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Video Game: Star Stealing Prince

Star Stealing Prince is a freeware fantasy RPG created with RPGMakerVX by Ronove (or known as Black Birds of Rye on the official site). The prince of the title is Snowe, who has inherited the snowy kingdom of Sabine after the deaths of his mysterious parents, King Edgar and Queen Lina.

One night, Snowe has a bizarre dream in which a shadowy demon boasts of its intent to murder Astra, a young woman in a nearby tower. His innocent quest to rescue her sets in motion a series of revelations that will reveal the truth about the powerful, complex magic that sustains his kingdom. However, he won't be alone in his quest for the truth. His allies are Astra, her loyal undead guardian Hiante, her loyal demon Erio, and later, a bitter (though good-natured) sentry named Relenia.

Released in early 2012, Star Stealing Prince has already earned considerable acclaim from the RPG Maker community for its combination of endearing characters, twisty plot, challenging gameplay and a ton of original artwork. In 2013, it won eight Misaos (the RPG Maker community's version of the Oscars) including Game of the Year. It can be downloaded at the official site.

A web novel sequel, Ephemeral Prince, is currently in production. The web novel has two parts: Fleeting, which follows the game's bad ending, and Permanence, which follows the good ending. It can be read here

Tropes that apply to Star Stealing Prince

  • Abusive Parents: Edgar and Lina.
  • Adult Fear: Edgar and Lina want Relenia, the best damn guard they have, to guard the entrance of the Sepulcher for them, but she doesn't want to because she'll be separated from her daughter. Their solution? Erase her daughter's memory of her and stick her with some other family. There, problem solved!
  • Always Check Behind the Chair: Players who are thorough in their exploration will be rewarded many times over.
  • And I Must Scream: The demon. First the Original King ate him, and then he got sealed inside Snowe. And to beat the demon and get the good ending you have to trap him in a Groundhog Day Loop of him getting defeated by Snowe in his dreams.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Specifically, the royalty. Lina and Edgar were not nearly as good as Snowe believes. Averted with Snowe himself, however.
    • The Original King is no saint either.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: In the bad ending. While there are multiple villains in the game and by the time you get to the end you have defeated Edgar, Lina, and the Original King, if you get the bad ending, the demon inside Snowe gets the last laugh.
  • Badass Cape: The Original King. As creepy as it looks, it's hard to deny that wearing an Eldritch Abomination as a cape is pretty badass.
  • Barrier Maiden: Astra, as the "witness" to the spell that sealed the original king's demon inside Snowe. If she dies, he gets released.
  • Big Bad: The original king.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Occasionally, during the final boss fight, characters will run in and throw healing, MP regeneration and buff spells at the party (as well as the occasional debuff spell and attack at the boss) while cheering them on.
  • Bonus Dungeon: Snowe's nightmare. Completing it is necessary to obtain the good ending.
  • Climax Boss: Edgar and Lina.
  • Competitive Balance:
  • Cute Monster Girl: Numismatist may qualify. Being a ghost and all.
    • She gets bonus points for appearing next to Snowe's bed at one point, though it can be Fridge Horror if you remember the conditions for her to manifest.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: Averted. A web novel sequel has started being released, and Word Of God is that both the good ending and the bad ending are canon.
  • Dem Bones: Hiante is a friendly version. The various other skeletal phantoms you see in the game? Less friendly.
  • Demonic Possession: Snowe is an interesting take on this.
  • Difficulty Spike: The Western Tower is most commonly cited. Even the regular encounters are a definite step up from the previous dungeon, and they can utterly demolish you if you aren't careful.
    • The Sepulcher is also pretty tough, especially when the party gets split up.
  • Disc One Final Dungeon: The Sepulcher.
  • Distressed Damsel:
    • Snowe thinks Astra is one of these, but finds out that's not the case at all.
    • Dream Astra really does need rescuing, and if you don't save her before finishing the game, Bad Things Happen.
  • Dual Boss: Edgar and Lina.
  • Dual Wielding: Hiante.
  • Easy Levels, Hard Bosses: The bosses are merciless compared to the dungeons that precede them.
    • Averted in the Western Tower, where the regular encounters are about as bad as the boss.
  • Eldritch Abomination: The Original King. Not the character, but the "cape" the character's wearing. What the hell is that?
  • Electric Torture: Edgar seems fond of using lightning to try to get information out of people, and uses it on Snowe when he captures him. When Erio comes and rescues Snowe, the ensuing conversation reveals that Erio had the same thing happen to him once.
  • Elemental Powers:
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Fire burns earth, earth grounds lightning, lightning shocks water, water douses fire.
  • Eleventh Hour Superpower: The final skills for each party member, as well as Astra's Infinity+1 Sword. All of them can only be gotten in the very final chapter.
  • Everybody's Dead, Dave: If you get the bad ending, the demon takes control of Snowe and forces him to kill everyone he ever cared about, and then lets Snowe live so he can suffer alone.
  • False Utopia: The city of Sabine is this. Everyone is perfectly happy...because they are being controlled by various spells which keep them from realizing their king and queen abandoned them.
