Adorable Crush Review

Another day, another match-3 game with nudity, or so it would appear anyway, as Adorable Crush is just that. I’ve said it before; I do like my match-3 games, and I’m certainly not averse to anime-styled nudity.

Adorable Crush is a match-3 puzzle game, which sees you put into a virtual world with a handful of women that you want to romance. You do this by going on dates with them to impress them with your ability to match tokens in a set number of moves. You get more affection points for colour matches she likes, and points removed for broken hearts. You can give the ladies presents to improve your odds, or increase the number of moves you have.

If this sounds familiar, don’t worry as this came out in October 2020, some months (with curiously similar item descriptions…) before that sequel I reviewed. It also, as I mentioned, has an anime aesthetic, and is fully voiced in Japanese. Sure, I don’t understand more than a handful of words, but at least one of them says “ara ara”, which is adorable.

In between dates you can talk to the ladies, asking questions and being asked them in return. Answering well will give you Lovecens, which are used to upgrade how much affection each token match will give you. There are gifts that will increase your Lovecens, as well as gifts to increase how many you get each time you chat. To buy gifts, you need money which is earnt through dates.

Each of the women in Adorable Crush have virtual jobs, so throughout the day can usually be found in certain places. The inn concierge can be found at the inn, for instance. Going to see another character will progress the day, so you usually have to plan ahead. Especially since you can only consummate your relationship at night - it’s pointless having your final date in the morning, since it seems nobody has sex in the morning.

Every character has a different personality, meaning that you have to ask and answer things accordingly, and that information is entered into your journal. For instance, Niko is mean and outdoorsy, so she won’t go for the mushy, romantic stuff that Sara would melt for. They also prefer certain foods and drinks, but the store highlights those for you, so at least you don’t have to remember everything.

In between dates, you’ll sometimes get text messages from one of the women. If you have the 18+ patch DLC, they will include some dirty videos, allowing you to view them dressed, half-dressed, and naked. These, and the night date sex scenes, are added to a gallery where you can view them at any time. Of course, there are harder difficulties available, which make it harder to unlock the 18+ stuff.

The graphics in Adorable Crush are pretty great, and the characters actually move. None of those static images when you sleep with them, like some other games have. The music is enjoyable, but not very memorable. The voice acting is very good, though as I mentioned I’ve no idea what they’re saying. I can’t even tell whether the voices suit the characters, other than tonaly. For instance, I can’t pick a Kanto accent from an Osaka accent, but I can tell that the delivery is decent.

While it’s true that Adorable Crush doesn’t do much that other games of the genre have already done, and done since, it’s still a decent entry. It also doesn’t hurt that the price is just over £2, which is well below most of those other games. It’s well made, the characters are nicely designed, and it’s easy on the ears. If you’re a fan of match-3, then it’s definitely worth a look.