5 Things That I Liked (And Didn't) When I Played Poison Control (Switch, also PS4) | Backlog Battle

[@aguinaldoferrer6491]

The main thing drawing me to this game was definitely the visual presentation and the character designs/illustrations. It's a little disappointing hearing there's not a whole lot of it in the game. :-(

[@BacklogBattle]

There's at least one illustration at the end of each Hell, but other than that, it's mostly just the talking heads and the void as a background or the Higan Radio graphic that I showed in the video. And there's some in-game cutscenes, though not a lot of it.

[@HybridAngelZero]

I still wanna grab this one. I love wild, weird and experimental stuff like this, and the flaws therein aren't deal breakers for me, personally. I want to support more games that break from the norm.

[@BacklogBattle]

Speaking of supporting people's experimental stuff, I do have a Patreon 😉

[@HybridAngelZero]

@@BacklogBattle Oh, I see what you did there 😏

[@kates5183]

I'll probably pick it up for the same reason. I don't mind some jank!

[@Road_to_Dawn]

Same here!

[@marvinsanluis7410]

Exactly why I bought this game.

[@Zabasu]

thanks for this mini review, i already had a strange feeling when i saw the first trailer. Thank you for confirming what I was thinking

[@BacklogBattle]

No problem! I'm glad it at least informed you in some way!

[@BackloggedGames]

I just watched a review that mentioned poor performance on the PS4 near the end of the game. I look forward to watching this Switch review! Thanks!

[@IrrelevantBecauseReasons]

I saw some reviews for this game and I'm set on getting it. But yeah I understand the feeling. It's like they have all the tools to make a more unique game experience but they don't really expand on that and the game ends up felling like there's something missing or just way too "simple"(I can't think of a better word sorry xD) On a side note, I like this new video format, keep up the good work :)

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you so much! Definitely appreciate the compliment and I hope you enjoy the game!

[@jeanyve_person]

Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking for more opinions on this one.

[@BacklogBattle]

Glad it was helpful!

[@marikouchiwa4093]

Thanks for the review! It made my choice pretty clear now. I am gonna give it a try but when it's gonna be on BIG sale 😄

[@BacklogBattle]

You're welcome! Glad to be of help!

[@TarksGauntlet]

Been steering clear of this one. When it released in Japan I seen some of the gameplay and .... Ehhhhhh. Seeing it again now, can't say my feeling improved much and man, that interface is busy. Princess guide I did find a bit addictive though.

[@BacklogBattle]

I had to actually email NIS to apologize for not covering Princess Guide. I didn't get quite into it as I would've liked. I actually saw your review of Princess Guide when I was looking for footage of the game haha

[@TarksGauntlet]

@@BacklogBattle I completed the game but it took a while to click. Things get more frantic the further in you get and triggering environment traps and stuff can be fun. That said I was not a fan of the visual style or the bouncing characters there. Art direction in general was odd, but they seem to have at least taken a step forward with that in Poison Control. Here's hoping they continue to refine their odd craft in future games haha.

[@dennisbergkamp17]

Yeah man, I know that feeling when a game just isn’t clicking with you, ya get to that point where you’re just like “...do I REALLY wanna keep playing this ?”. I wouldn’t mind trying this game for myself though, I absolutely love the aesthetic, and the gameplay kinda sorta reminds me of Ultra Despair Girls, which I actually really liked.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thank you for understanding! Why should I subject myself to a game that isn't clicking, you know? ESPECIALLY when I'm playing games that aren't even out yet!

[@blackwingninja1195]

This a really well made mini review I saw this at the gameshop. It looked like an interesting game but wasnt sure if it was good this review helps.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad that people are liking this format!

[@kylefrid5911]

I like the new format a lot!

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks! It's the second 5 Things video, and so far, I'm really pleased with how everyone's reacting to it!

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I have to say I still think it looks very interesting, and I might be willing to pick it up, just maybe not quite at full price. I’m curious to see where the story goes, and the presentation looks super appealing to me.

[@BacklogBattle]

That's great actually! I'm really happy that you're still going to give it a chance, even if it's later down the line.

[@leenico2529]

I truly love my JRPGs and even the niche? (this is a niche JRPG right?) ones not only the mainstream ones. With your pos and cons i'll wait to nab this then when it goes on sale (kinda like Crystar level perhaps)

[@BacklogBattle]

You know, I was actually thinking about Crystar when playing this and came to the conclusion that I actually like Crystar more than this game.

[@leenico2529]

@@BacklogBattle ooofff that is a big statement, maybe i'll cop this then at a lower price (or maybe even not, lmao third world salary problems)

[@BacklogBattle]

At the very least, Crystar attempted to get you intrigued to see if you could learn something about yourself in its story, which gives it a bit of an edge over Poison Control for me.

[@EriesAston]

@@BacklogBattle I thought Crystar had very repetitive and boring level design and I was struggling with that even before it forced me to replay levels. The story was the one thing that kept me going, but if Poison Control is similar in style then I should really wait for a sale before picking this one up.

[@BacklogBattle]

I agree with that assessment of Crystar to be honest. I think what Poison Control does better in that regard is that the levels are shorter comparatively. As I said in the video, Poison Control cares little about the mysteries surrounding your character, so I find it tough to invest myself in that. At least Crystar pretended to care about that, though it too has its share of shortcomings.

[@Lazrael32]

FINALLY GOT MY COPY!!! and yeah i pretty much agree with you. Simply put, I hope they do make a sequel that builds and improves the foundation they seem to have set. there are a lot of good gameplay ideas here. just needs tweaking and expansion (in my opinion). This will be a game i casually play between other games.

