#potion permit rue

[bitchfitch]

I've started playing Potion Permit, and so far it's one of my favorite games I've messed around with, but the most big brained move the devs made was giving you a dog on day 1, and then making that dog able to track NPCs and lead you directly to them no matter where they are in the town.

[worriedvision]

Angsty alternative to Xiao's romance route (Potion Permit)

Gender neutral reader, reader is the chemist here. Sad ending BC when I was playing through Xiao's romance I got that heart sinking feeling from the beginning where we confess to him. Obviously spoilers for Xiao's romance route.

Goes without saying, this is not genshin impact Xiao.

--

"...You're usually so rational, why did you take Helene's horoscope reading as accurate?" Xiao asks, your confession hurting you as he looks at you with judgement.

"I thought you liked me back. Why else would you invite me out? I really enjoyed our night last night." You sheepishly admit, Xiao wincing when he hears this.

"...Well I just see you as a colleague." Xiao parries, you have to look at the ground out of sheer embarrassment. "You've been here for what, a few months? I don't know much about you."

Now you're tearing up. The way he seemed to soften around you as you worked as a chemist in Moonbury made you see something he didn't. Everyone else was especially cold, and in hindsight he was likely only being nice to you because of the Mayor.

"I'm sorry." You croak out, sniffling before you speed walk out of Xiao's house.

--

The next day, he talks to you like normal but you don't even say a word, just resorting to nodding. Walking up the stairs, you decide to make the difficult decision of requesting to return to the Capital once your work is complete.

"What's brought this on, _?" Myer asks. "I was under the impression you were beginning to enjoy Moonbury, I've heard good things from many of our citizens."

"...I still feel out of place. My position as a chemist from the Capital won't leave. I understand the people's frustration over the previous Chemists, and I do want to help Moonbury, but I don't belong here."

"...Have you spoken to Xiao about this? I don't want to sound rude when saying this, but Xiao is typically who would speak to me about this."

"Yeah, about that... I confessed to him. Silly, I know, I shouldn't have tried to get romantic with the person that speaks to me about pieces of my work."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that... I can try to make adjustments so that-"

"I'd rather just get through my responsibilities and leave when I complete my work here."

--

True to your word, a few months later you fix the issues caused by the Chemists running out of time to complete their work before leaving. While you felt happy to see Moonburys citizens so relieved, you still opt to leave.

Myer, Rue and Xiao see you off. Xiao doesn't say a word, he can't even look at you, and Rue tears up as she realises you won't be coming back anytime soon. Myer does the talking, wishing you well and thanking you for your support with Moonbury.

The train honks its horn, and you give one last goodbye to Myer - after all, he gave you the chance to work here, and you had a roof over your head as well as the clinic.

Taking a seat in the train, you look out the window as your dog whines. Waving out the window, you see Rue and Myer waving, both plastering the best smile they can, but Xiao doesn't wave.

He does, however, look at you with a regretful face. Chances are, he knew he was the reason you were leaving, but you look down at your dog before petting it's head.

[hydrangeyes]

Playing Potion permit for a few days straight and while I LOVE it, I also have alot of.... thoughts.

Like I love love love this game, genuinely sat down blink and it's been a month non stop.

So with that said...

Let's just narrow it to romanceable:

- look, I was so happy I could romance Victor (I loved him first and soooo glad I got this legit after the update).

- I like matheo purely out of spite and wanting to give him a frustrated kiss on the lips.

- WHY CAN'T I ROMANCE THE TWINS? specifically Collin???? Like hello????

- but like, also: Moira, Dev, Nova (I said what I said), Rinehart, Lucke, Yorn (god please legit first bestie I made I love him so much), hell Opalheart (anothe I said what I said), Derek or Dean! Freakin' Dan also! (Edit: I just found out that Dan and Dev are the same person- split personality? Huh????)

Just. Why is Rue an option???? I legit thought she was AT MOST 12. 😮‍💨

Anyway, idk maybe It's because I just started actually romancing but it feels so.... last minute thought of? Like the actual dating part? Just odd the heart bar is completely maxed if you've only been on 1 date.

I wanna focus on this because if I focus on other aspects, I'll just get sad and go play stardew to clear my head.

Cause I am HEATED about how the resources are just... so small and the stamina bar being what it is.

