That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles
Review
Not Gonna Have a Bad Slime
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
A Very Specific Genre
While popularized by anime, the Isekai genre is actually a lot more expansive than one might anticipate, since it typically involves a character or characters coming to another world. Depend on your definition, this could be something like Wizard of Oz, or if time comes to mind as a factor something like Futurama or Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court are all valid considerations. This genre is a fish out of water story that vastly changes the rules on the main character, and can lend itself to a lot of interesting concepts.
Now, these concepts aren't always explored in a way that keeps the appeal, since the genre is rife with power fantasy, but to some viewers or readers, that is exactly what they want. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles is a part Action RPG, part Visual Novel, part city builder game that covers many of the events from the series of the same name (sans ISEKAI Chronicles), and includes several new plotlines as well.
Simple Looks
The first thing players might notice when getting into Isekai Chronicles is that there are three or four styles of the game - and with all of them looking different it can be a bit jarring when swapping between them. Cutscenes are either animated or have Live 2D models of the characters interacting - this gives a sort of Tales Of vibe, similar to the skits from that series, but the Live 2D models can look a bit off thanks to some of the stiffer movements. Along with that, Isekai Chronicles has an isometric city builder aspect and a side scrolling Action RPG that feed into a gameplay loop with each other. Unfortunately, Isekai Chronicles has the look and feel initially of a mobile game, but there's thankfully more to it than that. Which is good, since a $49 USD price point would be a BIT stiff if that was the case.
[youtube=https://youtu.be/JV6WkaS5aIs]
Deeper Than It Seems
The loop of Isekai Chronicles is fairly simple besides following the story. The player will set their character, Rimuru Tempest, out into areas that are unlocked by following the story, typically with a group of additional characters that have their own skills and abilities. These expeditions away from the village allow the accumulation of resources to be used in the second half of the gameplay loop.
This second half of Isekai Chronicles' loop is the city builder. Using the resources that were found during expeditions, the player can choose buildings to construct in the main village. These buildings provide passive buffs to stats during expeditions, allowing you to further boost your abilities.
Passive buffs is the name of the game in Isekai Chronicles, most skills that are unlocked via playing the game and the skill tree are passives that boost stats or give some kind of benefit like raising the Attack stat when Health is low. Occasionally characters will unlock a new special or signature attack (notable by a short animated cutscene), but the vast majority of upgrades won’t change too much about how the RPG section plays.
Limited Variety
Unfortunately Isekai Chronicles is not a flawless game, and it does have some issues that arise and that future players should be aware of. The first is repetitive audio cues - characters will always say the same voiceline when you add to their skill tree, so adding more than one at a time can cause this to drag on, especially with popup menus notifying you of the upgrade you had just selected. These audio cues are also prevalent in the gameplay itself, wandering town will lead to canned lines from the characters you walk near - or canned line might be more appropriate, since they all say the same thing each time.
Another issue with Isekai Chronicles is the expedition areas - they're simple and linear, but the standout problem with them is that there's no type of randomization to them. They will always have the same enemy spawns, chest locations, everything of the sort. This can hinder the gameplay loop and make the game feel more repetitive than it already is.
Isekai Chronicles is an enjoyable game, simple with surprisingly satisfying combat thanks to comboing techniques and enemies having elemental strengths and weaknesses. That being said, any non-fans of Reincarnated as a Slime may not have as much to gain from the game as those who are actually aware of the series. If you're a fan of the Isekai Genre or Slime in specific, then this might be one to keep an eye on.
As always, follow Hooked Gamers on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.
7.4
fun score
Pros
Surprisingly satisfying combat
Cons
Repetitive audio, Price, Non-randomized areas, Mostly passive buffs
