Princess Maker 4 is the fourth installment in the long-running Japanese character-growth simulator series. The title marks the return of the franchise with an original game after a string of PS2 re-releases.

Unlike past installments, Princess Maker 4 was developed by GeneX, although Takami Akai (original series creator) remained on hand as a supervisor. This time, character illustrations were handled by Tenhiro Naoto, the creator of Sister Princess.

Structurally, Princess Maker 4 draws much inspiration from Princess Maker 2, although an adventure mode does not exist anymore. As with PM3, full voiceovers have been recorded, including contributions from famous voice actors like Sakurai Takahiro (Prince Sharul/Charles).

PM4 is highly drama-oriented. Throughout the game, there are various event scenes that offer clues about your daughter's past, not to mention the war between humans and non-humans and her demonic roots. This is probably what differentiates it the most from previous PM games. Another change is that most of the vice related jobs are less "adult oriented" as it is impossible for the daughter to receive more sinful jobs such as Carabet Dancing or as an assassin.

The story begins when the player is a soldier. The player falls in love with a mysterious woman. However, she disappears, only to be found by the player few years later. She hands you the child whose default name is Patricia along with Cube (The butler). And so the journey to fatherhood begins...

As the daughter grows from age 10 to 18, her physical appearance will change from preteen (age 10-12) to teenager (age 13-15) to adult woman (16-18). Although her face is generally the same as before, it will become longer and sharper as she grows older while her body also elongates.

Scheduling plays an important part of the game where the daughter may study, indulge in combat training, learn the ways of polite society, practice magic, train in the fine arts, and also practice grace and charm. All of the activities will affect her sensibilities, manners, mind, and other attributes which all contribute to her becoming a productive member of society. There are 14 occupations that the daughter may grow into along with some special professions that will result if certain conditions are met. Some examples of her professions include maid, house keeper, farmer, waitress, stripper, bartender, casino dealer, and others.