Promise Mascot Agency Review (thejumpingcoffin)
So I was excited for this since I first found out Kaizen were following up Paradise Killer. I had high expectations to say the least, And it's one of the few times I've not been disappointed. Like, not in the slightest. This game has occupied my time since release and it's world, it's characters, it's gameplay loop and it's utterly enthralling and enchanting atmosphere have been just buzzing around my brain.
I have been captivated by this game and now I feel a little sad to have pretty much done everything and rolled credits. It loses none of the sharp, strange cast that Paradise Killer acclimated us to and goes above and beyond in terms of narrative length, subject material and overall scope of work. There's a lot to discover, discuss and derail.
It chooses to cover a lot of pertinent issues I can imagine small towns often face, between being stricken by poverty, being subjugated to mishandling of funds, electoral disputes and corruption, broken homes and found family. It still strings those points into an uplifting, inspiring and poignant story of redemption, friendship and building support groups. It's a sefless game. In the way it handles providing it's content as well within the crux of it's narrative and the points it wishes to hit home.
After just over 17 hours, I have done near enough everything besides maybe like 2-3% of cleanup on the various types of collectables, and that is really this game's only downside. As well as now having amassed a bank value equal to that of the entirety of Norway with nothing further to invest in. It's collectables are numerous, can sometimes be tedious early game if you haven't obtained a specific piece of equipment and are extremely hard to track when you have but only a few left. The gliding mechanic is also a little rough around the edges
But none of that detracts from what I would argue is a near flawless follow up to Paradise Killer. I don't want to say much more than that. But if you're a sucker for great writing, a Yakuza-esque ensemble of ridiculous but heartwarming characters, beautifully unique presentation and killer soundtracks - do yourself a favour and buy this game. I don't often heap this much praise onto things but this is just one of those. I'm glad I got to experience it.
I'll return for the cleanup if and when the alleged QoL changes are made to the collectables as there is also currently a bug that stops counting decimal progress once you reach 99% of a certain collectable so you can't be certain how many are left, and with them being impossible to track it's a bit of a nuisance for the time being.