is a 1993 Japanese video game developed by the company Gainax. It is the second installment in the Princess Maker series of social simulation games where the player must act as a parental figure and raise a young girl. The player takes role of a War Hero who raises a girl to the age of 18. At the end of the game, the daughter goes into a line of work; what this work is, how much talent she has for it, her marital life, and her overall happiness all depend on the player's actions throughout the game.
After the initial release for the Japanese PC-9801 personal computer, it has been subsequently released for many other personal computers and Video game consoles. The game has been translated into English, Korean, and Chinese.
Story
The game takes place in a fantasy world roughly modeled after medieval Europe with the starting year is given as 1210 K.D. The player's character is a famous warrior who defended the kingdom from an invasion by Lucifon, the Prince of Darkness (a corruption of Lucifer); consequently, he is known throughout the land as a military hero and receives an annual salary from the palace. One night, he receives a communication from a god whose identity is determined by the birth-date the player selects at the beginning of the game. This god bestows upon the mentioned player a child of the heavens, and it is their duty to raise her from the age of 10 to the age of 18, at which point she will enter a line of work; the most desirable outcome is that of a royal princess.
Gameplay
The daughter has a set of statistics that fluctuate depending on the activities the player assigns to her schedule, including various part-time jobs, schooling, adventure, and free time. It is these statistics that ultimately determine her final occupation, her skill level in her line of work, and her overall happiness in life; her marital fate is also decided, in part, by these statistics. The game also makes use of some invisible statistics to determine the occurrence of certain special events. The player can converse with the girl and she will refer to the player as "father".
The god who visits the father is the daughter's patron god. That patron determines her starting statistics in a way that is loosely related to the god's role in the Roman pantheon; for example, a girl born under Mars begins the game with an advantage in fighting reputation. The player can purchase a pill from a merchant that increases the bust size of the girl.
The game ends after five and a half hours of gameplay when the girl reaches 18 and chooses a future career. High score are given to jobs such as Queen or general, whereas low scores are given to jobs such as barmaid. The game features 74 possible endings.
Development
The game was developed by Gainax, who are also known for the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL. The game is part of a trend of idealized real world simulation games in Japan, such as Tokimeki Memorial. In Japan at this time, most child rearing was done by females in the household since the males tended to be more career focused. Designer Takami Akai explained that "To play this game means to do something you want to but can't", adding that a father would not be allowed to manage his daughter's life because they would complain too much. Akai had thought about giving the player an infant to start the game but decided against it.
Release
The game was first released for the PC-9801 personal computer. By September 1993, the game had sold 30,000 copies and the company had received 10,000 letters from fans. An English language version of the game for DOS was completed but was cancelled in 1996. The version was completed and review copies had been sent out to magazines, however the company producing the English port, IntraCorp, went bankrupt. That version was then subsequently leaked onto the internet, and was sometimes referred to as abandonware. It had later been released for multiple personal computers including the FM Towns, Macintosh, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows Me, as well as many home consoles like the 3DO, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation 2.