Someone needs to make a mod to have these folks romanceable plsssssssss (I'm not at the point where I wanna make them myself tbh 🙃)

I was so ready to romance Osman till I found out he's already married 😮‍💨 another bestie I made, and I like that he worries about our well-being

[transcarcinization]

potion permit is a delightful little game and i’m really enjoying it, but it feels like they’re planning for several big updates in the future? like the game is technically completed but it doesn’t feel done.

1) i think they’re going to add marriage mechanics at some point, just because of the nature of the genre, i think it’s going to be something very asked for. i was surprised when i realized its not already in the game

2) hopefully they add customization mechanics. there’s a tailor in town but very little in the way of tailoring she can do…??? it would make sense to have new clothes you can buy (maybe new hair, too! please!). since this is a lot of work to make the animations but it’s not really difficult i’m hoping they’re just waiting until all the bugs have been beat out of the base game. this is genuinely one of my main wants out of this game. let me buy new hair ALSO stop fucking gender locking the hair

3) i can also see major updates to who’s romanceable- i know everyone else has mentioned this but the choice of who you can and can’t romance seems arbitrary? this isn’t even me being weird like, why is runeheart not romanceable??

4) the mini games have already been rehauled since the alpha i believe but i would not be surprised if that changed. i still don’t understand the research one and the diagnosis ones seem unnecessary. at least put in a difficult setting or something, i feel silly. also mailroom should be unlimited boxes and your pay should scale with how many you do

i think the dev team is very busy with bug squishing rn so if there is a major update it won’t be for forever. i will be sticking it out though! for a game that just released it has a lot going for it

[gwagwagwagoogoo]

I LOVE POTION PERMIT!! NEED TO KISS ALL OF THE DATABLE WOMEN NOW!!!!!!!!!!! (oli, short for oleander, is my potion permit MC and theyre a freak)

[volixia669]

Potion Permit isn't flawless (whyyyyyyy does this small town of like 15 need three cops?) but I'm liking it!

A little disappointed the whole incident that causes the town's distrust of chemists was an oopsie daisy that's quickly resolved. I dunno. Seemed a perfect set up for a whole, "the capital didn't give a fuck and you need to learn to distrust the state and work with rural customs while 'science isn't bad, greed is' is learned by the locals."

But I suppose if that was the plot we wouldn't have THREE fucking cops.

Still, if you like grindy games, it has a pretty solid gameplay loop. The character designs are diverse and pretty good! Aside from Rue, who I think could have been made older.

That said, the writing has a lot of poteeeential, but given what other folks here have mentioned, it doesn't go as far as it could.

[the-universe-in-our-mind]

DAY 1 OF FLUFFTOBER: Lost pet meet cute

Ship: Evan x Xiao

Fandom: Potion Permit

Words: 623

Arriving in a new village, where most people do not like you at first, is always a challenge. Yet, it’s something Evan had been ready to face, as his coworkers from the big town had warned him about. Moving to Moonbury Island, after the incident, was not the best decision, they had told him. Without ever explaining the incident.

But here he was. The mayor had introduced him to the villagers, which had gone, as expected, not well.

Evan had worked hard to find a cure for the mayor’s daughter, Rue, which he had found pretty quickly. He was now pretty much accepted in the village, maybe tolerated for certain people.

It was one of those calm mornings, where no one was at the clinic, which he now was responsible for. Banjo had begged to be let outside, and Evan was watching him, as people were walking around.

Unexpectedly, Banjo barked at something, which made Evan look at him. As Banjo walked to the tavern, Evan was following him closely. The dog grabbed in his mouth what seemed to be a small object.

“What did you find, Banjo?” Evan approached him, now being able to identify the object as a pen.

As he was about to grab it, Banjo started running in the city hall’s direction.

“Banjo, wait!” Evan yelled before running after him.

He lost him for a second, not being able to catch up.

But as he continued in the same direction, he was able to find him. Embarrassment took over him as he noticed the dog, sitting in front of Xiao, the mayor’s assistant, tail shaking. But as he saw Xiao’s startled expression turn into a softer look, getting down to pet Banjo, he felt a bit relieved.

Evan walked up to them, with an apologetic look.

“I’m so sorry, he took off running before I was able to catch him.” He let Xiao know and the assistant looked back up, with a small smile.

“That’s okay. He does look adorable. What’s his name?” He asked him in a friendly tone.

Well, that did go better than he feared it would go.

“His name’s Banjo.” Evan said with a smile.

