Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True

I'm sad they didn't give us the new version of this game when it came out.

That being said, this version was fine.

December: Put game on sale
January: Declare you're not supporting the game any more.

Poorly localized, and now abandoned. Apparently they expect us to pay for the game again, but with the letters "HD" on the end.

I'm really, really torn. On the one hand, I had fun most of the time. On the other, I was frequently frustrated by the translation. (Remember that "All your base are belong to us" meme? Yeah.) Here's an example I wrote down: the daughter has finished working as a maid at the palace for the first time, and been dismissed for the day by the young man in charge of overseeing the housekeeping staff. The daughter says to herself, "Palace is quite magnificent! I can't help but to admire it. But, the consul is quite ill-tempered.. I wonder if she would be able to ever marry someone like that?"
If that sort of Engrish doesn't bother you, then I can recommend the game to you. And if Gainax ever releases a translation patch to reduce errors like they did with Princess Maker Refine, I will definitely change my review to "recommend."
Written in August of 2018.

I am so annoyed.

I've waited about a decade for this game to be translated into English, and it's riddled with translation errors. There's no excuse when Princess Maker 2, another game in the franchise, was translated so beautifully by Softegg. I don't know if I'll ever be able to buy another game from this publisher.

Is the gameplay fun? I'm not certain because the translation is so shoddy in certain places that it is downright distracting.

I was a bit nervous to play this game after seeing the negative reviews but i'm happy I did.
I had played Princess Maker 2 first and liked it, but I have to say that I prefer PM3. The artstyle looks amazing and
the menus aren't confusing. The daughter also interacts more than in the previous games, which is nice.
The game is old but that is to be expected and I didn't really mind too much.
Overall, good game and though it does show its age I would still recommend PM3.

PS: Also, i'm looking forward to Princess Maker 5.

This game leaves much to be desired. It's the weaker sequel to Princess Maker 2. Especially the fact that they got rid of the Adventure feature was a real let-down, turning Princess Maker 3 into a click-and-point game which can become very boring very fast.

I like that your daughter in this one has some more character than your daughter in Princess Maker 2 and that you can plan out her entire life in one go and change the schedule whenever you feel like it.
Another thing that i like is that you can chose the father occupation, instead of being a retired Knight like in Princess Maker 2.

In some ways it's also harder than Princess Maker 2 but winning festivals seems more an issue of luck than planning and training.
You can also play it through in ~2 hours if you want a quick play-through.

To be honest: if I had to chance to buy it again for the same price, I'd decline.

This release is so buggy that I cannot in good conscience recommend it right now. It's so unplayable I'm scared for the future of the Princess Maker series. This is just bad!

Just simply running the game would cause my monitor display to go funky with the display wobbling.
The achievements are bugged (getting Princess Ending the moment my daughter's 11th birthday comes?).
The music doesn't seem to work randomly?
The game crashes randomly.


They need a proofreader and/or convert the game to a new engine or something. I was looking forward to playing this game too. This is so disappointing it hurts.

Two months after release and PM3 is still a complete mess technically and full of terrible translation and editing. I won't even bother to mention specifics because there are just too many. It's pretty impressive that each successive CFK release is worse than the last. If they release PM4, I expect it to wipe your hard drive upon launch.

The Good: New schedule system that vastly improves gameplay, more Princess Maker.

The Bad: Bugs, poor translation, no errantry/adventure mode, plot feels less fleshed out than PM2.

Buy it?: Only get this game if you are a serious fan of raising sims and want to support the release of more in the Princess Maker series.

Thumbs up given due to personal enjoyment, but thumbs down reviews are worth reading if you are on the fence!

**The Good: New schedule system that vastly improves gameplay, more Princess Maker.**
*New schedule system: The new schedule system is dynamic and allows you to change your schedule on the fly whenever you want, talk to your daughter mid-month during activities, change her outfit, and check overall stats. This new system allows you to que up actions for weeks, months, or years into the future, meaning you can chain together ALL actions for the game at the beginning if you wanted to. You could also use this system to put in regular breaks at home that feels more like traditional games in this genre that only allow you to schedule individual time blocks. The ability to either change up activities, automate activities, to put in stops when you want is a beautiful thing.

