One of the featured games at Microsoft's ID@Xbox GDC event was Promise Mascot Agency, which is set in a cursed Japanese town. Players take on the role of an ex-Yakuza who faked his own death and now must revive a failed mascot agency. The mascots are all supernatural creatures, such as your partner Pinky, who's a human-sized severed thumb with an attitude.

Describing the gameplay isn't very straightforward because Promise Mascot Agency mashes up different styles into what promises to be an original experience. There's the open world aspect, which allows you to explore the town. There's the collecting mascots aspect (the more you have, the more jobs you can take on). There's the management sim aspect (you have to pay your mascots and keep them happy). There's the card battle aspect. All of these different aspects (and more) flow together in unexpected and entertaining ways.

While I didn't have time during the show demo to dig into the management sim aspects of the game, the characters and dialogue stood out. Most characters were over-the-top, making your ex-Yakuza main character seem subdued in comparison. Both Pinky and Shiori (your human employee who brings the mascots to their jobs) can go from calm to an angry 11 and back again in an instant. Other characters I encountered during the demo include the town's corrupt mayor, a businessman who runs a shopping district, and of course, the mascots.

The first mascot you hire is a large piece of weepy tofu, aptly named To-Fu. While To-Fu was on the mellow side, the second mascot I found was Trororo, a yam cat who desperately wants to direct adult films. I'm told that every mascot has a distinct personality, so discovering them all promises to be part of the fun.

Negotiating with mascots (to hire them and keep them happy) is one part of the business sim, while another is choosing the correct mascot for the right job. Just as they all have their own personalities, each mascot also has a type. If you can match up a mascot with a job of the same type, they'll do better at the job. The more mascots you can find and hire, the better coverage you'll have when it comes to job selection.

Each job earns money, minus the cut that goes to the mascot. You can also earn fame and popularity, which opens up new job opportunities. Of course, things can go wrong on jobs, and that's where the card battle aspect comes in.

In addition to mascots, you can also collect Mascot Support Heroes. They give you hero cards that can be deployed when something goes wrong at a job. Each card has different stats, so you'll want to use the correct cards for the challenge. During the demo, I was presented with a fairly easy battle versus a door, but later challenges will likely require some strategic play. You start with Pinky and Shiori as support heroes, but again, the more variety you have, the more likely you'll be able to take on whatever the game throws at you.

Only having about 25 minutes with Promise Mascot Agency meant that I couldn't dig too deeply, but what I saw on the surface is promising. If you enjoy games with quirky characters and creative gameplay aspects, this title should be on your radar.