Few questions before buying the game

[Kuroneko]

Hi im completely new to this genre of games and have some questions.

Ive beeninterested in this genre of for awhile and wanted to try princess the maker games but have always been put off due to me feeling like they're expensive for how old they are and how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ the steam ports appear to be. Would this game be a good introduction to the genre of child raising sim? Or should i start with a Princess maker game. I was also wondering how replayable volcano princess was in comparison to princess maker and in general how it holds up against it (as as far as i know PM is the definitive game series for the child raising sim genre if thats what you call it). I like the idea of being able to sink alot of hours into this kinda game and often see people with hundreds of hours in these kinda games but noticed when reading reviews most only have around 10 hours which don't get me wrong is a great amount of gameplay but im really wanting a game i can almost turn my brain off and play without total focus and while im marathoning a show or something and thought a sim like game like this with multiple endings would be good for that.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds and sorry if all the questions are stupid please go easy on me with the replies...

[Battler]

I can't answer about the comparison with Princess Maker. I tried to play it, but you have to understand that although the game has a lot of fans, it was released more than 30 years ago. Yes, the second part has a fresh Refine version, but it raises the maximum quality of the game to the beginning of 2000 at best. And yes, as far as I know, although the Princess Maker series has 5 games. only the second part has an above-average English translation.

But if you compare the Volcano Princess with other more modern similar games, it is definitely the best both in terms of graphics and in terms of game mechanics. There are no problems with starting to get acquainted with the genre with this game - although it sets a high quality bar and it will be difficult for you to play lower-quality products in the future.

The average playthrough of the Volcano Princess is 10 hours. The replayability of the game is a controversial issue. I myself have played the game 5 times, but only because I was interested in setting records of the characteristics. Someone may have other goals: get all the endings, see all the romantic lines, etc. But I understand those who had enough after only 1 playthrough, because the game, though engaging, is quite linear.