Trigger Witch Review: A Tainted Fruit
Editorial Disclaimer: This review contains full narrative spoilers within the Story section, as well as our reviewer’s personal thoughts on the game's messaging regarding gun control and its connective tissue. While we tend to not include narrative spoilers in our reviews, we as a team agreed it is important to discuss Trigger Witch’s overarching themes and messaging to clearly articulate the reviewer’s viewpoints.
Have you ever found yourself at a party with strangers where all of the party-goers felt familiar and comfortable to be around, but as the night goes on, you slowly realize they’re actually horrible people? Unfortunately, that sums up my experience with Trigger Witch; a Zelda-like twin-stick shooter with hyper-violence akin to Hotline Miami. Such a beloved mash-up tees Trigger Witch up to be a dream. But unfortunately, the narrative’s the messaging regarding gun control left me uneasy, resulting in a game I cannot recommend.
Presentation & Gameplay
Let’s get one thing straight: Trigger Witch is a blast to play. Taking visual inspiration from The Legend of Zelda series, but also the Hotline Miami duology. Landscapes and enemies from the former, action with blood and gore from the latter. The mixture creates a one of a kind homage to both game worlds and surprisingly really works. Around any corner you’ll find yourself in a mini-arena scenario where you need to take out the pack of enemies before proceeding.
Throughout the game are six dungeons, an arena, and a casino, as well as several varied locations spanning from a beach where the crabs are too cute to kill to a haunted castle basked in darkness, all presented somewhere between 16bit and 32bit sprite visuals that fit quite well. Within each dungeon, you’re presented with the standard “go here, find this, open that, fight the boss” format that’s been tried and true to The Legend of Zelda. Within some of these dungeons, though, are vertical shoot-em-up sequences. You’ll hop on a broom and lay waste to whatever passes directly in front of your person. The rest of the gunplay boils down to both enclosed and open areas with enemies to take out as you’re weaving and dodging enemies and their accompanying fire.
The true standout in the presentation is the music. When you’re exploring the world, you’ll be listening to some fantastical, sweeping tunes that wouldn’t be out of place in a fantasy title. However, as soon as an enemy appears on screen, the same song swings from a fantasy genre to hard rock. The music will pump you up into a shooting, dodging machine. Taking out your foes to the rock tracks is packed with fun even though it’s largely rinse and repeat format.
Story (Full Spoilers)
WARNING: MAJOR STORY BEATS DETAILED IN FULL
The first half of this section serves as a base for my analysis on the narrative.
Trigger Witch opens up on the day of The Clip Trials, an annual(?) competition for witches in training to join the holy fold known as "The Clip"; gun bearing witches (in name only these days) who work as the Church of Ballisticism's Knights protecting the land and keeping peace with deadly firearms. You play as Colette, daughter to the supreme head witch and leader of the Church. Colette is next in line for the title, and today is the day she is chosen to bear arms from the Rift; a magical portal that bequeaths a firearm to the chosen few. Colette successfully clears the trials, whereas her friends, Shelly and Remi, go their separate ways after failing. Remi, leaving Ballisticism behind, leaves for the mountain castle to find The Oracle, the last remaining Witch who practices magic. Shelly, on the other hand, becomes a janitor at the ammo manufacturing plant. Failing these trials and the ability to wield firearms forces the two witches either to settle for janitorial work or outcast themselves, sending an odd message relatively early.
From here on out, it’s Colette’s duty to track down this mysterious aforementioned “Man in Black” who was last seen heading north through a barrier that divides the south from the north; the witches from the goblins. This magical barrier no one has ever been able to cross was created by the witches generations ago to keep the goblins away from their firearms. It’s important to note that the goblin village is constructed of tipi, whereas the witches live in cottage houses. As luck would have it, the witches kept the recipe for a concoction that could dispel the barrier if the need should ever arise, driving the adventure forward. Upon successfully finding three ingredients necessary for the recipe, the Man in Black returns to Colette’s village and kidnaps her mother in the middle of the night.
Here is where things take an unexpected turn.
As Colette catches up with the Man in Black and her mother, he’s revealed to be none other than Joseph Stalin. Yes, that Joseph Stalin. He criticizes Colette for laying waste to hundreds of innocent creatures to get here, saying she is no better than he. Stalin opens another portal back to where he hails from, and Colette gives chase. In the final dungeon of the game, Colette has to take out Soviet Russians in what appears to be inside the Kremlin.