  • Fantastic Angst: Erio becomes very annoyed when anyone prods him about his feelings for Astra, because he thinks that pursuing her would be 'creepy'. When Snowe points out that creepy seems to just be what demons do, Erio responds that it's not the way he wants to be.
  • Five-Man Band
  • Final Boss Preview: The party ends up fighting a less-powerful version of The Original King in the Western Tower.
  • Floating Continent: The Sepulcher.
  • Four Temperament Ensemble: Roughly, Snowe is phlegmatic, Astra is sanguine, Hiante is melancholic, and Relenia is choleric.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Subverted. Lorel and the Chimera seem like this at first, but they are later revealed to have been purposefully placed there by Edgar and Lina to prevent anyone from accessing the Sepulcher.
  • Guest Star Party Member:
    • Erio. He's never a permanent member of the party (since the default battle system for RPG Maker is limited to four party members), and only joins in a few rare instances.
    • There is an odd gentleman in the Western Tower who briefly joins you, although he doesn't help out with any of the fighting. He is the Original King, and when Astra catches on, he attacks.
  • Hopeless Boss Fight: The very first boss fight of the game. It becomes a lot less hopeless when Astra weakens it later.
  • I Never Said It Was Poison: Astra realizes that the odd gentleman who's accompanied them throughout the Western Tower is up to something when he reveals that he knows Snowe is Sabine's ruler, which is something they never mentioned and he shouldn't know given other things he's said about himself.
  • Infinity+1 Sword: Maiden's Hope for Snowe, Mistilteinn for Astra, Heroes and Villains for Hiante, Gungnir for Relenia.
    • Infinity+1 Accessory: The Green Ribbon, obtainable in the final chapter. It boosts all stats, grants immunity to virtually every status ailment, and halves MP cost.
  • Involuntary Group Split: When the group gets taken prisoner in the Sepulcher and Snowe is separated from the others. While Erio saves them, he and Snowe have issues getting back to the others, who are having issues of their own.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Erio.
  • Kill 'em All: The bad ending.
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: Played straight for the most part, but also subverted on occasion, such as when Astra yells at you for trying to rifle through her clothes drawers. Also, when the spell on Sabine is lifted and everyone forgets who Snowe is, trying to just waltz into people's houses or trying to go into the back rooms of shops will more than likely just get you tossed right back out.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: When the spell over Sabine is broken, nearly everyone there has all their memories of Snowe completely wiped.
  • Last Second Ending Choice: Whether you decide to just go ahead and rest up or decide to bring Erio into your dreams to defeat the demon determines which ending you get.
  • Limit Break: Sort of. Suffering damage increases a special meter for the characters, and they can execute special attacks (tied to their equipment) in exchange for a certain percentage of the gauge. It's virtually identical to the IP system from the Lufia series.
  • Lost Forever: Everything in the Sepulcher, as it cannot be accessed after chapter 5. Most notably are Astra's ultimate weapon and the red ribbon, a potent accessory. Fortunately, the game is rather forward about this, and the skill books found there can be obtained elsewhere if they're missed.
    • Averted with everything else, however. Even in the final chapter, you can go back and get everyone's ultimate weapons (except Astra's) and memories.
  • Love Triangle: It's heavily implied that Erio has feelings for Astra, and that Snowe is attracted to her as well. However, whether or not Snowe has feelings for her is left up to the player's interpretation.
  • Marathon Boss: The Final Boss has thirty thousand hit points. Fortunately, supporting characters will occasionally heal you from the sidelines.
  • Meaningful Echo: Snowe declares that "I inherited this kindgdom, therefore I inherited everything my parents did!" Towards the end, the Original King justifies his rampage by saying "You all inherited everything that they did! You all allowed them to act and allowed them to steal from me!"
  • Meaningful Name: Snowe, the ruler of a snow-covered kingdom, and Astra, the star princess.
  • The Medic: Snowe, interestingly enough.
  • Missing Mom: Relenia turns out to be one for a little girl in Sabine. It was not her decision.
  • Mood Whiplash: Frequent. The story uses the juxtapose between carefree fantasy and serious drama quite well.
  • Multiple Endings: A "good" and "bad" one. The difference will be very clear.
  • Nice Guy: Snowe.
  • Noble Demon: Erio, who is even implied to be in love with Astra.
  • Ominous Save Prompt: Happens a couple times. Right before you fight Edgar and Lina, and right before the final boss.
  • Our Demons Are Different
  • Overprotective Dad: Richard considers himself a surrogate father for Snowe and acts accordingly.
  • Parental Abandonment: ...and that's not even the worst of what Edgar and Lina are responsible for.
  • Parental Substitute: Richard and Vera for Snowe.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Erio. Except in Astra's memory, which is what makes it a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming for many.
  • Point of No Return: You are warned of this right before facing Edgar and Lina in the Sepulcher, and right before you either go for the Bonus Dungeon or skip it and go straight for the final boss.
