Also on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch
Publisher: Kaizen Game Works
Developer: Kaizen Game Works
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T
I don’t know if Promise Mascot Agency is the strangest game I’ve ever played, but it’s definitely got to be up there. It’s a self-described “open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator”…and somehow, that only captures a part of the weirdness in store for anyone who plays it.
Of course, seeing as the game is about a yakuza hitman exiled to a town inhabited by mutant, sentient mascots who need you to help them restore the town to its former glory, I don’t know how it could be anything but weird. It’s not like that kind of premise lends itself to something simple and straightforward, you know?
And yet, at the same time, Promise Mascot Agency sort of strives to be simple and straightforward beneath all those trappings, which, if you think about it, may be the biggest indicator of its weirdness.
However you want to look at it, though, Promise Mascot Agency is the kind of game that needs explanation more than anything else. And, strangely, it’s not that hard to describe: you’re basically driving around a town called Kaso-Machi, completing tasks and carrying out quests in your trusty pick-up truck. The more you do, the more money you earn, and the more you earn, the more you build up your business empire.
All of this could even be described as “normal” if it weren’t for the fact that you’re joined on this work by Pinky, a sentient thumb that looks like it (she?) is constantly dripping blood. Pinky, you see, has a deep knowledge of Kaso-Machi, and always has handy tips for how you can run and grow your business, whether you need to recruit more mascots to your ever-growing army, find new leads, or maximize your earning potential.
But again, as weird as the trappings are, Promise Mascot Agency really is about growing your business. It’s a game about finding ways to maximize your passive earning potential – not just sending the right mascots on the right jobs, but finding merchandising opportunities and hiring subcontractors and buying boosts that help to make it less likely that a mascot’s job goes haywire. It’s not the deepest management sim you’re ever going to play, but there’s enough depth to it that you can very easily get wrapped up in managing your business, regardless of how weird that business is.
And this is without even touching the story. There’s also a good argument to be made that Promise Mascot Agency is, in fact, a visual novel that goes to great lengths to hide that fact. You might be driving everywhere and adding mascots to your empire and sending them out on jobs, but the narrative gets pushed along largely on static screens that relay huge chunks of plot. If you skip reading all that, you’ll quickly find that you miss out on quite a lot of what goes on.
To be sure, most of what goes on in Promise Mascot Agency is utterly insane if you view it with any kind of detachment. This game is unquestionably bonkers. But it’s also the kind of game you can sink your teeth into in many, many ways, and if you want a unique experience, Promise Mascot Agency offers exactly that.
Kaizen Game Works provided us with a Promise Mascot Agency PC code for review purposes.
