Holy Shift

[h1]Judge, jury, and executioner in purgatory :o[/h1] [h2]Introduction[/h2] [i]Holy Shift[/i] is a visual novel developed and published by Kitten Purradise Studios. You're an unnamed male character who's greeted in purgatory by a hot succubus, and you find out that you're dead. However, your soul is in limbo, as are the souls of four other characters whom you meet shortly after. As the five of you are supposed to be siphoning poison, as instructed by the succubus who's keeping you all prisoner, one of your party sees a box that contains files of people who've passed away, but - as you may have guessed - their souls are in limbo. Despite reservations from another member to not mess with the files and let the succubus know that they have them, the rest of you decide to look through the files and judge whether the people who passed away are guilty of their crimes, leading to their deaths... With the gameplay, the choices are very simple. Either, you nod yes (ruling guilty) or shake your head (ruling innocent). However, rather than there being the usual choices, you have to move your mouse cursor or use indicated keys on the keyboard to nod yes or shake your head. Depending on your decisions with the four cases presented to you, you'll either get one of six personality evaluations from the succubus or she'll deem that there isn't enough information to determine your personality type. (Yup, this ends up being a psychological test. XD) Several Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited". [h2]Review[/h2] I remember how intrigued I was when I first saw this game on Steam, so I reached out to the developer and received a review key. Even though it took me a while to get around to this game (mainly because I still couldn't find a guide anywhere), I'm glad that I finally got around to it. ^^ [h3]Story and Gameplay[/h3] The story is intriguing although it isn't the first to introduce the main character as being dead. However, I like the introduction of the succubus although she doesn't behave as usual succubi do. (She's quite aware of the stereotype. XD) Basically, her job is to judge which souls go to heaven or hell if you end up in purgatory. The succubus is quite the fun character to interact with, especially if you choose not to respond to her or do what she wants. As for the main character, he's very silent, literally because the succubus casts a spell which prevents him from speaking, so he can only nod or shake his head. As for the other characters in the MC's party, they have enough different personalities to distinguish them. For example, while one is quite compassionate (she dislikes if you decide to judge someone guilty, regardless of the crime), another is very hot headed and thinks that almost everyone is guilty, unless there are extreme circumstances. With the endings, I like how the succubus appears at the end and tells you how the cases you judged ended up having a very special twist and then she gives you your personality type, based on your decisions. When you realize the twist, it makes replaying the game interesting since you'll have knowledge that you didn't have on a blind playthrough, thus maybe influencing your decisions on those same cases. There are descriptions of death and other sensitive topics in the cases, but they feel more like tragedy. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3756643102 The gameplay is pretty simple. It was interesting to have to use my mouse or keyboard to make decisions rather than have the choices presented to me, like in many visual novels. There's a bit of realism in which the game screen moves as you nod or shake your head. Still, I think there should be the option to have more traditional choices for those who don't feel like using the gameplay prompts. All achievements are obtainable, but they'll take multiple playthroughs. Also, some endings can be quite tricky, especially since there's no guide at the time of this review. Thankfully, you can skip already read text, so it can make replayability more bearable. [h3]Art and Music[/h3] As for the art, the sprites have the usual anime style, and as I mentioned, the succubus is very good-looking. :o However, there is no romance in this game, so it solely focuses on story. The backgrounds are drawn and colored well, too, but no CGs are present. I would have liked to witness what happened to the people in the MC's party afterwards, but I guess I'll leave that up to the imagination. XD https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3756642863 Regarding the music, a few tracks are present, and they give off that supernatural vibe of being in purgatory. None of the tracks are scary, though, which is a positive since I didn't feel like this game was meant to be scary. Anyway, all the tracks are instrumental, and there is a bit of partial voice acting, which I thought was a nice touch. [h2]Conclusion[/h2] Would I recommend [i]Holy Shift[/i]? If you're looking for a short visual novel that tests your personality type, especially in regards to your morals and values, and/or you like getting Steam achievements, then it's worth checking out. [i]Holy Shift[/i] has gone under the radar in my opinion, but I thought it had an interesting story and it was a bit of a challenge to get all those endings. For the asking price, it's worth it and even more so when it goes on sale (like the Steam summer sale at the time I'm writing this review). To wrap things up, I'd like to thank Kitten Purradise Studios for the review key. I had fun playing [i]Holy Shift[/i], and especially, the cases and finding out my personality type intrigued me. ^^ [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]