Review: Nine Witches: Family Disruption

Everybody does love some good adventure game. Even better when it has an appealing story, beautiful pixel art, and it is filled with humor! What? You don’t like this gender of game? Well, maybe you should re-evaluate your opinion because Blowfish Studios has something special for you with their newest adventure Nine Witches: Family Disruption.

Developed by the Argentinian indie studio Indiesruption, Nine Witches – for short – puts you in control of two British agents, Alexei Krakovitz, a professor of occult science in his wheel-chair, and Akiro Kagasawa, his assistant, who are sent to Sundäe, a country city located in Norway where Okkulte-55, a secret division of the Third Reich, is taking measures to change the course of World War II. Help our heroes in this crazy investigation full of toilet humor in a quest that goes beyond the imaginable and can forever change our world!

What we liked!

• Visuals: Beautiful and well-detailed pixel art breathes life into this adventure! Indiesruption managed to find a way to show expressions and details at a whole new level in this impressive game. At the same time the team filled it with a lot of humor – eschatological humor, be warned – they also made it very gory – and I wasn’t prepared for it! Here you will see lots of blood, guts, and violence throughout this adventure. It is charming, but in any way recommended for your kids.
• Great sound design: The music in Nine Witches is quite timid, but it perfectly matches the atmosphere of mystery that surrounds the title. During the moments when the music is noticeably more present (like during combat or raves), I promise that you will enjoy it a lot – as I did! The sound effects stay no far behind, overflowing quality and good humor. Kudos, Indiesruption. You guys made a brilliant job with this game!
• Gameplay: The gameplay of Nine Witches is quite interesting. Here you will guide our dynamic duo while exploring each scenario and talking or interacting with NPCs and dead people alike. ‘Dead people!?‘ you ask me. Yes, dead people. Although he can’t do anything that requires physical efforts thanks to his conditions, Professor Krakovitz is a medium who can project his soul out of his body and talk with souls wondering Sundäe city. It’s also especially useful to reach places that are inaccessible to his partner, the young Akiro, who will be Professor’s hands (and arms, legs… you got the idea) in this adventure. Akiro is a skilled mechanic, explorer, and bodyguard, always ready to protect the duo with his handgun. While playing with him, you will collect items, interact with tools, and do all the dirty work Professor cannot do.
• The story: Without any spoilers, I can say the story of this title is very good! It starts very slow – like most of the games of the gender do – but soon will build up in tension and mystery, making some questionable detours, I agree, but going through an interesting development. Our heroes cannot imagine what waits for them in this rustic Norwegian town.
• Special guests: There are interesting cameos and easter eggs you will find in this game. From a Le Petit Prince reference to some special guests that may help you in your progress, this adventure will bring more and more surprises at each new location you discover.

Somewhere between

• Humor: This is a very delicate aspect to talk about in this game – or any game, actually – since the concept of ‘humor’ will differ from player to player. I laughed – a lot – with the many jokes and funny situations this game presents. I loved how the characters seem to understand they are part of a videogame and make comments about the pixelated scenery of the game. The interactions between our characters and NPCs create situations that go from improbable to absurd in a blink of an eye – with some hard to swallow cases, I admit. When you are enjoying the flow of the game and are not concerned with these developer’s fascination for hemorrhoids, they are pleasant in most cases. But if you are not appreciating the game pace and its toilet humor, the game will drag for long hours – especially when you are lost and searching for clues about what to do next.

What we disliked

• Short adventure: I found myself not having a clue about my next steps in this game for more than once. You all know that feeling when you have absolutely no idea where to go or what to do to advance in the story and start to re-visit all previous scenarios and talk to each NPC you’ve already seen trying to trigger the next scene or sequence. Don’t be shy… I know you do. But even after going through this situation (for more occasions than I would like to admit), the game felt really short. And it is almost a sin for a game so interesting to end so quickly. I always support a developer that aims for quality instead of quantity, but in this case, Indiesruption just left me wishing for more… Who knows, maybe a sequel is already in the works (a man can always dream, can’t him?).