

He truly did get his princess after all

[@GrifGrey]

This is like the opposite of doki-doki, looks like psychological horror, but there's a nice love story under it.

[@lukethekuya]

We need more games like this, or something

[@adderous]

It feels more mature as well. Not in a sex and violence way, but actually something to be thought about and engaged with. DDLC relied a lot on shock value and meta interaction that was kinda there mostly to be there, IMO. I didn't dislike it, and at the time all the 4th wall breaking felt really interesting, but I definitely wouldn't bother replaying it now, or recommend it now that meta games are an established thing.

[@gwest3644]

And where DDLC tricks you into thinking your choices matter when they don't, STP tricks you into thinking your choices don't matter when they do. The whole thing intentionally feels super railroaded: if you try and leave, you just get teleported back to the cabin. If you don't take the blade, the Narrator just gives it to you anyway. If you try to save the Princess, the Narrator takes over your body. If you die, you get sent right back to the start. But the Narrator is right; your actions *do* have consequences, just never in the way you think. You only get the endings where it feels like you have no real options if you've already decided it's hopeless.

[@jacksonyan7346]

I mean I really like ddlc, possibly even over STP. STP has a pretty opaque and convoluted plotline, and it really is just being cryptic for the sake of being cryptic. DDLC has a much clearer story with really nice twists, and I still think it is one of the better meta games we have. Anyway, love both games. Really glad ppl still remember ddlc~

[@caitily]

​ @jacksonyan7346 mild length warning because i love to write and i love this game, no shade on you i'm just passionate :3 tldr; nuh uh i like ddlc just as much as the next guy or gal, but in all fairness the direction and twists of the game become very apparent right after sayuri. it's a little difficult to not see what comes next, but i still remember the game fondly :> also, i just can't agree with stp having an 'opaque and convoluted' plotline. i've watched three playthroughs of this game and it still takes me some time to wrap my head around the long quiet and the shifting mound conceptually, not because of how they're conveyed but because of what they encompass and how. it's clear what they each represent, being order/stagnancy and change respectively, but... they're each godlike beings that are seemingly infinite yet singular at the same time, existing as the very fabric of reality and existing within at the same time, always brought to kill one another yet unable to exist without them. like the shifting mound says, they are paradoxical in nature, and i genuinely love how they both make perfect sense and none at all simultaneously. ddlc however... the story really boils down to the club leader being sentient in some capacity. great on the first playthrough, but absolutely no replay value as it relies far too much on shock factor and forces the player down a very narrow path. there isn't much to unpack, nothing to be gleaned. there's always value in simplicity but i feel as though it's a little closeminded to hold such things in higher regard purely because they require less effort to comprehend. i will say, however, that slay the princess is indeed very cryptic, likely by design but also forged from necessity. similar to what i said before, the two main entities are fundamentally contradictory to themselves. the shifting mound itself says "do not use words to reduce that which your eyes know to be irreducible" which i think puts things into perspective wonderfully; how can you explain something objectively that has no objective existence? how could you describe a world without change when change is required to achieve it, or a world permanently in chaos and uncertainty when it depends upon stagnancy to maintain that state? the game does a good job at encouraging the player to accept that they are what they are, that there isn't a way for the human mind to reduce the characters into basic concepts that are easily digestible. the convolution and complexity in the weaving of the long quiet and the shifting mound into characters is exceptional, even more so because it is an intentional design choice to have the player not fully understand the nature of everything shown to them. there is so much room for interpretation, because there factually is no 'correct' understanding of the way anything truly is, which means that even beyond playing the game it leaves the player to consider the nature of the world around them. this game tells an amazing story through exceptionally unique means, and as much as i love ddlc it just... doesn't. again, i do still harbor love for the game, but i think it's pretty undeniable how shallow all the characters and story as a whole is. i haven't played ddlc+ but i really hope that was expanded upon, i couldn't shake the feeling of just talking to humanoid stereotypes the whole time :( i would like to reiterate that i love both games and i mean no harm in the things i write, i just think that discussion is the root of connection and that sharing my needlessly long and boring thoughts might spark some kind of meaningful exchange. i don't want to start an argument, i'd just like to share thoughts with people who see things differently in the hopes that i might see things clearer myself. if you ever end up seeing this please feel free to tear into me for being annoying and i'm so so sorry i felt the need to write this and make other people deal with it ;w;

[@ParadoxAAA]

The Smitten may not have gotten to see the route where all the voices and the player force the Narraitor to narrate a passionate kiss scene but he still won in the end.

[@phantom-ri2tg]

It takes effort to get a final ending the smitten is not happy in. People keep talking that final ending like the happy ending but it is not like the Smitten would have objections to you remain gods and live happily ever after.

[@dutchthenightmonkey3457]

It’s such a hidden gem of a scene that is too hard to find but once you stumble upon the option it’s all so worth it

[@animeotaku307]

He’s required to get that scene. You have to flirt with the Witch while giving her the Pristine Blade in order to unlock the option to kiss the Thorn.

[@archivist_13]

​@@animeotaku307thanks for telling me how to get the ending

[@wa6488]

Timestamp?

[@jvts8916]

The Narrator is a very interesting antagonist in that he's so bad at coming up with explanations for why he's doing what he does that he almost always ends up convincing the player to go against his wishes. Even when you *do* slay the princess the way he wants, his next version just insists that you didn't slay her enough and refuses to acknowledge that his plan and reward just didn't work.

[@drawingdragon]

It's because the Princess changes based on your perception, so he's intentionally vague to prevent the Protagonist from getting a bigger idea in his head and becoming unable to defeat the monster he's created - but it backfires constantly, and the Protagonist ends up either setting her free and ending the world or creating an undefeatable monster like the Fury anyway. ((Huge spoilers in case you didn't finish the video)) The "reward" being so awful is especially interesting, since that's what the world in the absence of the Princess' true self is. An infinite blur, devoid of end or change. He insists it's happy because it has to be - it's the future he had in mind for the world, so it HAS to be a good future... Otherwise the only things ahead of the whole world are oblivion or endless nothing, and those two things are practically the same. He's not JUST trying to convince the Protagonist that the eternal void is happy, he's trying to convince himself, because if it isn't a good future than all of his work has been for nothing. The Narrator is actually a really tragic character once you get the backstory from him. He's acting in desperation and in the end nothing he did mattered at all.

[@bagseys]

He describes himself, that Intrustive thoughts about the princess can make themselves into reality, it why *to slay the princess* you must have imperfect knowledge You can't just will together in your thoughts that she is *weak* cause their a likely thought that you might think she is all powerful then BOOM It even show in a CHAPTER 3, if you slay yourself or give up in the TOWER route, she becomes a literal god in of itself, it shows how dangerous perception is Then again, with certain perspectives, you actually can slay the princess, if you have the Smitten, slaying the princess is rather easy as she is a damsel, the smitten perspective makes her naturally weak, however the smitten, blind to the love in his heart, will commit Romeo and juilet Having both the Hunted and the stubborn would allow you to easily slay the Eye of the Den, the hunted keeping you alive and the stubborn focusing on getting the job done, both seeing the capability in slaying her no matter her size

[@skywoofyt5375]

​@@bagseyswait is the narrator just a stand in for Intrusive Thoughts and Anxiety?

