Promise Mascot Agency Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, & PC)

Why so serious? Promise Mascot Agency would ask. Both you and its protagonist, an ex-Yakuza member. Why the long face? Sure, you owe the Yakuza 12,000,000,000 Yen. If you don’t pay it back, it’s “Game Over” for you and death in a forgotten town for your protagonist. But no fret, says Promise Mascot Agency. We got you. Not just with the opportunity to make stupid cash. But most of all, we got you with smiles and corny jokes. Ha!

Kaizen Game Works’ new game is unlike most. It leans more on their first game’s wacky and wild vibes, Paradise Killer if you remember it. Except now, the developer doubles down on the far-fetched and crazy ideas. Being an indie game, I expect nothing less. Indie games are the blank canvas to experiment with all sorts of absurd ideas. It’s the chance to throw all the wild notions of what a game shouldn’t be at the wall and see what sticks.

The end result will, of course, likely not hit the sweet spot for every gamer. That’s to be expected with games that aren’t afraid to color outside the lines. Yet, for the gamer that it resonates with, you’ll hardly feel the need to drop your playthrough mid-way. Even after you complete the main story, you’ll find yourself going back for a completionist’s run of your own accord. Find our thoughts about the game in our extensive Promise Mascot Agency review below.

Pivotal Moments

“The Janitor,” as our protagonist, Michizane “Michi” Sugawara, is most known, has just lost 12,000,000,000 Yen’s worth of Yakuza money. An offense so huge he should have been killed. But he escapes death by the whiskers and is condemned to a forgotten town where ex-Yakuza members go to die. Kaso-Machi’s standing in society is as bad as it looks. 

Covered in a shadowy color palette, grim and soulless, you can feel death creeping through every corner of the slowly crumbling city. This is the town you’re meant to start a new life, managing a derelict mascot agency situated in what used to be a love hotel. If there was any other choice, I’m sure Michi would have taken it. But between death and bringing the mascot agency back to life, yeah, better get to work. 

The Absurdity of it All

At least you soon get the help of a peculiar mascot, the last one left at the agency. He goes by Pinky and looks like a severed thumb. It’s not nearly as gross as it sounds, with his vibrant pink and fiddly hands. Plus, his personality will have you reeling in laughter: a little cute, a little deadly. “Let’s kill the mayor,” he says, which the mayor deserves. In a town left with so little, the mayor still galavants around, bleeding its citizens dry. 

Finally, Michi and Pinky arrive at a more, uhm, reasonable conclusion to support Pinky for the next term’s run for mayor. Who knows how that will turn out, with Michi and Pinky running over the opposing mayor’s campaign signs every chance they get? Yet this is only a taste of the absurdity that awaits you in Promise Mascot Agency. 

The developers knew the kind of silly game they wanted to make and leaned heavily on the tongue-in-cheek humor and unexpected mascots you meet along the way with mindblowing storylines. Every dialogue is well-written and accompanied by stellar voice acting, all in Japanese. It’s all impressive that despite Japanese voice acting, the authenticity and humorous lines are more than enough to wait for the next cutscene in earnest.

Down to Business

But hey, before you get carried away by all of Promise Mascot Agency’s shenanigans. And trust me, it’s entirely possible to be carried away, forgetting that you’re here to revive the agency and pay back the Yakuza. Eventually, a “Game Over” will slap across the screen, ensuring your restart is handled with intention. 

So, three parts. You can unravel the story campaign, which will lead you down some pretty intense paths. Like the morally and politically corrupt story arcs involving the mayor and the citizens. You’ll indulge in some absorbing Yakuza crime drama: your “severed finger” companion, a true testament to Yakuza flavor. There’s even a mystery to unravel, linking to the collapse of the town and surprisingly tying to your own personal drama. 

All of that is crafted beautifully, a huge chunk of meat to bite into. But you have actual gameplay elements, too. As a mascot agency manager, you need to recruit mascots to work for you, who’ll be found all over the world map. To track them down, you have your chunky truck that you drive all across the town. Its controls are quite fluid and responsive. Although, it can be a bit wobbly sometimes in a more humorous than annoying way. 

Rev Your Engine

Unfortunately, you cannot explore the open world on foot. All exploration is completed behind the wheel, with Pinky strapped to the back of the truck. But honestly, it doesn’t feel like missing out on much, especially with the collect-a-thon you can engage in while driving and fast travel later on.

From trash to Mascot Support Hero cards and mascot merchandise, the open world offers plenty of precious items to hunt down. Besides, you can run down the opposing mayor’s campaign signs, clean shrines, and help out the locals to keep your exploration ventures more interesting. Helping out the locals, in particular, is quite important, as it rewards you with upgrades. 

But above all, driving the truck is hella fun. Even if you’re driving up a mountain or skidding down into the seashore, Promise Mascot Agency has implemented that sweet spot of casual driving. Perhaps it’s also because of the ‘90s vintage aesthetic of the world, invoking nostalgia at every turn. Perhaps it’s the overall soundtrack, never ceasing to amaze with its memorable mix of modern and classic music. 

This game is all about vibes, through and through. A genuinely bizarre, happy time.

Mascots Assemble

And the last bit: management sim. That seemingly demanding gameplay element shouldn’t turn you off. It’s quite elaborate, with a seamless UI and management system. You’ll “bribe” the mascots you meet with gifts and a sweet package to come to work for your agency. You then send them on different jobs they’re most suited to begin bringing in cash. 

For every completed job, you’ll draw one step closer to paying off your debt. At the same time, remember to level up your mascots, upgrade the agency so your reputation grows, and improve the town as a whole. Soon, a once-dying place will sprout wings: flashy signages go up in the city square, more people begin flurrying into the city, and you can sit back and admire all the work you’ve done.

It’s not always going to be a smooth ride, of course. Your mascots can face problems at work, absurd ones, but still. Like a demon possesses one of them, another gets stuck in the doorway, and such. One remedy is to send mascots with helpful items that ensure they complete their tasks with ease. Other times, you might have to break off from your driving to intervene. 

Take a Detour

This is done via a trading card game. Remember the Mascot Support Hero cards you picked up on your exploration quests? You’ll need them for a short but fun turn-based battling game. It takes place in under 60 seconds. So, make sure to make each second count. Plus, you have limited moves before the game is over. 

But even if you lose the TCG, the punishment isn’t too rough. You’ll likely lose a few bucks on that job or lose a few fans, which would have increased your agency’s reputation. These can always be remedied by taking more jobs and perhaps sending your mascots on jobs with helpful items this time. 

Verdict

And that’s about it for Promise Mascot Agency. Quite the list of things to do there and items to collect. It might seem like a lot, I suppose. But it’s all so seamlessly structured that it never feels like a chore. Plus, the mascots you encounter, some with some grotesque designs, are actually pretty charming. You’ll long remember their jokes and varied personalities as you get to know each one’s quirks.

There can be no describing just how absurd Promise Mascot Agency’s design and execution is until you actually experience it for yourself. Even the story setup is bonkers, and everything else after it keeps getting more bonkers. If there were any frustrations, they went unnoticed because the playthrough was simply too good that it didn’t matter. 

All I could think of after the credits rolled was, “we need more games like this.” One of the reasons we play games is because of their wild imaginations and ability to provide an escape from reality. Well, Promise Mascot Agency’s reality was definitely an escape from our own, though oddly, still bearing painful similarities in the corruption and moral dilemmas plaguing our societies today.