Consecutive scheduling of the same activity now "blocks" time together. For example, if my daughter studies at school two times in a month, the game clumps that together as a single 30-day time block rather than 2 separated 15 day time blocks (common to this genre). You are still able to interrupt blocked activities if you want, but not giving the artificial break in between blocks of time like this gives a nice seamless feel.
The schedule is set so that you have 2 actions per month, down from the 3 in PM2, but I don't feel like I am "losing time" with my daughter.

Overall, I think this is by far the best element of PM3 and I am sad that later entries in the series (PM5) didn’t have this system. It is a smooth experience and speeds up the pace of some of the slower elements in this style of raising sim. Probably the best example of how to handle gameplay in this genre.

THE SCHEDULE SYSTEM IS WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER PLAYING PM3.

**The Bad: Bugs, poor translation, no errantry/adventure mode, plot feels lacking.**
*Bugs – There are issues with the game interacting with Steam and issues with how the implementation of text was handled.

First is the glitch with Steam's achievement system. Achievements can, and will, be unlocked without meeting the criteria. First time I launched the game, I got the "Princess" achievement when I talked to my daughter on day 0. Many do not care about getting achievements, but it is confusing when you suddenly see an unlock for some random marriage option when you’re 10.

The bigger issue is the poor text handling. That’s right. A largely TEXT BASED GAME did not have the text handled properly. Though there are translation issues (see below), I am meaning this to be how text appears on screen to the player.
First, word wrapping; words will get cut off at the ends of text windows making "before" become "b efore". Alternatively, words will go quickly through the textbox, faster than I think near anyone could possibly read. This happens during cut scenes and all of the ending scenes I have unlocked so far. Example: There are some scenes where a character says more text than can fit in a single text box. Instead of breaking this into TWO text boxes, it is slammed into one, forcing the beginning of the text to fly by faster than you can read. This means some plot points are translated, but you'll never get to read them.

There are also times when the text is simply not readable due to white text on a largely white or lightly colored background. The font itself is also a bit straining to the eyes.
All of these issues could be fixed with a bit more time and polish by the localization team and would easily improve the game’s reception. Hopefully the devs will listen on this.

*Poor translation - Oh man. This is liquid gold levels of bad. The script reads like it was a literal translation from Japanese with little to no localization done. My daughter has come in "3th place" many times at festivals, told the mole prince that she doesn't want to go to the underworld because "she likes the bright spot" (sun?!?), festivals strictly dedicated to “healthy and beautiful” women. I’ve seen fan translations handled in a more masterful and professional way.
*No Errantry/Adventure mode - The Princess Maker series, and all raising sims coming to mind at the moment, rely on RNG plot events occurring, often times tied to flagged events. RNG/Flagged events are the driving game mechanics behind the delivery of the plot and discovering new characters or options in the game world. In at least three entries of the Princess Maker series (1, 2, 5), you had to go out adventuring to get some of the best endings or items in the game, often stumbling across interesting monsters or people to talk to. Entire marriage options or careers open up due to randomly discovered items or interactions. Adventure mode really opened up the world around you and made you feel like you could play the role of your daughter and discover the world of the game.

Princess Maker 3 does not have errantry/adventure mode. Completely gone. You can train in martial arts, you can get a sword, but no adventuring outside of the tiny world of the schedule for you. That means every neat RPG like elements that was previously integrated into the game is also gone. Though I have done play throughs in PM2 & PM5 where I didn't go out adventuring, this is not the same as not having a choice to go adventuring. The game feels gutted.

*Less plot - Due to the above mentioned lack of errantry mode, there is a huge segment of the game where you would typically expand on the game world that is lacking. This leaves a vacuum for where to stuff RNG/Flagged elements into the game. While PM3 attempts to fill that void, its not entirely successful.

I don't want to say that the plot is bad or that there is no attempt to give a feeling of choices matter. There is and it is done okay. That's where my real problem lies is that it is only done "okay", when the Princess Maker series has typically done "excellent" in this category. I think that the plot would be good enough to be enjoyable for multiple play throughs, but many fans of the genre will likely walk away wishing that more was done by the original devs.

