The Royal Trap

Awhile back I picked up a game on Steam that was on sale that I'd had on my wishlist called The Royal Trap: The Confines of the Crown. I was reasonably excited about it as it looked to have a pretty feisty MC -- accomplished, brave, loyal, kick ass, etc. etc. Then I made the mistake of reading just one more review...and it completely dampened my enthusiasm. So I let the game sit. I should know better and form my own opinions, but reviews can be helpful at times...anyway...(if you happen to have stumbled upon this, fair warning that it will be very spoiler-y from here on out)...

I finally decided to play a route and see. The story is that you play Madeleine Valois, a well-born but low level aristocrat (due to her being a younger sister), who has been working as a personal companion/valet/protector to a young prince named Oscar. Her job is to protect him, prepare him for his life of rule, and to help him find a suitable bride. In this fantasy world, queens are apparently known as Wisdoms and the line of succession is passed down through them. As a prince, it's Oscar's job to find a wife that will accept him and give him her kingdom. It's kinda weird -- on the one hand, women have a lot of power due to succession, but on the other hand, they don't as it seems like they aren't allowed to rule on their own. Anyway, Madeleine and Oscar are newly arrived at in the kingdom of Gwellinor where he's to meet Princess Cassidy (along with a few other prospective suitors).

Sharing a moment with Oscar in the forest...

Herein is my first quibble with the game. Oscar loves you already. And you, apparently, also have feelings for him but feel you can't possibly act on them because of your situation. It seems an odd place to start off an otome where you can romance other characters, no? Because even if you decide to go the route where you gently turn him down, that's still there in the background and in your heart and, at least to me, colours the entire fabric of the game. You love him. So how do you then go on to find love with someone else within the short time frame of the game when you've spent your entire life up until this point with him?? He is one of the romanceable characters, of course. It would have been better if you'd just been friends all this time and, through the events that occur during the story, you fall in love for the first time. Incidentally, I did choose Oscar for my first run through as it seemed like an appropriate character choice.

Getting on with it...Oscar and Cassidy seem to hit it off and Maddie is a bit jealous but holding it together. Then something crazy happens -- the Princess is kidnapped and they think Oscar had something to do with it! Now it's up to you to help clear your names and recover the princess.

You quickly combine forces -- not sure how different choices work out, but in my case, we wound up working with Callum, Princess Cassidy's brother. And here's where the review I'd read comes in to play. Basically, it said that the "royal trap" is that Cassidy is NOT a girl and is, in fact, another son dressed up like a girl -- a trans person, sort of, as she/he didn't have any choice in the matter as it was forced upon her/him by the King and Queen to make up for a daughter that died. Cassidy was kept isolated to the point that she/he doesn't even know the difference between men and women. The person who wrote the review was offended that trans people were treated in this way and that it was considered a "trap" and I absolutely do understand where they are coming from if that was the case. It's using it as a punchline. I can't get behind that. I've got a couple of friends who are transitioning right now and it's nothing funny. It's hard and lonely but also exciting and fulfilling. It's not a joke. And, as I was going through the story, I was indeed very worried about the review being right because Callum, in fact, was the one who originally kidnapped his sister/brother(?) because he himself believes that Cassidy is his brother and not his sister. Then someone else kidnapped her again and thus the race to save her/him.

However, there's no judgement from him about her/him possibly being trans, though there are some uncomfortable almost joke-y bits when they rescue her and Callum makes his claims, to the consternation of Cassidy, who is very confused. So, on the one hand, the review was sort of right. But, on the other, it wasn't quite so anti-trans as they'd written up. Anyway, moving on...by the end, it doesn't even seem like Cassidy is the brother as it seems like they sort-of prove that she is a girl (?). And, in Oscar's bad end if you give him up, it sounds like he marries her. So...? I'm a little confused about this as the review made it sound like Cassidy definitely WAS the brother and not the sister. But it didn't seem like it turned out that way in the route I took. But it may be that it works out differently in another route? I dunno.

I did finish Oscar's good/romantic end and the bad end. In the good one, Maddie receives her own income/property/land/title from the King and Queen for her role in saving Princess Cassidy and, with that, is able to ask Oscar to marry her. Which he does, happily. In the bad, she gives him up to Princess Cassidy instead and they part on bad terms.

So...I suppose I'd say that I wish I hadn't read that review because it definitely affected my enjoyment of the game and while I think it had valid points, it doesn't seem (at least through the one playthrough I've done), that it was altogether correct. But I may have to do Callum's route to really see as there's lots of leftover mystery plot-y bits that weren't explained in Oscar's route.

Those curls. It's not as bad in the CGs as it is with
the sprites, but let's just say...ugh.

To sum up...things I liked...the art is great (except for Gaston, one of the (not exactly) romanceable characters who is just...ridiculous-looking). Maddie is a great character and she truly does kick butt. The storyline/plot was pretty good and looks to be good for re-playability and other routes. Oscar was a sweetheart. Callum seems like he has depth. The King and Queen...er...it is unclear, at this point, what their motivation is and, depending on how further routes play out, this is either an interesting thing or an oversight.

Music is okay. Opening song is nice. I keep coming back to Maddie. She's the best part of the game. She's a good character.

So...I guess overall I'm leaning 70/30? And I won't know for sure my feelings on it until I've done some more routes. But I would say it's a game that's generally worth it and well done. I rather hope the Cassidy thing is explained well in Callum's route (or someone's anyway--that whole thing about the King beating Callum when he was young and keeping Cassidy away from the rest of her family is just weird). As Callum was locked at the start, it seems like he's probably the end game. Not sure if I want to save him for last though...and, at the same time, not sure I want to play some of the other routes at all (Gaston seems to be that foppish sort of fool that puts my teeth on edge, Nazagi looks like a tsundere pretty far on the jerky side, and then there's Dolores and I find her unattractive AND pretty unredeemable as a character so I don't see why the staunch and upright MC would go for her). So we'll see. I'll update this later once I've played some more.