Editor’s note: PQube provided IGN India with a PC copy of KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire for this review.
KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire takes the beloved fantasy comedy and isekai world of the KonoSuba anime series and transforms it into an interactive visual novel adventure. Crafted by Mages Inc., this game first hit the stores back in September 2020 in Japan. Now, thanks to the efforts of publisher PQube, fans worldwide can dive into it just in time for the anticipated third season set to grace screens in April 2024.
For those who are unaware, KonoSuba has an isekai premise, which means getting transported or reincarnating into a different, often fantastical world. KonoSuba tells the story of Kazuma Satou, a hikikomori (shut-in) boy who gets transported into such a fantasy world with MMORPG elements, like a party, ranking system, and more. Here, he forms an adventuring party with a goddess, an archwizard, and a crusader. However, not everything goes as planned when they aim to take on the demon king, encountering one problem after another in this parody of the isekai genre.
As a fan of the show yearning for more adventures with the ragtag party of Kazuma, Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin, Love for the Clothes of Desire succeeded in satisfying that KonoSuba craving since the second season aired in 2017.
KonoSuba’s greatest strength lies in its characters and the endearing chemistry and banter between them. Alongside that, are the stellar performances by the main voice cast. I am glad to say that KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire embodies everything fans love to see from the anime.
In the game’s story, the gang discovers a black slab of stone imbued with the magical power to create clothing. However, the slab targets the person displaying the most desire around it while generating clothing, casting a curse upon them. This curse transforms their personality and desires. For instance, in Darkness’s case, her submissive nature shifts to dominance. Her role as a defensive crusader in the party transitions to an offensive one. This change affects the cursed individual’s relationship with the party members, particularly Kazuma, in hilarious ways.
Gameplay in KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire
The visual novel integrates the clothing aspect uniquely, adding time and resource management elements that add to the gameplay.
Each day, you assign tasks to party members, triggering different scenes based on the task chosen. For instance, selecting Mining might lead to a scene of characters mining in a cave. Characters have preferences for certain tasks, so assigning them disliked tasks can also result in scenes reflecting their displeasure.
Once enough materials are collected, you can craft clothes to advance the main story. Otherwise, you continue assigning tasks and collecting materials. Completing tasks earns the in-game currency eris, which can be used to purchase materials from Wiz’s shop if needed. The gameplay revolves around this loop within a deadline of a few days.
After completing tasks, you can visit various locations like the tavern, city areas, or Kazuma’s room, some of them offering character interactions. Positive interactions increase affection, following basic dating sim mechanics. The main girls, Aqua, Darkness, and Megumin, have two endings, while Wiz, Chris, Yunyun, and Sena have one.
And KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire manages to keep it fun and fresh! It feels like you are watching a season of the show, where there is a main overarching story that you’ll see playing out throughout the episodes, but there’s a lot of filler but fun stuff that happens which shows the goofiness of the situations our characters get themselves into and their interactions.
Aside from rare minor grammatical mistakes, the translation and text appeared good enough too and maintained the charm and character of the dialogues from the anime. However, like you can see, the game is targeted at anime viewers and might not be the best experience if you are not already familiar with the show.
KonoSuba: Love for these Clothes of Desire nails the ridiculousness of KonoSuba. The voice acting and dialogues in character interactions are perfect and feel like they came straight out of the anime. While the story is not the strongest point of the visual novel, and the gameplay loop is unique but can get stale really quickly, it’s still fun to read through with plenty of the party’s hi jinks to enjoy.