**FINAL IMPRESSION:**
I think that PM3 is worth picking up ON SALE if you are already a fan of raising sims.
*The scheduling system is great and lets you go through many play throughs quickly and painlessly.
* There are many issues the devs for the Steam localization need to iron out, so it is unfair to pay full price.
*Princess Maker 3 itself is an alright game, but it is not a shining star of the series.

6.5/10 (could improve if the localization team irons out some glaring issues, but this will never be a perfect game or the best of the series/genre)

Not recommended due to massive downgrade from Princess Maker 2. I purchased Princess Maker 3 because I had been a huge fan of Princess Maker 2. After I purchased PM3, I feel very much ripped off from the simplified gameplay. Gone were the RPG adventure mode...all the story lines, fighting monsters, seeking out treasures, gone! Ok, I guess they are trying something new...let's see what else is there...ok, so now I can schedule 8 years worth of activities from day one all in one shot? Wow, that seemed quite overwhelming for someone who just began fatherhood; how about a pause like PM2 to let us think instead of continuously going on auto pilot? The shopping system gets simplified too, it shrieked from 6 shops in PM2 to just 1 shop in PM3...the creator must be a big fan of Walmart super store where you can get everything under one roof. BTW, in PM2 I can use my stats to trigger events and beat people...how about in PM3...it just doesn't seem that purposeful...as an RPG fan, I found this over simplifying. I stopped playing after 10 minutes. there's not much to the game, only six buttons on the main menu and that's all that is. Boring...over simplified....lack of interaction...not recommended.

Princess Maker 3 is a beautiful game with a daughter, gifted by the fairy queen, which you can raise from the age 10 to the age of 18. Depending upon how you assign classes, work and choices you make when she is ill there is a chance she can become a variety of professions. These professions include, but are not limited to:

-Royal Professor
-Dancer
-Farmer
-Housewife
-Writer
-Princess
-Queen

The original game is absolutely wonderful and should be looked into further.

So why have I marked this as not being recommended? To see up-to-date information feel free to check out the Discussions tab. In the future, as the developers work on issues, I will change my review.

This game is ridden with bugs which stop the game from starting, randomly shut down the game, give you achievements which spoil the story and are unearned yet, when you start a new game, several achievements you DID earn will be missing. The English translation is choppy, Engrish at its finest but, my biggest issue, is that you can barely read the endings. I suggest waiting until the developers put more work into their product before investing the overpriced amount it is selling for into a half-finished game.

This one can be a mixed bag, but overall I really liked it.

The Good
-They got rid of the money sucking diet management that often sent me rocketing to the poor house in part 2.
-Better graphics with a more three-dimenional feel when you do jobs and classes.
-Still has the same Princess Maker charm and some hidden princes to marry.
-More to do in the jobs and classes like get rivals, nice results for working (like if you complete a building as a carpenter, you get some money for it) and possible scholorships.
-You can plan the schedule even months in advance and if you want to change things while it's running, you can by pressing the right button on the mouse. Also you can fast forward my holding down the right mouse button.
-You can choose the kind of career your father can have which effects the kid.
-Daughter can have different moods that can effect the kinds of jobs and classes she takes.

The Bad
-No adventuring.
-There were some bugs, but those were fixed up for the most part. So it helps to save quite a bit.
-The festivals lack variety and are all pretty much beauty pagents.
-The white font with the endings is a bit tricky to read.
-It's not a Refine version.

Overall, it's an enjoyable game and worth a buy, if not just to get parts 4 and 5 brought over.

2-3 weeks after launch all noticeable bugs were fixed so dev is actualy listening to the community feedback.

I really like a lot the sprites because you kinda see more in details what the heroine doing, I think I'm going to miss it a lot in futur.
I also like that she finaly has a personality and again I think that's a feature that will disapear in the next game.

If you want to jump into the serie it's the perfect ep to do it because it's more balanced than Princess maker 2 in term of money. But less different endings. For example, il PM2 you can have an ending where she get married (or not)+the job she will do. Here, so far, you only get 1 of the 2.

Anyway, in general, I like the game more than PM2.

I waited years for them to translate this, and it's release on steam was cause for squee. However, it has a lot of issues, and they're not all down to the translation

Firstly, the art is pleasant, and I like the touch of having your girl from the other PM game I've played, PM2, compete against your girl at the festivals. That's a nostalgia hit right there.

