Saintess of the Golden Bow Preview

Saintess of the Golden Bow is an isekai visual novel where an American office worker finds herself in the world of her favourite tragic Boys Love (BL) webtoon. But, unlike most isekai (where the protagonist becomes a villainess), she’s reincarnated as the fridged love interest of the main character, Levi.

Now, if you’re not familiar with the term fridging, it’s when a female character is killed for plot reasons. However, unlike Celeste, the original character, Celine, fights against her death, and in doing so, changes the plot line of the webtoon considerably. Now, this is no longer a tragic BL but an adventure romance where she ends up becoming the Saintess instead of Levi, and because of that, she must face her greatest challenge: whether she wants to destroy her favourite ship.

The story follows Celine after she is tragically hit by Truck-kun, the most prevalent isekai character in history. Following this, she meets the God of Light, who brings her into the world of Saint of the Golden Bow, where she defeats the imp who was meant to kill her, and thus, takes over the role of heroine. So, her knowledge of the story? Mostly useless, as she was never meant to live.

Celine, as Celeste, isn’t completely useless, however. Prior to her death in the Saint of the Golden Bow canon, Celeste was an accomplished rider and archer, so her demise always felt unrelatable to fans of the webtoon. So, the player has a choice: shoot the imp or call for Levi’s help. As a strong, independent woman who needs no man, I shot the imp straight in the head, and because of that, Celine survived as Celeste. Upon survival, we learn that Celeste has a twin, Euridice, who is the polar opposite of her and is the apple of their father’s eye. Meanwhile, Celeste is viewed as a disappointment to her father, who Celine points out is emotionally and verbally abusive to her.

Upon surviving to their 18th birthdays, Celeste, Euridice, and Levi are all sent to find out who will become Saint or Saintess, being chosen by the Golden Bow. Which, hilariously, Celine points out is absolutely unwieldy and a pain in the arse compared to normal bows. But, when she is chosen instead, she doesn’t know what to do. Except, of course, question how the plot will change and whether she will have to romance one of the men in the BL webtoon. Thankfully, this is made easier knowing that all the men have some interest in her anyway. Clearly, all the men in this game are bisexual icons.

When considering Celine’s options, there are three that she already knows of: there’s Levi, Celeste’s childhood friend who has always pined for her, and the protagonist of Saint of the Golden Bow. Then, there’s Noah, the prince of the kingdom who is sent on this quest by his mother in the hopes that he will die and she can replace him with her younger, more obedient son. Noah is, to put it mildly, chaotic. He’s also part of the official ship with Levi and the pair who Celine shipped the most. Lastly, there’s Elijah, the Holy Priest of the church and a healer, who is all too happy to help Celine in her struggles; our protagonist is clearly attracted to him. Of course, they all keep flirting with her, which is hilarious because Celine is aware of this and hates that so much.

As mentioned, these are the love interests that Celine already knows about, but there is another option, and one that she hadn’t considered: George, a Duke of the kingdom who was also formerly a general on the front lines against the Demon Queen (did I mention there’s a Demon Queen whom they all have to defeat? Because there’s a Demon Queen they have to defeat). He’s essentially aware that Celeste doesn’t know much about etiquette and offers to help her in her time of need, even noting how she had an anxiety attack after going to a Ball arranged by the Empress.

So, these are the options we have so far. In the demo I played, there wasn’t too much going on. It was essentially Celine coming to grips with becoming Celeste and spending her month in preparation for the upcoming quest to battle the Demon Queen. In this time, we learn more about the world in Saintess of the Golden Bow and the dynamics between characters. For example, we know that Noah, being the crown prince, disapproves of the way his mother treats her subjects when she ignores the refugees who have lost their villages to the demons. Elijah was essentially groomed to become the Saint, but when he wasn’t chosen, he became High Priest and spent his time learning light magic. Then, there’s Levi, who has been diligently protecting Celeste in the hopes that one day they could be together, but Celine only sees him as a good friend. Although still a prospective love interest.

Overall, it’s pretty interesting; as a fan of fantasy stories and isekais, I did enjoy playing the demo. The art was pretty good, as expected from a visual novel; it’s the usual anime fare, and the music was also quite decent. While the sound design could use a little bit of work — the dialogue audio was often quieter than the music, so I had to adjust it in the settings — I’m aware that this is just something that will inevitably be adjusted, as they didn’t have it fully voiced in this version of Saintess of the Golden Bow, as is noted at the beginning of the demo.

If you like romance visual novels and meta-narratives that explore different genres, then I recommend checking out the demo for yourself. You can show your interest by adding it to your Wishlist on Steam and follow Saintess of the Golden Bow on Kickstarter to keep up-to-date with any latest changes. Personally, I’m looking forward to how the narrative will progress in the rest of the game.