Video Game Review: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate

PQube

Dungeon Crawler

Nintendo Switch

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate is the first major console video game adaptation of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, often referred to as Danmachi, is a popular anime and visual novel franchise about Bell, an adventurer. Bell is a part of the goddess Hestia’s Familia and goes on adventures to acquire loot for his goddess. Bell spends tons of time going into dungeons, so it only makes sense that the Danmachi game is a dungeon crawler.

The gameplay loop for Danmachi (I will refer to the game as simply Danmachi to avoid typing the long title repeatedly) is simple but somewhat satisfying. Players will play mostly as Bell or Ais (A popular supporting character and the love interest of Bell) while dungeon crawling with a supporting ally. When players aren’t questing in the dungeons, they will be reading light novel segments that more or less summarize the story. While the visual novel segments are a bit choppy, the dungeon crawling is a pleasant experience, balancing simplicity and difficulty.

While Ais gets a few chapters in Danmachi, this game seems to focus on adapting the first season, which focuses on Bell. Bell gets ten chapters while Ais only gets six. Still, both characters get a fine amount of quality time while playing, giving both leaders’ supporting casts plenty of screen time. Both characters have interesting Familia’s, keeping the story interesting throughout. This is a lighthearted franchise, and the visual novel segments reflect. There are tons of banter and jokes, ensuring that the visual novel segments stay fun. They are fully voiced and have some nice art. The presentation and pacing of the story are a bit inconsistent, but that doesn’t stop the story from being accessible to people who are new to the franchise.

Of course, the dungeon crawling is the main reason to play Danmachi, and it is certainly enjoyable. The game’s action combat is necessarily fast-paced, but it can get intense sometimes. Players will need to practice good timing and spacing to avoid getting overwhelmed while fighting the game’s decently sized enemy roster. Players can attack with light or heavy moves, use magic, and dodge attacks. There aren’t too many approaches to the game’s combat but that doesn’t stop it from making the most of what it gives players.

Players are rewarded for learning enemy patterns and movements. Diving into a group of enemies is a quick way to fail. Danmachi uses a few rogue-lite elements, in that if a player fails they will need to restart their mission and will also lose their loot. To lower the difficulty, players can return from a dungeon at the press of a button and will get to keep their loot if they do so. Knowing when to press on and exploit enemy weaknesses or simply start over and try again is a key part of Danmachi.

The presentation of Danmachi is nice enough, but nothing extraordinary. As mentioned before, the character art looks great and all of the dialogue is voiced. Still, it would be nice to have the 2D models have a little more life to them, rather than just be JPEGS. The text also moves along painfully slow in the default setting, so players will want to change this in the game’s settings.

The dialogue is broken up with a lot of humor and even more fanservice. Women in compromising positions with questionable camera angles fill the game’s story segments. Those who aren’t interested in this will likely want to pass on Danmachi. All of this is nothing new for the franchise, so fans won’t be surprised by the game’s content. This is just a warning for those who are new to Danmachi.

The dungeon crawling has a fine presentation, but it certainly isn’t anything to write home about. The character models are just chibi versions of themselves, and the graphics don’t have the highest quality to compliment them. Still, everything is clear enough for players to understand what is going on while the play. The environments are incredibly lacking, and easily the game’s biggest visual disappointment.

Overall Danmachi‘s presentation is just acceptable for both the dungeon crawling and the visual novel segments. In no area does that game really go above and beyond like games that focus on one element do. The voice acting is the only thing that truly impressed me throughout Damnachi.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Myth Infinite Combate is a serviceable dungeon crawler and visual novel. The dungeon crawling is mildly enjoyable and the visual novel scenes present the story well, but this game doesn’t really excel anywhere. Still, it’s worth checking out for fans of the franchise or genre. Just don’t expect anything revolutionary.