Staying on the subject of the festivals for a moment, there's 3, not just the Harvest Festival, but they're not as satisfying as PM2's harvest festival. In PM2, it didn't matter if you were raising a warrior or a princess, you could still win at festival time. In PM3, you better be raising a beautiful, healthy girl with great manners, or there's no point in entering.

They removed adventuring! I liked adventuring on PM2! And Uzu your fairy helper just doesn't compare to Cube, your fairy butler from PM2 (who was, btw, a marriage option for your girl)

There's a lot less options for jobs here too. It's nice that they unlock throuygh stats rather than age in some cases, but there's something weird about sending a 10 or 11 year old off to do bar work, with the squicky possibility of her stress going up as she's sexually harrassed by a drunk guy. At 10 years old. Because she's got the stats to unlock the job.

There's far fewer endings in this game too. In PM2, you could become the god of war, or marry the devil, or become a high or low class prostitute, or, obviously a princess, or a nun, for that matter, and there were so many options for who she could marry, and she'd let you know if she remained unmarried. She could also die or get taken off you. Not so much in PM3. The game has it's own issues with the endings you do have, the text is practically unreadable, white text on a white background, and you can't highlight it.

Basically, this feels like a lazy cash-in rather than a true sequel. Do yourself a favour if you're considering this game, go get Princess Maker 2 instead.

I'm going to be blunt: I don't think this game was tested before release.

Unplayable in fullscreen. Bad, sometimes outright cryptic translation. Bad wordwrapping, with text sometimes escaping the speech bubbles entirely. Graphical glitching that makes it impossible to read some choices. Just go to the discussions page for this game, and you'll see what a hard time most of the people who bought it have been having.

I am a longtime fan of this series and was excited to see this game get an English release. I wanted to love this. However, I cannot recommend this game in its current state. I got a refund, and I won't repurchase until the game is at least playable.

As much as I would love to reccommend this game, unfortunately with the state it is in I cannot. I have waited MANY MANY years to play this game in a language I can understand, but the translation is absolutely horrendous. This by itself is not a deal breaker for me, but the text wrapping and inability to play in full screen due to glitches and game freezing along with being unable to always choose the 'right' option due to inability to see the options is frustrating. I feel like they released a rough beta and decided 'meh that's close enough'.
Very much hope that more time goes into updates and patches to make this game the truly enjoyable experience that it should have been to start.

I am a huge fan of Princess Maker 2 and still to this day have a ROM version with all my saves on a USB key somewhere. When I realized I could buy Princess Maker 3 this month I was floored and excited, I'd seen the Princess Maker 2 Refine work and it was so well done that my expectations were high for PM3. And I was very disappointed.

The translation and text is atrocious, words completely cut off in the text boxes, they have missing letters, random punctuation marks and extremely awkward sentences. I'm not being picky, if you play this game for even 10 minutes you'll see how bad it is.

Full-screen is pretty much impossible, you have to play it windowed, and no matter how much I tried to tweak it, my mouse settings were always clicking on the wrong selection boxes because the tracking is wonky.

As stated below, achievements are borked. It looks pixelated and weird, definitely not quality like the PM and PM2 releases. Total pass until this is fixed. If it's fixed. I ended up getting a refund because I couldn't even get through 2 hours.

I REALLY want to recommend this game. But in it's current state, I cannot. It's small things, but they add up to a big mess.

1. Translation. I've found grammar errors, spelling errors, untranslated text, question marks randomly appearing in text boxes, the flow of sentences is just awful... The list goes on and on. Get someone who speaks native English and edit the script.

2. Text color. I could barely read the white text on the ending I got, I feel bad for anyone who has even worse eyesight than mine. Same with other parts of the game, the text is really hard to read.

3. Achievements are bugged. I've been getting random achievements and achievements that I got legit suddenly vanished. I didn't get an achievement for the ending I got either.

4. I played in window mode for the most part, but I heard the game doesn't run too well in full screen.

5. Word wrap. It was annoying in PM1, but it wasn't that text heavy. Here, it's annoying as all heck. This is being looked into, however.

6. Random bugs. Like the box wasn't showing properly when I did well in school and had the option to decrease tuition or take a lump sum.

