The game's title screen.Note
- "Teach me what true love is."Game Tagline
Ikemen Prince: Beauty and her Beast is an otome visual novel for mobile platforms. It is made by the Japanese company Cybird.
The player takes control of a young woman (default name "Emma", but you can change it) who lives in the kingdom of Rhodolite and works in a bookstore. While longing for a more exciting life like those in stories, the heroine catches the attention of one of the royal ministers, who brings her to the palace. She is told that the king has recently died and that she is suitable to be the next Belle, a commoner given the role to choose the next king.
There are eight princes eligible for kingship, each with their own quirks and issues. However, our Belle has only one month to make a decision, and any blossoming romance is doomed by the Belle covenant's 99th clause: once the selection process has been completed, any further contact between Belle and the chosen king is forbidden.
The game was released in English in the summer of 2021. It features ten romanceable characters:
- Leon Dompteur: The Charismatic Hero. Leon is the fourth prince of Rhodolite and the leader of his faction, which focuses on domestic politics. He is brave and quite friendly, but hides a secret.
- Chevalier Michel: The Cold Beast. Chevalier is the second prince and the leader of his faction, which focuses on foreign politics. He takes a cold, ruthless approach to things and hates wasting his time.
- Yves Kloss: The Star-Crossed Prince. The fifth prince and a member of Leon's faction, Yves is a haughty and proud Pretty Boy. However, he can be seen with a troubled expression if he thinks he's alone.
- Clavis Lelouch: The Unreadable Troublemaker. Clavis is Rhodolite's third prince and a member of Chevalier's faction. He does everything for his own amusement and follows Chevalier around, thinking of him as his greatest source of entertainment.
- Licht Klein: The Soft-Hearted Loner. Licht is the sixth prince and a member of Leon's faction. He is normally The Stoic and doesn't like hanging around people, but he has a gentle nature on the inside. He's also Nokto's older twin brother.
- Nokto Klein: The Suave Playboy. The seventh prince and a member of Chevalier's faction, younger twin Nokto is a shameless, shallow flirt. Or at least he seems that way at first.
- Jin Grandet: The Sexy Ladies' Man. Jin is the eldest, making him first prince, and a member of Leon's faction. Though quite the lady-killer, he is very popular and reliable.
- Luke Randolph: The Indolent Charmer. Luke is the youngest and eighth prince, as well as a member of Chevalier's faction. He's very easygoing and naturally charming, but you don't want to see him get serious.
- Sariel Noir: The Smiling Devil. Sariel is the royal minister who brought (though it would probably be more accurate to say "kidnapped") the heroine to the palace after scouting her as Belle. He exudes an intimidating aura and has a way with words to get what he wants.
- Rio Ortiz: The Devoted Butler. Rio is a friend of the heroine's, who found him three years before the story's start collapsed in the street and took him in. He's totally obsessed with her and is ecstatic that he gets to be her personal butler in the palace.
Tropes applying to certain characters in specific can be found on the Characters page.
Ikemen Prince contains examples of:
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Exaggerated in Licht's birthday event. Feeling guilty for committing murder in the past, Licht most strongly feels the temptation to kill himself every year on his birthday. It's implied that these feelings arise around this time because he regrets being born.
- Abduction Is Love: If the player chooses to pursue Sariel, given that he essentially kidnapped the heroine at the beginning of the game.
- Allegedly Free Game: A lot of content is locked behind Diamonds. Though you can get Diamonds through login bonuses and a few other methods, it tends to take a long time and the reward is often a paltry amount, encouraging players to just buy them with real money. Even if you stick with the basic Gold currency, the prices for some items can get ridiculously high.
- Altar Diplomacy: At one point in the past, Obsidian tried to improve relations with Rhodolite by sending over one of their princesses to marry the king. Yves was born, but it ultimately didn't work thanks to the Rhodolitian king's indifference to their attempts.
- An Interior Designer Is You: Some accessories are not worn, but rather used to decorate the room your avatar stands in. The backdrop can also be changed to other scenery.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Some clothing items can be obtained from clearing story events or missions. Clothing and accessories raise your Beauty Points and can be used to dress up your avatar.
- Animal Motifs: Each guy with a route has a personal crest with an animal that represents them.
- Leon's crest features a lion, highlighting him as The Leader.
- Chevalier's has a tiger to represent his power and military prowess.
- Yves' crest has a cat, which points to his capriciousness and his Tsundere tendencies.
- Clavis' features a leopard, standing in for his tendency to sit back and watch rather than be in the thick of things.
- Licht's crest depicts a wolf, fitting for his status as the stoic loner.
- Nokto has a fox on his crest to emphasize his sly, devious nature.
- Jin's crest shows an eagle befitting his free-spirited nature.
- Luke's has a bear on it, which reflects his huge size.
- Sariel's crest has a snake, as an expression of how backhanded and oily he is.
- Finally, Rio's crest has a dog to show his cheerfulness and loyalty to the main character.
- While she doesn't have a crest, Belle is sometimes compared to a rabbit to emphasize how small and vulnerable she feels among the intimidating royals.
- Bait-and-Switch: In chapter 6 of Chevalier's route, it looks like the heroine will manage to convince Chevalier to be her escort to the ball, only for the next scene to show that her escort ended up being Clavis.
- Birthday Episode: The guys get in-game special events and sets that can be purchased for their birthdays. Licht and Nokto, being twins, get their events at the same time.