[@gugol1]

​@@drawingdragonI think the world without Princess wouldn't be that bad. The only bad thing about Narrator's "happy ending" is that you're stuck in a small cabin in the middle of nothing and there's nothing to do. Living forever in the outside world probably wouldn't be that boring, especially if you have funny voices in your head.

[@znoopsy]

​@@gugol1i think you missed the point of the game but thats funny so you get a pass

[@Doddleproductions]

The real horror factor here is the love. The divorce was rough…

[@Smartfmella69]

I miss my wife

[@joganesha4151]

Alas, the smitten would dissaprove

[@leithaziz2716]

@@Smartfmella69 I miss my wife, Tails. I'll be back.

[@penny55gg94]

*insert detective pikachu divorce scene here*

[@matthewbennett8962]

Don't worry with the archivist of the magnus archives narrating everything will be fine.....

[@nopenopenopesomuchnope4137]

This whole game feels like a DM desperately trying to railroad the chaotic player into just doing the story he spent hours making, only for the chaotic player to just go completely off the rails and annoying the DM to the point of just chucking the table in their face. And I love it.

[@imtheonewhoaskedlol]

Voice of Hero is just your standard player. He asks questions, but ultimately doesn't contest railroading if he sees no need to. The rest? Yeah....

[@animeotaku307]

Especially if you go along with the Contrarian’s suggestions.

[@cloudyman04]

Voice of the Stubborn wants to kill everyone that is strong Voice of the broken was i the room before they got there Voice of the Smitten is a virgin bard

[@S0lar.exe_333]

I mean the voice actor (Jonathan Sims) does play table top games like DND

[@setster007]

Son of a B. This is just a DnD campaign, isn't it? What the heck, man! {chucks table in your face}

[@KittyKathrynT]

Unironically one of the best love stories I have ever seen written???? I was expecting creepy psychological horror not me at the end feeling a melting wave of joy over how quietly sweet it is...

[@aperson9597]

oh how she acts in the end can be Very different based on the choices you make hehe

[@manelneedsaname1773]

Then something similar I'd recommend is Xenoblade 3 if you have a Switch

[@bananar1403]

have you seen the stranger?

[@birdie6359]

Less than a minute in & Dan immediately chose the fastest way possible to kill the **KZbin** princess. That's our streamer.

[@ZorotheGallade]

"What are you going to do, stab me?" --Quote from princess stabbed

[@inofficialplaytester3271]

What, you egg? *He stabs her*

[@eveakane6563]

​@@inofficialplaytester3271Macbeth?

[@aceofjacks7071]

ngl I did the same just to see what would happen

[@saxninja8464]

he understood the assignment

[@ZorotheGallade]

I love how every voice gets to have its badass moment in one of the routes. The Smitten gets to convince the Thorn to trust in the protagonist again to the point that everyone else (except the Narrator) is on board with the romance, the Paranoid literally wills the body to keep on living in spite of the Nightmare's power, the Stubborn gives you enough strength to go toe to toe with the Den and the Adversary, etcetera.

[@RougeMephilesClone]

The Broken and the Opportunist don't get much as far as I know. But the Contrarian... If you play your cards right, he gets one of the best moments of any Voice.

[@greenhydra10]

Yeah, I have a soft spot for the Paranoid and Stubborn. Contrarian and Hunted too.

[@mmgmagic]

@@RougeMephilesCloneThe Broken snaps out of their apathy and lets the hero defeat the princess, even with all the odds seemingly stacked against you. Though, I suppose, whether that's a "badass" moment could be debatable. For what its worth, the fact that the voice is one of the only ones that broke out of its central characteristic is pretty cool to me.

[@gremlin623]

Does the broken get one? I really doubt it ‘:)

[@fireyvixen999]

@@RougeMephilesClone what moment are you talking about? him throwing the knife out of the window in no way out after the razor is the main one I can think of, it's really funny but not exactly badass.

[@sunsetskye483]

I love that there’s an actual happy ending. It’s not cheapened by a surprise jumpscare or anything, it’s a genuine and heartfelt ending

[@brandonnguyen6718]

It is a love story, after all.

[@DParkerNunya]

So many stories are scared to be genuine that it's so nice when we finally get one that is

[@DaviusMelleisiusFelix]

It's a shame you didn't get the broom closet ending; the broom closet ending is my favourite.

[@aerodynamo4874]

What is the Broom Closet Ending

[@scaraptor2106]

@@aerodynamo4874you don’t know the broom closet ending?? the broom closet ending is my favourite!!

[@SirBroadsword]

I find this concerning.

[@raflamar4146]

For a dating game this is wild Also always remember how horny chat was every time the Princess was on screen

[@quinnmaster504]

The Tower :pain:

[@antifurryfoundation55]

Especially the giant one.

[@CanIswearinmyhandle]

She's no even hot or even especially well-drawn. Twitch chat will go horny for absolutely anything

[@raflamar4146]

ESPECIALLY the giant one

[@leithaziz2716]

Especially the gia- ok, you get the idea.

[@ZerglordGhi]

Possibly the most wholesome eldritch horror game ever made.

[@allingquilatonestacion4353]

Don't forget what the game said... It's a love story too ❤

[@TheSonicShoe]

you see, when a mommy elder god, and a daddy elder god love each other very much...

[@jetex1911]

@@TheSonicShoe ...They trap them with one another in a prison dimension stuck in a time loop? Sounds about right

[@nonamegoodguy797]

If I had a nickle for every wholesome lovecraftian dating sim i'd have two nickles

[@chunkycheeks9101]

either this or sucker for love

[@echoking1569]

Me: enjoying my fav youtuber play of cool game. Me: *suddenly recognizes the narrators voice* Me, shaking with terror: STATEMENT BEGINS

[@wrightcember]

what else has the narrator been in? :o

[@nafriddle9658]

​​@@wrightcember Jonathan sims. He is one of the narrators in a youtube podcast named "The Magnus Archives"

[@wrightcember]

@@nafriddle9658 ohhhhh that thinggggg makes sense

[@sylvie5208]

Oh my god the narrator was familiar but I didn’t think it he voiced the archivist!!

[@TimjanThyme]

THIS WAS MY REACTION TO A T

[@detective2656]

I loved rt's reaction to the smitten. I was a little worried it would just be "ugh, a simp" but he was so genuinly delighted that he pulled me right along in the love for the voice

[@ncisfan1002]

Truly a shame RT did not find the route where Smitten comes in and gives you the option to kiss the princess close to the end

[@Kalefromai]

Wait serious, their is a smut ending?

