Blue Prince PS5 Review. Blue Prince… Blueprints. Homophone – each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling. The name of the game itself is wordplay that lays the foundation for what to expect in this Indie Puzzle game.
But this is so much more than a simple puzzle game… Go in blind… don’t watch any footage, gameplay, tips/tricks or read any guides. Pop on a headset and let your mind wander the halls of mystery that lays before you.
Blue Prince Review (PS5) – A Blueprint For Success
Challenge Afoot
As the grand nephew of the recently deceased Herbert S. Sinclair, you have been gifted the estate at Mt.Holly…. but there is a catch. At your grand uncle’s request, you will only inherit this gift should you successfully discover the mansion’s rumoured 46th room.
This challenge comes with a set of strict rules. You have a number of steps to complete the task at hand, and once your available steps are exhausted your day is complete and you must sleep until the next day. At the beginning of each day your steps are reset, however items found previously cannot be taken with you to the following day.
Drafting Rooms
As each day begins you enter the foyer of the mansion off of which are three closed doors, one facing north, one facing east and one facing west. Clicking a door to open you are given the choice of choosing one of three room plans to place behind said door. The complete floorplan of Mt.Holly is laid out in a grid of nine rows by five columns with the foyer you begin in each day located in the middle column of the southern most row.
Each room comes with its own set of features. Some are dead ends, some have multiple doors off them, some hold items, some contain puzzles and some also come with unique benefits or drawbacks. Regardless of the room, entering will cost you one of your steps but wandering around the room you are currently in does not effect your step count. So explore the nooks and crannies as rooms you drafted previously are not necessarily always the same as before.
Pressing R2 before drafting a room will show how the selected room will figure in your overall floor plan. This can be vital to ensuring you are not boxing yourself into a dead end. Fail to plan… plan to fail.
Compelling
While there is mystery to unfold on your journey to the elusive 46th room, the gameplay mechanics really get into your brain. Despite not being able to carry items forward to subsequent days, you do carry with you the knowledge from your previous exploits. It is this knowledge and how you piece it together that will begin to shape your strategies for your push toward success. Prepare to be frustrated and intrigued in equal measure.
The knowledge you do gain will continue to build to the point where taking some real world notes as you play is highly recommended. Things may become clearer when you have it written down.
Never Too Much
Key to your success (pun intended) are the items you can acquire on your journey. Gems, keys and coins are your bread and butter here, but the more elusive items can be game changing.
Keys are used to unlock doors and treasure chests, gems can be used to daft more rare room plans that have a gem requirement and coins can be used in certain rooms to purchase different items. A nice stock of these items can quickly diminish so keeping a stash of them may be a saving grace in time of need.
Portal Perfect
The chilled vibe of laying plans, wandering rooms and solving puzzles at your own pace is a perfect fit for the PlayStation Portal. The fact that the game is part of the PS+ Game Catalogue makes things even easier on the handheld. Using the “Stream from the Game Catalogue” option from the main menu of the portal you will find the game listed amongst the available PS5 games.
In order to access this feature on the portal you will need to have the firmware up-to-date and enable cloud streaming from the settings menu.
Blue Prince demands from you the same attention to detail with which it has been meticulously crafted. This game is an incredible triumph, even more so that it is a debut title from the developer. Its brilliant pacing, compelling game design and mysterious nature make for an extremely enjoyable adventure.
Blue Prince is out now on PS5 and is part of the PS Plus Game Catalogue.
Review code kindly provided by publisher.