As Xiao got up again, now with a more professional smile, Evan realized the actual reason why Banjo must have run toward Xiao.

“By the way, would this happen to be yours?” He asked, as Evan placed his hand near Banjo’s mouth, who let the pen fall into his hand. Evan wiped it quickly on his shirt before handing it to the other man.

Xiao looked surprised at the view of the pen, nodding, before taking it.

“It is, actually. Where did you find it?” He wondered and Evan chuckled as he pointed at his dog.

“Oh, all the credit goes to this one. He was trained to pick stuff people would leave behind.” He explained as he started petting Banjo, who barked in what seemed an affirmative answer.

“Oh,did he?” Xiao said, with curiosity.

“Yes, he used to work with me at the hospital with other patients.” Evan explained quickly.

There was a small silence and Evan stood quickly back up.

“Anyway, I better get him home. I’ll get the potion you asked for later.” He assured and Xiao nodded.

“Alright then. Have a good day, Evan.” Xiao said before heading inside the city hall.

Evan felt his heart calm down a bit as the other man was now inside the building. Well, that was definitely a way to make an impression.

Banjo barked again, his tail still shaking. Evan looked at him with a resigned look.

“You’re a good boy, Banjo.” He assured before walking him back home.

[indisputablypercy]

I’ve been playing a lot of potion permit lately and i have some thoughts

This game rocks it’s super cute and fun

I don’t THINK Rue is supposed to be as young as people think she is. I get her being a romance target. Like story wise it makes sense. but. like. even her tarot card looks so young. So like. again i don’t think it’s the intention of the devs to have a child romance target. she just. she’s just small. i think that’s the intent. but still it’s. odd

Also why can’t I date Lucke. Or Runeheart. or Dev i like Dev

I’m so happy that I can date Victor now like hi. hi. hello weird graveyard man hi.

I wish there were more gift options than just the moon cloves :/

I absolutely adore every character. they’re all so well designed and cute. even if i tend to give all my mooncloves to Victor and Dev.

I really like the combat resource collection portion of the game. I like how you can use any tool as a weapon with pros and cons to each. like that was so well thought out. adore it

I wish the romance system went like. beyond just one date then boom you’re done. maxed out. let me do more. please. i’m begging. i know there’s more dates. but. like. more pls.

But yeah!! overall!! really loving it. My autistic ass rotates through ‘cozy games’ to hyper fixate on and Potion Permit is a great addition to that list lol even if i have some problems with it i still recommend

[shellibocs]

A and/or S for the initials thing? 🫶

quite a few so I’m keeping these little bios short! so for the A’s…

alicia joy rossi. or dr. rossi. one of my call of duty ocs. dr. rossi is the psychiatrist who frequently works with TF 141 and co. she is shipped with john price

amara celeste owens. my most favorite girl, my infamous second son oc. a d.u.p. researcher who ends up fighting against them after developing plant themed powers of her own. she is shipped with delsin rowe

andrea hope kwan. or just andy. my tomb raider oc, an ecosystem ecologist who accompanies lara on her adventures to make sure she doesn’t wreck the environment Too Much. she is shipped with another of @jendoe ‘s ocs, shane nishimura

annette marie hayes. or nettie. one of my red dead ocs. a seamstress from blackwater who is a tad bit clumsy. she is shipped with charles smith

arden. my potion permit chemist. she is shipped with reyner

asha. my stardew valley farmer. she is shipped with haley

and the S’s

silas xavier kane. one of my cyberpunk 2077 ocs. a mercenary who frequently works with my other oc iseul. has a dog named maple

spencer james clarke. my oc for the quarry. part time lifeguard. part time camp nurse. she is shipped with jacob custos

soleil alexander cloverhorn. or sol. one of my baldur’s gate 3 characters. a fey’ri warlock/fighter trying to make a name for herself. she is shipped with gale dekarios

sylvia rue green. or just sylvie. another one of my call of duty ocs. one of TF 141’s sniper and reconnaissance experts. she is shipped with alex keller

[o-avosetta]

Re: relationships in Potion Permit

The grind in Potion Permit is awful and tedious. The player's options for money/resources definitely fall short of the variety in Stardew Valley or Coral Island. But, I've decided this game is not for the player who actually wants a lot out of the central simulation. This is for the simulation player who wants to see character development in the NPCs, and not just in the romanceables.