  • Purple Eyes: Astra.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Snowe's eyes turn red when the demon is controlling him. For Bonus Points, they're the opposite of his normal green eyes on the color spectrum.
  • Reduced Mana Cost: The Green Ribbon has this effect.
  • The Reveal: Happens several times, and most of the important cutscenes are conveyed through a series of striking pictures created by Ronove.
  • Revival Loophole: The spells Edgar and Lina had in place to keep the town in a permanent peaceful state break if Snowe dies. While the phantom bird attacking him didn't kill him and he was healed up just fine, it came close enough to do the trick.
  • Scary Scarecrows: The demon first makes his appearance in Snowe's dreams in the form of a scarecrow, the scarecrows in the caverns mostly speak of doom and gloom and people dying and burning and other charming things, and some of the enemies you face before getting to the Western Tower are scarecrow enemies who can stare you down to paralyze you and sometimes ring the death bell on you.
  • Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: The demon in Snowe is of the Sealed Evil in a Can variety. In the bad ending it gets unsealed, and in the good one it remains sealed and is now more pissed off than ever.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The Bad Ending, though subverted on one account — everyone except Snowe dies, which just makes it worse.
  • Shout Out: There are many hidden references to other RPG Maker games. In particular, Ronove has said that the character of Hiante was inspired in part by Stoic from Master of the Wind.
  • Slasher Smile: A demon-possessed Snowe in the bad ending.
  • Sour Supporter: Erio for most of the game.
  • Stealth-Based Mission: At one point the party is captured and Snowe is separated from the others. Erio has to rescue everyone, and when he finds Snowe, they have to rejoin the rest of the group. Erio and Snowe aren't strong enough to fight the difficult enemies on the way themselves, so they have to avoid detection. Thankfully, these particular enemies have no peripheral vision whatsoever.
  • Sword and Sorcerer: Edgar and Lina, to an extent, though this is also subverted, as both of them have aspects from each archetype.
  • Taking the Bullet:
    • Relenia acts like a Final Fantasy-style paladin in combat, automatically shielding characters from taking fatal blows as long as she's able to act, and as long as the attack doesn't hit everyone at once (though she's still able to shield party members if the attack is a multi-hit one that hits random party members.)
    • When Edgar and Lina find the group again after the group escaped captivity the first time, Edgar tries to kill Snowe right then and there. Erio pushes Snowe out of the way and takes the hit instead. It doesn't kill Erio, but Erio is unable to help out in the ensuing boss battle.
  • The End... Or Is It?: The good ending reminds the player, with Snowe's unnatural stutter and the sounds of ominous heart-beating, that while Snowe has suppressed the demon's ability to control him, the demon still lives within him.
  • Third Option Adaptation: According to Word Of God, both of the stories of Ephemeral Prince will be canon, despite Fleeting taking place after the bad ending and Permanence taking place after the good ending.
  • Title Drop: Almost. The eponymous act is accomplished through the use of a "star stealing scroll".
  • Try Not to Die: Richard, before the final battle.
    "Don't you dare die. We've worked too hard for this to all be for nothing."
  • Turns Red:
    • Many bosses. Most notably, Lina and Edgar will start spamming their most powerful spell after the other dies.
    • A humorous, non-boss example: The Dancing Hands of Bob will become angry and boogie for the rest of the turn once he's taken enough damage.
  • Unique Enemy: "The Dancing Hands of Bob".
  • Useless Useful Spell: Heavily averted. Nothing is immune to status effects, even the Final Boss, and they are often crucial to victory. The Child's Cornet and the Scary Mask (which inflict stat debuffs) are two of the most useful items in the game.
    • Though to balance it out, nearly every enemy in the game can inflict multiple ailments on a regular basis. Burying your opponent in debuffs and status ailments is pretty much the go-to strategy on both sides.
  • Vendor Trash: Which you can sell to Numismatist.
  • Villainous Breakdown: The Dream goes absolutely berserk after Astra figures out how to weaken it, even letting loose a Precision F-Strike.
  • Wake Up Call Boss: Lorel will force players to adapt to the more intricate elements of the battle system or perish...and is a wimp compared to some of the bosses who follow.
  • Weapon of Choice:
  • We Used To Be Friends: While he never does get to confront Edgar and Lina about it, Richard recalls a time when they were actually decent people and dear friends of his.
  • Wham Episode: The end of the very first chapter. Snowe is very suddenly brought to the brink of death and just barely manages to survive.
    • Also, the end of the fourth chapter, which reveals that the perfect fairly tale scenario of Snowe's kingdom was a carefully constructed lie.
  • Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: In the final chapter, Astra mentions that she thinks Snowe's parents were awful for naming him Snowe. He agrees, as anytime anyone complains about the snow he has to remind himself they're referring to the weather and not to him.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Snowe, in the beginning. The story beats it out of him pretty quick.
  • The Wise Prince: Snowe falls short of the mark at the beginning due to his Wide-Eyed Idealist tendencies, but is definitely on the path to becoming this by the end.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Relenia, quite literally.
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