Having managed to actually keep up with the anime I thought checking out That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - ISEKAI Chronicles would be a logical thing to do. Doubly so since, wonder of wonders, it's not just another cash-in arena fighter anime productions seem to get when they delve into video game territory. Keeping that in mind... I can't say I liked the game. Quite the opposite, in fact.

In case you're not familiar with the subject at hand this is a very truncated retelling of the main story. Our protagonist gets killed in the real and ends being transported to another world. Catch? He's now a slowly slime who accidentally comes across the legendary dragon Veldora, two strike up an accord and so begin the adventures of our boy Rimuru. His main goal over time becomes building a nation by monsters, for monsters as all other kingdoms are extremely antagonistic towards them on principle. With that in mind they build a town in the Great Jura forest from which their civilization begins.

That's the gist of it and if it's any comfort game won't really go in great detail since we're following arc-based structure of the source material. ISEKAI Chronicles does oddly skip some bits or brings details out of nowhere, though. Perhaps to offset what's being adapted here, story proper stops when you-know-who ascends to Demon Lord status, we have two brand new arcs and they're not really worth it. One follows a goblin bent on revenge who didn't fall in with Rimuru's plan of ending inter-monster hostilities, and other involves Jura hostilities with brand new theocratic nation following Angels. Both come with original characters who ultimately end up being the biggest worthwhile additions and at least one could've fooled me into thinking she was always there.

Speaking of characters this is another case where game chooses an odd approach in fleshing them out. You have a mixture of classical VN talking heads, brand new CG made for the game and stills from the anime, yet bulk character interaction will largely come from stilted models yapping. To game's credit and presumably where most of the budget went, everything is voice acted. That doesn't change you're constantly being herded form A to B to C just talking to characters as they go along with their one-note archetype. Badass warrior chick who's a horrible cook? Industrious dwarfs with a sweet tooth for alcohol? Extremely competent and aloof ninja? Yeah, take your pick. This isn't inherently bad so much as limiting what you can do with characters, but this is less of a problem when you're sticking to already existing storylines.

That's enough rambling about narrative aspects. Game doesn't break any molds and what it adds is largely subpar. I think this comes from design choices I'll get into below, but even on basic level game could've used perhaps less side chores and more of that production could've gone into critical content.

Easily the simplest way to summarize ISEKAI Chronicles would be to say it's a story of two halves; rudimentary character combat and even more straightforward city building. Problem arises when neither is really satisfactory?

Amusingly enough the closest comparison I can make would be Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, which I've reviewed last year, albeit without the platforming part so that's one vital pillar gone. Hints of problems that game had with combat and base management are many times worse in this case. Mind you, I have nothing against beat 'em up combat with fixed 2D lanes if it's executed well which I would say is at least average here, but the problem is how often you're in combat all the while re-visit identical locations fighting same old group configurations. I don't say this lightly, but randomly generated levels would have helped immensely to break the mind numbing monotony. After you've explored a location once you now know the map inside and out, with chest rooms and enemy rooms clearly marked for you.

No even taking into account you're bringing 3+2 characters into the fray (active combatants + supports with their special attack) can shake things up. Only character progression is unlocking talents with flat stat increases so you don't have much to look forward to. Their abilities unlock at narrative's convenience and getting friendship 100 makes one of their abilities available to Rimuru just in case you think his OP abilities aren't enough. Not to completely pile on the game here I did like the characters are distinct, from a range-heavy magician to lighting fast swordsmen. It goes beyond just flavor even if you'll never lose sleep over element compatibility on Normal difficulty. For the record I didn't die once in the entire game and only the final boss pushed me hard enough I brought one character onboard specifically because he special is healing. Wasn't really necessary since perfect dodge is absolute king, but still.

Second pivotal aspect of gameplay is managing Jura-Tempest Federation aka city building. And by that I mean you get empty plots of land where you choose which buildings to build with their associated resources cost. Mind you, there's no simulated aspect here as beyond some minor bonuses, like temporary status boost or low-tier resource generation from farms, primary purposes city building serves is to create Tempest Resonance aka global percentage boost to your stats, and said boosts vary depending on variety of buildings you've constructed. That's it. City itself is also a traversable location for Rimuru, mainly to reach quest givers who pop up as story progresses, because there's no world map beyond just markers you choose to travel to. Any by god, you WILL re-visit locations since game is not only very liberal with horrendous missing design sending you out to collect X of Y while also being incapable of combining mission when location is shared. Which means further visits. I'm talking dozens upon dozens. If you're inclined towards doing all the side nonsense, because Gabiru really needs magical ink to create photos of himself, you will at least never be starved for building materials.

While all of the above is already well beyond minor cuts that can hamstring game the biggest issue that resulted in me fast forwarding through cutscenes is just how cheap overall package is. Yes, chibi art style is somewhat at odds with everything else, but I think it looks alright. Production limits hit the hardest when you sit through Rimuru's 245th instance of animation where he slowly walks away from the conversation, info box pops up to say it's ten minutes later, and now he's slowly walking into the scene with all other characters giving stock waves and hellos. No scene really feels unique because game assets could not be allocated for such scenes. There's a lot of characters having meetings in the exact same room. Repetition of it all ended up driving me crazy and being the chief reason why I gave up on post-game. There's supposedly a season pass planned with three new characters to bulk a somewhat anemic roster, but you won't catch me alive playing this ever again.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Giving off serious vibes of an overpriced and jumped up mobile project, I've found very few reasons to like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - ISEKAI Chronicles. Cliff notes take on the source material does it no favors nor do very basic action combat or rudimentary “city building” such as it is. Drowning in the sea of re-used content, be it location or chores masquerading as quests, only upside is if you're a fan of anime's VA they get to shine as the entire game is voice acted. It cannot be overstated just how minimal the loop involved here is and everything the game has to offer you will have seen in the first hour. All the while somehow avoiding technical issues perhaps due to sheer simplicity.