Short little game about ghosts navigating through afterlife and sin and that whole mess.
I think one of the most fascinating aspects is how the mechanics of the afterlife emotionally impact all parties involve. Reapers grab souls, goddesses judge whether you're meant for heaven or hell, sin twists up lost angry souls, etc etc. The characterization of the main reaper Zogzo is bizarrely endearing. His job is only to slice up souls and send them packing. But he cares too much, trapping souls in his private castle to try and rehabilitate them before their proper judgment. He quite sincerely wants to do good. But he's limited by his own nature as a Reaper and his own perspective. Near the 2/3rds point of the game, you can obey his final warning and attempt to return to the castle. He's sighing in relief just before he's realized he's already attacked the protagonist. He can only gasp in horror that the instincts he's been fighting the entire game betrays him at such a key emotional moment. It works primarily because his sincerity is so debatable throughout the game. That moment of vulnerability, genuine self-disgust, is just so endearing as a character.
The goddess, by comparison, is sympathetic enough to the plight of humans, but its limited by her own perspective. She can't grasp the idea that Zogzo has good intent by leaving souls hanging around the mortal realm. Judging souls is her job and delaying it is just gunking up her system. Zogzo can delay the issue all he wants, she's not gonna count his rehabilitation sessions for shit. And her alliance with the protagonist is largely to further her own holy perspective on fighting demons. She can't actually think about the actual material conditions of humanity cause that's just not in her view of anything. Its these little nuances that avoid the expected "demons = good, angels = good" twist and center a horrible system as an existence for these creatures.
Gameplay broadly involves running from location to location with your latest items to unlock new doors, but it functions well. Minigame battles connecting all the pieces together, encouraging broad challenges. Its challenging enough without being insurmountable.
My favorite part of the game might be just how much of the game is just not interested in getting into gritty edgy content re: sin and violence. Its just not interested in that. Demons and angels are real, but also so are cute little dragons. Goofy things exist in tandem with the violent. Its not trying to be deeper than that and that's the kind of ping-pong in tone I like to see.
I think one of the most fascinating aspects is how the mechanics of the afterlife emotionally impact all parties involve. Reapers grab souls, goddesses judge whether you're meant for heaven or hell, sin twists up lost angry souls, etc etc. The characterization of the main reaper Zogzo is bizarrely endearing. His job is only to slice up souls and send them packing. But he cares too much, trapping souls in his private castle to try and rehabilitate them before their proper judgment. He quite sincerely wants to do good. But he's limited by his own nature as a Reaper and his own perspective. Near the 2/3rds point of the game, you can obey his final warning and attempt to return to the castle. He's sighing in relief just before he's realized he's already attacked the protagonist. He can only gasp in horror that the instincts he's been fighting the entire game betrays him at such a key emotional moment. It works primarily because his sincerity is so debatable throughout the game. That moment of vulnerability, genuine self-disgust, is just so endearing as a character.
The goddess, by comparison, is sympathetic enough to the plight of humans, but its limited by her own perspective. She can't grasp the idea that Zogzo has good intent by leaving souls hanging around the mortal realm. Judging souls is her job and delaying it is just gunking up her system. Zogzo can delay the issue all he wants, she's not gonna count his rehabilitation sessions for shit. And her alliance with the protagonist is largely to further her own holy perspective on fighting demons. She can't actually think about the actual material conditions of humanity cause that's just not in her view of anything. Its these little nuances that avoid the expected "demons = good, angels = good" twist and center a horrible system as an existence for these creatures.
Gameplay broadly involves running from location to location with your latest items to unlock new doors, but it functions well. Minigame battles connecting all the pieces together, encouraging broad challenges. Its challenging enough without being insurmountable.
My favorite part of the game might be just how much of the game is just not interested in getting into gritty edgy content re: sin and violence. Its just not interested in that. Demons and angels are real, but also so are cute little dragons. Goofy things exist in tandem with the violent. Its not trying to be deeper than that and that's the kind of ping-pong in tone I like to see.