[@ncisfan1002]

@@Kalefromai Less smut and more "Smitten helps her break out of her prison of thorns and takes the opportunity to kiss her and berate the Narrator to describe the kiss in detail before they have to break out of the cabin of thorns"

[@travelkingable]

Something Something "The smitten appears in both the route where you know the princess the least and the one you know the princess the most" something something *the horrifying ordeal of being known.*

[@Kalefromai]

@@travelkingableoh ok something something

[@xxgirl101xx]

@@travelkingablecredit where it’s due, the Smitten shows up in some of the routes with the more frightening Princesses and he’s still into it. He’s got it down bad for the Nightmare and the Razor just as much as the Damsel and the Thorn. Honestly this entire game could be seen as a metaphor for the ordeal of being known. It’s all about seeing someone else’s many aspects, both good and bad, and loving them anyway, as well as the Princess and Hero coming to know themselves through each other.

[@stoneslab]

This is like The Stanley Parable if they weren't allowed to make us walk around.

[@blockeontheleafeon]

Basically an on-rails D&D Campaign that only has one route.

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

If Stanley Parable had many good looking princesses - Voice of the Smitten

[@blockeontheleafeon]

@@lorenzooliveira1157 Facts.

[@alexsiemers7898]

⁠”the Stanley Parable for the I can fix her/make her worse crowd” according to one of the steam reviews

[@blockeontheleafeon]

@@alexsiemers7898 epic.

[@anodyne-4736]

I like how there's parallels between the princess finding pieces to understand herself whilst the hero makes pieces to comprehend himself

[@1976nighttrain]

you know surprisingly enough i liked the "love wins" ending. following the smitten was a nice way to follow the "remember... its a love story" bit

[@undefinederror40404]

"She asks that I tell you to remember her. You won't." That really hurt on an existential l level, Damn...

[@TokenSelf]

Yes. But to be fair, she *does* return your memory each time you come back. You need to start with a black slate to bring out the different vessels since your preconceptions change reality.

[@ZorotheGallade]

@@TokenSelf And in the final confrontation she *can* bring back the other Princesses you met and they do remember everything that happened.

[@chillstorm2341]

Yeah I won't. Take the L, nerd.

[@zacharynguyen7286]

Hope everyone is doing good

[@lrose5522]

@@TokenSelfI don't think it's her returning your memory. I think it just returns as a consequence of going beyond where the Narrator can influence (and limit) you. Your singular perspective opens.

[@HazeEmry]

Imagine coming into the stream late and just seeing the princess chew through her own arm

[@Non-binaryCup]

I left half way through the stream but can back at that moment, I was so confused

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

After playing it, the princess eating her arms is one of the more mild events

[@javiero.1948]

Yeah logging on to the stream and seeing that was horrifying

[@metronicmagician1816]

@@lorenzooliveira1157yeah this game goes places, and seeing her naw her arm of several times just becomes the norm

[@zvgamingandstuff7633]

She did it to escape the failed Nugget Cave.

[@sidney4357]

I know RT was memeing about 'for the smitten' but the ending he got actually made me cry a bit. love truly does win. Thanks Jonny "Magnusarchives" Sims

[@KnightandDay33]

Random bits of symbolism i've noticed 1) the protagonists various voices denotes the various emotions / characteristics of one's psyche, as they are described to be "shards of glass" by the ghost. These shards share similar allegorical significance to the mirror and its self-reflecting nature 2) The voices heavily mirror the protagonists perception of the princess in each chapter (the opportunist when the princess is untrustworthy, the cold when the ghost appears, the smitten when both are focused on romance, etc). Once again, this reflects both the protagonist and the princess working through the various emotions of the human psyche, one at a time (in a dramatized fashion) 3) Hands have incredible significant, yet I still haven't been able to pin down an exact meaning. Nonetheless, I'm particularly fascinated in the correlation between the princess' only means of escape from the shackles being dismemberment by the hands, and the only god-like entity seen throughout the story being an assortment of sentient forearms. This also reminds me of the expression "hands of time", being a reference to returning to the past (aligns with each scenario being a "memory) 4) Conflict always results in the death / ruin of both parties, where cooperation nearly always results in both parties escaping the cabin. Moreover, the scenario as a whole is referred to as a "memory" (explaining the princess' constantly changing nature). Additionally, the protagonist sees himself as a monster, constantly changing depending on the character he chooses he decides to explore. -Given all 3 facts, the game may tell a dramatized story of a man exploring his inner conflict after having wronged a significant other, thereby struggling to confront the "monster" he perceives himself as.- Nvm it's much more existential I don't have time to sort this out lol. 5) The voices always exhibit an overbearing flaw or negative connotation through their dialogue.

[@steve7613]

I think the hands represent the many lives and experiences that come to form the Princess as we see her in the end. They are *all* her, just like the Voices are pieces of us we collect during the game, and the individual versions we see of her are just different pairs of hands in a different world. Unlike her, our protag only has one or two hands we can see. The Long Dark is a *complete* being. The Voices are only parts of it speaking up and changing the things we percieve, and we see in the end that they were separate from us. In short, we are one being with many perspectives, and the Princess is mulitple beings and experiences crammed into one.

[@KnightandDay33]

@@steve7613 Well said!

[@xxgirl101xx]

About the hands symbolism, how we and the Princess interact is also often characterized by the hands! We cut off her hand to free her, she can beat us to death with her bare hands, the Tower being forced to use her hands to stop us drags her down to our level, the Adversary fights us bare-handed, the Water Grey’s body grabs us to drag us down with her, and there’s a lot of hand-holding when we work together. We hold the hand of the Moment of Clarity to release her and it’s described as almost tender, we hold the Damsel’s hand when slipping it from the shackle, the Fire Grey will hold our hand as we burn, we place a hand on the Thorn’s cheek when kissing her, during the argument with the Shifting Mound the Spectre’s hand is shown phasing into ours if we had let her possess us, in general leaving the cabin together often includes hand-holding (especially in the last cabin during the ending we leave as mortals) not to mention our hands are the only part of ourselves (other than occasionally the feet or guts) you can see. Hands are a huge motif and are often used to characterize the Princess, the player character, and their relationship. Furthermore, the Shifting Mound is implied to be a more active force as the Long Quiet is described as more passive and reactive, which lends itself to her hand imagery as a force of action and change.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

I think that the hands are representative of chirality: two objects that are mirror images of one another. Chiral is derived from the Greek word for hand. Couple that with the mirror symbolism and the way that one of the princess's incarnations essentially gives a summary of Hegel's dialectical theory (certain concepts cannot exist without another concept to contrast against them: life and death, rich and poor, master and servant, etc) I think that the game is really setting up the idea that the player and the princess can only exist together and that the absence of one by proxy destroys both. The destruction of the world is an extension of the way that completing each path ends that relationship. If the princess is saved the hero and damsel are both destroyed and replaced by new versions of themselves that are still defined by their relationship to one another. If the princess is killed, the protagonist and antagonist are replaced by a killer and victim. Any action taken within the narrative destroys both subjects and creates a new version of each. These different types of relationship between the two principal characters cannot exist simultaneously, so every change to the status quo necessarily leads to the destruction of both and replaces them until the narrative resets (though given that the player and the princess have a persistent memory of each version of the story they are broken down into different attributes with distinct personalities each time the cycle repeats) The only way to stop the cycle is to do nothing and allow the narrative to fully stagnate, leaving the two subjects in a void that is unaffected by time or any external influence. The narrator is wrong about the princess destroying the world: it is only the player who is even capable of doing this by changing the relationship between the story elements through their actions.

