Monster girl quest is a very good visual novel, one that helped spark one of my favorite tags in adult games. Monster girls.
Let me tell you right now, that I recommend this title wholeheartedly, and in a world where nothing is truly unique or original anymore, this is pretty close to it. The main (and possibly the only real) problem MGQ has, it's the combat, and its RNG element. (Oh sweet RNG, how I need, but also don't want to notice thee).
Let me illustrate: Whether you play on normal or hard, it's possible to fight the same battle 10 times using the exact same sequence of movements and lose, but on the 11th try, you win comfortably (changing nothing), because the enemy decided to do something that benefits you. Any sense of accomplishment, that is due in a videogame combat system is not present here.
The boss before the last one, had my blood pressure spiking (you laugh at people who smash their screens until the day comes...), and I'm pretty sure I lost that fight 20 or 30 times, waiting for the "right alignment of the stars."
There's other things like little voice acting (there's some in H-scenes), the production values being limited or the mechanical nature of the quest objectives (do 3 things move on to the next area), but complaints against the very nature of the title, bare less weight in my opinion. I always want more, changing something to something else isn't fair.
The rest is all pretty good:
- A different approach to H-scenes - Today not so impressive, (Shota and "reverse-rape" go hand in hand) in 2011 very much so.
- Actual monster girls - Don't get me started on this 1. If you think Vanilla from Nekopara (Nekopara is the greatest thing ever) counts as a monster girl, you are WRONG. It's not furries, it's not nekomimi or kemonomimi, and it's not your imaginary girlfriend with accessories. Monster girls!!! There's quite a few good examples here.
"The good thing about monster girls is that the monster part is on the outside" - Me, adapted from yet another jaded cynic on the internet.
- Memorable characters, with some depth, personal agenda, and recognizable quirks. It feels somewhat close to some of the great VN's like Muramasa (I'm close to sinning saying that). What I mean by that is that the villains, are simply individuals driven by their own desires, and the good guys quickly understand that notions of heroism are usually blocked, by the logistics of trying to make everyone happy. Ilyas, Alice, "the elite 4", the protagonist etc... Most characters with some screen time, end up showing some sort of evolution. That's a strong positive.
- The premise - The hero is on a journey to kill the monster lord, while also advocating coexistence between humans and monsters, and the "side kick" is an incredibly powerful monster girl. Everywhere you go there's a lot of gray, and if you ask me, stories like that are the ones worth reading. There's still some good and evil here, but absolute notions are almost non-existent. Even god, just needs a slap on the wrist, and hear the word NO.
- Alice and the protagonist - I know, I know, it's the "tsundere" with a twist, but said twist is excellent. You won't find a lot of romance that progresses like this, in ANY visual novel. I'm tempted to insert some spoilers, but I won't. They work really well together (tender moments, funny moments, violent moments), and like I said before, they evolve through the story (and influence each other in noticeable ways), but at their core they stay coherent, especially the protagonist, whose entire life story is kicked around like a football. Very impressive.
I will wrap up by saying, that the combat system ended up ruining my experience, but this is still nowhere close to a mixed bag. It's a very good VN and, I'd give the "trilogy" a high 7 or a low 8 out of 10. If you like JRPGS do yourself a favor and play MONSTER GIRL QUEST PARADOX, after this one. If you become a fan of monster girls (as well you should) try MONSTER GIRL 1000 ( the spirit is there).