Blue Prince Switch 2 Review

Blue Prince Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

Sometimes, when reviewing games, there are titles that carry a lot of hype but do not immediately resonate with me for one reason or another. Blue Prince was one of those games, despite many claiming it could have been Game of the Year if Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 had not come along. I just didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about. At first, I didn’t think I really understood what the game wanted from me, but then something clicked, and I found myself drawn into its shifting hallways and the possibilities that came with each run. What’s it like? Pack your tent, roam the halls, and bring some blueprints as we review Blue Prince on Nintendo Switch 2.

In Blue Prince, you play as Simon P. Jones, who inherits his late great-uncle’s mansion, the Mt. Holly Estate. Your great-uncle, Herbert S. Sinclaire, has a few stipulations for claiming the manor. First, you can only keep the mansion once you discover the 46th room. Second, you cannot sleep in the mansion until you do. The reason? Every night, the mansion resets its layout. You have to start again, drafting rooms with blueprints in the hope of uncovering the 46th room and finally claiming your inheritance. There’s quite a bit of lore to discover as you explore, and each day, unless you really mess up, usually ends with the discovery of something new that you can then put to use in future runs. It’s essentially a roguelike puzzler, but with a deceptively deep narrative and an addictive gameplay loop.

Gameplay will see you start each day in the entry hall with three starting routes. Each door you open will prompt you to select one of three different blueprints, which will then open into that specific room. Planning is done in a grid-like fashion, and while initially you may place rooms without much thought, later on planning becomes essential for progression. Some rooms give items like gems, which are used to draft rarer rooms; others give keys to unlock doors, and some are essential in your search for the 46th room. There is also resource management on top of gems, coins, and keys, in the form of steps. You are limited to a set number of steps before being forced to turn in for the day. You do not need to manually track them, as you lose one step for every room you enter, but this also means backtracking needs to be considered. There are ways to restore steps by eating food or drafting bedrooms for rest, but managing them effectively becomes a key part of the strategy.

A lot of the gameplay does come down to RNG, which can be frustrating at times. That said, there are items and rooms that help balance this in your favour, such as security rooms that reveal missed items, or options that improve your chances of finding keys. When you run out of ways to progress, you simply turn in for the night, losing your gems and coins as the mansion resets, although you return a little wiser for the next run. Puzzles range from simple choices to more complex and devious challenges, and generally, the harder the puzzle, the better the reward. Many of the more difficult puzzles unlock permanent boons that carry over into future days.

It is this sense of discovery that really hooked me. As mentioned earlier, I was not especially impressed in my first hour, placing rooms without much thought and wondering what the game was really about. Then something clicked. The small details and interactions started to stand out, and I found myself wanting to attempt one more run, then another, and then another. Before long, I was still playing at 3 a.m., trying to uncover the secrets of the mansion and the story behind it. Some rooms reveal new secrets even after being placed many times. The courtyard, for example, hides buttons, while the billiards room features a clever dartboard puzzle. Most rooms serve a purpose, and over time, you begin to build your runs around movement bonuses while avoiding red rooms that apply negative effects. Finally solving a puzzle or discovering a new room delivers a real sense of satisfaction. Completing more demanding tasks that contribute to your permanent progression only strengthens that feeling, making the game very hard to put down.

This is supported by a strong sense of immersion. The art style has a hand-drawn feel, almost like stepping into a picture book. Each room offers a unique vibe, some plain like the spare room, while others are full of wonderful details like photos and letters that build the lore. The old manor aesthetic works well, giving you a sense of history, while modern furnishings and computers add touches that stand out. It’s a very well-executed art style that makes discovering new rooms and puzzles engaging. Backing up the visuals is an almost haunting soundtrack, driven by gentle plucks of the strings, soft woodwinds, and low tones that encourage your curiosity as you explore. Exploration in Blue Prince goes off without a hitch. I did not encounter any bugs or technical issues, and moving through the mansion felt smooth and seamless, despite only running at 30 frames per second.

For gamers inheriting mansions, accessibility options are minimal. Puzzles are not timed, so you can take as long as you like searching a room without penalty. That said, the cursor can be hard to see at times, and there are no options to highlight it or increase its size. There is also no mini-map or positioning markers, which can make it difficult to keep your orientation, although you can view the rooms on a separate screen to help with navigation. As always, I recommend further research into finding out whether Blue Prince suits your accessibility needs.

At $45 AUD, Blue Prince might be a tough sell based on first appearances. I, too, judged this particular game by its cover, so to speak. But the further I went through the mansion, the more I uncovered, and all the little pieces and rooms that seemed to serve no purpose would come together in moments of clarity. Sure, there’s some RNG involved in which room you get to draft and where, but there’s also an overall strategy that reveals a very deep game beneath the surface. Blue Prince is a deceptively clever and surprisingly addictive game that I recommend to anyone wanting a game that turns every visit to the mansion into a fresh, engaging experience.

So, What’s it Like? Blue Prince is like Myst or Riven, with a blueprint drafting twist.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the publisher, but this doesn’t influence my score.

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