Scheduled for release in 2023, Kill the princess is a visual horror novel similar to The Stanley Parable. From the beginning, the narrator instructs the protagonist to kill the princess in order to supposedly save the world, and the player can choose whether to follow the narrator’s instructions or create his own path.
During the early video game eras, one of the most common tropes was the “Save the Princess” trope, where players rescue a kidnapped princess from the main antagonist. While most modern games have simply left this trope behind, some games, such as Hollow Knight, intentionally undermine it.
10 KAIMA (2016)
Released in 2016, KAIMA is a short free indie RPG Maker game available on Itch.io. As the titular planet is slowly destroyed by Prince Vido, a pink demon named Searina has lost her soul while trying to escape the impending void. A soulless body, she teams up with another surviving resident named Illi to rescue Princess Donkey and save the world.
However, once they defeat Vido and release the sealed Ezel, they discover that Vido did all this to stop Ezel, who was actually planning to consume the entire planet to increase her powers. Now that she’s freed, Searina and Illi must kill her instead of saving her.
9 The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince (2018)
Despite being inspired by classic fairy tales, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is a side-scrolling puzzle adventure game from 2018 that inverts the default style. Developed by Nippon Ichi Software, which has created other storybook-like titles such as: htoL#NiQ and The cruel king and the great hero, This game revolves around a wolf girl with a beautiful singing voice.
When a young prince falls in love with the voice and tries to see her, she accidentally blinds him while trying to cover his eyes. In exchange for her singing voice, the wolf gains the ability to turn into a human princess so that she can lead the prince to a witch who can heal his eyes.
8 Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (1990)
Released in 1990 for the NES, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is a JRPG that follows a male or female hero as they gather a party to stop Psaro the Manslayer from destroying the world. Although this hero is the main character, the player does not meet them until chapter five. For that, each chapter focuses on one of the characters who are part of the heroes’ party.
In chapter two, the player is introduced to the Tsarevna Alena who sneaks out of the castle so that she can travel the world and become the strongest fighter. With the help of her two vassals Kiryl and Borya, she defeats a demon, obtains an item to heal her ailing father, wins a tournament and joins the hero on their quest.
7 Final Fantasy V (1992)
Originally released only in Japan in 1992 for the Super Famicom, but later ported and released internationally, Final Fantasy V is a JRPG featuring two powerful princesses who help save the world. Directed by franchise creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game follows the Warriors of Light as they try to stop an evil sorcerer from destroying the elemental crystals.
One of the Warriors of Light is Princess Lenna Charlotte Tycoon, who is kind, impulsive, adventurous and strong-willed. Meanwhile, Lenna’s older sister Faris Scherwiz became a daring pirate captain after getting lost at sea. Both princesses can fend for themselves and instantly help save the world.
6 Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone (2006)
One of the most underrated GBA RPGs is the 2006 tactical JRPG Yggdra Union: We will never fight alone, that’s the second installment in Sting Entertainment’s ongoing Department of Heaven series. This relentlessly difficult game follows 17-year-old princess, Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz, who is forced to leave the kingdom of Fantasinia after it has been taken over by the Bronquian Empire.
Before she leaves, however, she manages to grab the holy sword Gran Centurio, a family heirloom, and use it to gather allies and retake her kingdom. Although she begins the game as a victim, she eventually becomes so powerful that she conquers the entire world, though the game forces players to question whether they are doing the right thing.
5 Hollow Knight (2017)
While there have been many excellent Metroidvanias in recent years, one of the most famous and critically acclaimed examples is the 2017 action-adventure game. Hollow knight. As an insectoid warrior known simply as the Knight, the player must explore the ruins of the Hollownest kingdom to find and defeat the source of a supernatural infection. During this journey, the knight will meet many unique characters.
One of these characters is Hornet, the princess protector of Hollownest and the knight’s sister. She is a powerful warrior who can defeat most enemies with her needle and thread, and the player must fight her several times before they team up. In the future, Hollow Knight: Silksong, she will be the main character.
4 Child of Light (2014)
Together with The liar princess and the blind prince, the RPG Platformer of 2014 Child of the light is another wonderful storybook-like game that subverts this figure of speech. This game follows a young Austrian princess named Aurora who wakes up in an alternate world known as Lemuria after she supposedly dies of a disease. To return home, she must defeat the Queen of the Night, Umbra, so that the sun, moon and stars can return to the land.
Using a sword, Aurora travels through this magical world and slowly learns to stand on her own two feet. Eventually, she makes new friends and learns the truth about her parentage.
3 Fire Emblem series (1990-present)
One of the few franchises that has subverted this trope since its inception is the ongoing tactical JRPG series fire emblem, that helped establish the tactical RPG genre. Even at the first mention in 1990, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, one of the main characters is Princess Caeda, a confident and strong-willed warrior who joins the main character, Marth, on his quest.
Since then, other characters, such as Elincia van Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Lyn van Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Eirika out Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, and more have continued this tradition. The last main article, Fire decal: three houses, had Edelgard, the princess of the Adrestian Empire, as one of the main characters who is also a ruthless fighter.
2 Super Princess Peach (2005)
While the main line Mario titles continue to put Princess Peach in the role of “damsel in distress”, the 2005 DS platformer Super Princess Peach is one of the few cases where she saves Mario and Luigi instead. In this bestselling title, the player controls Peach as she travels to Vibe Island to rescue the Plumber brothers and the various inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, who has been given a legendary magical weapon known as the Vibe Scepter.
With the help of a sentient parasol named Perry, Peach navigates the levels of each world, using special abilities she gains along the way. Thanks to the Vibe Scepter, everyone’s emotions are all over the place, but Peach can use the emotions to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
1 Braid (2008)
Released in 2008, braid is a time-based puzzle platformer and is often regarded as one of the most important groundbreaking titles to prove that indie games can be successful. The game was created specifically to criticize the “Saving the Princess” trope and other video game standards. The game follows a young man named Tim who is supposedly trying to save a princess from an evil monster.
But during the final level, it is revealed that the princess didn’t need to be rescued at all. He was the monster trying to catch her, but she had already left with the real knight.
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