Isekai Quest Review

For those who aren’t aware, “Isekai” is the term for a manga, light novel series or anime in which the protagonist was in the real world but is now in a different one. Usually swords & sorcery but sometimes - okay it’s always that.

That’s where Isekai Quest gets its name from. You’re killed on your way to get some noodles and transported to another world. There you meet an elf, a succubus, a knight and a witch, in your quest to form a harem, because it’s another world and that’s what you’re supposed to do.

And apparently what THEY are supposed to do

The plot is paper-thin, so it’s a good thing the gameplay isn’t. It’s a match-3 puzzle game, so you have to create matches to whittle down each lady’s health to zero. You get between one and three moves before your opponent does a move. These are usually straight attacks but each one has a special ability that they will use liberally, such as poisoning some of the blocks, or placing time bombs. You will unlock abilities of your own as you play, which are either an attack or a buff/debuff and require mana which you get from matching certain blocks.

Defeat a lady and it will fill one heart from their Love Meter. Once you’ve filled the three hearts, you’ll unlock some erotic scenes. How erotic both are depends on the character and if you have the True Vision DLC installed, which acts as an 18+ patch. Without it, you can’t see certain scenes, so it’s a good thing it’s free. Without it, it’s just a decent match-3 game.

And why not

Being defeated will reset all Love Meters, but you’ll still be able to see all unlocked events and keep your money and stat buffs. After every win, you’re given a selection of three perks, and they can be a stat buff, ability unlock or an item. You can buy more perks or items from the shop before going into a match, or you can buy and sell condoms. After each match, the price of condoms will change, so it’s like playing a pretty terrible stock market; trying to buy low and sell high to get enough money for more perks.

One thing I can’t get over is the fact that you have to own a condom to have sex with whomever you’ve unlocked sex with. No, the use of condoms doesn’t bother me, it’s the fact that the scenes you unlock quite clearly have no condom in sight. Yet, if you try to have sex without owning a condom, your character will say drat and kick you back to the stage select. Oh, and the translation work is super sloppy but as I said, the storyline is paper-thin anyway.

Though the bad translation might be on purpose?

Isekai Quest’s graphics and artwork are really quite good. I particularly like how the elf’s gatling guns spin and no that’s not a euphemism. Similar “live 2D” visual novel-style characters would have the guns motionless, while the girls move and their boobs bounce, so it’s a nice touch that I appreciated. On the subject of the women, during matches you can do enough damage to remove their tops, though that’s not as easy as it sounds.

As far as music goes, it’s very repetitive. It’s actually hilarious that there’s a button to mute the game right there on the left side of the game board. There’s some voice acting, but you can assume correctly that most of that is various moaning.

The thing that will keep you playing Isekai Quest is the gameplay loop. Yes, there is a loop, because you will be defeated over and over again, meaning that you will need to defeat the same characters over and over again. It’s repetitive, sure, but the game is under £3 and will last you 3-4 hours. I’m a fan of match-3 games and anime boobs, as well as cheap games, so this certainly ticked all of the right boxes for me.