Punch Line is an upcoming Japanese adventure game with puzzle elements and is based on the Punch Line multimedia franchise. The game has the players visiting the heroines’ rooms in search of the “Nandala Gandala” book. While doing this, you can select a point in the room to try and trigger a prank. If your prank is successful and you level up, Chiranosuke will appear and the story will advance. When the player peeks at the heroines’ panties, their “Outbreak Gauge” will increase, and if it reaches its max, the entire human race is destroyed. The story will follow parts and mysteries not seen in the anime, as well as have different endings. According to scenario writer Kotaro Uchikoshi, the game adds 10 episodes over the 12-episode anime and the second half of the game will have entirely different mechanisms than the first half.
It's best to think of Punch Line the visual nove/puzzler as a sort of addendum and guidebook to the anime. Fans of the show get to revisit their favourite characters and scenes in a different format, but everyone else might have a little trouble understanding the appeal.
Punch Line does actually try to tell a decent story, it just has so many problems in doing so that it simply isn’t worth it. The PC port is bad, the art quality fluctuates throughout, the gameplay feels like filler, and the storytelling is just lazy and relies far too much on its anime counterpart.
Punch Line isn't for everybody, and this port has some issues, but it's a solid VN with a great story and an endearing cast of characters.
PUNCH LINE fails to engage the player in any way, its play and story lifeless.
All in all, I came away pleased with the experience. While I did know all the plot twists from the anime, the game was still fun and short enough to pick up a chapter here and there. While Punch Line really feels more like a handheld or mobile experience, it’s still a lot of gags, fun, and good music. If you haven’t seen the anime, now you can play...