Often, the other townies are even more interesting than the dateables. Every single townie — even the freaking cat — has a storyline to unlock. Everyone is figuring something out about themselves, or about the town, or about you, and you just need to get to know them to be part of the process.

As usual, there's a lot of busted stuff around town that only gets fixed as you progress through the game. But, at least the way I've been playing, making friends is part of that progress. Because I'm getting mixed up in people's lives and getting to know everybody, I know I'm not the only one working for the betterment of the town.

So, it doesn't really feel as though everyone is just sitting around while I pay for everything. The mayor, the law enforcement, the crafters, the rangers — they all seem genuinely interested in doing their part for Moonbury, and genuinely grateful for my help. I'm forever needing to chop a gazillion thousand wood and break a bajillion thousand rocks 🥴, but hey, if it helps restore the environment, or helps a mother and a daughter hone their craft and respect each other, maybe it'll be worth it.

I also appreciate the dose of realism the Chemist gives every character whose story involves a potion request. Yeah, I'll give you something for your insomnia, but you still need to work through your anxiety and fix your sleep schedule. We all need to do the work.

Romance in this game definitely leaves something to be desired. [SPOILERS] Once you reach the dating stage with someone, after the thrill of the confession cutscenes, little else changes besides the option to go on a date every now and then. And I do like the dates — I like the idea of hitting the bathhouse with my boo after a long day chopping wood / breaking rocks (gods, so many rocks 😩😩😩). But maybe marriage in Stardew has spoiled me; it would be nice to be able to move in with my Potion Permit partners, start and end the day with them, and get a bit more variety in the cycle of dialogue lines now that our relationship has changed.

As for the options: Rue reads as too young and naive for me. Martha, the first person to try to make friends with the Chemist, is a real sweetheart who deserves to be happy and loved. Leano — haven't actually made level-two friends with her as I don't go to the beach that often, but I can see the appeal. I picked Matheo purely for the tsundere enemies-to-lovers arc, but I genuinely respect his ideals and his conviction. Xiao is logical and studious, but also surprisingly forward — I hear his wanting to spend more time with me in the same matter-of-fact tone I imagine the rest of his dialogue, and it always catches me a off guard. Reyner is a tough guy who needs to soften up, and he has the most suggestive cutscenes. 👐🏼👀

Oh — *is handed a card; squints* — I've just learned that partners don't get jealous if you date other people! That will at least save me from the wood/stone grind of a new save just to explore all the romantic options.

The devs have also said they'll be adding more romanceables. I guess I'll just keep fingers crossed for Lucke (sweet farmer boy genius), Helene (cheeky button-pushing games mistress), and Runeheart (could probably break me in half with her arms).

Overall, this game is pretty low in the mechanics department (seems dumb that you can't use your own healing potions on yourself). But I've still really enjoyed meeting all of the characters and becoming a part of Moonbury.

[sammatage]

Been playing Potion Permit and I'm so glad Matheo is romanceable. Although I was thinking about a wild alternate story twist if his romance story is pursued based entirely on the way he's designed.

What if throughout the game, Matheo is actually a vampire feeding on the citizens of Moonbury? He masquerades as the doctor because vampire bites have mild curative properties. His facade is in jeopardy when the Chemist called because his bites are unable to cure what is wrong with Rue.

He always talks about upholding traditional medical practices (leeches and blood letting). He voices his concern over unnatural remedies (not wanting side effects when drinking their blood). He even has a vested concern in the surrounding environment of the town (maintaining the welfare of those he feeds on).

Of course, he can't just tell the Chemist that he's a vampire. It's not until he catches feelings and they confess to him that he initially rejects them over not wanting them to know the truth.

[jake-marshall]

Potion Permit Review

Okay, so. As previously noted, Potion Permit consumed the past two weeks of my life. (This reminds me of when I played Return to PoPoLoCrois, and, same thing - was balls deep in it for 2 weeks bc it made my brain go brrrr). As a fan of most HM games, even the less popular ones, I really enjoyed this overall. So it has a Stardew graphic style mixed with the overworld combat of RF, and this is my review(ish) of the Switch version. Pros.

GREAT controls. I never at any point felt anything was tedious or difficult to engage with (outside of the grow box maybe?) It was very simplistic and stream-lined.

Cute/fun minigames. Nothing gets frantic or taxing. The Potion making is honestly really fun.

Decent Music. It's nice background music the way, I guess, ACNH has nice soothing background music. Nothing is a bop like HM/RF tunes but that's fine.

