Underworld Office is an atmospheric visual novel that tells a coming-of-age tale about Eugene, a young boy who finds himself trapped in the land between life and death before his time. His beating heart attracts the attention of jealous monsters who want to rip it from his chest, but he is saved by an enigmatic ghost. By the rules of this land, Eugene now has a life debt to the ghost which he can only repay by working as a member of the Underworld Office, an otherworldly agency dedicated to reining in wild supernaturals. And so, Eugene finds himself jumping back and forth between the land of the living and the world of the dead, working to bring peace to the people and creatures in both realms.

Strap in and enjoy the ride

Underworld Office’s lead, the timid Eugene, is a great vehicle for the story. The development of his character and his interactions with the ghosts in his office kept me glued to my screen. That said, I can imagine someone unfamiliar with the tropes and character archetypes in Asian games might find the unnatural exchanges and clumsy humor of Underworld Office annoying.

Playing Underworld Office almost made me feel like the little brother playing with an unplugged controller. Sure, I can press the buttons, but the story’s going to arrive at the same destination regardless. Pointless dialog options are old news in the visual novel genre, and I consider them akin to the turning of a book’s page -- a physical signifier that, yes, I am here and want to read more.

One quibble is that for a visual novel, there’s surprisingly little opportunity to slow down and read at your own pace -- the game advances the dialogue as it wants, only pausing to prompt you for a response. I’m no novice to visual novels, but the game’s insistence on powering through its story caused me to miss several lines of speech.

Would I recommend Underworld Office? Absolutely -- play it once, at least. It’s an enjoyable adventure with a quirky visual style, fun characters, and excellent animations. It’s also unafraid to explore some rather dark subject matter, even if it’s heavy-handed in how it goes about it.

Monetisation Model of the "Underworld Office"

If you look up Underworld Office in your phone’s store app, you’ll see there are actually two versions of the game available. One is the free-to-play version, which implements a mixed model of in-app purchases, interstitials, rewarded video ads, and banner ads. The other is a premium version of the game that can be purchased for $3.49 and is ad-free.

The free version of Underworld Office employs a ticket exchange system wherein the player must spend 5 tickets before they can make a decision. You’ll be choosing dialog options quite frequently in Underworld Office, so prepare to run out of tickets quickly. Additionally, the game will, on occasion, show you a short ad during play.

You can replenish tickets by purchasing packs of them from the in-game shop or viewing a rewarded video ad (40 tickets). You can also spend $0.99 for 800 tickets and the removal of all banner and interstitial ads from the game. I made my way through the entire story without

spending a dime, though that was over the course of a few days. If you’d prefer to sit through the whole adventure in a single sitting, you’ll have to spend some money.

For those planning to replay Underworld Office multiple times, the premium version is your best option. With no ads or tickets to slow you down, you can enjoy the story uninterrupted.

By Andi Nuruljihad for Gamesforum