| Princess Crown | |
|---|---|
 Sega Saturn cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Atlus[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Atlus |
| Director(s) | George Kamitani |
| Producer(s) | Hiroyuki Tanaka |
| Programmer(s) | Tetsuya Ikawa Takashi Nishii |
| Artist(s) | Kawazuine Shioya |
| Writer(s) | Hitomi Fukaumi Shigeo Komori |
| Composer(s) | Atlus Sound Team Toshikazu Tanaka |
| Platform(s) | Sega Saturn PlayStation Portable PlayStation 4 |
| Release | Sega Saturn
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Princess Crown[b] is an action role-playing game developed and published by Atlus in collaboration with Sega that was released only in Japan. Originally released in 1997 for the Sega Saturn, it was ported to the PlayStation Portable in 2005. Using a two-dimensional side-scrolling perspective, gameplay focuses on a beat 'em up-style fighting system, incorporating role-playing elements. Set in the fantasy kingdom of Valendia, the player controls queen Gradriel De Valendia, as her wish to aid the people in person leads into a quest to prevent the resurrection of the demon lord Lalva. Additional character scenarios are unlocked by completing Gradriel's quest, with completion of all story routes leading to the true ending.
The game began development in 1995 at an unnamed company, with Capcom veteran George Kamitani as director. After the company went bankrupt the following year, the team were absorbed into Atlus' Osaka studio to complete development. Initially planned as a life simulation game similar to Princess Maker 2, it was redesigned as an action role-playing game to compete with similar titles on the PlayStation. While a commercial failure, it was positively reviewed, and later lauded for its art design. Princess Crown continued to influence Kamitani's career, leading to the founding of his company Vanillaware and the development of the spiritual successor Odin Sphere. A planned Dreamcast sequel was cancelled, but later revived by Vanillaware as Dragon's Crown.
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