[@gothamdarkknight3729]

​@@casanovafunkenstein5090I wouldn't say that's the only way to stop the cycle. After all, you can awaken to your godhood and free yourself either with the princess or by yourself with your different perspectives. A world of pure stagnation can hardly be worth living in. That's why the "good" ending might possibly be the worst one. Nothing happens.

[@TheRatSwarm]

God bless the asexuals who bravely kept chat in check during the “voice of the broken” section

[@lordofthechickens3627]

Just doing our duty.

[@Non-binaryCup]

Not asexual but I tried, chat was down bad and we couldn’t stop them lol

[@greenhydra10]

The true guardians of civilization. o7

[@gridgaming_]

just doing my job, sir.

[@Troggie42]

Someone's gotta keep everyone from winding up in horny jail when the kinkshamers show up 🫡

[@sentientmustache8360]

RT when faced with any choice: *”FOR THE SMITTEN!”*

[@memeweirdguyn.0019]

The best way to sell this game is to say "Party of DnD players aggressively try to change the plot as the angry DM tries to rail it back to the actual plot"

[@thehumanvacuum3413]

Dan’s run in specific Is where the DM gives up near the end, let’s them take the story in their hands, and the players decide to make the best of it and make arguably the best ending for the campaign

[@dazcar2203]

this game is a DnD camapaign where more and more random people keep showing up at your table to backseat you

[@vanguardiris3232]

You're playing online and various family members who don't play D&D keep walking past and offering comment

[@samandom8772]

@@vanguardiris3232 which family members represent each voice? XD

[@iem-axoltleater]

@@samandom8772 The smitten is the younger brother who gets in and out of toxic relationships every year.

[@vanguardiris3232]

@@samandom8772 The Skeptic is whoever wants you to be finished with the computer so it's their turn, but they've become interested in the story in spite of themself

[@Hadaron]

The paranoid handed you a weighted die specifically for Death Saving Throws.

[@Syapaaye]

RT quickly fell for the Smitten, not the Princess.

[@Orillion123456]

Oooh, it's a "defy the narrator simulator", this certainly can't possibly go wrong in RT's hands.

[@benjaminarnold51]

It is rather tragic that you liked the Smitten so much, Dan, but completely missed getting him back during the Witch chapter! So very close!

[@bbloveseevees8984]

A summery of this play-through: *"FOR THE SMITTEN!"*

[@cureidolsmile9820]

which was the opposite of how ManlyBadassHero reacted

[@ValbrandrLeonhardt]

I feel it's kind of how I would play it too. The princess is not some malevolent god like so many Eldritch beings get depicted. She simply is.

[@GreenCorgiQueen]

"There are no wrong decisions." I'm going to take a wild guess that twitch chat does not agree with that

[@3namega]

Everything about this game is fascinating and intricate but I really like the detail of how during the Smitten route, as she becomes shallower and shallower, her sprites become more stereotypically anime, I think that was a equal parts a fun touch and deserved jab towards bland cartoonishly perfect love interests LOL Also, on a technical level, holy shit all the art in this game looks like it was drawn traditionally and scanned, which not only would take an obscene amount of time but there's separate frames too, meaning they had to be redrawn multiple times, plus the dynamic backgrounds, which I didn't know were even possible in Ren'Py (which I assume this was made in--the Ren'Py UI is pretty recognizeable)! Such a cool story in both text and presentation, seriously inspiring!! Edit for no particular reason I'm just still thinking about this game...the sheer amount of effort that must have gone into making it as detailed as it is says volumes about the creators' love for it, which is the most important aspect of a project imo--you can see both the artistic and writing/narrative talents at play here which isn't super common in visual novels (simply bc they tend to focus on art or writing, not both, there are exceptions though), it's such a cool exploration on id/ego/superego concepts and I'm always a sucker for theater motifs HAHAHA

[@aliceclarke1448]

you're right on with the hand-drawn-and-scanned guess! The artist, Abby Howard, does everything (bar digital colouring) that way, and though digital art is still really hard you're right that it's a lot of work! She's a phenomenal artist and you only have to check out some of the other things she's done to see that - and you're right with the Ren'Py guess too!!

[@3namega]

​@@aliceclarke1448 god DAMN I'm absolutely going to have to check out her art, the range she has in this game alone is insane!!

[@milx7210]

This game feels like it was made in spite of those horror games disguised as love stories by being a love story disguised as a horror game

[@giaxo1739]

I... think I get it? It's a love story, but between concepts instead of people. The Long Quiet is the continuing story, while the princess is the End of the story. ANY story. I think that's the idea, at least...

[@tanksear]

Yeah. It’s kind of like… the Princess is everything, and the Long Quiet is nothing. It’s a bit strange how it all plays out, with nothing naturally seeming to exist to annihilate everything-like the narrator wants you to-but that’s not really how it works. Everything and nothing can only exist as concepts because of each other. Everything is when nothing is gone. Nothing is when everything is gone. It’s only natural it turns into a love story. A story can end, but only really from the reader’s perspective. What happens next is… well… anything. The Narrator is the story. If the Princess lives, everything happens, and everything must end. If the Princess dies, there’s only nothing, which can’t end. But the two concepts are fundamentally codependent. The Long Quiet and the Princess come to realise that, eventually. So what more could everything and nothing do than take each other’s hand, and step out into the boundless continuation after the end of the story?

[@phantom-ri2tg]

@@tanksear There is another ending for killing the princess after awakening. and the princess is change. The narrator wanted a world where entropy ceased to be.

[@incidentmars]

If you ask the narrator some of the other questions he says the princess is change, and implies that by slaying her everyone becomes immortal, but is a world without change really worth it?

[@incidentmars]

but also weirdly she represents perspective like she becomes what you think of her

[@bobtheregular721]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@incidentmarsthe princess is change, but she isn’t a god of change or a vessel of change, she is the concept of change. And when people perceive concepts in real life, they are given new forms, like how death is the grim reaper, and Thanatos, or a tombstone. And a concept’s form changes on who perceives it, like how the grim reaper is both a terrifying monster that slashes its scythe trough the dying, the loving reaper who comforts, and the reaper who view killing as a buisness. The concept of change is being stored in a story told by a narrator about how to kill a dangerous princess, and the hero has that perception, so that is what change (or existence, but to exist is to change, so semantics) becomes. As more viewpoints are added, change fills those new perceptions, becoming animalistic, or kinder, or a damsel, or dead. And at the end, you perceive her as she is, and now Change has been and is perceived as myriad princess, each different but with the same core, and thus that is her. She less represents perception as she is merely affected by perception as a consequence of what she is (concept), amount of stable viewing (two) and her being (change)

[@joganesha4151]

