YeOfLittleFaith

Okay. I just finished Princess Waltz.
I really, really liked it. It was an amazingly enjoyable experience, and I would play through it again.

It is incredibly high quality in everything from character models to voicing and soundtrack, it is supported at places by an interesting system of card battles that still earns some entertainment, and it is really fluid.
The flow of the writing and how it matches up with the visual aspect are fantastic. The comedic parts are gut-bursting hilarious, the dramatic parts are suitably heavy in mood, the heartwarming is great, and the action is appropriately tense. And everything in the game is so damn lively, it makes it a joy to follow and see what will happen next.

Really liked the characters. All of them, thought a few less than others. Chris and Arata definitely take the top, followed closely by a few others. But everyone is likeable and complex to some extent, despite their apparent blandness. As a protagonist, Arata is very likeable, but also very relateable. He shows agency, a distinct enough personality that he's not just a player surrogate and audience stand-in, but he's also easy to relate to due to his flaws and moments of weakness.

I found it a bit of a shame they chose not to voice him, given how much he actually stands out. I wish more VNs went the FSN route and voiced the protagonist.

The story overall is pretty interesting, and it is written rather well. There is a lot of foreshadowing that is progressively addressed as the game advances, and it's mostly all done in a logical manner. I feel like the story left a few questions not answered as clearly as it could have, but having some leeway to imagine things is also good.
Also. I cannot stress this enough. The sex scenes make sense in story, and don't come out of nowhere. There's actually pretty ample foreshadowing for a while before anything happens.

If I have any critique to leave to it, it's mostly that the card battle system gets old fast (but I applaud their insight to include an easy mode that lets you really speed through the card battles to just focus on the story), and that the "routes" don't have much meat to them despite the additional development, character insights, and backstory exploration they offer.

Minor spoilers, but if you want to fully enjoy all it throws at you, don't read

The game is separated into two parts. The second part of the game felt a little rushed over all, and I feel they could've spent more time on it to really flesh it out and make the game that much better for it. This, again, reflects on the routes: choosing a heroine doesn't alter the ending that much or add anything significant to it, except for one that kinda makes it more complete. It mostly comes down to a few extra lines of dialogue, some significant but brief character development and exploration, and which sex scene you get.

This is not to say the second part is bad, of course. It is still quite good, and it really picks up towards the end, with some really epic and heartfelt moments. The start of the second part also has some scenes that will just make you go "hell yes" though other bits suffer again from the rushed feeling.
The ending brings down the curtain splendidly, and it leaves you with an amazing feeling that this story has truly just begun.

But the ending aside, the best of the game is undoubtedly in the first part. It has very coherent writing and pacing, and it's packed with amazing moments that will make you laugh, cheer and cry. Princess Waltz is worth it just for the first part, but the ending is something you can't deprive yourself of.

Spoiler:

There's also a neat little continuation after you've finished all the routes that adds a bit as a epilogue and sort of a tease at what happens.

Final thoughts: I loved Princess Waltz. It was very satisfying, and very enjoyable. I can understand the comparisons with Fate/Stay Night that are often made with it, and I can also say that if you liked FSN, I think you might also like Princess Waltz.

As far as I'm concerned, it was more than worth my time, and I think it's worth everyone else's as well. I heartily recommend it. It was a blast.

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From here, because I wanted to save this wall of text:
http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread...=1#post1269873