Good Male romance candidates - I feel like the 4 boys available to romance are all diverse enough to appease most everyone's tastes. Xiao is my husbando but I know a lot of people will go for Matheo or Victor (and I'll probably go for Victor if i ever play a boy file).

Interesting enough side characters. Nothing groundbreaking-ly unique but I did get a sense of community from the town of Moonbury, at least. and wanted to befriend everyone/know their story.

Pretty good pacing. At least for me, I never felt overwhelmed even when taking on numerous side quests. Outside of healing patients, nothing had a timeframe which was nice because it really did let you go at your own pace. CONS

No weather changes? I felt this could have really added to the game in terms of immersion even if it didn't affect anything gameplay-wise.

In that vein, no seasons. Again, it would be something I'd like to see expanded upon if there's a sequel. It would feel more like time is passing and therefore adding to the immersion.

Meh Female Romance Candidates - again, this is just personal taste but I did not like any of the available women - some of them, in fact, I outright disliked (Helene). Leano was the only okay one but she felt a bit too gimmicky with the pirate thing. And I don't even know why Rue was an option. I would have taken Bubble and Runehart happily over Rue and Helene.

Some of the topics presented in the side/character quests fell flat for me. I give PP kudos for trying, for touching on things like eating disorders, anxiety, and DID but the way a lot of it was easily resolved/hand-waved away felt big oof. Like I didn't feel the poor execution was for lack of trying, at least.

Not enough Collin and Moira lol.

Biggest con for me was not being able to romance Lucke. I really hope they make him and the aforementioned girls, as well as Dean and Derrek available... some day...

So overall I would recommend the game if you want something charming to mindlessly put 30-40 hours into. But there's a lot of loose ends that, for me, don't make it as compulsively replayable as RF/SoS. Still, i feel like it's something I might come back to every year or two to revisit, and I'm glad to have met some new blorbos. :)

[death-munchkin]

A Cauldron Full of Luck (Chapter 1)

Originally posted on AO3, I figured I'd pop it here too since I now have a blog and what not. Potion Permit fic. Rest of the fic (wop, 4 Chapters currently) can be found here (AO3).

Reyner had been perfectly content to ignore the charming new chemist in town, until a mutual friend seemingly insisted on bringing them together. Through various encounters, a handful of struggles and with the help of one Runeheart bent on making them get along, it's only a matter of time before Reyner's strange new feelings towards Moonbury's resident chemist grow stronger. Story follows the perspective of Reyner as he goes on a journey of emotions to figure himself out through the events of the game. ~~Reyner/Chemist, amab(he/him) Chemist, Named Chemist.

To fix a Chipped Shoulder

“This is ridiculous, I’m going back to work.”

Reyner had risen that morning only to quickly find out that Runeheart had seemingly taken it on herself, as per usual, to fix his problems. Namely on that particular day, she had decided to ‘fix’ his shoulder. Or, more specifically, she’d decided to take him to someone she figuredcould fix his shoulder, considering her fixing talent wasn’t exactly appropriate to apply to anything living. That person, of course, not being Matheo, who he knew and was comfortable with. Oh no, it couldn’t possibly have been that simple. No she had to drag him off to Kliao’s, the town’s newcomer chemist, who he absolutely positively without a doubt didnot want to see, if he could help it. But, with Rune around, that wasn’t an option he was allowed to take, apparently, considering where they now stood in front of the chemist’s residence.

Reyner didn’t get the chance to take a single stubborn step to freedom before his good arm was used as an anchor line to snap him back into place, his possibly-even-more-stubborn best friend’s hands grounding him with the force of a thousand anvils, and her eyes with possibly twice that.

“Reyner, if you so much as think of leaving before we get you fixed up I swear on the Gods I’ll personally fashion shackles to chain you to the clinic.” Runeheart’s words licked like a flame, fiercer and sharper than normal, and he could tell she was quickly reaching the end of her rope with him. Whether or not she’d follow through with her threat, he didn’t know. Whether or not he’d chance the risk, well, that option was looking more and more preferable the longer he thought-

The sound of the front door cracking open redirected both their focus to the soon no longer empty doorway of the chemist’s house. It’s inhabitant, the town’s newcomer, now onlooked the pair with slight bewilderment and concern, clearly not at all having expected this scene when they left the house. Rune loosened up, Reyner tensed up, and it looked as though any fantasy of escape was quashed.