I seriously love how the voices warp reality, and the setting itself deserves a lot of praise. Hero is pretty standard, he's along for the ride, a catalyst of the story. Thus the cabin is pretty standard, nothing to fancy, and functional as a setpiece. The knife on the table, the stairs down the basement, the princess with her single shackle and an empty shackle next to her. I would describe it all as functional for the story, nothing more nothing less; neutral. Skeptic on the other hand is fascinating. From here the cabin looks more like an actual prison, there are more shackles on the princess except for that one empty shackle which I assume is more of a side effect of remembering the details of the OG cabin. The place is built like it was made for locking her in and never seeing the light of day, just as the narrator said. It frames her as this huge threat even though she still looks exactly the same on the outside. It sort of represents how dangerous she MIGHT be. Broken... poor Broken. He sees himself as a rat. Everything in the cabin is now bigger and taller, the knife is like a needle, and the princess is a giant. It frames her as a goddess which might be foreshadowing her status as a sort of higher power. She is very indifferent to death and frankly this sort of cranks it to 11, now she fully sees herself as a god more than she did before. Broken worships her and it's kind of sad the watch (unless you're into that stuff) Stubborn is fascinating. He comes along with Broken after you kill her as Broken. He sees her as the PHYSICAL threat she is. He's sort of similar to Skeptic however instead of making sure she's restrained, Stubborn doesn't care as much and goes "stab first ask questions later". Princess here is horrifying and more monster-like than ever, the whole place is just fleshy interiors, and it's sort of like the final boss of a Kirby Game, but with more blood and guts. Smitten, oh Smitten. The one I find the most entertaining. The dumb of ass yet filled with passion and love, some may say he's a simp. He sees all of this as a game, a classic tale of the knight saving the princess from her prison. Speaking of the princess, she's... strange. Princess represents the harmless outside appearence but cranked to 11, now being a damsel in distress is her personality. However that's sort of it really... The moment you try and find more depth, reality starts to crack and she becomes sketchier the more questions you ask. It really says alot about smitten in that he only sees her only on the surface level, and no substance. It's scary, watching someone turn into a cardboard cutout. At least he's a lovable idiot that lightens the mood (subjective). Cold... is bone chilling. He lives by the code "it is what it is", accepting things as is without any resistance. We killed the princess, she's dead, that's it. Nothing will ever change that... except she's NOT DEAD*** she's a ghost. Sort of embodies how no matter what we try, we can't actually kill her, and she'll still be locked down the basement forever. Opportunist is an odd choice for a voice. The voices aren't exactly broad emotions like happy or sad but are more specific, especially in this case where you're as cunning as a fox, looking for the perfect opportunity to do... anything I guess. This also bleeds into the princess, who looks more like a creature. Remember when she first stabbed us when we were checking her... this is her. Equally as cunning as Opportunist and will backstab you just as much as you want to backstab her. The cabin became more of an animal's den, which reflects her animal form I guess. They could have went for the easy route of turning the voices into emotions, but they went a step further by having these specific voices that can paint different picture for both the Hero and the Princess. EDIT: okay so I've played the game... There is so much shit I can't even.... Wow. It's enough to fill a 45 minute KZbin Essay and that's saying something. There are so many combinations of voices it's not even funny 🤣

[@cachotognax3600]

I noticed you gave a lot of analysis, and while this is something I think better discovered trough the game I wanted to point out some cool details The voices aren't exactly stuck to those route, I think you get a different one for each chapter 2, however in Chapter 3's you can get different pair of those, and you can see a lot more interactions.

[@Let_Toons]

Speaking of animal den, there's a third capter called The Den that you can reach in a certain pathing throughtout the beast's chaper 2. The Witch's cabin seem more to do with the _roots_ being opportunistic, taking up as much space as they can get away with! Even more in one of it's paths.

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

@@cachotognax3600 Depending on what dialogue option you choose on certain Chapter II routes, you get different third voices in the third chapter. This game has so many small details, I’m fascinated by it!!

[@joganesha4151]

@@cachotognax3600 Really?! Huh.. I watched the whole stream and the entire thing felt so natural. Broken and Stubborn felt like a natural pairing; opposites of each other. I can't imagine what other pairings would look like. Heh, wonder what'd happen if Smitten got paired with Cold. I'm gonna have to play this game myself

[@bagseys]

​@@joganesha4151 You get alot more insight into stubborns character as well when you see him alone Stubborn: see the cabin as its a gladiator entrance, to him, the cabin is the preparation phase, a calm before the storm The stubborn sees her as a challenge, a demonic, yet worthy opponent for them to *fight*, not to exactly *slay*, he relishes in the bloodstead of painfully confronting and battling the princess Hell, if you die trying to fisticuffs the princess (or another way), he will literal give you the option to *force* yourself alive, to continue on going, no matter how much at a disadvantage you are at, he just won't budge it, until he doesn't see any real progress or fun in the challenge, then he just give up, where you return back to the fury, this time with Contrarian, since the stubborn gave up

[@pixelator5312]

the "Are you here to kill me?" "Nuh uh" exchange made me laugh for a solid minute. I don't know how to feel about this

[@ceepert2153]

This game still has so many endings, both suprisingly wholesome and others horrific. Really hope we see a compilation of the other endings by you, would love to see your reaction (try to throw her the knife in Chapter 2 The Witch)

[@ceepert2153]

(for the Smitten)

[@70Lu07]

The Fact RT just said "KZbin It" and killed her on his first try without any hesitation cracks me up

[@lucyarisato6850]

This still might actually have my vote for the game of the year.

[@jblitz200]

Like I know right? I didn’t even know this game existed a few days ago, but now it’s like… one of my favorite games of all time

[@leithaziz2716]

Honestly? Yeah. Like, where the heck did this come all of a sudden? It's like Hi-Fi Rush all over again (still my GOTY ^_^)

[@gentlyweepz7711]

It’s good but BG3 is better

[@jblitz200]

@@gentlyweepz7711(voice of the contrarian) alright all right it can be your game of the year no need to fight

[@doneylopsy6296]

Idk. There's been tough competition this year.

[@bonyuki3872]

Dan really should have titled this “Irish monarchist dates royalty”.