These are all small minor issues, but they pile up and ruin what should be a really fun experience. The game itself? It's fun, though I am sort of disappointed that there's no adventure mode, you're pretty much stuck to life simulation mode.

When the small bugs are ironed out (aka, when the game feels less like a beta), I change this. But as of right now, I think everyone should be aware of these issues and see if you want to take the risk or wait till these flaws are fixed.

Edit (1/15/18): I'm making an update to this since this needs to be said. I updated my PC from Windows 7 to Windows 10 a few months ago. I tried to play this game shortly after, and currently, it does not run, it forces my resolution and then crashes the game, and I have to actually change the resolution back to what it was. Seems to be an issue with Windows 10, since I did not have this problem on my old PC with Windows 7. And sadly, since there's like no word from the devs, I doubt this is going to be fixed. So buyer beware if you have Windows 10, this game may not run for you.

This was my most anticpated game in the series to get an english translation, and I can say I'm very pleased with how the game plays out.

If you've invested lots of time into the other games and think you're hot shit at Princess Maker, jumping into PM3 blind may very well throw you for a loop. There are a lot of changes from the games that precede, and succeed it.

It has some unique mechanics, some of which will make you wish the future games kept, and some at the very worst, make PM3 stand out from the other games in the series which as good as they are, sometimes are a bit too similiar.

Two thumbs up for any fan of the series, and a recommendation for anyone interested in the series.

Princess Maker 3: Fairy Tales Come True is a perfect blend of the first two games in the series. I personally spent two hours playing so far and got the "Miner" ending. There's about fifty endings total. The schedule restrictions are gone and you can plan as little as a week or even several months in advance. The game also expands on your daughter's attitude. If she's in the "Delinquent" mood, she will be turned away from most jobs and do poorly in school. If her mood is normal, she'll do an average job at everything she does. You also get to choose the father's occupation for the first time in the series. Father's occupation will determine how much money you get, if you get any at all, a year and the daughter's starting mood.

Here are my pros and cons.

Pros: Retro graphics, lots of endings, lots of new features

Cons: Some achievements are bugged, the text can be really hard to read at times

I have played all of the Princess Maker series and this is by far my favorite.
This game is currently playable in Japanese, English and Korean.
So far, this version only allows players to play in English or Korean. But if you prefer to, you can listen the character voices in Japanese.
☆日本語のレビューは下に書きました。
[06/29/17] Currently the game is buggy. I can still play with some minor issues, but some has reported it's not playable. Looking at the patch notes in the game folder, devs are working on fixing the issues.

Pro:
- Albums. You went to vacation? You unlocked one of the special ending achievements? Re-visit the moment by opening your Album page! Or simply when you want to go see the beautiful artwork of this game! =)
- Up to 30 save slots.
- Background image (the room/event place) isn't as pixelated as the in-game characters.
- Like in PM1 + 2, there are events that's held by the castle. With PM3, when you chose not to attend those events, you can actually spend your daughters time by either going to school or work at a part time job.
- You can see the amount of Gil gained/lost just like in the original game! Make sure you're in the Scheduling window. Click on the Gil box, and it will tell you the estimated Gil gained while working, or how much it'll cost to take her to a Class.
- You can schedule however the way you want. Unlike PM1 and 2, you aren't forced to schedule for 4 weeks. With PM3, you can chose to schedule for only a week if you want! You have more control over your daughter's stats =)
- Different ways to start your game. Your job,as a father, has effect on your daughter's life. You have 6 different jobs to chose from. This will then gets reflected on how your daughter will be like at the beginning of the game. Also, your income will differ according to the job you chose.
- If you have very high number on a specific stat, your daughter's performance at work or class will change. it's like a whole new game play =)
- Have as many rivals as you want! Once they're friendly to your daughter, she's much happier.
- Can play in Japanese. Open Client -> Library -> Options under Princess Maker 3 -> Set Language to Japanese - >save setting.

