User:Hydrangeans/draft of A Little Lily Princess

LEDE

Background
As a child, Georgina Bensley read Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 novel A Little Princess, and the book left an impression that lasted into her adulthood. As an adult, Bensley founded the indie game company Hanako Games and developed multiple influential indie visual novels. Despite enjoying other media based on A Little Princess, such as the movies released in 1939 and 1995, Bensley reported personally feeling such adaptations were not quite "true to the book". Bensley believed a visual novel format would befit an adaptation of a novel on the premise that the medium's openness to replayability and branching paths escapes the limitations of traditional linear narrative.

Bensley created some visual novels in what Fuwanovel considers an "anime-style". Bensley has called herself "a big fan of anime". When hiring an artist for A Little Lily Princess, Bensley intentionally sought out an artist whose cute, animesque style she had noticed and decided was the right fit for the game.

Hanako Games titles are financed by the profits of earlier releases, and development often involves working with freelancers and contractors. Reviewer Kim Snaith reports that A Little Lily Princess was developed with a "modest scope and budget".

The Japanese word for lily flowers, yuri, is also used to denote a genre of stories with same-gender female relationships in media like anime, manga, movies, and games; some yuri games use lily flowers as metaphors for love.

Synopsis
A Little Lily Princess adapts the narrative of A Little Princess. Reviewer Daniel Waite observes the game "stay[s] true to the original plot." Rob Lake notes that "Of course in adapting the novel Hanako Games have taken some liberties with the source material."

Protagonist Sara Crewe, a girl raised in luxury with her father Captain Crewe in British colonial India, moves to London, England to be educated at Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Young Ladies, an all-girl boarding school. When Sara's father unexpectedly dies penniless and in debt, she is left with no financial security or social power, and headmistress Miss Minchin forces Sara into servitude for the Seminary. Reviewer Victoria observes that A Little Lily Princess explores "what happens to those who go from having everything to being left with almost nothing." Following Sara in her misfortune, the narrative poses whether Sara can retain her friends and sense of dignity through her grueling new circumstances. By the story's end, a family friend finds Sara and restores her to wealth in a happy ending.

("light yuri" elements, some of the mature themes, some of the expansion to characters including Lavinia's character, age changes)

"serious themes, open-ended interpretations, and hours upon hours of rich narrative content."

Gameplay
CONTENT

Audiovisuals
CONTENT

Publication
On May 18, 2016, Hanako Games announced its release of A Little Lily Princess  for personal computers under its Hanabira label and purchasable via the Hanako Games website and PC game distribution service Steam. Steam sold A Little Lily Princess at a 15% markdown sale price until May 26, 2016.

Five years later on May 28, 2021, Hanako Games with publisher Ratalaika Games released console ports of A Little Lily Princess for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. On release, the console versions sold for €12,99 (EUR), £11.99 (GBP), and $14.99 (USD). A Little Lily Princess received a 12+ rating from PEGI and a Teen rating from ESRB.

Reception
"The story, and particularly the character of Sara, is what makes this game worth playing."

According to game website Rice Digital, A Little Lily Princess is one of the "Top 10 English yuri games" of 2016.