Poison Control

Poison Control's story is cliché-filled but fun, and the tongue-in-cheek dialogue carries the game far further than its gameplay could manage alone. The writing can only make up for shallow game mechanics to a point, though, and ultimately shallow gameplay is what lets this game down. Visual novel fans will likely find more to enjoy here, but there's simply not enough gameplay depth or variety for fans of shooters.

When it comes down to it, Poison Control fails to do anything interesting in any manner. There's nothing about the game that is outright broken, but there is just no substance to anything at all. A forgettable nothing story, forgettable gameplay, tedious maps, all lead to an experience that is an easy skip.

A good, but not great, new IP, Poison Control skillfully harnesses NIS's abilities to present a visually-striking, musically-engaging world with unique gameplay concepts.

Poison Control shows how good ideas and a huge potential can be ruined by bad gameplay decisions and broken structure, and even though some parts of the game like story and writing will keep you eager to carry on, eventually the final package fails to deliver.

Poison Control is not a game you’ll be writing home about. It’s instead, a game that you’ll talk to your friends about in passing. It’s silly, it’s goofy, and it should be approached as a light novel that does have its moments of shooter-based gameplay. The biggest change that needs to happen is more depth to the gameplay and more depth to the game’s overall level design.

In the end, it is a slick looking, great sounding little game that is never overly offensive with its issues, but still has a decent amount of them. The gameplay revolves around a simple mechanic that players will see the majority of before getting halfway through it, but it was never something that I didn’t like playing. It is most certainly unconventional, and I think that’s what gave it enough charm to keep me playing. It’s a strange one to recommend, but I still recommend it if this sounds like something up your alley.

Poison Control may offer a fun and interesting story but mishandles certain aspects all while lackluster shooting mechanics prevent it from standing out in any way.

Despite gameplay problems, Poison Control is quite a fun game. The title covers heavy topics in everyday life (like personal hells) and the poison purification mechanic, in particular, is really very peculiar, bringing a unique game within the genre. With a little more polish, it would be an excellent game, but it's still worth it for those who enjoy stylized and experimental games.

The gameplay is bland, but that doesn't stop Poison Control from being a compelling game. The fun characters and unique aesthetic makes this a story that visual novel fans will want to stick with.

The whole thing is a consistent delight to both look at and listen to — and this side of things in particular is one of the reasons I’m so surprised the game hasn’t enjoyed more buzz online since its release, since as you can hopefully see from the images on this page, it sure takes a nice screenshot!