Hah! I tricked you in the headline! I’m not being very normal about it all! In fact, I’d describe my feelings towards Promise Mascot Agency – the next game by Paradise Killer developers Kaizen Game Works – as “absolutely feral”.
Open-world detective-em-up Paradise Killer was easily my favourite game of 2020 and has firmly cemented its place in my mind as one of the greatest indie games ever made (an opinion we made official earlier this year on the podcast when we placed it into our prestigious Indieventure vault).
An intriguing murder mystery wrapped in a sexy, zany, religiously charged outer layer, Paradise Killer was a bold debut that rightfully received a bunch of accolades for its writing, visual splendour and world-building prowess. If you haven’t played it yet I’m afraid we can’t be friends, and I’d prefer you quietly lie to me about it rather than admit that to my face. Thanks.
Promise Mascot Agency – announced on Monday – is exactly the type of follow-up I expected Kaizen to make: something completely different. You play as Michi, a ex-Yakuza lieutenant banished to the sleepy town of Kaso-Machi to take over a floundering mascot agency. From there, you’ll spend your days collecting mascots like Pokémon, helping them out via card-based minigames, and pottering around the town in your little truck.
It all looks suitably strange. Mascots – a marketing tool utilised by Japanese corporations more frequently than in the UK – usually have a sweaty bloke operating them from within like a felt mech, but here they seem to be fully sentient, co-existing with the human population of Kaso-Machi. Everyone seems cool with it! I wouldn’t be! Their presence raises too many (horrifying) questions about existence.
Surprising no one, I am extremely into this. A quiet open-world town filled with quirky characters to befriend and dark secrets to uncover is giving off big Deadly Premonition vibes, a game I adore but has yet to be challenged in any meaningful way in the fifteen years since its release (even by its direct sequel and its spiritual successor The Good Life, both of which were a bit piss).
In short: I am very excited for Promise Mascot Agency and if you’re reading this blog, I assume you are as well. Here’s the trailer: