Release Date: January 13, 2026 (North America)
Developers:  Otomate, Ichi Column
Publishers:  Idea Factory International
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T

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SYNOPSIS

In this world, one’s status and occupation are determined by the month they were born. About 15 years ago in the eastern kingdom of Temirana, the third princess was born: a baby with a birthmark on her forehead.

This child was rumored to be the “Cursed Princess,” and was forced to live in a house far from her family, away from the castle.

But things are about to change.

As her 16th birthday approaches, she attends the dueling tournament known as Helis Duelm. There, she sees five men glowing with a dazzlingly strong light.

Indeed, the “Cursed Princess” possessed a special and lucky power. Whenever her life might be in danger, people and places would shine as if to warn her.

Those acquainted with her power warn that those men may have shone because they were dangerous…but she knows their light is different from any she’s seen before. Trusting her intuition, the princess invites the five men to join her order of knights.

However, some of them have no experience with the sword, and others lack interest in knighthood at all. Can the princess and her small company of five knights overcome the tragedy on the horizon?

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ART AND MUSIC

Director: Ayumi Takagi

Scenario: Uta Amemiya, Akira Natsuno, Yuzuki

Artist:  Nitaka (Main), Karin Suzushiro (Chibis)

OST: Chisato Akita (OP & ED Lyrics, Artist), Mikihiro Hamada (Composer), Masahiro Haryu (Composer)

BGM: Triodesign

I wanted to talk a bit about Temirana’s overall illustrator, Nitaka, who has also worked on several VNs and joseimuke games in the past, including the mobile titles Yume100, I★CHU, and of course, Touken Ranbu (widely known for designing the characters Mutsunokami, Kotegiri Gou, and Hizen). I’m actually a huge fan of this artist’s works, particularly the illustrations they’ve created for Touken Ranbu events and related merch, such as this, this, and this, among many others.

They’re also the artist behind the popular Holostars VTuber Josuiji Shinri, who happens to be the only EN VTuber I actively follow (for… normal reasons, read: dilf 😋jk).

That said, while they definitely excel at creating beautiful ikemen stills, their strengths tend to shine more in very composed action-oriented illustrations, especially when bringing out the appeal of the male characters, rather than in more intimate or romantic scenes. In Temirana, I did notice a few romantic CGs that felt a bit awkward (e.g. heroine has her back turned during intimate moments, or “kiss” CGs that aren’t actual kiss CGs, if y’know what I mean). Then again, that could just be me, and I do think their recent game BYAKKO may have overturned this impression of mine, given the very nice intimate CGs shown in its recent promotional illustrations.🤔

Voice Acting

Makoto Furukawa as “Josephy” – Hokuto (Him, the Smile and Bloom), Allan Melville (Cupid Parasite), Crius Castlerock (Even if Tempest), Yoritomo (Birushana), Lugus (Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk), Shaw (MLQC), Adage (Steam Prison), Ookurikara (Touken Ranbu), Kyle Ash (IkeRev), Kazuma Kamikubo (Lover Pretend), Dazai (Charade Maniacs)

Yusuke Kobayashi as “Tobias” – Zhiho (Neon Clash), Flynn (The Red Bell’s Lament), Tomonari (Winters Wish), Hira (Dairoku), Byleth (FE Engage, 3H), Shinano Toushiro (Touken Ranbu), Suwon (Yona of the Dawn), Yuli Norbert (MidCin), Manai Tomoki (Sweet Clown), Xavier (Love and Deepspace), Ugetso (Utakata no Uchronia), Kiyoshi Kurotani (Persona 5), Senku Ishigami (Dr. Stone)

Shuhei Sakaguchi as “Milan” – Biggs (FF7R), Al (Xenoblade Chronicles), Apollo (Dragon Quest), Mest Gryder (Fairy Tail), 777 (TWEWY), Pino Graham (Shaman King), Katsutaka Imae(Hajime no Ipo), Virgil (Emberstoria), Jugo (Naruto)

Sho Karino as “Adel” – Samidare Gou (Touken Ranbu), Ichise Tatsumi (Tengoku Struggle), Elliot (The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom) Kai Arimura (Omega Vampire), Hugo Otori (Hiyoku no Tori), Chifuyu Matsuno (Tokyo Revengers), Rei Okada (Shinjuku Rashoumon)

Kazutomi Yamamoto as“Kiya” – Midare Toushiro (Touken Ranbu), Sora Harukawa (Ensemble Stars!), Dahlia(Genshin Impact), Fuga Takahashi (MUSICUS!), Dog Loewen (Dane with Devils), Kira Mutsuki (Several Shades of S),

