Potion Permit review
So back in 2009 (which feels like a lifetime…), not content to simply surf the wave of living a carefree life of sponging off his 2 famous parents; Nick Simmons decided to try his hand creating manga (well it was a comic, but just stay with me.) But here’s the thing, he can’t draw; so, what does he do? trace over an actual artist! He traced over a good number of various panels from the manga Bleach!
So why share this anecdote? Because the game I’m about to discuss feels eerily similar. The game in question is called Potion Permit which is brought to us by Masshive Media.
Who is MassHive Media? Established in early 2014, MassHive Media is a growing indie game developer resides in Bandung, Indonesia. We are small yet independent company striving our best to deliver the best quality game products for various platform. With an amazing team with deep passion towards games, illustrations, animations, we aim to be to be one of the leading game developers in Southeast Asia.
They are responsible for indie games like Vimala: Defense Warlords, Chillout Zombies, Azure Saga: Pathfinder and this title. Each one more derivative than the next, but does this game follow the tradition of this relatively young company? Yes, but let’s discuss this case of homework copying.
In Potion Permit, Moonbury's residents need healing, and you're the best chemist around! With your trusty tools, a brewing cauldron, and a canine companion at your side, you'll need to diagnose symptoms, gather ingredients, brew potions, and cure ailments in this open-ended sim RPG.
I’ll get the praise out of the way, the music and visuals are pretty but feel like something out of RPG maker and wouldn’t be surprised if they took assets from it, given their pedigree.
Combat is meh, enemies are damage sponges which is a cardinal sin for me. While the controls work, nothing about them felt intuitive.
The story is very much the same game that you’ve played before, and it’s been told by much better games.
The puzzles while interesting pose next to no challenge which I found almost insulting.
I really wanted to like this game way more, and there is so much potential that completely goes to waste.
The potion mechanic, (you know the titular aspect) was so dull and forgettable and that was the thing about this game that initially drew me in.
But if you like isometric open world farming RPG hybrids for the switch, Go play Rune Factory 4 or wait for the remaster of RF3.
I give Potion Permit a 2 out of 5.