Con:
- In-game Font is deadly hard to read. I have to squint my eyes to read it. I believe they're using Asian font into English letters that they do not fully support (It's like using Mincho font (JP font) in English, it has a similar effect).
- [08/30/17 fixed for Japanese ] Game isn't released for Japanese and Chinese. We are unsure when, but there was a reply from the developer saying they will be adding Japanese in the future update.
- Characters are pixelated.
- Can't fix the volume. Better to open Volume Mixer setting and lower the PM3 game sound.
- Screen size is fixed.
- Can't play with Keys only. If you press ESC, it'll prompt to close game. Mouse is a must-have.
- There's no adventure mode like PM2.

Bugs:
- [06/28/17 Partly Fixed] When playing the game, you might randomly unlock achievements that shouldn't have unlocked.
For example, I was playing my 10 year old daughter, and I had the "Princess" achievement unlocked.

懐かしのプリメ３が復活しました！プリメシリーズの中では一番かわいい絵柄の娘だと思います。
残念ながら今は日本語サポート化されていません。掲示板の方で要望したところ、近いうちに日本語版のアップデートをするとのこと。楽しみです！
今のところ、英語版で遊んでいるので英語版のレビューとなります。

良いところ：
☆　８月３１日：日本語版に対応。
☆ 今回もアルバム帳があります。懐かしいバカンスの思い出、あのエンディングをもう一度見たい！数々の美しいイラストを見続けていたい！というあなた、アルバム帳を開いていろんな思い出に浸りましょう！
☆ セーブスロットは３０個。全部の思い出はセーブできないけど、セーブできるスロットはたくさんあります！
☆ 背景画、昔のように今でもはっきり、くっきりしていて綺麗です。
☆ 今回は感謝祭のようなイベントに出なくても習い事をしたり、働かせに行かせたりできます。１か月ダラダラ過ごさなくてもいいのでステータスがちょっと上がります。
☆ オリジナルと同じで、スケージュールを立てているとき、お金のボックスをクリックすると、増えるお金の目安（バイトを選んでいるとき）や、お金の減り具合（バケーションや習い事を選んでいるとき）などが見れます。
☆ あの懐かしい可愛いウズと娘の声が聞けますよ！
☆　父親の職業が娘に影響を与えます。父親の職業が６つあり、その職業によって娘の性格やステータス、年収が変わります。新しいゲームを始めるたび違う育て方で始められるので結構楽しいです。
☆　プリメ１や２にはない、ステータスによる娘の変化。とあるステータスがとても高いと起こります。習い事やアルバイトに影響するので娘との接し方を変えないといけません。

悪いところ：
☆ [8/30/17 修正済み]　今のところ韓国語と英語でしか遊べません。（上記に書きましたが、そのうちアップデートで日本語版を出すようです。）
☆ フォントが死ぬほど見にくい。明朝フォントを英語にした時と似た症状で、フォントがとてつもなく読みにくいです。
☆ 可愛いキャラたちがピクセル化してる。粗い線が見えます。背景はきれいなのにキャラがピクセル化していてちょっと残念。
☆ ボリューム設定がないのでうるさいです。デスクトップ上のスピーカーアイコンを右クリック。ボリュームミキサーを開けてプリメ３のアプリだけ少々ボリュームを落とすのをお勧めします。
☆ スクリーンサイズはワンサイズ。1280ｘ720らしい。私の場、画面を大きくしようとするとゲームがクラッシュします。Windows10 64bitでプレイしています。ほかの人の報告によると、フルウィンドウで遊ぼうとするとクラッシュせず、ゲームが遅くなって遊べないようです。
☆ そのままウィンドサイズで遊びましょう。
☆ 前回のようにキーボードだけでは遊べなくなりました。ESCキーを押すとゲームを閉じますか？と表示されます。マウス必須です。
☆ プリメ１や２のように娘を冒険に出すことはできません。

バグ？
☆ [06/28/17 修正済み] ゲームプレイ中に解放されてはいけないはずのアチーブメントが表示される。（１０歳プレイ中にプリンセスのアチーブメントが解放されてびっくりしました・・・）
☆　ゲーム中のアチーブメントが解放されるも、エンディングだけ解放されない。
☆　アンチウィルス・ソフトウェアによるが、実行ファイルが引っかかる。（除外できないソフトもある？）
☆　行商人が訪問ORアイテム購入するとゲームが落ちる。
☆　スクリーンショットが撮れない。
☆　英語での翻訳がいまいち。ちらほらと間違いなどが見つかる。