‘the Holy Gosh Darn’: The Best Adult Swim Show That Isn’t One (review)

Adult animation is a TV genre that holds a special place in my heart. From The Simpsons to Family Guy and the somehow underrated Adult Swim classic, Home Movies — the writing and comedy is unmatched. That is until I played The Holy Gosh Darn. And it quickly became one of my favorite indie games ever. 

The Holy Gosh Darn is a narrative-based adventure game from indie dev Perfectly Paranormal. It’s the third in a trilogy of games that includes Manual Samuel and Helheim Hassle. It’s also the first game played as a part of the Slow Game Club, which is how I ended up reviewing it. 

THIS GAME FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ADULT SWIM BLOCK 

The Holy Gosh Darn is set in heaven, and you control the hilariously foul-mouthed Cassiel of  Celerity in her quest to save heaven from certain destruction due to an invasion of phantoms mistakenly sent there by Death. The kicker is: heaven is going to blow up. Otherwise, there’s no point in the game, right? 

The lead-in here is that God, for some reason, is not on his throne — leaving it empty. If anyone sits on the throne but God, heaven blows up. Hell of a safeguard. Once the phantoms reach the throne and heaven gets blown to bits, Cassiel is given a watch from Death that allows her to go back six hours before the invasion. Her goal is to get an artifact called the Holy Gosh Darn, something that would stop the phantoms from even getting into heaven. 

Those six hours actually equate to only about 20 minutes of actual play, so the rewinding comes into play pretty heavily. The key thing to remember is that certain items will disappear upon reversing time, much like Majora’s Mask. There are permanent items that go with you, but money and things not designated “permanent” go away. There is an upgrade that allows you to prevent that for one item at a time, though.

‘THE HOLY GOSH DARN’ IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST GAMES I’VE EVER PLAYED

The most impressive thing Perfectly Paranormal pulls off in this is that those bite-sized 20-minute runs are never boring. And that’s because of how well the dialogue works with the gameplay. You’re given the option to cut people off with a rude comment to save valuable time, but that will stop them from talking to you entirely. And of course, you can reverse time to take another shot. 

Now, for the story itself, it is funny as hell in both direct ways and subtle ways. I didn’t think an All Dogs Go to Heaven joke would land. But the way it’s executed in the moment — and throughout the game — is masterful, and it even plays a part in the story. The characters in the game are all perfectly voice-acted. Not only that, but the dialogue is so well done and took some SERIOUS work.

One of my favorite running jokes in the game is the reversal of what you would consider normal heaven/hell decorum. The angels are all very foul-mouthed and the demons in hell aren’t allowed to curse at all. A demon with a swear jar will pop up each time they do. There’s a pretty cool bit where you can cough each time your companion (at that point) curses to prevent the demon from popping up.

THERE SHOULD LEGITIMATELY BE An adult swim SERIES BASED ON THIS GAME 

Among the hilarious quests in the game, one involves an old lady, a board meeting, and a bus to hell. Another involves going around telling heaven’s elders that they suck. Every section of the game has at least 2-3 memorable quotes or moments. It’s a testament to the strength of the writing and the creativity of the devs that no joke gets stale. The game truly does have that 11PM Adult Swim block style of humor, from the constant vomiting Cassiel does after time-traveling, to the game’s late story revelation. It’s an incredibly well-executed experience.  

The end of my initial playthrough clocked in somewhere around eight hours. With the side quests and upgrades, there’s definitely more to do. Fortunately, the game does give you the chance to clean all that up before you use the Holy Gosh Darn. Completing the game 100% will put you around the 12-14 hour mark.

I came away from this game in love with it. It hit all the right notes for me and has easily become one of my favorite indie games ever. After this, I’ll be diving into the previous two games as soon as possible. I want to see more from this world and Perfectly Paranormal. Someone with some pull please make a call to the Adult Swim offices; they’d have a hit on their hands. The Holy Gosh Darn is, hands down, one of the best indie games released this year.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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