Kaizen Game Works returns with another game full of wonderfully weird freaks as EpicRPGTales’ Promise Masot Agency review gets down and dirty with the madcap mascot management RPG.
When Kaizen game Works released freeform cosmic detective RPG Paradise Killer in 2020, I was blown away by it. Many games try hard to feel like a throwback to the early 2000s era of oddball creativity in game development, but miss the mark, becoming more of a homage than a love letter.
Paradise Killer, with its vibrant, neon-soaked lanscape, wild characters, and City Pop-infused soundtrack, honestly felt like a game that had popped through a wormhole from 2001. It’s also an excellent game. The open-ended approach to the investigation of a mass murder on an island situated in a pocket dimension kept me guessing and deducting for a long time, and by the end, it had forever burned itself into my eyes and eardrum.
So, understandably, I’ve been anticipating the studio’s follow-up. My expectations weighed heavily, and I viewed Promise Mascot Agency with both enthusiasm and trepidation ahead of actually playing it. How could Kaizen Game Works possibly top the surprising ambition of its spectacular debut?
Promise Mascot Agency shows ambition in a different way than Kaizen’s previous game. It’s just as open in terms of exploration, but a little more streamlined in terms of gameplay flexibility. It’s more of a technical leap with more eclectic gameplay. Part open-world RPG, part management sim, Promise Mascot Agency quickly establishes its ludicrous premise to introduce both sides of this mix.
Promise Mascot Agency Review: Freak Show
Protagonist Michi is a disgraced yakuza (voiced by Kazuma Kiryu himself, Takaya Kuroda) who is sent to the cursed town of Kaso-Machi, a place said to be a death sentence for male yakuza. He’s sent to try and recoup a substantial sum of cash he lost on a job by reviving the local business. The local business is a mascot agency that provides mascot-related services to local businesses. Oh, and the mascots aren’t just folks in furry suits, they’re living breathing things with magical powers.
Michi quickly learns that reviving the mascot agency won’t be quite as straightforward as it appears. The town is not just cursed, it’s practically dying thanks to a corrupt mayor. So the only mascots around are the absolute dregs, and the only clientele are in a bad spot themselves. Michi’s guide in Kaso-Michi is a walking, talking severed finger with anger issues known as Pinky.
So to reverse their fortunes, Michi and Pinky take to the streets of Kaso-Machi in Michi’s trusty, rusty truck, recruiting the volatile mascots for jobs at dying businesses. A job that’s hard enough without outside threats conspiring to make things more complicated and Michi’s past coming into play.
Kaso-Machi is presented through a hazy retro lens, and much like its predecessor, it instantly feels like a lost gem from the turn of the century. The town is large without being overwhelming, a proper old-school open world. It’s not one that exactly adheres to subtlety or realism, as the sky is often littered with looming markers shaped like Pinky, and an abundance of weirdos inhabit the dilapidated town (okay, that’s not entirely unrealistic). It’s distinct, quick and easy to navigate, and crucially, full of interesting things to see and do.
Outside of mascot jobs, the majority of your time in Promise Mascot Agency is spent exploring the town. It was always going to be crucial that this aspect of the game didn’t get stale or too repetitive. For the most part, the game succeeds. The smaller-scale open world makes it feel like less of a laborious task to see and do everything, and the interruption of mascot job troubles does break things up nicely. There are spells where it can feel a touch aimless, but the soundtrack was a fine accompaniment on those rambling explorations, making them a lot more pleasant than I expected.
But yes, the mascot management is the soul of Promise Mascot Agency. It provides so much farcical joy. Once you’ve rounded up a few mascots for the agency, you’re able to send them out on jobs. Depending on the mascot’s laughable special skills, they’ll be more suited to specific jobs. The problem is, they are terrible at being in public, so Michi often gets asked to offer clandestine help so they don’t embarrass themselves too much by getting stuck in doors or setting themselves on fire.
When this happens, the game switches to a live feed of whatever event the mascot is working on, and Michi must play Hero Cards to avoid catastrophe. Hero Cards are gained by talking to the non-mascot oddballs found around town, and they offer unique stats to damage the health bar of whatever offending obstacle to success your mascot is being thwarted by. So there’s a card-battling system in there that pits a guy adorned in road safety signs against dodgy cooking equipment. Using Hero cards successfully means the job finishes smooth and you get full profits, but fumble it and you get a reduced payout.
Wonderful Weirdos
As much as the mascots are insufferable pains at work, you still have to take care of them. You offer contracts when hiring them that promise a particular cut of any profits, bonuses, holiday time, and the like. The more you offer the higher the chance they accept your contract and feel valued. But that means you make less money in the short term, which is an issue given the ticking clock of Michi’s perilous situation, both mortally and financially.
The mascots are an endearing bunch at least. Disastrous as they may be, their offbeat personalities are a constant source of amusement and I couldn’t help but root for them as they faced (often self-inflicted) adversity. Meeting Pinky gives you a good idea of just how messed up these mascots are going to be, but there were still some hilarious surprises. I was initially left wanting more mascots to find than the game provided, but I can understand why Kaizen chose to focus on a relatively small but varied pool of characters instead of a flurry of filler. Makes the prospect of any potential sequel more enticing, right?
It’s interesting that the Yakuza series’ lead voices Promise Mascot Agency’s protagonist. Because this game often feels like an acid-dipped take on the silly business side stories found in Sega’s beloved RPG series. As with that series, Promise Mascot Agency’s story features plenty of drama, comedy, violence, and heart. The story here seems simple enough to begin with, but over time, it opens up and got me really invested in the plight of Michi, Pinky and the town of Kaso-Machi.
Kaizen Game Works has followed up a cracking debut with a confident management RPG full of vibrant, eccentric life and flavor. It keeps things relatively compact whilst offering rewarding exploration and hilarious mascot management.
Score 8/10 – Great
Developer: Kaizen Game Works
Publisher: Kaizen Game Works
Reviewed on: PS5
Promise Mascot Agency is out now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
