Promise Mascot Agency review – a bizarre and unique open-world RPG

Promise Mascot Agency is a delight for – and assault on – the senses. It scratches unknown itches and brings your mind to sneezing point. It’s loud and bright and chaotic, packed with collectibles and missions, and you’ll spend a good chunk of time traversing its cursed Japanese town in a rickety old pickup van at breakneck speed, glancing at road signs and careening down cliffs, only to be righted again as though nothing had happened once you hit the bottom.

Minigames scrapbook the screen with a collage of UI elements vying for your attention, while chipper music and cheers from the crowd keep you on track. Victories result in confetti and streamers, pop-ups drop with a thunk, characters yell and exclaim – the whole thing feels like a party where you’re the surprise guest.

Somehow cramming together almost any genre you might care to mention – slice-of-life management; friendship building; cozy, open-world RPG; mystery adventure; card-based battler… the list goes on – and veering wildly between offbeat humor and solemn gangland drama, Promise Mascot Agency might just be the game that does everything, and does it all with style.

Paradise Killer developer Kaizen Game Works’ list of inspirations include “Pokemon, Deadly Premonition, Yakuza, Yo-kai Watch, Persona, Crazy Taxi, Viva Pinata (and so many more)” but an unnamed comparison that stuck in my head was Bishi Bashi Special, a Konami party game released in Europe in 2000. Impossibly bright, colorful, and loud, it rewarded every action with huge strobing pop-outs and high-pitched shouts. Yet Promise Mascot Agency infuses the heart of these many games with something new, showing an unlimited curiosity and offering a rich world to explore however you please.

You, a disgraced ex-Yakuza called Michi, arrive in the small town of Kaso-Machi against your will after being exiled. You know two things to start with: you owe 12 million yen after a business deal gone bad, and the town’s Yakuza-killing curse will one day catch up with you. Michi’s unwavering sense of familial duty keeps him going, plus his new business partner, Pinky, a pink fairy mascot resembling a severed finger.

Mascots are a big deal in this town. They’re magical beings with showbusiness in their blood, but every so often their career in the limelight doesn’t go to plan. Whether it’s because they’re shy, unapproachable, or downright scary, they’re outcasts in their hypercompetitive community and somehow all end up in Kaso-Machi. The run-down port town has seen better days, and its corrupt mayor intends to keep all government rejuvenation funding to himself. There are no jobs, shops, trains, or things to do. But that doesn’t stop the townsfolk – mascots and humans alike – from having big dreams.

Promise Mascot Agency is unpredictable and wild, but it’s also a deeply considered game. The more you adjust to life in Kaso-Machi, the more you notice the tiny details. There’s a poster of one of your more risque mascots in the mechanic’s workshop, there are shy deer in the woods at night, and I could swear the van seems a little more prone to crashing as you pass the anti-Yakuza tanuki statues.

But the larger details are also crafted with care. Every sentence adds more substance laden with personality and eccentrisms, and it’s a welcome reprieve from the Marvel-type wisecracking we so often have to put up with in comedy dialogue. It can be brilliantly funny, irreverent, touching, and sad. Most of these outlandish characters just want to be loved, noticed, or respected in their communities, yet they don’t know where to start. Paralyzed by the decaying town around them, all it takes is a little push in the right direction (and an injection of cash) for their dreams to spring back to life.

Although he’s there to bring the Promise Mascot Agency back from its sleazy brink and pay off his debts, Michi can’t help but be drawn into the town and its mysteries. There’s his involvement with a money drop that had disastrous consequences, leaving Michi wondering if he was double-crossed by someone close to him; the town curse and a supposedly haunted mine; the secretive mayor who has dragged Kaso-Machi into disrepute and ruin; and the Mysterious Masked Figures that govern the mascot championships from behind the scenes. 

The townsfolk are also a bright cast of weirdos, from a kinky gimp-suit-wearing bar owner to a city-girl streamer trying to learn the humble art of rice farming. Some are integral to the mystery, while others provide side quests and encouragement for our stoic hero as dark forces close in around him.

Promise Mascot Agency puts a more active spin on the detective game genre by infusing it with management sim features while still delivering on its mystery adventure. It’s not a spreadsheet simulator heaving with responsibility but rather a gentle way to make money and meet friends. You hire mascots, negotiate a contract, and then send them on jobs. You exchange money for town improvements, or you can pay back your boss. Every so often, a mascot may ask you for help achieving their dream. It’s also hard to fail or struggle to find ways to make money, meaning you can focus on the main mystery.

Sending mascots off to complete jobs is straightforward. They each have a categorization – perhaps they’re cute and food-themed, or maybe they’re odd and scary – which matches the request for the event, along with a stamina and motivation bar. The finer details also include happiness and popularity, but these largely take care of themselves. Once you send a mascot away, they will be unavailable for the duration of the event. You can give them a snack or item that enhances their performance, or just hope for the best. If disaster strikes, however, you better be ready to jump in and save the day. 

Using your Mascot Support Hero cards, which you gather and upgrade by making friends with townsfolk and completing their quests, you’ll have to defeat whatever unhinged foe the event might throw at you, from a malfunctioning vending machine to an otherworldly beast. Cards use a set number of actions and do differing amounts of damage. It’s easy enough to get the hang of and provides a fun diversion from driving around and chatting to NPCs.

You might have noticed that lack of difficulty is a recurring thread in Promise Mascot Agency. Collectibles are marked with dots on the map, it’s impossible to damage your car or get anything ‘wrong’ in dialogue, and the card game segments are usually a breeze if you’re leveling up properly. 

As a background to the main story, however, it offers the perfect ratio of minigames, management, and side quests. You’ll never feel swamped, but you’ll always have a reason to keep hopping back and forth through town, meeting new mascots, collecting items for friends, and boosting the local economy. Another beautiful detail comes when you start to rejuvenate the town. Every new shop or tourist trap opens up more jobs for your mascots while also appearing as a new spot on the map. What starts as a dingy, moldy, crusty old town has the potential to become a thriving set of vibrant districts full of visitors and locals. Shop fronts are decorated, markets spring up, lanterns are lit, and you can’t help but feel proud about your part in saving the town. You might even help Pinky become the mayor. 

Not only is there just so much to do in Promise Mascot Agency, but you’ll naturally want to do it. The art style and animations are equally hilarious and endearing, the music will get stuck in your head for months, and the mystery is genuinely intriguing. This is one of the best games I’ve played in years, and in large part that comes down to its immaculate vibes – funky, silly, heartfelt, and warm. My heart will always be in Kaso-Machi, and will long belong to the absolute freaks who call it home.