I downloaded several free Japanese otome games and demos while doing research for my otome game list, and now I want that hard drive space back so everything must go. First on the chopping block, Oujisama Platonic Keikaku+ (王子様プラトニック計画＋), a free indie game made by someone from a doujin otome game creation circle known as half who calls himself/herself Harusuke (はる助). They have a lot of free games available on their website, but the one we’re concerned about today is Oujisama Platonic Keikaku+, which you can download by clicking on the “download” link on this site. It’s only about 25mb big.
Story: Maria is raising her 5 younger brothers and sisters after their parents died a year ago. She can barely make ends meet on her current salary, so when she spots a job opening at the castle with “Pretty young woman” as the only requirement she jumps at the chance. Turns out the job poster is Prince Chester and he’s looking for women to ‘play’ with… and he doesn’t mean video games either. Shocked and horrified by his philandering ways, Maria gives him a stern talking-to and storms off in a huff. Which should have been the end of it, but perverse Prince Chester enjoyed the scolding so much that the Prime Minister decides to hire Maria to teach him a few things about being a normal, decent human being. Prince Chester thinks he’s getting a new plaything, Maria is hoping to earn some money and reform the prince at the same time and the Prime Minister is obviously up to no good. Is everyone going to get what they want or are they all doomed to disappointment?
Gameplay: Extremely simple stat-raising gameplay. The game lasts 30 days and there are only 2 stats to raise, Affection and Education, which only go up and never down. I played 4 times and managed to get three of the game’s 6 endings: ending 3 (very good friends with Chester), 5 (doing okay but need to work harder) and 6 (bad end where Maria gets fired).
The ending you get seems to depend both on the stats you have at the end and on the order in which you raise them. E.g. I’m pretty sure I had around the same stats for both endings 3 and 5, but for 3 I spent time raising Education first and got to level 50 with that before I started working on Affection while I went in equal measures for ending 5. Meanwhile I. got the bad end because I did nothing but raise Chester’s affection without ever teaching him a thing. I’d have to check a FAQ to find out the exact combination and order of stats needed to get the best endings, but there isn’t much romantic chemistry between Chester and Maria, so the ‘good friends’ ending is good enough for me.
Thoughts: Oujisama Platonic Keikaku+ has a lot of flaws, but I don’t feel like beating it up over them because 1. It’s free, 2. It’s an indie game and 3. It’s better than anything I could create on my own. Heck, in terms of charm and writing it’s miles ahead of several games I’ve played, especially those trashy smutty Android/iOS visual novels that don’t even warrant a mention in polite company.
That said, the game is seriously short on content. Many more events could have been packed into those 30 days to create a fuller, richer and more satisfying experience. You can see hints of palace intrigue and there’s friction with nobles and Chester’s other siblings here and there, all of which could have been fleshed out more to make the story more interesting.
Furthermore, as a fan of stat-raisers I would have preferred there to be more stats, more activities, more animations and more possible endings. The endings are also seriously unsatisfying, only a few lines long without even a simple CG to liven things up. Ending 3 in particular makes you go “Okay… then what? Don’t leave me hanging!”
Lastly, the dating options leave a lot to be desired. It’s just Chester and his slimy Prime Minister (I’m guessing ‘cos I never got him) and I don’t like either one. As I said, the chemistry between Maria and Chester is zero. She seems to be quite a bit older than him and thus sees him as a younger brother. None of the events I got did anything to change that attitude she had towards him.
The Prime Minister doesn’t show up often enough for me to get a handle on his relationship with Maria, but he comes across as a scheming, condescending jerk, not really my kind of guy. As a third option, Chester’s older brother who shows up in a few events might just be a secret character, but since he doesn’t have a portrait, I don’t know if I want to go for him or not.
Still, it’s a free one-man indie game and you get what you pay for, as the saying goes. My four playthroughs took less than 2 hours total, so it was a quick, stress-free experience if nothing else. Plus I like games with a medieval setting, and I’d like to see the ‘tutor to the prince’ idea taken a little further since I don’t know many games of that sort apart from Prince Maker and Dear My Sun. When I have time to spare, I’ll check out a few more of half and Harusuke’s games and see if they learned anything from making this. Good luck, guys!
