#stp spoilers

[ifwebefriends]

Okay I’ve heard stuff about Slay the Princess for a while now, why did none of you fucking tell me Jonathan fucking Sims voice acts in it?!?!?

Play "Slay the Princess" to hear Jonny Sims be very disappointed in you many, many times.

[guilhem-png]

do you have any other opinions about the voices? (like that one about which is the most useful)

Sure! I've spent a long time thinking about them, it's one of the most fascinating things about Slay the Princess in my opinion. What I like is finding out what's unique about them (aside from their personality).

Why is it that Smitten is the only one who can escape your body and manipulate the construct? Because ANYTHING is possible in the construct (so long as you believe it's possible), and love gives Smitten a hefty power boost whenever he needs one. But when you think about it, even if the others realized they could do that, they probably wouldn't attempt it. Only Smitten would think of sacrificing himself for you and the Princess' happiness, because in his mind, love justifies all the sacrifices. Smitten's power is a reflection of what he is: endlessly kind, but strongly misguided.

Why is it that Cheated is the only one who can teleport? Well, because he's so frustrated and impatient that his wish literally comes true, and boom, suddenly you're in the cabin. But it's funny how he doesn't connect the dots in a meaningful way. He never uses this power again because he's simply too blinded by his objective. He never takes a moment to breathe, stop and reevaluate. He drives you and everyone along for the ride, not taking the time to think about what happens when it's all over. His power is a reflection of his own shortcomings: it's a shortcut that doesn't take you anywhere.

Why is it that only Stubborn can revive you? Because all that matters to him is battle. Stubborn believes that he's fine, and so you can get up and keep fighting. As much as I find him annoying, Stubborn is a fascinating specimen. I believe many (if not all) of the voices have a tiny part of their mind that subconsciously remembers how much they love the Princess. And so, even those who follow the Narrator's orders end up twisting them in a way that voids the stated goal. Case in point, Stubborn doesn't want to beat the Princess. He wants to fight her, again and again, in an endless cycle of victory and defeat. He doesn't want to imagine a world without her.

The construct works on belief, and what the voices make of that belief reveals a lot about their strengths and weaknesses. In Chapter II - The Nightmare, Paranoid is stuck in his own head. He uses the power of belief to keep you alive, but only just barely, failing to realize that he's also the one killing you, simply by believing that the Princess is capable of that. But in other chapters, Paranoid is usually less scared. The Nightmare is essentially his origin story, but in others, his critical mind proves to be extremely useful. Out of all the voices, he's one of the closest to figure out the truth behind the construct. What he seeks is serenity, something that his own nature prevents him from ever obtaining, but it renders him able to conjure a gigantic sword to slice the Apotheosis in half. Or to gather enough willpower to hurl the Wraith into a bottomless pit. Not a bad trade.

Meanwhile, you have a very similar mind that produces very different results: Skeptic. On paper, Skeptic should have the exact same powers as Paranoid, for he too pokes at the edges of the construct, doubting everything he sees. But Skeptic is the wrong kind of mind for that. He's too pragmatic. If Paranoid is there to prompt him, then he can "wake up" temporarily and realize his own power (think of how he and Paranoid free themselves by cutting their chains in The Cage). But outside of that, he's just too limited. He gives the construct too much importance. His rationality would do wonders elsewhere, but his limited imagination binds him to a prison of his own making.

Hunted is certainly one of the more interesting cases. He believes that he's prey, but unlike Broken, he's capable of using his perceived weakness as a kind of power. "If I'm prey, then it means I have to be faster, more perceptive". His mistake is to limit himself to being prey. His advice allows you to avoid being swallowed by the Beast, yes, but you can never beat her. Hunted was able to make lemonade out of the lemons life threw at him, but he was never able to escape the lemonade factory.

Broken is extremely powerful, extremely emotional, but too busy wallowing in his own suffering to notice most of the time. His desire is to be subservient, and that rarely manifests cool superpowers. Still, the Fury's torture allows him to show one ability that he seems to possess in greater quantity than everyone else: empathy. Stubborn fails to endure, because he perceives the torture as a fight that he has to win. Broken considers that he has already lost, so why resist? But while he's there, he lends an ear to the Fury's own suffering, and sees himself mirrored in her.