Ryohei Kimura as “Eric” – Wataru (Him, the Smile and Bloom), Nicola (Piofiore), Gil Lovecraft (Cupid Parasite),  Kageyuki Shiraishi (Collar x Malice), Kuo (Diabolik Lovers), Arthur (IkeVamp), Kanesada Izuminokami (Touken Ranbu), Izumi Takahira (Yunohana Spring), Jesse (Lights and Night), Soma Takashi (Storm Lover Kai)

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MAIN CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

There’s only one locked route in Temirana, which is the Secret Route. All other routes can be played from the start. The Secret Route only becomes available after clearing the TRUE endings of the five LIs: Josephy, Tobias, Milan, Adel, and Kiya.

Each route reveals different pieces of the game’s overarching plot, and I think it might have done the game a favor if some of them had been locked, since certain routes reveal more spoilers than others. My playthrough ended up being a bit all over the place, which led to some whiplash when major reveals came up early because I happened to start with a more spoiler-heavy LI. (laughs)😅 So, if I were to recommend a soft play order from least to most spoilers, it would be: Josephy → Tobias = Milan → Adel → Kiya → Secret Route.

I believe Adel and Kiya’s routes contain the most spoilers in terms of plot points and character reveals that are later explored in the Secret Route. So if you’re not a fan of heavy spoilers early in the game, it’s best to save these two for later playthroughs.

Walkthroughs:

1. Josephy
2. Tobias
3. Milan
4. Adel
5. Kiya
6. Secret Route

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Note: The CGs shown below are promotional images for the game, Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights . All spoiler-related content in this review will be hidden behind a spoiler drop-down, that you can choose to view at your own discretion.

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JOSEPHY CORNERHILD ZONDARIG

• yearning 👑
• best boi

The prince of the ruined kingdom of Zondarig. He lives with a troupe of traveling performers known as the Marveil Circus. He’s bursting with pride, with an ego so large that even the princess doesn’t intimidate him. He is naive in some ways and easily provoked, but he possesses a strong will to restore the Zondarig Kingdom.

I love Josephy! Best boy, best route in the game! Also, since I played his route first, Josephy ended up becoming THE standard, and I feel a little awful that I kept comparing the other knights to him in their own respective stories. 😭 It really feels like the writers put their all into this one, as I almost didn’t have any complaints about the story or the pacing here, and the romance between him and Cecilia, the heroine, felt like a natural slow burn, all the while still being very believable. While I still enjoyed the other routes, they sadly just paled in comparison to Josephy’s, at least for me.

I also loved how Josephy’s personality is written as arrogant, tactless, blunt, yet he remains very likable throughout the game, even across other routes. He’s a man of pride, but also a respectable comrade who stayed true to his goals and has never gone back on his word. A born leader whose resolve never wavered. Basically, a true and deserving embodiment of a knight.🥹

TOBIAS HARBECK FREY

• soft genki 🥺
• positive vibes only

The head of a noble family on the decline: the Harbeck family. Since his parents and grandparents have already passed, he is the only master. To top it off, he is so sickly that he collapses even from brief walks, so he is prone to staying indoors. He is passive about romance, living, and everything else, but his admiration for knights is stronger than most.

Toby, the sunshine himbo! He was absolutely hilarious in the common route, that I was sure his story would be comedy central. But nope, game said, nah, have some angst instead (cackles). 😂 Honestly, you could probably say the same thing about the other routes as well. I did end up loving Tobias overall. Same with Josephy, who stayed very true to his sworn oath as the heroine’s knight, Tobias’s resolve was also pretty upstanding. I also really enjoyed the plot point revealed in this route, and how it tied into the game’s overarching story; thus, I think it’s best to pay close attention to some of the small details here.👀

MILAN HERRING

• came for the abs, stayed for the… abs 👅
• me when Milan takes off his 👕 to check for injuries

The lone owner of the blacksmith shop “Herring” in the commoners’ district of Barralboa Town. He has been dedicated to blacksmithing since childhood. With the typical temperament of a craftsman, he may destroy his own creations if he dislikes them.

Milan’s route certainly kept me awake, and no, it wasn’t solely because of his abs (though that was some very nice eye candy too, lol).🤭 Jokes aside, I believe I enjoyed this route because, despite the heavy foreshadowing in its early chapters, I still didn’t see the reveals coming. That, and if you’ve actually played Josephy’s or Tobias’s routes beforehand, Milan’s story reframes the linearity of earlier events in a way that made me do a double-take, and I like that. His true ending was also kind of bittersweet, but I was still satisfied with it.

