"The Holy Gosh Darn: A Hilariously Absurd Adventure Game That Redefines Puzzles and Time Travel"

At least you can have none of that, and in the void after the explosion Death himself comes to Cassiel. It turns out that it is he which inadvertently set off the chain reaction that leads to the doomsday of humanity. Of course, he can’t make up for himself, so he seeks help from Cassiel to stop the sky from going wild.

Back and forth in time is the same distance

To accomplish this, one must travel back in time, and Death equips us with a golden pocket watch that allows us to do just this.

Cassiel wakes up in the past – exactly at 12:00 am earlier that day – and quickly learns how to use the pocket watch to travel back and forth in time. At first he can only travel in fifteen minute increments at a time, but he can also set a checkpoint that allows you to go back to any time.

After some tinkering, such time travel becomes the most natural thing in the world. It’s surprisingly easy to manipulate time and space to try out different puzzle solutions, items and dialogue options – it’s basically impossible to make a mistake, because you’re only three buttons away from traveling back quarter of an hour in time to try. again.

Perfect when you’re a slightly clumsy angel with a short fuse, who must prepare everyone to find the device that will save heaven from certain harm.

“Get a quest” out of another world

What may at first be a simple “find-this-thing-and-get-it-here-before-6pm” relationship quickly becomes a collection of theatrical schedules and supporting characters. cool.

The game has been compiled so that every character you meet has their own circadian rhythm. This means that they will be in the same place at the same time every time, unless you do something that affects them in some way.

For example, the museum guard falls asleep at 15:00 every day, if you don’t give him coffee; St. Peter will only tell you his darkest secret after 5:00 p.m., if so you can prove that he has only an hour left to live; and the angel Gabriel does not speak if you disturb him after 2:00 pm.

In the end you end up with a very tight schedule of times and meetings that you have to meet – several of the events are closely linked, and it can often seem like you have to be there the several places at the same time to make everything work.

Fortunately, Cassiel takes care of all the information she receives, so the knowledge you pick up on one playthrough will be put to good use when you come back five hours later. and then veterinary medicine one who must be outside RoboCorp shortly before 3pm; Cassiel has already learned how to open a portal to hell; and you have exactly what you need in your back pocket.

Avoiding the biggest problems

It may be advanced, but the Holy Gosh Darn is amazingly well designed. You always have a tough goal to reach for, and Cassiel always learns something that can be used along the way, whether it’s a way to move a conversation along faster or a shortcut which allows her to avoid the conversation altogether.

The game also oddly manages to avoid many of the usual problems that plague many other adventure games. Here there are no impossible things to combine, you rarely wonder where the road will go next, and most puzzles make sense within the universe.

Instead, Holy Gosh Darn has a great flow from start to finish, and you feel mastered almost the entire time.

Exceptions do happen, of course, and unfortunately some sequences are rather long – among the most unusual are a tiresome round of “Dungeons & Dragons” in hell’s court and a very complex final act that a surprise to the player. .

Most common of these, and several of the game’s other weak moments, is the extensive use of humor. More than anything, Perfectly Paranormal has a reputation for delivery funny games, and I understand that they want to live up to that. Unfortunately, not everything hits the mark in The Holy Gosh Darn, and only occasionally does the game make me laugh to myself.

Some jokes are dragged on too long, others are missed entirely, and even some are held back by repetitive voice acting.

It is especially easy to notice that the writer and lead developer Ozan Drøsdal repeats himself in several of the roles, and because he appears as a bunch of characters just within a couple of blocks in the first half of the game giving the game a slightly casual feel. . Not because he does a very bad job, but rather because he has a voice with such a powerful character that it is impossible not to recognize him.

So charming

The rest of The Holy Gosh Darn is still undeniably entertaining, and even if I don’t ler especially on what is served, the lion’s share of the characters and the situations they are themselves in are well written and beautifully designed.

The adventure has a drawing style that is close to its predecessors: I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a pent game, but at least it is attractive, with a style that is all its own.

Here you will find a colorful board where nothing is as expected. Most of the characters are elaborate parodies of biblical figures; the sky is mostly made up of apartment blocks and parks covered in dog shit; and traveling back and forth in time is a wonderful, analog process where you repeat what you would on an old VHS player.

Along the way, you stumble across crazy sandwich bus drivers, talking eagle creatures and bedridden grannies – all absurd and charismatic in their own wonderful way.

The main character Cassiel stands out positively in the crowd, as the only relatively normal figure in a sea of ​​weirdos – a legend for the player who comments and responds on the increasingly absurd demands the game makes of you.

Decision

Holy Gosh Darn is a solid adventure game that entertains from start to finish. The game has a consistently good flow, and avoids many of the usual pitfalls of the genre by allowing the player to experiment and play with different outcomes, without being able to do much. mistake.

The ability to travel back and forth in time works very well, and allows the developers to experience an adventure that is rather extensive, but at the same time easy to understand. Here it’s mostly about angels and demons, but never what you’d expect, and the game often surprises with its interpretation of the heavenly realm and its surroundings.

The game is mostly well written, and I especially like the way the main character deals with the increasingly terrifying tactics and the many outdoor activities she has to solve. Parts of the humor, on the other hand, feel rather frivolous and petty, and despite the game’s many absurdities, there aren’t many moments that make me laugh out loud.

Some puzzles are also cut too long – especially the last act of the game could be done much better – but overall, The Holy Gosh Darn is still one of the most Norwegian games better soon.

The Holy Gosh Darn is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows and Nintendo Switch (trial).