美少女梦工厂 2
Princess Maker 2

Gainax, 1993
MS-DOS, 3DO, Mac, Saturn 和 Windows*

Gainax, 1993
MS-DOS, 3DO, Mac, Saturn and Windows*

美少女梦工厂 2(Princess Maker 2)是一款日式 RPG,它在美国发售的过程一波三折。1995 年,Soft-Egg Enterprises 开始为游戏制作英语本地化,但制作过程一拖再拖,到了最终项目完成之日,已经没有人会再去关心一部 MS-DOS 上的游戏了。虽然没有官方英语版,但自从 2000 年初,游戏的英文测试版数据泄露以后,它便有了一批忠实受众,风靡一时。直到 2016 年,该作才终于在 Steam 商店上发售了正式英文版。

《美少女梦工厂(1990)》作为模拟养成类的先驱游戏,催生了无数续作和类似游戏的诞生,该系列确实值得好好研究一番。游戏如此名声大噪,也有部分原因要归功于出品方是制作了大名鼎鼎的《新世纪福音战士》的动画工作室 Gainax。综上,对《美少女梦工厂》的评价往往有过誉之嫌。让我们抛开先入为主的观念,仔细看看这作游戏的实际质量吧!

《美少女梦工厂 2》的游戏背景设定在中世纪风格的幻想世界,玩家扮演一位退休的老兵,神明将一个小女孩托付给他照顾。作为小女孩的父亲,玩家要从 10 岁生日开始培养她,一直到她 18 岁成人,期间负责安排她的打工、学习、训练和武者修行等事宜。

Princess Maker 2 is a Japanese RPG, but its US release was an adventure by itself. In 1995 SoftEgg Enterprises began to localise the game into English, but ran into countless delays. By the time things were sorted out, no one cared anymore for an MS-DOS game. Without an official English release, the game became a cult hit after a beta version of the translation was leaked and started to circulate in the early 2000s. It was only in 2016 that the game finally was officially released in English, via the Steam store.

The series is worthy of a closer examination, as Princess Maker (1990) pioneered the sim-raising genre, spawning many sequels and inspiring similar games. It also helps that the game was developed by Gainax, the anime studio famous for Evangelion. So let us abandon all prejudices and dive into this often overlooked gem!

Princess Maker 2 takes place in a fantasy-medieval setting, where players take the role of a retired war veteran to whose protection was entrusted a young girl. As her father, players must raise the girl from her 10th birthday until she turns 18-years-old, taking care of her jobs, studies, training and adventures.

* 2004 年,日本在 PS2 和 Windows 平台发售了《美少女梦工厂 2:绮丽版(Princess Maker 2: Refine)》,改进了画面并配上了全语音。这也是 2016 年 Steam 上发售的版本,不过有些粉丝更喜欢泄露出来的 MS-DOS 原始测试版。

* In 2004 a new version called Princess Maker 2: Refine was issued in Japan for PS2 and Windows, featuring updated art and full voice acting. This is the version released on Steam in 2016, thought some fans still prefer the original leaked MS-DOS beta.

每份工作都各有利弊。在农场打工提升的属性有利于女儿成为战士,但相应的会遭到贵族们冷眼相待。

Each job has its own pros and cons. Working as a farmer helps to raise stats that are important for a fighter, but it's frowned upon by the nobles.

《美少女梦工厂 2》的游戏背景设定在中世纪风格的幻想世界,玩家扮演一位退休的老兵,神明将一个小女孩托付给他照顾。作为小女孩的父亲,玩家要从 10 岁生日开始培养她,一直到她 18 岁成人,期间负责安排她的打工、学习、训练和武者修行等事宜。

每个月,为女儿安排一次活动都会占去 10 天时间。打工可以提升她的某些数值,但会相应降低另一些数值,同时工资高低与女儿当月的表现有关。比如说,如果让女儿去伐木场打工,气力会上升,但感受会降低[1] 。如果她工作顺利,就会获得薪水。早期上课的学费很贵,女儿多上几次课就可以升入更昂贵的进阶班,能够给她带来更多技能点加成。

你也可以让她去做一些传统 RPG 主角该做的事:参加武者修行可以找到金钱和稀有物品,还会触发奇遇(提示:在特殊地点扎营休息就能触发)。有四片区域可供探索,难度循序渐进地增加。地图本身非常庞大,而且每片区域都藏有许多意外事件。对于多数玩家来说,武者修行的时间大约占到他们整个游戏流程的三分之一左右。路上,女儿会随机遇敌,并被迫进入战斗。战斗非常简单,只有物理攻击、魔法攻击和使用道具三个选项。

游戏中有种种技能数值和能力数值,除了列出来的那些,还有许多隐藏数值。奇怪的是,能力数值高低并不会影响技能数值。女儿的初始数值由星座和血型决定。整个游戏中,她要经历许多次隐藏判定。

基于玩家最终养成的不同目的,女儿的各种数值用处也不同(虽然某些数值是达成许多结局的普遍前置条件)。提升数值的时候很容易发现自己的开支如流水,特别是制作者早就预见到多数玩家一周目会让女儿成为战士,因此早早将战士结局设置成了最难达成的结局之一。不过,空有一身力气也没法让女儿出人头地;只有同时培养女儿的社交技巧,才能提升她的社会地位。

Each of those activities takes 10 days of a monthly schedule you must plan for your daughter. Working increases some of her stats but decreases others and a potential pay depends solely on her performance. For example, working as a lumberjack will increase strength but decrease her sensibility. If she works well, she returns home with a pay. Schools are expensive, especially in the early game, but as your daughter studies, she can advance into more expensive master classes, which yield even more skill points.

She can also participate in more traditional RPG activities: going on adventures bringing back money, rare items and having special encounters (tip: usually by camping near interesting locations). There are four places to go through, each moderately more difficult than the previous. Every area has plenty of surprises, even if their size feels underwhelming. Adventuring won't usually take more than a third of the game's time for most players. Sometimes random enemies will appear, engaging your daughter into battle. Combat is very simple, and consists only of attacking with either physical hits or magical spells and using items.

Stats include many skills and attributes, both visible and hidden ones; oddly enough, attributes don't affect skills in any way. Your daughter's starting stats depend on her sign and blood type and she'll face various hidden checks during the game.

Depending on players' goals each stat is more or less useful (although some may take a part in a wider variety of goals). Increasing them may be sometimes a challenge in the face of ever-decreasing funds, especially since developers have foreseen that most players would make their daughters warriors on a first playthrough, thus making it the most difficult path. But pure might won't take her far; only investing in social skills can take her up in the social ladder.

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1 译者注:原文可能有误,实际上伐木场打工会降低气质而不是感受。

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