Poison of the Past (Nintendo Switch)

“Maliki – Poison of the Past blends turn-based combat, time manipulation, and town management into a cozy yet tactical adventure that brings something fresh to the genre.” That marketing blurb sounds promising (and, to some extent, it holds true), but it might also cue you onto some of this title’s problems. Namely, this release doesn’t seem to know what type of game it wants to be, though its ambition is admirable.

Ostensibly, Maliki: Poison of the Past is an RPG, and that has proven to be the best part of the game. But it is indeed just a part, as town management has a sizable (one could argue disproportionate) presence. Growing vegetables and discovering sections of the land (Domaine, home of the Thousand-Root Tree) is fun, the latter especially, albeit not unheard of in RPGs. But cutting grass, breaking rocks, and the like feel almost like a separate game shoehorned to capitalize on this generation’s saturation of games in that mold. Meanwhile, “cozy” is the buzzword of the minute, but with some puzzles needing pinpoint timing, boss fights necessitating grinding, and persistent glitches (more on these in a bit), I doubt even those with a clear definition would agree this fits. The game tries to be a Cobb salad packed with ingredients when a Caesar salad would do. Which is a shame, as I can see the heart put into this project.

But even at its best, the game still has issues. The RPG parts are fun, but can struggle to build momentum as there are constant interruptions for dialogue and cutscenes, albeit well-animated and expressive. And while the overall tale is intriguing, we had a hard time investing in these characters. Even 15 hours in, I found myself describing the party by their hairstyle rather than their name, save the titular Maliki, who stays in Domaine. Rather than being believable, their personalities seem more built around gimmicks. Likely, if we were familiar with its origins as a webcomic, this would be diminished, but we were also promised “no prior knowledge needed.” 

Yet other parts of the game are memorable. Namely, the time travel aspect, with the titular Poison altering the space-time continuum. Instead of cliched medieval periods and venues, you’ll be navigating a farm in the ’80s, a school in the ’90s, the Louvre in the ’00s, and more. Even the enemies are notable, with animals, humans, and even objects taken over by poison parasites. With some enjoyable exploration to collect items sprinkled with funny moments, the RPG parts are memorable.

For better or worse, the traditional RPG stretches are littered with mazes, something the in-game characters even admit they hate. This mechanic ends up making the puzzles feel like slight variants of each other, with time-consuming, stop-and-go character swaps to open up new passages. Instead of students blocking the stairs in the ’80s, you’ll see tourists blocking the stairs in the ’00s, for instance. Fun and satisfying the first couple of times, sure, but with diminishing returns.

Thankfully, even these lesser parts are boosted by great music. Maliki: Poison of the Past’s soundtrack is diverse and long, with some truly beautiful tunes. Any original track that reminds me of The Legend of Zelda is doing something right. You can adjust the volume for the tracks and effects individually.

Each character has unique abilities that can only be used at certain times. This is cool, but, unfortunately, the glitchiness of this game has the prompts pop up often at random, making you think you can use these moves when you actually cannot.

Now comes the time to elaborate on the plethora of other bugs and seemingly inconsistent attention to detail and polish that plague Maliki: Poison of the Past. Multiple times, the game crashed. Numerous times, the game froze. Multiple times, we had to reset our Switch because a puzzle glitched. A couple of mechanics are neglectfully introduced with zero explanation, leaving us confusingly to our own devices. A map seems fundamental, yet is bizarrely absent here. When I think back to RPGs I’ve played that are well over 30 years old, yet still were mapped, I scratch my head at how this was missed. This game was harvested prematurely, as all these and more demonstrate.

This “cozy RPG adventure” was clearly picked before it ripened. As such, it’s not as easy to recommend as it should be, with its many positives (music) clouded by sizable blemishes. Expect imagination and irritation, often in equal measure. Maliki: Poison of the Past has plenty of good ideas, but needs a patch to grow to its full potential.