Poison Control is a stylish RPG/shooter hybrid that oozes personality. The game released in 2021 to average reviews with most critics citing a few gameplay issues. There are a ton of great ideas present in the game that sadly weren’t always executed very well.
Buggy hitboxes, unintuitive aiming during Shooting Mode, and glitches all occur with surprising frequency. Despite all its flaws, though, Poison Control has an interesting albeit cliché story to tell. If you can look past its issues, you may find some genuinely fun aspects in this quirky, enjoyable romp through Hell.
Table of Contents
Why Poison Control?
“Spirits are being trapped in poisonous manifestations of their despair, and only Poisonette and her Soul Mate can purify them! Venture through the different Belles’ Hells to defeat enemies, learn the stories of fallen souls and other Poisonettes, and fight your way to Heaven in this stylishly twisted action shooter!”
— PlayStation Store
I personally had never heard of Poison Control, but when I saw it on a deep sale during PlayStation’s 2024 Spring Event—a stark 90% off, for a total price of 3.99 USD—I knew I had to give it a go. The game seemed unique based on the screenshots and description in the store’s listing, so I figured it would be worth checking out.
The core gameplay loop is quite fun; draw circles to clear poison mires and shoot any bad guys that get in the way. Delve deeper into Hell as you take on 27 distinct levels, each with their own unique mini-stories to tell about women from all walks of life harboring regrets about their lived experiences or distorted views about reality.
Some of these stories are better than others, but none overstay their welcome. One little girl contemplates trading her mother’s soul to get back her beloved pet dog; yet another woman laments giving up sweets to try (and fail) to win over the man she loves. Zany, silly, and demented alike, the various Belles all add something new for our paired protagonists to chew through.
Now, would the game be worth its non-sale price of 40.00 USD? That is a tough question to answer. Personally, my answer would be a no, unless the game looks right up your alley and you’re sure you’ll enjoy it. I think the game is worth getting for 15.00-20.00 USD, but for the low price I nabbed it at? A steal.
The Trophy Hunt
As expected, the first portion of the trophy hunt for Poison Control is simply getting through all of the levels in the story. As you play, you want to collect all the poison along the way; this helps you level up, find more collectibles/items, and heals you.
Of note, you want to keep an eye out for any new Deliriants you can find, as the trophy “Delusional Grandeur” requires collecting them all. Deliriants are powerful limited-use weapons you can find that can support any holes present in your build. They are also surprisingly useful when your main damage-dealers are on cooldown.
There are also trophies for the following auxiliary tasks:
- Beating the various bosses in each Circle of Hell;
- Defeating a large number of enemy Kleshas;
- Maxing out your social stats;
- Acquiring all inventory items;
- Upgrading your arsenal;
- Reaching a high level;
- Achieving the secret ending.
I’ll briefly recount each of these aspects in the next section.
Beat Bosses
Three trophies can be unlocked simply for defeating the named spoiler-iffic bosses. These do not include the ever-present snake mini bosses that you will be well-acquainted with by the end of your playthrough.
These trophies will be earned naturally as you play through the game and advance to new areas on the world map.
Defeat Kleshas
Similar to the above entry, yet another three trophies can be unlocked simply by defeating any of the mobs you find in the Belle’s Hells. They can be flying enemies, hellhound types, shield-bearers, or anything in between; they all count for these trophies’ purposes.
The required thresholds are 100, 500, and 1,000 Kleshas defeated. So long as you take the time to clear out all the poison in the levels and defeat any enemies along the way, this will come naturally.
Be the Best AND Worst Person You Can Be
During certain story beats, you will get the opportunity to select different dialogue options in your conversations with your Soul Mate, Poisonette. These are aptly named Heart-to-Hearts in the game. Each selection will increase one of your five social stats: Synergy, Empathy, Insight, Toxicity, and Trust.
Leveling up these can provide various benefits in-game as well, such as increasing your health or damage output. Maxing out each of these comes with one trophy each for a total of 5 distinct unlocks. Further, you can unlock “Toxicant? Toxi-can” by reaching Insight level 3 and “Not-So-Toxic Relationship” by unlocking any skill during a Heart-to-Heart.
Acquire All the Things
Every trophy hunter’s favorite task is collecting all items in a game. For Poison Control, this means unlocking all Toxicants, Antidotes, and Catalysts. Every level has three different poison gems to collect that will unlock a shiny new Poison for you to use. These can either be weapons or different items to boost your overall capabilities.