[@Nixahma]

I love how each of the voices so far have their own strength and weakness. The hero is brave to a fault and the skeptic questions EVERYTHING the narrator says, even the reasonable things. I can't wait to see the others. Got severely more invested in the game, so here's my take on the voices I know: Hero - A bit of an idealist, the fairytale kind. He likely came straight from one. Pros: if you do play the game like its a fairytale (going downstairs unarmed, escaping with the princess), everything is fine. Cons: When you're in more complicated situations, the hero is out of his depth. Skeptic - Curiosity killed the cat, and just like a cat, Skeptic does what he wants. Pros: The skeptic is always attentive and his prodding and questioning of everything leads to new conversations and opportunities. His inevitable questioning of the princess' power also weakens her. Cons: The skeptic refuses to accept any form of logic and lives solely by "seeing is believing". Opportunist - One of my favorites. Interestingly enough, he seems more interested in the act of betraying than he is interested in his own safety. He'll gladly take any opportunity coming his way, even if it's a worse one. Pros: Always thinking about how to come out on top, and quite good at recognizing chances to flip the tables. Cons: Extremely fickle. Bit of a slimeball character, and doesn't seem to be entirely self-aware or just doesn't care about how untrustworthy he seems. Paranoid - Also one of my favorites! Paranoid is the essence of anxiety. Much like anxiety, pros: sees danger in every corner, whether its there or not. The sheer volume of fear Paranoid has of death also fuels his determination to live, leading to the "heart. lungs. liver. nerves." moment, or his insistence on denying the princess' strength once he learns their perception fuels her. Cons: sees danger in every corner, whether it's there or not. Paranoid is one of the voices who actively makes the princess more dangerous by existing. Routes with the paranoid morph the princess into something practically untouchable, be it a nightmare or a literal god. Hunted - This one has some overlap with Paranoid, but there's an important distinction: the hunted is a baser form of paranoia, that being the prey animal instinct. Pros: Great at reading the instincts of the princess. He knows how she's going to move and how to strike at her. Cons: Will refuse to do this until his back is to the wall. Hunted is convinced that fighting would lead to death. Also one of the voices that makes the princess more dangerous, but in a feral sense. Cold - The cold is rather simple, but also unique. Pros: Practically the only unbiased voice. Arguably the best voice for weakening the princess. Cons: The lack of conviction Cold feels means he doesn't feel any particular drive or survival instinct. Cold is no more useful in a fight than outside of it. Cold is also elitist about having no feelings and doesn't care to convince the other voices of his admittedly good points beyond mocking them. If Cold were more convincing, he'd be the strongest voice on this list. Stubborn - and there's the last favorite. Stubborn shares some traits with Skeptic, insofar that they both do their own thing. However, where Skeptic chooses to question everything, Stubborn chooses one thing to set his mind to and forces it on everyone else. Pros: Stubborn and Paranoid have the same strength of emotion that most other voices lack. Both can empower the body beyond its limits in the right circumstances. Stubborn can also help keep the other voices on track if you're lucky. Cons: Stubborn is almost *comically* stubborn. He's a bit of a wild card when it comes to perceiving the princess: its not far fetched to say that The Adversary was only that strong because he willed her to be. He wanted a good fight so bad that he empowered her. And as with the skeptic, if he gets stubborn about the wrong thing, he's practically dead weight. Very comical tho.

[@55alegria]

In the original demo, when you refused to go to the cabin, no matter what you did, you ended up in the cabin. Not only that, but EVERYWHERE became the cabin! Also, ManyBadassHero found a bug that made the basic princess srpite to not disappear. It was funny. Glad to see that it kind of happened!

[@drawingdragon]

That ending is still here! You just have to leave the cabin during chapter 1. Dan was already in a chapter 2, so he was already "locked" in a route and couldn't activate the Stranger route because the Stranger IS a chapter 2. After he did that, I think he didn't realize he COULD leave the cabin again, he just had to do it during chapter 1.

[@moojoy1920]

@@drawingdragon There's a set of achievements that I think you get from continuing to go down the route of leaving from the second chapter---the stages of grief ones? I 'm not a hundred percent sure of that though, I haven't gotten past denial

[@sidekic1109]

@@drawingdragon Slay the princess still has like, a bajillion more routes and possible combinations it's fascinating tbh

[@drawingdragon]

@@moojoy1920 Yep, there's an actual ending for repeatedly trying to leave during chapter 2's and running into the hands again and again. Like the regular ending, you have to do it 5 times, and you get an achievement for each one. The ending is pretty dark too.

[@MrGamerCaptain]

love manly

[@mandridhugh9555]

the game where backseating and spoilers aren't the biggest concern from chat

[@kiamboii]

But chat being down bad is Dan’s biggest concern

[@thomasdanforth766]

god forbid he ever plays a game with a moderately attractive woman in it@@kiamboii

[@eternalwitness5141]

guess we better hope he never plays another game with a slightly attractive person in it then@@kiamboii

[@jkuniverz]

I don’t know why but there’s something so charming in RT choosing the romantic options at the end for the Voice of the Smitten. I guess this is a love story, after all. Between him and PakPak making videos about this game I really want to try it for myself, it genuinely looks so good

[@lrose5522]

Ik this is 6 months late, but I hope you do/did pick it up! There's honestly SO much in there, you can have a new route and discover new things all the time, and it's going to have an update to add even MORE content. I think like 52% more?

[@jkuniverz]

@@lrose5522I did end up getting the game, last December I think it was that I bought it and played through it? Definitely a great purchase, and I can’t wait for the expanded content as well!

[@doctordisco5814]

Genuinely such a heartwarming game To challenge existence and what can be. To try for a better future despite cyclical violence. That is humanity, that is love.

[@sebastienbusque2312]

Depending on your choices, her final reaction (and form) can be quite different. This run of yours makes her into a bit of a Tsundere.

[@pilarwolf8818]

I love the type of game that can just spontaneously turn into existential horror

[@tiffconposh]

And i love the type of woman that could actually just kill me

[@IkkyArean]

30:16 "she can make *you* forget if only you *believe* she can" so basically we are in charge but we letting everyone played ourselves

[@user-uh1rk6cn7x]

IT'S SAD HOW THE SMITTEN HADN'T GOTTEN MORE TO DO AND JUST CAME AND WENT LIKE A WIND...I wish there were more dialog options with the Smitthen's voice,since he's really the best out of all voices

[@Alex_Barbosa]

theres alot with the smitten. RT just went down the routes that happened to leave him out most of the time.

[@user-uh1rk6cn7x]

@@Alex_Barbosa Thank you for letting me know,bc. he really is the best voice indeed...also I'd like you to have a wonderful day too!

[@div_yam2304]

theres a lot the smitten can do you can even kiss the princess (give the witch the knife)

[@joganesha4151]

Considering all the voices have some sort of "reality morphing" power on the setting, I find the smitten to be goddamn hilarious. Dude sees the princess as this delicate flower of a lady and he's such a lovable dumb of ass. I watched the whole stream and found the smitten to be the most entertaining one (above stubborn). But then it gets a bit creepy when the princess turns sketchy. Because when I think about it, yeah smitten can't see the princess as anything beyond just "innocent princess" and thus he couldn't fill in the blanks. Despite his simple and dumb character it's sort of unsettling in this context where reality can be morphed based on the voices

[@greenhydra10]

Insert footage of flirting during Arms Race.

[@larsthememelord3383]

also when you kill the princess with the smitten around he does a funny

[@drawingdragon]

In relation to all the other Voices, Smitten and Stubborn seem the most able to take advantage of the Princess' reality-warping abilities. Theyre the two that deal most in emotion and not reality and can fully convince themselves that something not true is true - and then it becomes true. In the Adversary, Stubborn can be literally too angry to die and just nope himself back to life - he can even nope the Princess into immortality so the two of them can fight forever. But the Smitten probably displays it the most because he's genuinely all emotion and no reason. He's pure optimism. He just has to say "her hands are so delicate they'll slip through the chain" and they do, "the door will open because the power of love" and it does. He does some of the same in Thorn, causing the blocked passage to just open on its own. And Damsel is one of the only truly "happy" routes for that very reason (unless you show skepticism and don't accept her optimism at face value.) Tl;Dr, Smitten is the most powerful Voice, probably.

