Jason DittonSome reviews are easy to get off the ground. There are precedents, genres, comparisons to draw attention to, to help the reader understand what they’d be getting into. There are open books, what you see on the page is what you get, and incredibly easy to get your head around. However, there are also situations like the one we have before us today, where the situation is a skosh more difficult to describe, and there are a fair number of questions to answer in a fairly short amount of available text. So, let’s take a trip to Kaso-Machi, visit the sights, meet the people, and let see what answers we can get before our time is up, shall we?
A Winding Road, To A Seemingly Peaceful Town
What, exactly, is Promise Mascot Agency, I hear you ask? The most reductive answer, and it’s not necessarily a good one, is that PMA is an open world exploration visual novel with some collect-a-thon elements, that also happens to be an semi-idling mascot business simulator, where the majority of your time will be spent driving around a charming, if, at the start of the game, fairly run down rural Japanese town. Honestly, it’s a fairly intuitive concept to understand once you, as the protagonist, disgraced “dead” Yakuza Michizane “Michi” Sugawara, are allowed out of the body-bag in the truck bed, and after he’s come to grips with his new partner, Pinky, a mascot that’s… exactly what you’d expect from someone named Pinky, if a tad more hot-blooded than you’d think.
Take Your Time To Look Around, There’s A Lot To Uncover Here
“Mmm-mmmph-mmmph-mmph mmph?” I also hear you ask, and it’s a reasonable question. On paper, this does sound like it should be something of a mess, a hodgepodge of ideas thrown at a wall that happened to slide down and coalesce into a odd-smelling pile of goo at in the corner of a establishment that you really do not want to be close enough to be able to smell in the first place. And that’s without the additional elements that Kaizen Game Works sprinkles into as it progresses.
These include the well-paced card battles with “Mascot Support Heroes” that you collect and enhance to help your Mascots get past nefarious obstacles such as slightly too small doors, malfunctioning cash registers, and eventual actual evil spirits that wish to devour your soul, fairly short and simple signing the Mascots for the titular Promise Mascot Agency, to using a crane game to collect mascot merchandise for you sell to local businesses, just to name a few.
Before you ask, the game handles like a dream, if occasionally a fever dream. It’s honestly some of the best controls for a vehicle I’ve seen in a game, and considering, you will be spending every moment you have direct control over a character in PMA in the same truck, it needs the controls to be as smooth and responsive as they are, especially with some of the narrow paths you drive on and over in said truck. It can be a bit quirky at times, but those are generally situations combined with truck upgrades you can get throughout the game, and the quirkiness is solely because of the speed and altitudes you can get up to later on.
A Lovely Place, With (Mostly) Lovely People
Another reasonable question is, how long will this take to finish? “This sounds like a lot at once, and we’re all familiar with dishes that spread similar ingredients too thinly, and end up making a sort of flavorless gruel. Let me guess, $60 or more, and an equal number of hours in a misguided attempt to make the game last longer instead of making you want to eat it?” Again, reasonable but, for once, entirely too cynical in this case.
In my case, I finished my first portion of PMA in a little less than 11 hours, from first bite until… final credits, as I admit the food metaphor has finally failed me. It moves at a pretty good pace, and you can put in whatever you want of it. You want to skip the majority of the side-quests, getting to know the town’s inhabitants, and the Mascots you don’t have to recruit? It would take you considerably less time, but you’d be missing out on the heart of Promise Mascot Agency, and the experiences that Michi and his partner, Pinky, have as they conduct business.
As they discover more about the town, why Kaso-Machi is the way that it is, and how they can make it’s inhabitants, their mascots and their own lives better. You’d be missing out on the glorious soundtrack, the performances of a truly phenomenal voice cast, some genuinely charming characters, and darn fine writing. It’s largely hilarious, but with honestly lovely character moments, and heart to hearts between the cast members.
Here Are The Keys To The Truck
If any of this sounds like it might be appetizing to you or has piqued your interest, try the demo. It’s up on PSN right now, spend a night at the Agency, as it were. It might not be your kind of town, if it isn’t, well, get back into the truck, and head right back out of here; no harm, no foul. If you’re something of a odd duck like me, however, and end up taking a shine to this place? You like driving around town, getting to know the townsfolk, perhaps have designs on running the local openly and obviously corrupt mayor out of town to give the townspeople a chance at a better life? Sign on with the Promise Mascot Agency full time, they’ll take very, very good care of you.
Mmm? What am I going to do without the truck keys? I adore Kaso-Machi! I might have finished my business here, but I’ve grown to adore this place and the people in it, think I might end up retiring here. In a less long-winded and literary sense, I should be clear. Promise Mascot Agency is a freaking fantastic title. It’s a bit weird, yes, and it’s absolutely not for everyone. But, for the people that end up picking it up, I genuinely believe you will grow to love this game as much as I have.