And then, you have the voices that simply don't make use of the construct's unique properties: Cold and Opportunist. It's fascinating to me, how little Cold uses his own power. He's extremely confident after all. He's not afraid of death, he's not afraid of killing, he's not afraid of torture. He should be the most powerful one of all. But he's not, and that's because he doesn't care enough. Cold, at all times, is driven by vague curiosity, but not much else. Where Smitten, Stubborn and Paranoid derive immense power from their strong emotions, Cold fails because he has nothing to wish for.

Opportunist meanwhile, is the complete opposite. He desires too many things at once. He's willing to side with anyone, so long as he can be "on top", but has anyone taken the time to ponder what that means? Some have argued that Opportunist is at his core, very scared, and is merely seeking some form of stability. I'm inclined to agree, and I think that's why he fails. Opportunist is too self-centered, but also too indecisive. He wants to keep all his options open. He wants to kill the Witch, befriend the Witch, side with the Narrator, side with you... "No no, I promise I'm useful, don't get rid of me!" Except, your beliefs aren't really all that strong, when your allegiances can change at the drop of a hat, are they? And so Opportunist is excluded from the "cool superpowers club", because he's simply not focusing hard enough.

Contrarian is similar. He's motivated by spite, which as the Fury brutally shows, is not a very strong kind of motivation. All he wants is to not do as he's told. He's basically playing a big game, but he doesn't really know how to get serious. And yet, that can be a power on its own. Other voices sometimes take the situation way too seriously, but Contrarian is very efficient at resisting the Apotheosis because he really hates being told what to do.

The voices are so great because they're imperfect. Each of them has the potential to be a great ally in a dire situation, and a burden in another. If you were a little voice in Slay the Princess, what kind of power would you have?

[tawnysoup]

Found my fav Slay the Princess route recently. Dragon my beloved. Your horrifying beak mouth was an impossible-to-refuse lip syncing challenge 💖

Shoutouts to @blacktabbygames for making such a cool game!

[bugstabu]

[mllenugget]

The exact opposite of being doomed by the narrative

I discovered this game while playing with a group of friends on Halloween, and I must say it was quiet immersive because we each wanted different things so we always had to argue together on what to do before the Voices would Took 3 days to complete a single run

[beartitled]

STP voices x princesses

Because I wanted a reason to draw them all >:D

Also lil bonus ✨

[witchesgetliches]

Oh, that game was so fun! Let’s play again!

Oh, that game was so fun. Let’s play again!

Oh, that game was so fun. Let’s play again.

Oh, that was fun. We should play again.

We should play again.

Again.

Again.

No that’s not right….

…I’m happy here, aren’t I?

[orcatnip]

the slayerrrr...

i think its funny that this dragon got walloped so darn badly

Gosh, when I first saw Manlybadasshero's thumbnail for this game, I completely looked over it. I don't remember exactly when I finally decided to give this game a chance, but when I did..

Let's just say I've been thinking about it for the past 2 months straight

Even after so much dissecting, I still feel like that one orc meme... maybe I'll understand it 'when I'm older'

[transfemtlqtruthers]

Haiii!! hello! haii!!! :3

[glitchy-mai]

🗡 "I'm not happy here. I don't think I ever was."

My contribution to Draw the Princess: Pristine Cut Edition!! This route was absolutely devastating, but so well executed. It was the first new route from the update that I got, and man... that was brutal.

I'm super happy with all the new content from the update, hehe.

[verylazypillow]

been thinking about the adversary route today.

[pespillo]

have u guys slayed any princesses lately

[guilhem-png]

if contrarian and opportunist fused, would they be more useless or more useful

They would be so insufferable and even more indecisive, bruh. Kinda hard to even picture, because they have opposite goals. Contrarian wants to annoy others, sever connections, refuses to comply in any scenario. Opportunist wants to be seen as a reliable ally, someone to trust (even though it's all a lie). He seeks connections, I mean heck, in The Wraith he even attempts to get hired by the Princess.

So if the two fused, they'd be perpetually at odds with themselves, which doesn't usually produce happy results!

[yazmosyam]

Funny thing

[tapestryundone]

(original post)

[evenworsefreak]

HEA througout her entire chapter