ADEL NARES

• farmer 🌽🌽🌽
• green thumb LI

The eldest son of a very poor family living in the lower-class district of Samari Village. He is very calm and caring, and looks after his nine younger siblings. Not being able to afford schooling has contributed to his struggles, but he begins to change after meeting the protagonist.

Played Adel’s route relatively early on, and oof… bad idea. 😮‍💨 Whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake I did! Though on a slightly more positive note, they actually had a really good thing going in this route. Just like Milan’s route, Adel also caught me by surprise with the way his events unfolded unexpectedly. Unfortunately, there were way too many plot holes that were easily brushed off here, and the route itself seemed unsure which plot point it wanted to focus on, which I think dampened the romance a bit. Even so, Adel was such a precious LI that I pretty much forgave the route’s shortcomings because of how sweet he is and how stunning a couple of his final CGs are.😂

KIYA NELTY

• kiki-boyo 🤣🤣🤣
• a good boyo 🥺

An orphaned boy who lives in the Nelty Foster Home. Due to a certain event when he was young, he developed a memory disorder, and since then, he forgets anything that happens after a day has passed. He wears a wooden tag around his neck and makes sure to write down anything important he shouldn’t forget.

I loved how Kiya has registered names for all the other guys. He calls Josephy ouji (prince), Adel Ade, Milan Mila, Tobias Toby, Alison Ali, and Eric Eri, (cackles).😂 This little added nuance, is too adorable! Kiya’s route, however, was another mixed bag for me. I loved how the beginning gradually tied some of the mysteries together, and how the plot hints from previous routes finally started to make sense. But his true ending, to me, just felt crammed, with so much happening at once. The political drama here also turned into a dull-witted, petty catfight that I just couldn’t take seriously.😭

Kiya was such a precious, pure-hearted bean though, and just like Adel, his preciousness basically carried this whole route for me!🥺

SECRET ROUTE

CECILIA FARIAS TEMIRANA (Main Heroine)

Cecilia was a great heroine, though my enjoyment of her varied from route to route. She was definitely at her best in Josephy’s and Milan’s routes, but she frustrated me in Adel’s route.

Overall, I do like her a lot, especially in terms of how determined she is in her role as the third princess and as her knights’ liege. She remains very level-headed even during tumultuous events and consistently works hard to serve her people. The fact that she’s only sixteen at the start of the game really highlights how admirable she is in carrying out her duties as a royal. She also grows over the course of the story, and I don’t just mean in terms of character development. Given the length of the game’s timeline, she basically ages by a year or two, so she doesn’t actually remain sixteen by the end of the routes.

She’s quite naive when it comes to romance, which is understandable given how young she is. She’s cute, pouts a lot, and I ended up enjoying her personal musings when she’s thinking about her LIs (especially in Josephy’s route). All in all, girlie has her own charms that really grew on me.

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

While the UI for this title is fairly simple, I wanted to gush about the animated backgrounds here. They were absolutely stunning, and I thought they really added to the game’s medieval atmosphere! I was so pleased with this nice touch!

Localization

I could barely spot any typos in this game, and if there were any, they were few and far in between, which was great. I also really liked the localization for this title. Given the common route’s comedy vibes, the humor in the story was well preserved. A few liberties were taken, especially with how some characters speak. Like Benetti, for example, has very animated lines, and I was cackling at how they call the LIs by funny nicknames like Josey-Wosey (Josephy), Toby-Woby (Tobias), Milly-Man (Milan), Eri-Berry (Eric), and Kiki-Boyo (Kiya). I get a kick out of “Milly-Man” and “Kiki-Boyo” every time Benetti goes off on one of their vibrant little monologues.🤣

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

Temirana was a pretty lengthy title, that it took me 80 hours to complete everything, mostly on auto-mode while my console was docked. Each route has only three ending variations: the “TRUE” end (good ending), the“Normal” end, and a very short Bad Ending. While the common route and the first five LI routes were of a decent length, it was the secret route, much to my surprise, that really made the game feel much longer. I think it took me roughly 10-12 hours on auto-mode to finish the last route alone?😱

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Not Exactly “Romantic Comedy”

I don’t know why, but I went into this game completely blind, expecting a lighthearted romantic comedy plot, something akin to Lindsay Lohan’s Just My Luck movie (cackles).😂 I mean, the title “Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights” practically screams that kind of vibe, doesn’t it? 🤣🤣🤣 Jokes aside, to my surprise, the romantic comedy mostly ends in the common route. Each LI route gets much more serious, and there’s a lot of drama in the overarching story, which sometimes leaves little room for a few humorous moments.