After Colette takes out a plethora of Russian soldiers and rats inflicted with poison (a callout to soviets using this tactic in 1942), she comes face to face with Stalin again for the final battle that spans various parts. Upon Stalin’s defeat, on his knees, he expresses to Colette that it’s his destiny to rule this planet, and explains why he set out to steal the knowledge of magic and bring it to his side. But mid-sentence, interrupting this monologue, Colette shoots Stalin dead. Heading back to Russia to find her mother clinging to life, Colette gives her a healing potion and the two walk back to the Rift to make their way home. Before entering, Colette starts a fuse with explosions placed around the portal entrance, closing it for good.
When Colette and her mother arrive back in their world, about 50-60 years have passed. Witch and goblin are living together in harmony as things once were before the intrusion of firearms to their society. While she’s in bed resting, Colette’s mother places a vast blame on herself for what she did to their world. Consoling her, Colette tells her it wasn’t her fault, nor the fault of guns and magic. All that matters is that things are back to normal as they once were.
Shelly guides the people together in harmony, and Remi has been teaching them the ways of magic that she learned through the Oracle. All is well.
The story and message behind Trigger Witch is dangerous at worst, and problematic at best. As soon as I began the game, of which I went in blind, I expressed to our Editor In Chief, Mike Towndrow, how uneasy I felt with the casual nature of the characters' lifestyles and how they discussed firearms. What I had hoped for was a tongue-in-cheek parody of how much Americans revere guns, especially with their society built around “The Church of Ballisticism”. I slowly began to realize that parody would not come to pass, sinking in lower and lower into feelings of regret when experiencing this story.
I achieved the Platinum trophy for this game, which speaks to how much fun I had with it’s gameplay and score. But in the latter half of the game, if the gun worshipping and ultra violent acts towards wildlife weren’t enough, I felt uneasy enjoying the game any longer. From the stark comparison of a society thriving WITH firearms, to a society living in tipi without them, to Colette’s emotionless goodbye to her (granted traitorous) goblin tour guide. I began preparing myself for an ending I did not want to experience.
Then there’s Stalin and Soviet Russia. What could be classified as homages to Wolfenstein and Metal Slug, and even Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa, felt really tired and uninspired. These are really overused tropes in video games, where Stalin and the final area just feels like “rather than doing nazis to death, let’s have soviet Russians instead.” That’s where my head went.
You’re not supposed to review something for what it isn’t, but the reason it’s so hard for me to separate that from this game is due to the times we live in now. Firearms are such a huge part of the game’s DNA, and it ends with an argument that essentially boils down to “guns don’t kill people” followed by the resolution that “as long as things return to how they used to be, everything is alright.” There is far too much of a parallel to alt-right messaging in those sentiments for my liking, and I came away hurt and upset when I finished the game.
To be perfectly candid, there is another aspect which left a bad taste in my mouth as the credits rolled. There’s a trophy in the game called “Sacred Symbols”, which is the name of Colin Moriarty’s PlayStation podcast. In addition to this nod, it just so happens that Colin was a tester on this game as well. Six One Indie strives to promote a safe, inclusive space for all within the games industry. What Colin and his largely toxic fanbase represent contradicts this sentiment. While this does not affect my criticism and thoughts on Trigger Witch’s narrative, nor is reflective of the game as a whole, we always aim to be as transparent as possible with our readers and community.
Breakdown
Game: Trigger Witch
Developer: Rainbite
Availability: PS4/5, Xbox One/Series, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed on PS5
Pros:
+ Engaging twin-stick gunplay
+ Great dungeons
+ Fantastic musical score
Cons:
- The message behind the narrative
Final Thoughts
I cannot recommend Trigger Witch. I truly wish I could. It is a fantastic mash-up of Hotline Miami meets classic Legend of Zelda gameplay. If the story hadn’t been what it is, and if firearms weren’t just swept under the rug at the end of the day, I would be more than happy to tell you to go play this game and support this small development team. The indie scene is a wonderful space for marginalized voices to speak up and be heard, and in my opinion, I’ve heard enough dangerous ideals for a lifetime.
Reviewed by Matthew Wright