It’s been maybe 6 (possibly more) weeks since I went back to Blue Prince. I’d rammed about 20 hours in, in a blink of an eye. Figured that it clicked for me and I got more and more convinced that I was able to see what the fuss was about.
And I can. But a game of the year contender? Blue Prince is a lot of things, and impressive in many ways. But not a contender here at Ninja Refinery.
What is Blue Prince?
I’ll be honest, when I first read descriptions, I wasn’t enthralled with the concept. A roguelite, first-person puzzle game.
On paper, described as such, I don’t think Blue Prince is appealing at all. But……..a few hours in, it’s all clicking.
The premise of Blue Prince is that you’re due to inherit a house. But to do so, you must enter the hidden 46th Room. Sounds simple enough. Explore a house and find a hidden room, right? Nope.
Every day, the house resets itself, and all the rooms need to be redrafted. You open a door and choose which room it will be. Essentially pulling 3 cards out of your deck (pool) and selecting one to enter.
Each room offers an opportunity to use items as you explore, and you need to plot your way through to the antechamber, so your rooms need adequate exits, facing the right way to make sure you can progress.
You can get stuck in Blue Prince if you’re not careful.
Resources like keys and gems are critical as you’ll need them to keep going. Puzzles in rooms, mysteries and secrets. Lots to consider and revisit to learn and get prepared for your next run.
Run out of steps, and you’re tired and have to stop for the day.
It sounds crazy, it’s rich with opportunity, but as with all roguelites, you can make one bad decision and it’s all over. No keys to create a room, no steps left. You’ve planned your route and ended up with dead ends each way.
That’s the juice. You want to go back and do better, you know you can!
The good
Blue Prince doens’t molly coddle you at all. You get thrown in and trusted to learn as you go. It gives you enough contextual and environmental guidance that you don’t need help, mostly.
The aesthetic is top-notch. It works perfectly, setting the vibe visually and audibly. Blue Prince knows exactly what it is and is built sith style and confidence. It’s one of the most confidently-presented games I’ve ever seen.
It feels like an old-school puzzle game like Myst. But the randomness and run-focused gameplay of, say, Hades or Dead Cells. The variety of every run can be a dream or a nightmare, but that’s the nature of the game.
Getting those permanent rooms and buffs, and learning the ins and outs of the game makes you feel like you’re peeling back the curtains and taking a look behind the machinations of a complex beast. Blue Prince actively pushes you to feel like you’re clever and always learning.
The satisfaction of learning, using what you’ve learned and improving, can not be replicated. Real endorphins firing as you mentally click together the pieces.
Tied-in with the tone and style of the game. You’re never getting the same run at once, and when you start to understand the game, you feel like you might be a genius.
The bad
I’ve already said it doesn’t hold your hand, and that’s a fantastic thing. The satisfaction of learning as you go in Blue Prince is unmatched. But those highs are countered with some serious lows.
I’ve never found a game that gives me such highs and such lows. Hitting a figurative brick wall can absolutely fuck things up and honestly, it’s put me off. I don’t need a mage-catchy hook to keep me coming back. But I also don’t want to feel like a moron, regularly. I can do that enough.
I don’t think Blue Prince needs to change, to be clear. It does what it does perfectly. I just don’t need to force myself to continue if it’s brought me down to a low.
The game itself is perfect. It knows exactly what it is and delivers it with perfection. But Blue Prince is just not a game that I can get invested in when I so regularly hit a low point.
This is a me problem. Absolutely. And I would still go so far as to say the game is exceptional (the highest rating we can give to a game here at ninjarefinery.com). But it’s not a game of the year contender here because it’s so disrespectful of my time, and well, I don’t need that in my life
I just cannot find the will to go back to it after it soured me on my last run.
Overall
In many ways, I really want to celebrate Blue Prince. It turns the roguelite genre on its head. It offers immersive environmental story telling, and masterfully coaches you in those first few runs.
But it can get in its own way. Sometimes being too obtuse and not giving enough guidance at certain junctures.
My first run that got me into the antechamber ended up being my last run at all. I knew Blue Prince had more in store for me, but I found myself blocked at every turn because of things I hadn’t even encountered previously.
As with any roguelite, a good run is great, others are regularly disappointing. But Blue Prince runs can take a long long time and you might end up shafted by some bad luck or bad choices.
For all that Blue Prince does well, it also caters to a demographic that I’m not a part of. It doesn’t hold your hand, which I respect. But sometimes it just seems to block you off for no good reason.
You could argue it’s to add replayability. But it ultimately pushed me away
A great, unique take on a roguelite. Well made, rich and deep. But it just wasn’t for me ultimately.
I appreciate the craft and can see where people are coming from. But this is more of a top 20 title in the year.