Agony (2018 video game)

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Agony (2018)
You’re in for one hell of a time, and not in a good way.
Protagonist(s): Nimrod (aka Amraphel) Genre(s): Stealth Survival horror Rating(s): M AO (Unrated; PC only) Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One Release Date: May 29, 2018 October 31, 2018 (Unrated) October 31, 2019 (Switch) Engine: Unreal Engine 4 Developer(s): Madmind Studio Publisher(s): PlayWay Madmind Studio (Unrated) Forever Entertainment (Switch) Country: Poland Series: Agony Successor: Succubus

Agony is a survival horror video game developed by Madmind Studio and published by PlayWay.

Players begin their journey as a tormented soul within the depths of Hell without any memories of their past. The special ability to control people on their path, and possess weak-minded demons, gives the player the necessary measures to survive in the extreme conditions they are in.

The game was originally scheduled for release on March 30, 2018, but was delayed to May 29, 2018. The uncensored version of the game, called Agony Unrated, released on October 31, 2018 whereas the Nintendo Switch port got released a year later.

Plot

The story follows a lost soul trapped in Hell without any memory of his former life. From what is revealed of the protagonist's backstory, he was a king of an ancient land who made a Faustian bargain with the Red Goddess. In-story, he is referred to as both Nimrod by the Goddess and Amraphel by other condemned souls, some of whom still have their memories, blaming the protagonist for them being damned to Hell because of the acts he committed while alive. As the protagonist wanders through the wastelands of Hell, he discovers a possibility of escaping through the aid of the Red Goddess. Determined, he travels to the Red Goddess' lair to learn how he can be set free.

If the player obeys the Red Goddess's commands, they will ultimately venture to the lowest depths of Hell, provoking a creature known only as the Beast. Sufficiently wearing down the Beast, the protagonist is able to possess it, using its power to break the seals binding it to the lower depths. Satisfied, the Red Goddess reveals herself as the Whore of Babylon and vows to use the Beast to begin the Apocalypse. The protagonist is returned to the living world, per his deal, only to be killed by the Beast moments later as the Red Goddess begins her conquest of Earth, leaving the player's soul to return to Hell.

Agonizing Qualities

Note: Most of the issues were fixed in the Unrated version. The page is mostly focus on the original release.

1. Executive meddling: Madmind Studio was forced by Playway to censor the game in order to prevent it from getting an Adults Only rating (which in turn would prevent it from being sold in stores and on consoles) by compromising their original vision for the game. A patch to restore the censored content was planned, but was almost canceled due to “legal issues” before eventually being released months after the game launched. Examples of censored content include:
   • Child-like creatures bleed purple instead of red.
   • The intensity of the gore in some scenes was toned down (such as the scene where a succubus eats a man’s face).
   • Female characters had their genitals completely removed (though the forbidden fruit still resembles female genitalia and the male characters still have their genitals, complete with physics).
   • A scene in the evil ending where the player has sex with a succubus is modified so that penetration would no longer be visible. Two scenes involving Onoskelis (one where the fetus is being checked on, and another where she is born after her mother stabs herself and pulls her out of her womb) were also cut/modified for similar reasons.
   • The female character’s butt physics were removed.
2. Even with all these cuts, footage of the game on YouTube has to have certain parts (usually any scene involving female characters with exposed nipples) blurred out to avoid getting taken down for violating their community guidelines regarding sexual content.
   • Funnily enough, Madmind’s own video showcasing scenes that were either altered or cut in the final version was taken down because of this (despite already being age-restricted), though they used to be available in the mirrors via Dropbox before their removal.
3. The game was filled with bugs and glitches at launch. Thankfully, Madmind is releasing patches to fix these bugs.
4. Clunky controls.
5. Poorly executed story despite Good Quality #5.
6. Extremely limited model variations, the same male and female models is simply reused with some minor differences on hair and clothes.
7. The game is only 3 hours long.
8. Terrible Switch optimization.
9. Lackluster graphics that don’t look as impressive as the trailers, and the NPC characters look especially bad. The fact that it was made in Unreal Engine 4 (the same engine that games like Street Fighter V, Fortnite, Dragon Ball FighterZ, My Hero One's Justice, and Kingdom Hearts III run on) makes it hurt even more.
10. Many areas in the game are dark enough that it's tough to see where you are going.
11. The devs were very dishonest. When discussing about the censorship, they tried to make it sound like it wasn’t as bad as it turned out to be (possibly to avoid angering the fans).
12. When the game was released on Steam, many backers didn't receive their keys for the game and many of the backers weren't even mentioned in the game's credits, even though they funded a tier that promised their name would be included in the credits.

Good Qualities

1. The game tries its hardest to depict Hell as a truly messed up place, where violence and debauchery run rampant, as well as Scorn levels of body horror. It does a pretty good job too, even with all the changes made to the game.
2. Interesting demon designs.
3. The sigil mechanic is interesting.
4. Going into other bodies after dying is also pretty interesting.
5. The story had a lot of potential, which was squandered by its poor execution.
6. Decent voice acting.
7. As mentioned above, most of the issues were fixed in the Unrated version.
8. Its sequel, Succubus is considered as an improvement over this game, with quality-of-life improvements to combat, as well as character customization.

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