One of the biggest manga publishers turned a fantasy anime into a farming sim RPG and it's reviewing shockingly well

When I first saw Slow Living with Princess on Steam, I thought the title sounded rather roughly translated. It also sounded an awful lot like one of the trope-y, light novel-derived fantasy shows that have dominated the anime industry's output for years now. Turns out I was right on the money: it's a farming sim based on the trope-y, light novel-derived anime Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside. The kicker here is that, like its source material, it seems to be surprisingly good despite its silly name.

Slow Living with Princess is a hybrid farming and dating sim RPG starring Gideon Ragnason, who – as you may have deduced – was banished from the party of the hero who's on a quest to save this particular fantasy world. The game actually launched in early access back in 2021 but only fully released this week on October 15, apparently after some heavy polish and new content, including more dungeons, items, furnishings, and minigames like drake racing. 

According to the Steam page, it was jointly developed by Kadokawa, one of the biggest names in manga and anime. Kadokawa also has many video games under its belt as the co-dev on RPG Maker, plus the owner of Elden Ring maker FromSoftware and Danganronpa dev Spike Chunsoft. The game's development credits additionally list the aptly named studio Tsukurite, which approximately translates to "to make," and only has this one game listed on Steam. 

As Gideon, now named Red under a new identity, you'll build up your rural homestead by tending and expanding the vegetable fields, exploring nearby dungeons, working as an apothecary, and befriending the local townsfolk.

The dating side of this sim comes in with your relationship with Rit, a princess who also helps you out around the farm. She is, in other words, the princess you are slowly living with. Compared to dating-infused farming sims like Stardew Valley, Slow Living with Princess apparently bets it all on one romance partner to preserve the original storyline. 

Anime games are a dime-a-dozen, so apart from its somewhat obscure but apparently quietly successful source material, Slow Living with Princess didn't initially grab me. What did wow me was the overwhelmingly positive response it's gotten over the years. The game's sitting at a 90% positive score on Steam after 473 reviews, which is somewhat modest but still orders of magnitude better than the average anime game's reception. It's also a tiny miracle that a spinoff like this was actually finished and released from early access. 

"We are finally ending our long journey," the devs said in the 1.0 update. "It has been two years since we have started early access. Through ups and downs, we always appreciated all the feedback and support we got from the community! So this is it. This will be the last patch note to end our long, hard-working, and full of joy early access!" 

Plenty of Steam reviews have shared the expected take of 'if you like the novel, manga, or anime, you'll love this,' but some Banished Hero newcomers who just like farming sims have also praised it as an "even more simple Stardew." It's also drawn comparisons to item shop sim Recettear, which bodes well for the apothecary side of the RPG. 

Meanwhile, our favorite Steam Next Fest strategy game and its Lego-style base building just beat its Kickstarter goal with over three weeks still to go.