Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! may not be the most unique game ever, but there’s a lot to like about this cute yet deep sim release that mostly sticks the landing. You’re tasked with owning and operating a weapon shop with the goal of maximizing profits and helping out the visiting warriors who are in desperate need of fresh gear and weapons. We’ve seen similarly themed sims before, but Holy has that certain undefinable quality that hooks you despite a handful of flaws.
The first thing that jumps out about Holy is it’s unique sense of humor. The game is filled with light humor and puns that will bring out groans but never eye-rolls. With shop workers like Bulk Bogan and fun dialog/banter throughout, the humor is always front and center. This helps distract from the fact that the gameplay loop can grow repetitive and tedious at times, and the game’s tone is one of the factors that helps separate Holy from other management sims.
Once you dig into the actual gameplay and mechanics, you’ll find that Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! is a solid and competent management sim. While it may not reinvent the wheel in any sense of the word, there’s still a lot here to enjoy once you learn the ropes.
You’ll find yourself hopping from shop to shop over the world map, building up the sales of each location, and outfitting the local warriors with the best gear possible. The campaign itself offers a healthy amount of play time, and there are also bonus missions outside of the main game that offer small scenarios for more experienced players looking to extend their time.
The main issue I have with Holy is that it’s not very user-friendly when it comes to the UI and overall design. A lot of times, I noticed severe stalls, hiccups, and loading issues. Not only that, but the menu layout doesn’t seem like it was built for a console experience.
Rather, it seems like the studio just directly ported over the PC version, and made due the best they could. It’s a shame, because if this one concern was addressed before release, it could have gone a long way. As it is, once you’ve seen all the game has to offer, the repetition does start to grind on you, and is only made worse when you grow tired of having to deal with menu after menu, hiccups, and improperly-formatted text.
Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! may not be for everyone, and it’s sense of humor may be hit and miss for some, but if you’re into management sims, and are looking for that specific type of gameplay on a console (there aren’t many choices), this might be the game you’re looking for.
