The town of Moonbury has always been wary of the advances of the outside world, preferring to rely on their traditional methods of healing. Until one day, when the mayor's daughter falls ill, and the local witch doctor can do nothing to help her, they are forced to look outside their small community for help. The Medical Association decides to send their most accomplished chemist - you - to help cure the mayor's daughter and convince the residents of Moonbury of the wonders of modern alchemy. Gain their trust and tend to each person when they fall ill in this open-ended sim RPG...

The locals are not happy to see you

Potion Permit is an RPG game that's aimed squarely at those new to the genre. Although, that's not to say that seasoned gamers won't appreciate what's on offer. It's just that it's a little simplistic if you're already familiar with more complex games.

You start off, a novice chemist, shipped to the town of Moonbury to help cure the major's daughter. The locals are not happy to see you and you soon discover that the town's previous chemist caused a bit of a disaster. No one is forthcoming with the details, but you'll slowly uncover more about it as you progress through the game.

After curing the major's daughter you're asked to stay on to treat any more sick villagers they may get in the future. Diagnosing and treating patients is one aspect of the game. Each patient will tell you how they feel, you then must locate that part of the body on a crude diagram and then diagnose the problem. Sometimes it's automatic, other times you have to play a very simple mini game. Then you need to head off to your home and mix some ingredients in your cauldron in order to create the cure.

Mix ingredients in your cauldron in order to create medicines

Choose your recipe and then you are given a pattern which needs to be covered with ingredients you've collected. So, it might be a square 4 wide by 2 deep and you have to pick ingredients from your inventory that will cover every square. The ingredients need to be picked up in the world outside the town. Here plants and rocks can be collected and wild beasts can be attacked. Inside the town you can unlock skills, like fishing, that let you collect more resources.

You'll also need to chat to the townsfolk and try to win them over. Every day you talk to them will see them liking you a little more. Some will send you on quests, others you'll need in order to help you find items or unlock areas. All the while you are accompanied by your faithful dog, who you can pet and feed to increase the bond between you. He's also helpful if you're looking for a specific character. Tell your faithful hound who you are looking for and he'll run right to where they are.

Locate your patients ailments on their body

There are mini game to uncover at the arcade and jobs (more mini games) to do at several of the town buildings. But curing the sick is your main job... and that means ensuring you go out on a regular basis to find ingredients.

In a nutshell, that's pretty much the game: finding items, crafting medicines and curing the sick, while getting to know the villagers (there are 30 unique characters to discover) and undertaking various quests for them.

The only other aspect of note is the ability to craft your own furniture to place around your house... an aspect that didn't really appeal to me, but I can see why some will enjoy this element.

Learn to fish in one of the mini games available

The game comes in two editions: Standard and Deluxe. However, looking at the Playstation store, there's no actual information on what the differences are. There's also a lot of DLC which appears to by just cosmetic items to furnish your house with.

Overall it's a fun little game. There's a lot of grinding to ensure you always have plenty of ingredients and I liked the fact that as you progress through the game the developers challenge you by only allowing a certain amount of ingredients to be used and from a limited number of the four classes, making it increasingly challenging.

A good all rounder that will be embraced by the younger gamer new to the genre.

8

Nick Smithson