Ambition of the Slimes review
The latest SRPG for Nintendo 3DS is Altair Works’ Ambition of the Slimes. Bearing little resemblance to Dragon Quest Slimes other than in name; Ambition of the Slimes sees you control a horde of Slimes in war with an evil race known as Humans. The Slimes unfortunately aren’t strong fighters so you must ‘Claim’ the Humans where your Slime enters the Human’s mouth, and when successful the human’s eyes and mouth turn red and s/he is ‘Claimed’ and can now battle his/her once comrades!
Originally released on smartphones in October 2014 as a free-to-play game and ported to 3DS by Flyhigh Works in June 2016 for ¥500 ($5). The 3DS version however features no obtrusive in-game ads and adds both stereoscopic 3D and an easy mode. The game also boasts an English language option. Ambition of the Slimes begins with three tutorial levels which achieve the perfect middle-ground between handholding and leaving you clueless. After the tutorial, the game begins proper.
Choose difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard or Challenge), deploy which Slimes to take into battle (there are 33 in total, each with differing abilities), partake in a little trash talk and it’s game on! Rules are simple: claim and/or kill all Humans (there are 41 types of human, again with different abilities). Each combatant has either the Fire, Water or Grass ability (Fire > Grass, Grass > Water and Water > Fire) with battles also favouring the Human, Slime or Claimant standing on the highest platform.
Your Slimes level up upon victory (only Slimes are carried over to the next stage however) and a new Slime offers to join your party (or walks away lonely if you decline the invitation!). There are eight areas in the game each with between three and six stages. Whilst a simple little eShop title in no-way compares to the likes of Fire Emblem if, to make such a comparison is an absurd proposition. Ambition of the Slimes’ simplicity is what makes the game so easy to pick-up and yet so hard to put-down.
8/10
Buy ¥1,000 digital eShop voucher