[@kgniku503]

​@@drawingdragonHeart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves.

[@larsthememelord3383]

@@drawingdragon cheated can also warp reality or atleast force a choice like teleporting you to the cabin or making you pick up the knife

[@savanna2dope]

5 minutes in and RT has killed a princess, fantastic

[@dazcar2203]

what it says on the tin i guess

[@savanna2dope]

@@dazcar2203 I’ll be honest I did not even realize the games name lol that one whizzed right by my head

[@RepChris]

The irish have had plenty of time to learn to love the royalty

[@cryoflip5841]

9:13 "it depends how funny the dialogue options are" sums RT up really well

[@NoraHannigan678]

my immediate reaction is "i can fix her" second reaction immediately upon hearing her voice "she can corrupt me"

[@brevin630]

Legitimately my favorite indie game of this year. The narrative and the questions the game brings up in the final part are super fascinating. The Thorn is the best princess iteration.

[@treedude4246]

Thorn is best girl yes

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

I shall make the Narrator cringe by making him DESCRIBE THE **SPOILERS**

[@PoppyGaming43]

bro forgot all about baldur's gate 3 💀

[@lucascastrillon9213]

​@@PoppyGaming43baldurs gate 3 its not an indie

[@treedude4246]

@@PoppyGaming43 does baldurs gate 3 count as a indie game

[@sylph4252]

It only took the narrator untill chapter two to pull out the quantum ogres, huh? That does seem like rather harsh railroading

[@misirtere9836]

It shows you what happens when you try to go somewhere else. You can't. Nothing else exists within the context of the story. There was never a world to save at all. This tale is of a hero who slays the princess in her dungeon, so there is only hero, there is only princess, and there is only dungeon.

[@aceofjacks7071]

Jonathan Sims is the narrator/voices, and he's one of my favourite voice actors and writers ever. I'm so happy to see RT playing a game that features him, and Nicole Goodnight did an amazing job at bringing the Princess to life. I truly love this game, I think it altered my psyche.

[@bluehairedemon]

I was so hyped for this game, it's mostly written by Jonny Sims, which also voices all of the male voices. he's a great storyteller and this game really shows it. edit: it was brought to my attention that he did NOT write this game, sorry for the missinformation

[@wormjam9559]

Not written, only voiced! We can give props to the dialogue writing and such to blacktabbygames developers :D

[@bluehairedemon]

@@wormjam9559 oh really? I just assumed he wrote it as he is first of all a writer, thank you for correcting me

[@linwong1494]

Well I’ll be damned! No wonder the narrator sounded so damn familiar. It’s Mr.Archivist himself! Of course he’s playing eldritch god dating simulator

[@prronce]

Was not expecting to be saying "Hello, Jon" today. YEAH THATS JONNY I LOOKED IT UP

[@Nikowo1610]

YEAH AND JONNY DOES SUCH A GOOD JOB AT IT

[@patrickistruck]

OH MY GOD I THOUGHT I RECOGNISED THE VOICE!!!

[@lavatoriii609]

Hello, Jon. Apologies for the deception, but I wanted to make sure you started reading, so I thought it best not to announce myself.

[@wildfire9280]

I’m sorry Jon

[@RottingBear]

AND NICHOLE GOODNIGHT IT'S SO SICK

[@Bd-qs5bn]

Somehow the smitten got the closest to having a good ending

[@MrL0WEL]

Genuinely love some of the gameplay mechanics implemented in this, as well. Personal favorite being once you’ve restarted at least once, dialogue choices that will lead you down a route you’ve already seen will be blocked off, saving completionists a tone of time and preventing players from accidentally choosing the same things twice.

[@purplehaze2358]

1:03:18 I find it rather unsettling that she could hear the voice of the hero talking to her despite him very much being inside the mind of the protag.

[@The_Hyena_Queen]

Nichole Goodnight and Jonathan Sims absolutely killed their roles! Been a fan of their narrations for a long time now

[@Dusted-Luck]

What last names!

[@samsbiography4224]

i THOUGHT this sounded exactly like sims lmao I was going crazy convincing myself this Definitely Doesn't sound like an episode of tma

[@edionangel6429]

I'm so glad to see videos of slay the princess making the rounds! (especially since Jon Sims voices the narrator)

[@redwitch95]

I had heard of this game but I didn't realise he was the narrator until a few minutes in, what a great choice for a horror game!

[@jblitz200]

Really hope more people get to experience this

[@Vampirecrypt]

It took me a few seconds to realise it was him! It's super cool!

[@therainbowtea18]

Ah yes, a fellow Jonny Sims enjoyer

[@trashedeggnog3858]

when the game started chat was losing their minds at jonny sims narrating it was very fun!

[@catsandwich1406]

No shot. There's an ACTUAL ROMANCE OPTION IN THE GAME, FOR THE GRAND FINALE

[@PilotGuava]

I really love this game. It’s really philosophically heavy, and it just sort of feels.. honest? I’m not sure if that’s the right word. I can’t help but draw lines between it and different creation stories, the crow (roughly? The hero.) being chief among them. I think that despite all of the gore, it really is beautiful. Also, it’s a shame that KZbin is so strict with censorship all of a sudden, when people have gotten away and continue to get away with live leak levels of graphic content on the platform.

[@Lukusprime]

(MAJOR SPOILERS) Okay, so based on what I’ve gathered from this stream and some other reading, the Princess and the Long Quiet were gods created from the splitting of one single super-powerful entity. The Princess represents the ever changing nature of reality, death being a part of that. So it could be said that she embodies chaos. The Long Quiet seems to have been made just to kill the Princess, so as the opposite of her, one could say he represents order and stability. They’re also split into an infinite amount of versions of themselves, each within their own universe. Now, here’s what absolutely floored me: think of the lore of the Transformers. Before time began, a powerful god existed. It then split into two gods, Primus and Unicron. Primus embodying order, Unicron embodying chaos. They were singular beings, the only versions of themselves that existed in the entire multiverse, until they were split into infinite fragments, each pair in its own universe. Unicron wasn’t too happy with this, but he’s for some reason never really done anything about it. I’ve always had the headcanon that, somewhere in the Transformers multiverse, there’s a Unicron going from universe it universe, absorbing the other Unicrons in order to reunite himself and become whole again. And that’s exactly what’s happening in the game with the Princess! With all that being said, I think there’s enough correlation here to give this game a universe name using the official Transformers multiversal stream designation system. In honor of the company that made the game, I suggest we call this universe “Tabby 023.23 Kappa”

[@catboyuwu5361]

Is that what happened in transformers?? There’s more to the lore than funni robot turn into cars????

[@baydiac]

@@catboyuwu5361There are trans transformers. The comics are far more deep than transformers probably has any right to be.

