I’ll admit that, after all the news revolving around AJ Tilley and the less than stellar release of Beach Bounce that I went in with very low expectations when I decided to try out Divine Slice of Life. And, to put it in a single sentence, it’s not a great game but it’s not as bad as I feared. I did manage to get through all nine endings, which is saying something because I was prepared to get to one and call it a day.
Divine Slice of Life does have its flaws but for what it is I can say that it might be worth trying out if you can get it on the cheap. It’s most certainly not worth picking up at the full price, though. One of the biggest issues is with the length. I mentioned that I managed to get all nine endings, but that was in one three-hour sitting. $16 is way too much to ask for such a short game. Five would have been much more bearable. Still, I got my copy free from backing Echo Tokyo so I can’t really complain much there.
My other major gripe is in regards to the voice overs. Thankfully, this can be turned off in the settings, but I really did want to get a feel for how the actresses read their lines. Unfortunately, I had a hard time listening to them as their work, for the most part, fell flat. I struggled to find emotion in their lines and oftentimes they felt forced or half-assed. I’ll also add here that the quality was quite inconsistent and was often drowned out by the music. I had to move the slider to almost mute to be able to hear anyone talking.
The story and dialogue in Divine Slice of Life is, at best, corny. You play as a college student who can’t seem to bring himself to ask girls out on dates, although it’s pretty obvious to everyone but him that some of them want him anyway. Enter two girls who we quickly learn are the descendants of the Greek goddesses Aphrodite and Athena and they claim that said timid guy is the reincarnation of Zeus. Yeah, it’s weird but it does have some moments.
Aside from these two who want him pretty much so that they can ascend to the Pantheon of the gods you’ve also got two other girls pining over him, three if you count the…well, I won’t spoil that ending. I actually liked his interactions with his childhood friend, and her “good” ending is my favorite. My only issue with regards to the plot is that a lot of it seems rushed. However, unlike Beach Bounce it doesn’t feel like half of the game is missing. Basically you have to make up your mind within a couple days.
To be quite blunt, Divine Slice of Life isn’t a horrible game but at the same time it won’t be winning any awards. If you can get it on sale at like 75% off it’s worth playing through if you want to turn your brain off for an hour or two. Just turn off the voice overs if you play.
