REVIEW : Potion Permit (PC)
MassHive Media, an Indonesian independent studio that previously created the turn-based RPG Azure Saga: Pathfinder, which was released four years ago, was one of the protagonists of the most recent Wholesome Direct 2022 with the Potion Permit trailer. Potion Permit immediately piqued our interest due to its delicious pixel art and non-trivial theme: the protagonist is a budding pharmacist, and to advance in our career, we must fight monsters, find the right cure for the sick, and earn the trust of the people of Moonbury.
After many hours in the company of the title developed by MassHive Media, we are ready to tell you what we think in our review of the Potion Permit.
Moonbury, here we come!
It is common for the protagonists of our favourite video games to be treated with various concoctions and medicinal potions, but have you ever wondered how these are made? Certainly, there is an expert connoisseur of natural products and their properties behind the deft hand of a pharmacist. Potion Permit delves into the pharmacological art of previous centuries, when the pharmacist was also a doctor, botanist, and possibly a magician and alchemist, possessing all-encompassing knowledge.
Following a brief editor to build our character’s aesthetic, we witness a conversation between the head of the Medical Association of the capital of a fantasy world and the protagonist, who has been sent to the distant island of Moonbury to represent the association. When the train arrives at the station, we are greeted by the mayor, his wife, and other locals who have gathered in the local pub to greet us. Not everyone is pleased with our arrival: one of the themes that will follow us throughout the adventure – which can be completed in about twenty hours – immediately emerges, namely the need to earn the trust and respect of the island’s citizens. Yes, because there are some dark secrets to the Medical Association’s operated past in Moonbury.
We will discover that some plants have become extinct as we explore the green expanses of the island in search of ingredients for potions, and we will come across strange craters that regurgitate a mysterious purple liquid. It is obvious that a real disaster has occurred, which is why the initial conversations with the inhabitants are often cold and detached: on the island, there is a strong distrust of anyone coming from the capital. We must roll up our sleeves and prove our worth, beginning with Rue, the mayor’s daughter who is ill and in need of medical attention.
Thanks to a good level of writing and a character design that manages to give life and liveliness to all the supporting actors of the adventure, we followed the events of the citizens of Moonbury and the developments of their relationships with the protagonist with interest. However, once the events of the small town had passed, we were unwilling to continue working as pharmacists.
Just a little sugar and the potion goes down
We stated that pharmacological art is central to Potion Permit: everything revolves around the study of new recipes and the discovery of ingredients in the island’s ecosystems, which we then apply to patient diagnosis and, finally, treatment. Rue, who has been ill for months and has not benefited from the treatment offered by the sorcerer Matheo, who is hostile to anything remotely related to the world of science, introduces us to these mechanics – the beating heart of the gameplay.
The first step in approaching the patient is the diagnosis: we focus on examining a part of the painful body to determine what is wrong based on what the patient declares. All of this is accomplished through very simple minigames such as pressing buttons in time or repeating a specific key sequence. The first flaw of Potion Permit is right here: the minigames quickly become repetitive and trivial, incapable of providing even a minimal level of challenge, which is a real shame. Once this phase is complete, the pharmacist will be able to identify a cure, and our trusty cauldron will come into play.
In contrast to the diagnostic mini-games, the Tetris-like game aimed at “building” potions can be described as highly successful, entertaining, and stimulating. It is necessary to use the ingredients – herbs, mushrooms, but also stones and bear skins – while keeping in mind the shape assigned to them for the composition of the concoctions, respecting a maximum of usable elements, and ensuring that the contours of the potion in question are precisely covered. In its simplicity, a game of joints manages to engage the player, especially in the case of the most advanced potions.
Carrying out these steps flawlessly will allow us to heal him and increase the trust of the Moonbury residents in us, allowing us to learn more about them, take on missions assigned to us, and thus continue in the plot of Potion Permit. Leaving the sick to their fate will result in a loss of prestige in the eyes of the community, which will be forced to turn to Matheo, who is always eager to snatch some patients from us: the best strategy is to devote oneself to the sick in the early hours of the day and make them our priority, a simpler task. because of the clinic’s proximity to the pharmacist’s home
An adventurous pharmacist
It’s easy to believe that Potion Permit covers everything: diagnosis, potion preparation, and patient care. Not so: just as in Stardew Valley, albeit with a more imaginative bent and strong fantasy implications, there are exploration and combat sessions in the title signed by MassHive Media, aimed at finding ever new resources and materials for our potions.
There is a coincidence (functional, of course, but initially perplexing) between the harvesting and offensive instruments: hammer, sickle, and axe are used depending on the situation to split rocks, cut basil stems, and get wood from trees, but they are also tools of death for the poor beasts that we will encounter on our journey.
We say “poor” because the AI of the enemies is not the brightest, and the cheapness of the cures available to us – foods purchased at the local pub – combined with the opponents’ often low levels of HP will make them cannon fodder to be exterminated. mercilessly. In a video game that preaches values like respect for nature and expresses concern about its unregulated exploitation by man, mercilessly slaughtering hundreds of wild animals with the same sickle with which we collect wild herbs generated in the player, in the long run,
The joy of living in pixel art
To say that the art direction does everything possible to convey a sense of beauty: MassHive Media’s work reveals a deep knowledge of pixel art as well as a distinct talent for building a coherent world from an artistic standpoint. In this regard, Potion Permit’s design choices reminded us of Eastward, another oriental production title that was one of the most visually stunning last year.
We had no technical issues with the test setup: Potion Permit is not demanding, and the minimum system requirements are quite accommodating. The team released several updates in the lead-up to the game’s release to fix some bugs we haven’t had direct experience with.