As stated earlier, you will also need to go out of your way to collect all of the Deliriants. “Handle with Care” will be unlocked by finding all three poison gems in a level for the first time, and “Boodle of Belles” will be unlocked once you’ve acquired everything.
Upgrade Toxicants, Antidotes, and Catalysts
One item you will pick up very frequently while cleansing poison mires is money. These funds serve a very important purpose—#1, they are the means by which you can level up your weapons and skills; and #2, you need a ton of it to unlock the secret ending. You may find it useful to level up Catalyst: Momo Oyagi as it increases item drops and the amount of money you receive.
While upgrading your arsenal, you will unlock four different trophies. “Belle Booster” will require you to upgrade 10 different things to Rank 5.
Get Experienced
Three trophies will be unlocked by getting to a high level. The thresholds are 10, 30, and 50 respectively. These requirements are surprisingly lenient, as the maximum level is much higher. I personally reached level 88 by the end of my playthrough. You can level up by talking to thoughtform NPC’s, clearing poison mires, and defeating enemies.
These should be unlocked over the course of normal gameplay and likely won’t require any additional grinding on your part. By the end of the game, you will be named the “New Ruler of Hell.”
Find the Secret Ending
Without spoiling anything, the secret ending can be achieved very easily. You just need to have a spare $100,000 in-game currency to purchase the Yomi Sake Bottle from the Oni shopkeeper. The game hints to you when this option is available so there is no way you can miss it.
You will want to have this by the time you reach the 25th stage, as you will need to select specific dialogue options in stages #25 and #26 in order to get this ending. Successfully doing so will unlock the bonus stage #27. Buying the bottle itself will give you the “For Heaven’s Sake” trophy, and following through to the ending’s conclusion will give you “Poisonette Quartet.”
Seeing the normal ending will also unlock its own trophy, “I Wish I May…”
Poison Control’s Shortcomings
It is highly likely that while playing Poison Control, you will encounter some strange bugs. Some may simply be an annoyance, while others will outright require resetting the game.
Gameplay Issues
I personally learned that you should never enter any new rooms as Poisonette in Purge Mode, as your player character may be locked out of a forced encounter. A barrier gets erected that you cannot pass—usually, this ensures you do not leave the arena until you’ve cleared all the poison mires or defeated all enemies. But in this case, since you’re outside of the barrier, you are prevented from doing the objective and are forced to reset the level.
This can be very annoying and an easy trap to fall into. Often, rooms are overflowing with poison, so you will be tempted to clear a bit of space to be able to walk inside safely. But this is 100% not worth it! Just take the chip damage and clear some space once you’ve fully entered the room.
One other annoying aspect with the gameplay is the inaccurate aiming in Shooting Mode. Often, an enemy will be directly in front of you, you will see the reticle turn yellow indicating you are aiming correctly, and yet—miss. The trophy guide creator guyblade on PSN Profiles stated that the reticle of your weapon is too far to the left of where the actual hitbox is, so if you want to be more accurate you need to aim more to the right than you think you need to. Even following their advice, I found aiming to be very janky and inaccurate. This can be especially aggravating when you use weapons with a lengthy cooldown, such as the Oni’s Hairball Deliriant.
Possible Crashes
Additionally, some players have reported the existence of a memory leak. While I suffered from pop-in on the larger levels, I did not personally experience any crashes on the PlayStation 5. It is definitely recommended to save frequently just in case, though, as everyone’s experience may differ.
(Potentially) Hit or Miss Writing
The game also has a few shortcomings outside of its controls and gameplay. Poison Control generally has decent writing, but that claim comes with a few caveats. Love it or hate it, the game does not shy away from cheeky comments about its female characters’ bodies. It can also be hard to overlook the animations used for character portraits that are speaking.
For those that are sensitive to sexualization, this can be a big drawback for the game. If you can handle the perverse nature of many popular anime shows, then Poison Control will be no different. Personally, I found these jokes a bit crass and unnecessary, but didn’t let it detract from my experience with the game.
Reflection
Poison Control is a fun, albeit short game worth taking a gamble on if you enjoy quirky titles. For less than 5.00 USD and anywhere from 15-20 hours of gameplay, you really can’t go wrong. No trophy is too difficult or unexpected, so trophy hunters need not worry. You can simply play the game normally and clean up anything that remains at the end.
Will you be giving Poison Control a shot? What other unique, quirky titles do you think more people should give a chance? Let us know in the comments down below! If you liked reading about my personal experience with the game, you might also enjoy this breakdown of my platinum trophy hunt in Eternights.
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