Punch Line

About

In "Punch Line," players assume the role of a friendly ghost, haunting a house full of ladies and solving puzzles. The poltergeist powers can be leveled-up, and players can cause mischief, but seeing too many panties may lead to humanity's destruction. The game features time travel, detective work, and the chance to prevent Earth's explosion and defeat terrorists, with a different ending from the anime series.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

56%

Audience ScoreBased on 45 reviews

story24 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The story escalates from a lighthearted comedy to a serious narrative, providing depth and unexpected twists that keep players engaged.
The voice acting is well-executed, enhancing the character interactions and emotional moments throughout the game.
Fans of visual novels will appreciate the character development and the unique premise that combines humor with a supernatural storyline.

The game suffers from poor porting issues, including broken achievements, unresponsive controls, and a lack of graphical settings, making it frustrating to play.
Much of the gameplay consists of trial-and-error puzzles that can feel tedious and uninteresting, detracting from the overall experience.
The game heavily relies on cutscenes from the anime, which can lead to a lack of new content and a feeling of redundancy for those familiar with the source material.

story
69 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
61%
4%
The story of the game initially presents itself as a lighthearted love comedy but quickly evolves into a more serious and complex narrative, filled with absurdity and unexpected twists. While some players appreciate the character interactions and humor, many criticize the slow pacing, filler content, and reliance on fanservice, suggesting that the anime adaptation offers a more engaging experience. Overall, the game has a mixed reception regarding its storytelling, with some finding it enjoyable and others deeming it poorly executed and lacking depth.
- “The story takes a bit of time to pick up, but after a while I couldn't leave it alone; I had grown endeared to the character and the story and mysteries of the series piqued my interest.”
- “Don't let the lewd content fool you, this game has a surprisingly intricate storyline with a fun cast.”
- “Although the story seemed so predictable at first, I totally didn’t see the twists and turns coming and was left shocked at how unpredictable the story was in the end.”
- “The plot is nonsense and the twists are completely impact-less and barely affect the plot at all.”
- “There is a huge amount of filler and as a result, the story drags out way too slowly and quickly becomes boring.”
- “The PC port is bad, the art quality fluctuates throughout, the gameplay feels like filler, and the storytelling is just lazy and relies far too much on its anime counterpart.”
gameplay
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
84%
8%
The gameplay in this title is largely criticized for being minimal and unengaging, primarily consisting of simplistic point-and-click mechanics and repetitive tasks that feel more like filler than meaningful interaction. Players often find the gameplay segments dull and poorly integrated with the visual novel elements, leading to a lack of excitement and a sense of frustration with arbitrary save points and limited choices. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a weak aspect of the game, detracting from the overall experience.
- “In the first 13 episodes of the game, there are short gameplay sections where the aim is either to scare one of Yuta's four female housemates by playing ghost tricks on her around the house, or accomplish a task by chaining a series of tricks.”
- “Punch Line's gameplay is an even mix between visual novel and some basic puzzles, interspersed with short anime videos.”
- “The bit of gameplay I was able to get, after 1.5 hours of playing, shows potential and overall the game is well executed and not cheaply made as tons of others on Steam; it's more of an interactive anime where you may find it fun.”
- “The gameplay isn't the best for a point-and-click style game, and the times you can pause/save feel incredibly arbitrary.”
- “The actual gameplay segments are ironically the worst part about the game.”
- “The gameplay doesn't really add anything to the experience and honestly just felt like a way to pad the game's already short length.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The graphics of the game have been widely criticized for being low-resolution and inconsistent, with many describing the visuals as "trash" and lacking polish, particularly in the anime cutscenes. While the in-game 3D graphics are somewhat decent, they feel dated and are hampered by a lack of customizable settings, offering only basic fullscreen or windowed options. Overall, the presentation detracts from the experience, despite the enjoyable story and music.
- “In-game graphics are all 3D and look pretty nice, if a little dated now.”
- “[*] lovely anime artworks”
- “It does not have the best graphics but it is a thoroughly enjoyable lighthearted story with bubbly music that sets the mood well.”
- “The visuals and presentation look like trash and are extremely inconsistent.”
- “The low-res graphics don't help at all, to make matters worse.”
- “The visuals are quite bad and the textbox and menus look absolutely horrible.”
music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the catchy j-pop tracks that fit the genre, while others criticize it as boring or even unpleasant. The unskippable intro and ending songs for each chapter can be frustrating, especially given the short length of the chapters. Additionally, issues with sound balancing detract from the overall experience for some users.
- “The music soundtrack is typical of the genre: plenty of J-pop-style tracks and catchy tunes.”
- “It does not have the best graphics but it is a thoroughly enjoyable lighthearted story with bubbly music that sets the mood well.”
- “- A lot of music from the anime, works pretty well with the visual novel setup.”
- “The sound balancing between the music and the voice acting is bad for quite a few songs.”
- “Unskippable intro song / ending song every chapter (of which chapters are not long).”
- “I found it annoying that the controls didn’t get properly displayed in the game when it might come in handy, so I didn’t know for many episodes how to skip cut scenes and therefore had to watch the opening and ending songs all over again.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Punch Line" is polarizing; while some players find it unfunny and lacking in comedic value, others appreciate its over-the-top antics and character interactions, which can be both hilarious and emotional. The game’s absurd premise and script have garnered praise for their comedic elements, especially after overcoming a slow start. Overall, opinions vary widely, with some players enjoying the humor and others feeling it falls flat.
- “Before playing the game, I knew very little about it, but that one line on the store page -- 'if he sees underwear, humanity will be destroyed!' -- made me laugh with delight.”
- “The four girls who live with Yuta in the secluded Korai House apartment building -- Meika, Ito, Rabura, and Mikatan -- all fill the roles of some of the expected anime character stereotypes pretty nicely, but the interactions between them are at times both hilarious and emotional.”
- “The premise is ridiculous and the script is, barring a few minor grammatical errors and tiny plot weaknesses, hilarious.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by the touching and humorous interactions among the characters, particularly the four girls living with Yuta. Their bonding moments, filled with both hilarity and heartache, create a compelling narrative that evokes a range of feelings, from joy to sadness, as players witness their struggles and growth. The depth of each character's backstory adds to the emotional weight, making their conflicts and reconciliations resonate deeply with players.
- “I find a lot of the character interactions cute or touching, and you can feel them bonding as they struggle to navigate the ordeals in their way, or as they sing off-key karaoke, cheering each other on the whole time.”
- “The four girls who live with Yuta in the secluded Korai House apartment building -- Meika, Ito, Rabura, and Mikatan -- all fill the roles of some of the expected anime character stereotypes pretty nicely, but the interactions between them are at times both hilarious and emotional.”
- “Additionally, the past of each girl was very heart-wrenching and seeing them getting close filled me with happiness, while seeing them argue tore my heart out, just wanting them to finally make up.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, exacerbated by poor UI design choices that contribute to a less enjoyable experience.
- “Combined with some poor choices for UI design, it makes the game somewhat tedious.”
- “Kind of tedious to do.”