KONOSUBA – God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Love For These Clothes of Desire! review

A clothes call for Kazuma and the gals.

Few isekai contain a premise with as much potential as KonoSuba. The property’s plot line begins with the untimely death of archetypical hikikomori Kazuma Satou. Initially, the prospect of reincarnating as an adventurer in an MMORPG-styled world appears auspicious, especially when a goddess named Aqua offers a powerful ability or mighty weapon to Kazuma. Instead, the protagonist opts to take the water deity along with him, generating animosity due to Kazuma’s atypical selection and Aqua’s general incompetence.

This ineptitude forces the party to grow, resulting in the addition of 14-year-old Megumin, an archwizard who only knows a single explosion spell. To make matters worse, every time she summons a detonation, Megumin depletes all her mana, typically leaving her temporarily incapacitated. Then, there’s Darkness, a crusader whose attacks routinely miss their target. Some of this could be intentional, as she’s a masochist who gets off on abuse, injecting an indispensable bit of kink.

Topsy-Turvy Temperaments

Amusement in KonoSuba frequently stems from the skewering of role-playing conventions. Instead of stories of audacious, accomplished adventurers, Kazuma’s team of misfits are often physically and intellectually inept, making their way from one misstep to the next across an extended comedy of errors and mild eroticism. Plot lines are secondary to the oft-dysfunctional interplay between the property’s colorful cast.

In KONOSUBA – God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Love For These Clothes of Desire! tribulations begin when the quartet finds an onyx-colored slate. Unable to resist its allure, they begin meddling with the object and discover that the slab offers the ability to create clothing from found objects. Staying true to the tone of the novel, manga, and anime, there’s a catch, of course. The wearer becomes cursed, and their personality is dramatically inverted. And if a victim’s desires aren’t met on time, the change in disposition becomes permanent.

Dress to Impress

It’s soon discovered that the slate once belonged to a nobleman who is threatening punishment unless some very specific articles of attire are created. This obligation becomes a core component of Clothes of Desire, where visual novel-style sequences are broken up by a time-management component, as the party seeks raw materials to synthesize apparel before condemnation occurs. Like many of KonoSuba’s previous setups, it’s shamelessly contrived but it also allows for some wonderfully comical sequences and plenty of lighthearted fan-service. As you work to fulfill the nobleman’s requirements, you’ll probably have enough time and raw materials to craft fetish wear, outfitting the main cast as well as secondaries like Wiz, Yunyun, Chris, and Sena.

Clothes of Desire’s timekeeping is measured in weeks, with three days devoted to either the gathering of items needed for clothing making or working part-time jobs to earn money. With the calendar-style interface, you can set aside assignments individually or for the entire gang of four, with the latter a good method to maximize income. The remainder of the work is spent resting before a day is devoted to crafting clothes and buying materials.

No Harsh Timetables Here

While you have some managerial control over how your party spends its time, the actual allocation of resources is randomized. While this might seem like a dubious decision, a combination of typically having eight full weeks to craft apparel and the ability to spend profits to buy needed materials removes the possibility of frustration. Of course, saving scumming is another viable alternative.

Pleasingly, your responsibilities are well rewarded with conversations that range from the innocent to innuendo-filled capers. Much of the enjoyment, as well as the potential for reply, stems from initiating different dialogs. Some of these emerge from your crafting, but others are triggered by where Kazuma decides to hang out. Expectedly, spending time with one of the game’s seven gals extends the opportunity for enhancing your relationship- at least if you’re a skilled conversationalist.

And while courting KonoSuba’s ladies offers plenty of playfulness, the real fun is rooted in the personality reversals. Here, Darkness customary masochist shifts to sadism, and Clothes of Desire rarely misses an opportunity for puckishness. Seeing Megumin embrace her diminutive bosom while scorning busty women is hilarious. Similarly, witnessing Aqua abandon her greedy ways might be one of the property’s best moments. It works so well, that Clothes of Desire got me imagining personality U-turns for other beloved characters.

Conclusion

Given developer Mages’ (Steins;Gate, Muv-Luv) visual novel expertise, aesthetic expectations might be high. And while Clothes of Desire’s character portraits are well done and the simulated eye-catches are undoubtedly appealing, the game can be a bit bland at times. While the limited number of backdrops are part of the problem, a bigger issue is the scarcity of animation and facial expressions. Here, the well-localized script does most of the work, with lively dialog providing the laughs. Largely, the game’s soundtrack is rather mundane as well. Fortunately, first-rate voice performances from the cast of the KonoSuba anime interject a wealth of energy.

Overlook the game’s still character art and unmarkable soundtrack and you still have a robust experience that should delight almost any fan of the source material. Silly, sexy, and occasionally side-splittingly funny, Clothes of Desire doesn’t devote much time to backstory. But if you’re a fan of role-playing games, it’s accessible and enjoyable enough to work as an entry into KonaSuba and its spin-off.

KONOSUBA – God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Love For These Clothes
of Desire! was reviewed on PC with review code provided by the publisher.