I don't like writing bad reviews of Indie games, but I believe it's necessary. I don't recommend the game, unless you want to help the studio.

Everyone with two seeing eyes agree that the art is great. Period. Unfortunately for this game, the "good" ends here.

I've been playing lots of these visual novels, story-driven games, so when I say there's not much to play it's because there's not. It's just too linear and things happen too fast. It also falls short on character development, where few are introduced just to make the plot move forward before they disappear (until they're needed again twice down the road). There's not much about them besides their role: the cop, the shop owner, the big bad villain, etc etc.

The gameplay is what you expect in this kind of game, although too simple (4 or 5 events at most per act) with lots of needless backtracking. To illustrate, on one event we have to (i) talk to a guy; (ii) go to a building; (iii) when you arrive there you realise you need the guy; (iv) go back to the guy; (v) go back to the building. Nothing happens in between: it's just clicking one screen after another. Another thing that annoyed me is that early in the game you read an e-mail that hints about a secret key to open a room. I searched everywhere and couldn't find it (tbh maybe this one's on me, but I'm not sure). There were also some annoying bugs, but nothing TOO bad.

The story, well.. It has a good setting, but feels rushed, and the end is quite anti-climatic imo.. It just.. ends??.

There is potential here and I hope this game helps the studio to deliver a better project in the future.

Really nice story game with a few puzzles. Gets you about 5-6 hours of gameplay with a decent story :)

The game is carried by its excellent art, but the writing is bland and full of typos, the characters are inconsistent and the puzzles are somewhere between brain-dead and frustrating. I think even if those issues were fixed, there's still a general lack of polish around everything but the art. The music isn't great, and the comic book style cutscenes lack punch because the soundscape is generally pretty barren. Occasionally sound effects play during the cutscenes, like gunshots, but a lot of the cutscenes are very action heavy and yet there's no sounds to give those moments any punch.
It's not a long game either, maybe 7-8 hours, but I do still feel like it overstays its welcome and could have probably been a couple of hours shorter.

Despite my issues, I do think there is promise here and I hope the developer keeps at it.

Firstly the art style is great. It's hyper stylised, it's dark, it's rough at times. The framing for each shot is sublime, there's been a strong effort within this to bring the city to life and it really works. Aside from the odd character model, or in world detailing (the tattoo machine being particularly egregious) it's awesome and that alone kept me playing through to the end.

The game is basically a graphic novel (no issue with that) slapped on top of a adventure light game with some fairly easy and straightforward puzzles to solve.

There are a number of mini games to break up exploration, none of which are 'bad' but none really add much of worth other than breaking up the otherwise straight forward game-play.

The dialogue though, which features heavily, is horrifically bad. It reads like a teenage boy's first draft of a BatmanXHellboy fanfic, complete with an abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. The storytelling is just as bad, tonally it misses the mark, the plot develops at a really odd pace, character development is poor, character voice shifts dramatically from scene to scene, there's poor ensemble of characters. There's too much to go into, but in short, it's a mess.

The music goes from mediocre to jarring and obnoxious at a moment's notice and there's a real lack of cohesion to the music and overall sound design.

It's a shame because I really love the art style, and it's unfortunate that the game and story do not do it justice.

The plot and writing, dark art style, and strong main character carry this adventure game well over the top. Wish it was longer, but it told its story well. Drawbacks are some slight glitches/interface hiccups remain, objectives are not always clearly suggested, and near the beginning the open map leaves you wandering lost through the world. Did I mention the dark gothic art, which I think was buy the darkest dungeon artist? Yowza!

A compelling, entertaining, and funny-at-times, story about the price of duty; accompanied by stunningly beautiful art with impeccable style. 8.5/10


Some notes:
1. Lovely detailing about environmental storytelling and characterization using the game's mechanics.
2. Very minute jankiness in code and interface/clues, that hindered the gameplay only once that I recall.
3. Great and colorful characters.
4. Having played Hellslave, I enjoy the subtly hidden horniness in the art.
4.b Having said that, I also noticed in Hellslave that the only Prince-of-Demons who was depicted as a woman was Asmodeus, as is the case here. I would've hoped for some subversion on that side, especially since the artist draws the male figure excessively well.

pros

✅ a dark, mature, compelling and creepy story about an apostle who came to a crime-ridden city to fight demons whom they could possess humans and make bad deeds.
✅ impressive graphic novel-styled hand-drawn background artwork and cut scenes
✅ dark and grim noir atmosphere
✅ great soundtrack bolsters and fits the general atmosphere
✅ there are two playable characters
✅ main and side supporting characters likeable
✅ nice variety and fun to solve puzzles
✅ there is a button that highlights hotspots, so there is no pixel hunting
✅ there is a tutorial
✅ there is auto save
✅ easy to use point & click controls and interface
✅ decent length

cons

❌ iffy english translation. there are also some typos and grammatical errors.
❌ there are some frustrating mini games, poorly clued puzzles and QTE moments in which you can die
❌ there is no voice acting except one words like "thanks" “what?” “damn!” “hmmm,” etc.
❌ there are no steam achievements and cards
❌ there is a map without shortcuts, which causes too much backtracking and confusion about where or which way to go.
❌ The protagonist's and main story's conclusion is not very satisfying and rushed. I was not expecting a cliched happy and butterfly-like ending, but I found the conclusion pretty lame.

Overall, this is a decent comic novel-style point-and-click adventure and puzzle game.

You remember that quiet kid from high school? Always seemed kinda nice, but had some weird interests in mythology and spirituality? Wore a lot of black, kept to himself? Probably read Berserk and imagined himself as Guts? Playing this game is like stepping into that person's mind and seeing the world through their eyes.

This game is more like a graphic novel that someone scanned into their computer and turned into an adventure game. The artstyle is beautiful: interesting character designs, detailed backgrounds, interesting colors, it's got it all. The soundtrack complements the visuals perfectly, creating a gloomy but engrossing atmosphere. This is a great game to play when you're home alone on a Friday night.

The story is....serviceable. I can't lie, it's the game's weakest point, but it is just good enough to get the job done. The dialogue is a little awkward and the main character is one of those stereotypical lone-wolf weight-of-the-world "I alone must save the world, it is my burden to bear" types. When he's not saving beautiful women, he's resisting the temptations of beautiful women who are out to distract him from his path. He's cool under pressure, he's got a slightly sarcastic sense of humor, he's....what every non-popular boy thought of himself in high school. Despite this faintest whiff of "Nice Guy" energy, I found myself rooting for our protagonist, and while the story is a pretty cliched "angels vs demons" plot, I was still invested in seeing where it went.

At the end of the day, I think the crowd got it right with these reviews: beautiful art, good music, meh story, not-great dialogue, but an overall enjoyable experience. I might recommend waiting for a sale, but I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot.

a flawed gem

The art style is phenomenal. The music is great, and the characters are fun. I also enjoyed the story. I did run into a couple of bugs but nothing game breaking.

I just wish there was more of this game or even a sequel. I wish I could play the game again and discover everything for the first time again.

Hopefully, the developer keeps making more games like this.