Some routes can get dire as well, and some endings were slightly bittersweet. That said, the game certainly doesn’t coast along on low-stakes events, if y’know what I mean. So if you’re also coming here, expecting a lighthearted fantasy romcom, this title might not fully deliver on that front.

Amazing World Building

What the game really excels at is its world-building, and I mean, wow! The mythos they created for Etrudia is very robust and incredibly detailed. There are also tons of keywords in the dictionary section to get acquainted with, that even after finishing the game, I was still unfamiliar with a couple of glossary terms 😅 (there were 191 entries, I believe).

The game’s setting even has its own worldview and internal rules to follow. For example, a person’s occupation is determined by the month they were born, or the ruler is chosen by lottery (I know, wild, right?), and that gambling is considered a healthy pastime because the citizens of Temirana believe their lives are largely pre-determined by luck. All of this was actually fascinating to me and played a big part in how immersed I became in Temirana’s world-building. Because the game establishes such strong and coherent fantasy setting, it was also very easy for me to suspend my disbelief.

Found Family in Temirana

One of the things I also loved about this title was how strongly the found-family trope is present. Given how likable all the characters are (side characters included), it wont take you that long to get pulled into their heartwarming camaraderie. Watching the knights swear their oath to Princess Cecilia and seeing them bond & spend their days together, from early training all the way to becoming some of the strongest knights in the country, was pretty satisfying to me. Needless to say, the characters were the sole heart of this game, fr!

I also appreciated the zero-to-hero theme that runs through each of the knights in the common route. Seeing them struggle firsthand, going from being absolutely nothing to their journey of knighthood and eventual competence during their own routes, was quite pleasant, to say the least. Their banter was hilarious as well, and while the story is very plot-focused, I did enjoy how the game still managed to sprinkle in humor throughout.

A lot of the side characters I also ended up being attached to! Benetti was a lot of fun, and hot daddie Alison was amaaaazing!

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In terms of plot and story-pacing, the quality definitely varies depending on the route. Each LI’s story reveals a piece of the overarching mystery, though some are clearly better executed than others. Personally, I loved Josephy’s route, and I still think it reigns as the best one in the game in terms of narrative. I also noticed a few writing inconsistencies throughout the game, with several plot holes and earlier story points left unexplored or simply forgotten. Even the final route, which was a massive ride, did not fully address all of the lingering gaps or story flaws, which disappointed me a little bit.

As for the LIs…

All of the main love interests sold me, though. All six were pretty great and had some cute chemistry moments with the heroine. Josephy really stood out to me, as his plot and romance worked really well together in his route. His back-and-forth with Cecilia, plus the yearning bits, and his confession scenes🥹 were so satisfying that he easily became best boy, hands down, for me! Milan’s route was another one I enjoyed in the romance department, although admittedly, I thought his plot may have been a bit overblown (especially that wild family 🌳 lol). The secret route was also an LI I liked a lot, though I do wish there had been more romantic moments and date scenes in his route.🥲

💖LI RANKING: Josephy > Secret > Tobias = Milan > Adel > Kiya

📝ROUTE RANKING: Josephy > Milan > Secret > Tobias > Kiya = Adel

Speaking of romance, I’d say this game has a modest slow-burn one. It’s also worth noting that the title is rated CERO B in Japan, so there are no spicy or suggestive themes here. The story is also very plot-focused, so sometimes the romance between the heroine and her LI feels a little pushed to the side. Nonetheless, there are definitely some sweet, sugary moments and date scenes that I totally enjoyed, though expect a humble amount of them only.

Do I recommend this game? YES.
I think in terms of having a very strong foundation in Arthurian-style lore and a fully realized, unique world, Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights really nails it as an otome visual novel. The world-building in this title was so rich and detailed that it was honestly what drew me in and kept me engaged at the start of the game. But in the end, it was ultimately the cast that made me stick around and fully invest in the story.

I had a decent run with this title, and while I did have some gripes about plot inconsistencies, they didn’t deter me from fully enjoying all the routes (since all the endings still felt fulfilling overall to my taste). I’d even go so far as to say this game would make an amazing anime series, especially if it followed the secret route’s path. Ha!😆

TsuiTsui / Temirana is definitely a title I’d happily recommend to anyone who’s into medieval fantasy, found-family stories with hot knights, and a richly detailed, fascinating lore that will quickly grab your interest. That said, this game gets a clear thumbs-up from yours truly!👍

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