[@pjmcneely2661]

​@@catboyuwu5361Depending on which show, game, or comic of Transformers you are looking at the tone can range from silly haha robots to full on existential dread and what factors can turn a well meaning person into a mass murderer, and the scope will range from a building staying around to the collapse of multiverses. Transformers is absolutely wild in terms of how different each product is from the others. Hell, Optimus Prime has fought Cthulu in one continuity.

[@Gulliblepikmin]

So what you're telling me is that this is a Transformers game.

[@mmyr8ado.360]

​@@GulliblepikminI'm more reminded of the Elder Scrolls lore than Transformers tbh

[@joshlove3462]

The only princess I want slaying is Dan’s princess Daisy cosplay. We’re all waiting

[@ryanfrogz]

It’s like D&D mixed with Disco Elysium. Complete with the voices in your head bickering. I love it.

[@erikm8373]

I really hope he comes back to go through all the routes. Especially if he already likes the Smitten, because the Damsel route isn't even the best route with him.

[@kevinhenrique4256]

GLORY TO THE THORN ROTE!!!!

[@Let_Toons]

RT getting The Cheated first is so in character

[@lunagale1573]

It's wild seeing RT play this. I got into Slay the Princess because Jonny Sims promoted it (since he's the narrator/voices). In my brain, this is closer to narrative horror and podcasts than funny video game man, RT games. Not a bad surprise! Im glad RT enjoyed it.

[@lorenzooliveira1157]

I got into it thanks to ManlyBadassHero. After watching the second episode, I got so captivated that I bought the game and IMMEDIATELY found a new route! This game got my 10/10 of the year

[@TriangularPrism]

Holy shit I knew the narrator sounded familiar, didn't know it was Jonathan 'Jonathan Sims' Sims

[@owenchafer1083]

Oh lol. I read that and thought Johnny Sins for a second. Gave me a *very* different image.

[@GrandDadmiral]

​@@owenchafer1083 'slay' would have taken a different meaning in that case

[@ideiran2818]

For me, it more love story than horror

[@yate0128]

Ironically this is somehow more coherent than the Stanley Parable 😂

[@dinodare1605]

Good to know that the amalgamation of hands is the most trustworthy character in this story.

[@StickMaster500]

I love how RT had completely no hesitation when trying to slay the princess and get WR in the Any% Speedrun Category. *Princess Daisy would be proud!*

[@Nitosa]

I guess the Irish gene was the more dominant one here.

[@wildfire9280]

@@Nitosa God Slay the -King- Princess

[@Grim-ju5yo]

Best

[@Grim-ju5yo]

My favorite part

[@SnivyTries]

I love this game, honestly. It's such an interesting meta-narrative of how our choices shape our perceptions of an experience, and I find it super interesting that it remembers the choices you made over the course of it to shape your ending. Were you an evil player, seeking her end over and over? Were you meek, following orders instead of making your own? Were you altruistic, doing the best you could? Or were you blind, ignoring all the signs in pursuit of some golden ideal? Did you want to end it all, or see no end at all? This game is a litmus test for you as a player. People say all the .exe games are "unique to each player", but...this one actually is. And here we see that despite Chat, despite the occasional blunder, our favorite KZbinr is good at making things work out. Even when things have to go bad, he finds the way to make it good again. Good game, RT. You just keep being you. (...dammit, this made me all philosophical XD)

[@daanstrik4293]

Its a game that makes one philosophical. And I agree. This game *truly* feels unique to each player. Mostly because it has the bravery to put limitations on the player. You can’t 100% this game. You will always leave behind most of the game as you persue your own ending. And I think thats amazing

[@SotiCoto]

I always end up disappointed by these sorts of games because they can never properly account for my behaviour... because I always want to do things the game doesn't allow, and either end up modding / hacking the game to go out of bounds.... or failing that, just pick random choices because if I can't make my own decisions then I don't care about the outcome. Just for example, right at the beginning, my first preferred choice would be "burn the cabin down".... followed by "dig the hill out from under the cabin so the wall holding the chain crumbles" ... both of which involve respectively killing or freeing the princess without her ever seeing anyone.

[@juliagibbs32]

It’s one of the limits of video games, unfortunately, that no matter how open-world they are, there will always be limitations. Stanley Parable handles this well, I think, where it emphasizes that the only true choice you have is to turn the game off (in the original crusher ending), but it still has limitations (you can never use the mind control facility for your own ends, for example). It’s one of the reasons I enjoy DND so much - the only limits are what the DM allows, and maybe the rules if necessary. Though DND does remind me why I sometimes prefer video games - it can be difficult to tell a coherent story when literally anything is possible. When the story is the focus, and not the interpersonal interaction, I think I do prefer video games as a medium. The restrictions allow the story to be told in a satisfying and engaging manner, while still letting me engage with and explore them first-hand.

[@PhyrraOmega]

Dan and Psychological Horror games really have been going hand in hand recently, wonder if its a sign that we should be more afraid than normal

[@slimey143]

magnus archive fans immediately recognize that voice

[@vanfinne39]

we all know The Smitten was the real main character here

[@CryingARiver]

Got absolutely WHIPLASHED by Jonny Sims being the narrator. Was NOT expecting that at all

[@theonetruedoggo4808]

Maybe the real smitten was the princesses we slayed along the way

[@imreallyannoying4477]

"Huh, the narrator sounds kind of like Jonathan Sims." - Me, 2 minutes before realizing that I am a dummy.

[@Lost_In_Neverwhere]

Bruh, how is this game actually so good? The art, the voice acting, the narrative ... So good!

[@flyer3849]

If you want more of the narrator voice you should listen to The magnus archives

[@MLGHazrad]

Each time RT interacts with the princess regardless if they are good or bad interactions, he makes the princess entity fall for him hard. She has been with the player for so long that she is unable to live with the player as soon as she and somewhat you ascend to godhood of sorts.

[@Dead_Weight21]

RT has the gift of getting the good endings without meaning to

[@epicdude3659]

This is one of those games where it's just impossible to be normal after experiencing it. I love it.

[@batterybroken]

You cut out the part where chat was barking over the princess! 😂😂😂 ahahahaha- that was legitimately the hardest I’ve laughed in a while! 😂👏🏽

[@greenhydra10]

Which one was it? I wanna try and find it in the VOD.

[@toast4248]

@@greenhydra10pretty sure someone timestamped it in the vod

[@alexsiemers7898]

@@greenhydra10close to the 2 hour mark

[@asterstruck]

it was mostly lesbians too lmao. and as a lesbian, yeah i agree

[@sidekic1109]

@@asterstruck I can't be bothered to check the vod but which princess was it? Thorn? big momma? ghosty?

[@missrebel634]

In my head canon the protagonist is named Stanley, because of Stanley Parable and the princess is called Daisy, because Dan hates Daisy.

[@chadgeary2653]

This. Is a work of art. Equally horrifying yet beautiful, not just the love story, but the symbolism of life, death, and eternity. I truly loved this experience. For the smitten. ❤

[@Sganarell]

Johnny sims wispering sweet nothings in the ear of RT is not the crossover I expected, but I am more than happy about it