[@BacklogBattle]

If the devs want my opinion of their sequel while in alpha, I’ll gladly help out!

[@tkuzava22]

I originally watched JRPGJungles review and decided to pick this up. I loved the game a ton, fun short stories and pretty fun gameplay albeit limiting. My biggest issues is lack of an actual engaging story with full cutscenes and not just text felt underwhelming imo and I didn’t care for the overall story at all. I would easily play and pre order a sequel if one ever got released cuz I see serious potential in this game. Anyways great points you made here and I agree for the most part

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for watching! I do feel that NISA's internal studios use a formula when making these sorts of games, as I found it to be quite similar (though not exactly the same) as Princess Guide. I think they need more polish in certain aspects, and I agree with everything you said.

[@feistywaffles]

Thanks for the switch review l! I was wondering how it plays on switch. I've been interested in this game for a while mainly because of the art style but was hesitant because of the gameplay. I didn't pick up the game for this reason. Questions: From the dungeons that you've played, do they feel super similar/re-skins of each other? Did the bright saturated colors interfere with gameplay (i.e hurt your eyes after long periods of play, or interfere with objectives)? I may pick this game up in the future but only after a sale or discount. From what I've seen of the gameplay, I can't personally buy in at full price.

[@BacklogBattle]

Thanks for the questions! Here are your answers: 1. In some ways, yes. But the colors and some decor make you think that they're "different enough" and you're not in these dungeons long enough to feel like you've overstayed your welcome. 2. I don't think the colors bothered me one bit, to be honest! Hope this helps!

[@feistywaffles]

Thanks! It does!

[@seanbcusack]

having a blank slate protagonist doesn't really bother me that much, so i'm not worried about that aspect of it for me personally. i've actually already purchased this and it's on my backlog to play soon. i've heard a number of middling to good-but-not-great reviews for it, and it seems unique and interesting enough (i get that qix reference!) to give it a shot and vote with my wallet for some non-AAA developer teams that try interesting new things.

[@BacklogBattle]

The fact that you got my Qix reference put a smile on my face! To be fair, the game *eventually* does talk about the protagonist, but it won't be until a couple of hours later. My biggest complaint in this regard is that the narrative didn't even hint at the fact that it was interested in even talking about these. Poisonette could've been like, "I know you have a lot of questions right now, but we need to figure out how to get out of here!" That's literally one sentence that could've told people that more's coming! Still, I hope you enjoy the game, whenever you get around to it in your backlog!

[@gu4rdener]

I think the Qix vibes are what make this game seem so hypnotizing to me. 🤩😅

[@defunct32]

It's a good thing I watched your video, I was on the fence but I'm off of it now. I will only get this when the price drop, this somewhat reminds me of The Princess Guide.

[@BacklogBattle]

Makes sense, given that the developer is exactly the same!

[@zazethe6553]

Those colors and area designs are extremely of putting to me.

[@BacklogBattle]

You’re definitely not the first person who pointed out the colors as well!

[@FahadAli-sm9qk]

thank you , i like that you stop playing since you are not enjoying yourself with the game because a lot of reviewers force themself to play a game just for reviewer

[@BacklogBattle]

You're welcome! I'm a different reviewer than most, so I appreciate you recognizing this!

[@ericp631]

So, a bargain bin special? Something to maybe take a chance on if you find it cheap

[@BacklogBattle]

Potentially. A friend of mine (JRPG Jungle) approached the game as a more casual game, but there's aspects of it that I feel push against that idea, which I talked about in the video.

[@MrMidasGames]

Never heard of the title, gameplay looks like PS2 style very old school…

[@BacklogBattle]

I can definitely see that! Very old school, simple PS2 vibes!

[@rikkucrowe]

The game is 4 dollars for anyone who's curious to try it

[@simplenlocal]

Playing through the game myself, i sorta feel like the game dosent really know how it wants me to feel. Like on one hand the game presents itself like its game first story 2nd but the actual gameplay feels lacking(im not saying simple games are bad they imo they sometimes end up working better than complicated games its just this game feels like its missing depth). On the other hand it wants me to care about the story but it focuses more about whats going on with the level(im not really given enough to care about the belles) and the characters dont really have much to offer, if i dont care about the protag idk how you want me to care about the other characters too and you could say poisonette is the protag but there isnt much given for me to care either. Theres alot more to say but this comment is getting long and i think ill leave it there

[@AshXXMayftw]

The fact this game interrupts you so often is a huge turn off to me. I get wanting to guide the player, but there's a difference between guiding and annoying them with constant handholding.

[@BacklogBattle]

I definitely find that some developers don't really think about how these sorts of things affect the pacing of their games. Definitely in this game, just as soon as I felt that I was getting a hang of the gameplay, it'd pop up a dialog box to stop me from playing. I actually had to replay through the game one time, skip all the dialog, so I can just get a feel of how the game controls.

[@MrDarksol]

So that is why my brain was going I think I saw the style of this game before, it was reminding me of that Princess game that team made ages ago. And wow this screams mixed bag. On the one hand the design looks cool and there are some fun ideas but the fact that your own main character has no purpose being there and the game is more focused on the main girl and the other characters, the designs clashed with the whole bouncing of the characters and some mechanics just not meshing well. Overall yikes this is a mixed bag game but still nice to hear your thoughts!

[@BacklogBattle]

It's not that they have no purpose being there, but rather, the game just doesn't try to say that it's even interested in finding out why. It's always Belles Belles Belles Belles all the time.

[@MrDarksol]

@@BacklogBattle Oh I see. Yeah that makes sense.