- Bribing Your Way to Victory: The game offers a subscription for a monthly fee of $5 for extra items and bonuses.
- Cash Gate: As usual for Cybird's Ikemen games, purchasing a certain item is required to progress the story at certain points. You can either pay Gold for the normal version, or pay Diamonds for the premium version.
- Exact Words: "Belle" is the title given to the commoner responsible for choosing the next king. The 99th clause of the Belle covenant states, "Once the selection process is concluded, Belle is forbidden from having any further contact with the chosen king in any capacity." After he becomes king in the dramatic ending, Chevalier proceeds to argue that since the selection process is finished, the heroine doesn't hold the title of Belle anymore.
- Fantastic Racism: Rhodolitians fear anyone with ties to Obsidian, which we get to witness with how the townspeople react to Yves. Justified, as Obsidian has been an aggressive, threatening enemy for decades now.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: It's more downplayed than other examples, but the abundance of French names in the main cast suggests Rhodolite is this to France. Not to mention it's premise is derived from Beauty and the Beast.
- Flower Motifs: Rhodolite is known as the Kingdom of Roses. It influences everything from their crafts to their architecture, and they apparently bloom year-round.
- Freemium Timer: Of the energy meter variety.
- Players are given five free story tickets each day and must use story tickets from their inventory if they want to read beyond those five. These additional story tickets can usually be obtained by watching an ad or buying them with Diamonds.
- Hosting a salon costs 20 Action Points. Players have a total of 100 AP, and 1 AP is restored every 3 minutes (in other words, waiting from 0 to 100 would take a grand total of five hours). AP can be restored by watching an ad, using items like Tea Sets, or, again, paying Diamonds.
- Inconsistent Spelling: Yves's last name has been spelled as both "Kloss" and "Closs" in-game.
- Interrupted Suicide: In Licht's birthday event, the heroine goes looking for him and finds him about to step off a cliff. After she pulls him away, it's revealed that he has tried to do this every year, but that he might have "finally done it this year" if it weren't for her.
- Jumped at the Call: The MC is hesitant to become Belle at first, but that's only because she doubts her ability to pick the right king. She soon accepts the position, as it's the kind of adventure she has wanted all her life.
- Kidnapped by the Call: After scouting her out at the festival, Sariel appears in the heroine's bookstore/house and forcibly takes her to the palace.
- Loophole Abuse: In the dramatic ending of his route, Chevalier is named king and immediately picks up the heroine and tries to leave with her. When Sariel brings up the 99th clause, Chevalier claims that since the selection process is over the heroine no longer holds the title of Belle, therefore allowing him to keep having a relationship with her.Sariel: ...Prince Chevalier. Please don't use such sophistry.
- Love Ruins the Realm: The previous king fell in love with the Belle who chose him, but they ended up being Star-Crossed Lovers. The man became a shell of his former self and only had children with other women out of obligation to produce heirs. The ruckus the whole incident caused in the royal court is the reason the 99th clause exists and also drives a significant portion of Luke's route due to the nature of his birth.
- Microtransactions: Real life money can be used to buy Diamonds, the game's premium currency.
- Narm Charm: The heroine has this reaction In-Universe to Yves proclaiming the intricacies of fashion.Yves: Dressing well isn't just about the clothes - it's about the synergy of the whole look. You're crafting a work of art.
MC (narrating): If anyone else had said that to me, I'd have laughed, yet Yves made it sound completely natural - if anything, he made it sound appealing. - Now, Where Was I Going Again?: The game allows the player to reread the last chapter they finished in order to avert this trope.
- Obvious Rule Patch: Clause 99 of the Belle covenant forbids contact between Belle and the king after he's been chosen. It's the most recent clause and was only added as a result of the late king falling in love with the previous Belle and all the mayhem that came with it.
- Order Versus Chaos: Chevalier's foreign politics faction leans towards order, while Leon's domestic politics faction leans towards chaos. This is best shown in each faction's office; Chevalier's is highly organized and spotless, while Leon's has books, random documents, and even wine bottles strewn about.
- Play Every Day: The game encourages this with login bonuses and events that reset every day.
- Race Against the Clock: A rose of a unique variety called Beauty's Time is prepared when each king dies and the next king must be selected before its last petal falls in about a month.
- Read the Fine Print: The MC doesn't do this before signing the Belle covenant, so she gets quite the shock when she learns about the 99th clause.
- Rescue Romance
- This can happen if the player pursues Leon, who saved her from being punched by a drunkard in the prologue.
- The roles get flipped if the player chooses Rio, whom the protagonist saved from being collapsed on the street in the pouring rain three years before the game starts.
- Socialization Bonus: Players can send likes to other players' profiles; giving a like rewards 20 Gold, and receiving a like rewards 10. Players can follow up to 50 people and have up to 100 followers, and players who follow each other are considered friends and can send each other messages.
- Theme Naming: The game features four countries - Rhodolite, Obsidian, Benitoite, and Jade - named after minerals. The prologue even shows a map that highlights each country in its mineral's associated color.
- Timed Mission: Completing special in-game events and missions is this, given that they're only around for so many days.
- Ungrateful Townsfolk: A mother in chapter 5 of Yves's route stops her child from thanking Yves for saving them from a speeding carriage, purely because he's half Obsidianite.
- Virtual Paper Doll: Your avatar can be dressed up in various clothes and accessories. This also goes for an avatar of a guy of your choosing.
