Wronged by a noble and labeled the villainess by the kingdom, Lucena vows to correct the slander and take the crown while she’s at it. Revenge is best served by the most powerful person in the country. You make the choices by playing as Lucena on her road to redemption campaign in town, showing the citizens you’re not as evil as the tabloids say; pick your political allies carefully, and be on your best behavior until the crown is placed on your head. From there, it’s up to the player if they want to clean up their corrupt country or play into the villainess role. To celebrate the second annual Otome Games celebration running from May 4th to 11th, I played Your Crown is Mine. I received a review copy of the game for the event.
Following the sudden, heated breaking of Lucena’s engagement to Duke Edgar, her name is slandered throughout the kingdom in every tabloid, painting her as evil. His new fiancée, Rosalie, is beloved by the kingdom, going from an everyday citizen to winning the heart of a duke with her sweet, caring nature. Phase one of Lucena’s plan for the crown is to win the favor of the people, getting 50% popularity to be elevated into power, and finishing Act One. I thought the opening was strong, and I was pulled right into the role of Lucena, feeling her bitterness. I haven’t played a game where I started out labeled as a villain, and I feel like it gave me more confidence to play a stern, cold character, which is unusual for me. Typically, I find my characters coming off as Rosalie, striving to be a kindhearted hero. As excited as I was to play the spiteful part, I realized that for act one, it’s not the best strategy.
Act one of Your Crown is Mine is all about getting people to like you, be they nobles or citizens. Raising your popularity must be done in 36 days and juggled alongside more traditional stats like strength and intelligence. I enjoy the management sim aspects of the game a lot, even if I lost the political campaign on my first playthrough. I got it on my second try once I felt like I understood what the first act was about. Both playthroughs were moderately different as I changed my strategy. In my second playthrough, I focused more on raising different relationships, and people who once betrayed me agreed to help me instead. This action unlocked extra scenes, like a fun interview for a newspaper. I was really happy with how many choices I had in the first act alone. I could feel the control I had over the story based on two playthroughs. Having an interview scene added to the world-building. I felt the stress of trying to get enough popularity to win the election and rub it in Duke Edgar’s face.
With the crown securely on my head, I realized that I still couldn’t fully trust the companions I ended chapter one with. In the first run, one character had betrayed me early on, but the second time, I convinced them to help me. Could I trust them? None of the characters felt like they had Lucena’s best interest truly in mind; it was all power grabs and mind games. Even Rosalie reveals that the engagement that ruined Lucena’s reputation was for political convenience to earn Edgar popularity. I think each character is well-written and hides their true intentions well. Perfect for a game about running a kingdom that could be on the brink of war depending on player choices. It made me consider my options carefully, especially since there are several bad ends. Lucena must keep an eye on those who swear their loyalty to her, as all true colors show eventually.
Though her allies aren’t the most trustworthy, that won’t stop Lucena from lighting some candles and turning on the charm. Interactions with romanceable characters will either raise or lower their affection towards Lucena, which changes the story and the outcome of Lucena marrying them after she gets the crown. Rosalie seems like the easiest love interest route to pursue; I’m already enamored with Lucena, and I raised her affection stats quickly. For my playthrough, I chose to court Helius, and at first, I didn’t visit him enough to have him write good things about Lucena during the election, but I started to win him over. I like that the romanceable partners have flaws and secrets, and Lucena isn’t perfect in their eyes. Rosalie is the exception, as Lucena is made of gold in her eyes.
In my first playthrough, I received two bad ends. I made the silly mistake of pushing Lucena’s energy to zero, thinking it would go to zero, and I could recover the points on my next turn. It gave me a bad ending. I didn’t lose, though; instead, I was given a choice that surprised me. I could rewind time and reset the day to avoid this energy error. Throughout the game, mentions of a new energy called Candentia energy are woven into the narrative. There isn’t much known about Candentia Energy, but it sounds too good to be true—clean and renewable coming from an outside country. The citizens are weary of it and the factory that’s being built. What no one knows is that it can give someone the ability to jump through time, but it will damage the world to achieve this miracle. At first, I thought this was just a mechanic to make the game easier. I performed the time jump. When I ultimately lost Lucena the crown, a character brought the function up to Lucena within the narrative of the story. When I had Lucena say she would never play the game, it rubbed it in my face that I had already done it once. I was shocked it was keeping count. It would allow me to continue the game by taking the crown by force with consequences. I declined, but I’m interested in playing more with that feature.
I enjoyed the look of Your Crown is Mine; it was like playing an interactive manga. Transitional cut scenes were broken into panels with word bubbles. Panels play a big part in the design of the game, and I thought they were a great way to show character emotions. After choosing a dialogue choice, close-ups of characters’ faces show up in a panel to display their emotions. I think it fits the aesthetic of the game. Some of my favorite effects that gave the game the feeling of playing a manga were Rosalie’s introduction and the lighting in the background. Rosalie is introduced with blooming roses around her like the shoujo protagonist she is. Subtle glowing orbs glitter when something goes Lucena’s way, and that filled me with the same feeling as something going right for the hero of a manga. It added to the atmosphere.
Your Crown is Mine is a story that continues to unravel with each action the player takes. It will keep you wondering what outcomes lie behind the choices you didn’t make. This is a game you’ll want to play multiple times to unlock all the possibilities. Act one is all about earning the crown, while the second act is about not losing it, which may be even harder. I recommend Your Crown is Mine to anyone who enjoys management sims, visual novels, and stories about deception and revenge. How would you run your kingdom?
Leave a Reply