The Protagonish logo and key art.

The Protagonish Review

Game: The Protagonish
Genre: Visual Novel, Humor, Point-and-Click
System: Steam (Windows) (also available for macOS, SteamOS, & Linux)
Developers | Publishers: College Fun Games
Controller Support: None
Price: US $3.99 | UK £2.99 | EU € 3,49
Release Date: October 24th, 2024

A review code was used, and many thanks to College Fun Games.

The Protagonish is a short visual novel that is focused on everyone that isn’t the hero that the hero will interact with. You follow the hero on his quest, and you see how his choices affect the people around him as he moves through his story.

The Protagonish is Gorgeous

Just look at this screenshot. Look at how pretty this game is.

Two characters sit on a bench outside of a mine in The Protagonish.
I would love to explore that world.

The Protagonish is an animated tail that looks a bit like a Disney-style movie. You’ll weave through the villagers in a hand-drawn medieval town, deciding whether to help or hinder the knight’s journey. For example, you watch as the hero busts into one of the character’s shops, breaking down the door and forcing her to fix it. You get to choose the dialogue option she says next, as the hero demands a grappling hook. Your answers and choices will influence the story.

Every line is fully voice-acted, and the animation is smooth and beautiful. The sound design is great, and you really get a taste of the world inside of The Protagonish.

A hero character crashes through a door of a shop in The Protagonish.
Again?!

Just a Taste, Though

No matter how beautiful and well-made The Protagonish is, it feels unfinished. The game is so short, even though you do have to play several times in order to get all the endings and the achievements; it feels like you aren’t given enough time in this pretty little world to really get a grasp on anything. It feels a lot like a demo for a full game rather than a full game itself. What is here is fantastic, but it is just so short.

A monk meditates on a high platform next to a glowing radish in The Protagonish.
You can only communicate with a smile or frown since you have taken a vow of silence.

I finished the entire game, including all the achievements and all the endings, in about 30 minutes. I would give anything to see more of this game with more interactions, more endings, and a longer overall quest. It’s so cute and so pretty that I could get lost in the world of The Protagonish for a very long time.

Some Bugs in The Protagonish

I noted a couple of bugs while I was playing, which stood out a lot since the game was so short. I’m not quite sure how these were missed by anyone playing The Protagonish for any amount of time. I assume that this team had a quality tester, considering the quality of the rest of the game, but perhaps I am wrong.

A hero talks to a dragon in The Protagonish.
It just cuts off the text at the bottom.

There is a part where the text is cut off at the bottom of the screen, so you can’t read it when you interact with the dragon, and there was also a sound queue issue when the hero is yelling as he runs onto the screen with the miner in front of the mine. Overall, though, The Protagonish works really well, especially for a small game with a small team.

A character and a bunch of birds sit outside a mine in The Protagonish.
He says everything wrong, and I find it hilarious.

Conclusion

The Protagonish is so cute, fun, and funny and is really well put together. I love everything about it, but it is so very short that I feel like I don’t really get to settle into the story before it is over. This could be such a gorgeous visual novel with one of the most unique and interesting premises, but it falls short of being perfect by feeling cut off.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot
I like it a lot

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