Say it in Red | Episode 49: Slay The Princess

Say It In Red

You're on a narrow mountain path at the edge of dusk, on your way to a cabin that holds a captive princess. You might be confused or wary - Don't be. There's only one thing you have to do now: Continue down the narrow path, enter the cabin, pick up the knife, and listen to the voices on your podcast tell you what they think about killing the Princess locked in the basement.
This week, Sara and Runa descend the ever-shifting stairs and discuss Slay The Princess (2023), a visual novel dripping with stylized narration, artwork, and atmosphere about the allegedly simple task of stabbing a captive princess in the basement of an isolated cabin. It's a game that you can finish in either about five minutes or ten hours and the winding array of routes and paths afforded to players make it hard to predict just what kind of experience you'll have when you start a new playthrough. Will you ignore the voice of The Narrator, discard the knife, and imprison yourself beside the princess? Will you kill her outright before she can dissuade you? Will you regret your initial choice, seek to make amends, or even prostrate yourself at her feet and beg for her almighty grace? Will you fall in love? Will you escape?
Slay The Princess has a lot of depth for a fairly short and contained experience with an excellent sense of design. Despite some shortcomings and missed opportunities, Slay the Princess manages to convey a richly varied experience from player to player. With a single playthrough to the credits taking only about two hours, it's easy to pick up, easy to fall into, and easy to revisit to find each and every version of the Princess to see what she'll say and how she'll react. Take care, however, of what you see in the mirror and what mirrors you see in the world.
As always, if you enjoy our show please consider rating us and leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts! Our patreon (at patreon.com/sayitinred) also hosts a growing number of bonus episodes, released around the second week of each month. Our most recent episodes include a reflection on the 2008 Yuri Visual Novel Aoi Shiro, a full overview of Touhou and its many girls, and the harrowing arc of the Once Upon a Broken Heart novel series.
Content Warnings for this episode:
Throughout the episode, discussions of stabbing, murder, and imprisonment occur as part of discussion of the game's story.