“Hey Kliao!” Rune greeted with a cheerful wave, her demeanor much friendlier now that she wasn’t addressing the object of her recent frustration. Reyner for his part muttered a disgruntled greeting, much less enthused by the situation than she was.

Rune, as far as he was aware, had been spending more time getting to know the town’s newest resident than he had, and had been fairly welcoming of the chemist once Rue had been cured. As a result, while Reyner wasn’t hostile or unwelcoming to him, Rune and Kliao had developed more of a buddy buddy relationship than the two guys had. Maybe that’s why she was so quick to insist on dragging him here when he blamed his bad shoulder for losing their previous darts match. Or maybe she was trying to slyly get back at him for some offense or another, considering she knew exactly how he felt about the idea of being examined by someone from the capital. Who knew.

“Sorry to disturb you, but could you possibly take a look at him?” Rune gestured with one hand while the other still kept Reyner in place. “We tried to get Matheo, but since his schedule’s full, you’re our only option.”

The thought however of imminently having a stranger, a chemist, from the capital, in his personal space gave Reyner a small spike of adrenaline, enough to wrench his good arm free and back up a few steps.

“Rune, please. I told you earlier it’s not a good idea to have someone from the capital check on me.” Reyner foundered, flushed and embarrassed and maybe just a little bit panicked, but certainly desperately wanting to just leave. He didnot want the chemist to examine him. Not that he had anything against Kliao in particular, contrary to how it might have come across. The lad seemed nice enough. He was always polite and at least seemed to genuinely want to help people. But there was just something about him, about the aura around him, which left Reyner feeling strange and uncomfortable. Like he was trapped and squirming under Kliao’s gaze whenever the chemist was around, and he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to subject himself to that if he didn’t absolutely have to.

Runeheart, on the other hand, was quite frankly done with her friend’s nonsense, her own face once more becoming blushed with frustration. She didn’t say anything in response to his antics. She didn’t need to. The look of disapproval combined with the silence she allowed to stretch was sharper than any blade she or dare say her mother could ever craft, and she knew well that he couldn’t leave when she pinned him with a look like that.

The chemist was the one to break the silence, offering a nervous laugh at the duo’s altercation before clearing his throat and approaching Reyner, offering a gentle smile seemingly aimed to pacify his patient before he’d sprint off like a frightened animal. It was obvious he’d be more than happy to oblige Rune’s request, provided of course that Reyner gave him the go-ahead first.

The chemist’s keenness to help, despite seemingly genuine in nature, still somehow had Reyner’s body feeling tight with awkward anticipation. A look to his best friend of course didn’t grant any solace, with her still casting silent judgment in his direction for, in her words, acting like a complete dingus. Trapped and defeated, the young carpenter let out a reluctant sigh of surrender and nodded, giving consent for the chemist to begin his examination. An offer which was happily accepted.

“My left shoulder feels weird.” Reyner clarified, opting to turn his head to the sky while Kliao went about their business examining the shoulder in question, unsure of anywhere else to look which wouldn’t feel awkward in the given situation. Though now, his shoulder was definitely not the only part of him that felt off, thanks to having the chemist firmly in his personal space. Now his hands were getting clammy and his brow damp and his chest felt all sorts of peculiar, certainly a result of his nerves. He’d never have had this issue if they’d just gone to Matheo instead.

Aside from the occasional thoughtful humming from the chemist as he worked or pained hiss from Reyner when a tender spot was prodded, the next few moments passed in relative silence. It somehow simultaneously felt surprisingly quick yet painfully long before the examination was complete and the chemist stepped back and Reyner could finally breathe again. The chemist for his part had a deep expression of thought scrunched on his face.

“Could you explain how your symptoms feel?” Kliao prodded for more information, seemingly not fully satisfied with a physical examination alone.

Reyner took a moment to think the question over, absentmindedly fixing his shirt back into its proper place as he did. “My shoulder gets stiff, plus occasional pain that comes and goes.”

Then he paused, as a realization of a potential issue revealed itself.

“Normal activity wouldn’t do me any harm, right?” He voiced his concern, feeling more than a bit nervous about the answer. The chemist in turn only offered a look of confusion, prompting for him to explain further.

He paused, thinking carefully about how to express his thoughts verbally.

“... It started to hurt after I put together a couple of pieces of furniture in my workshop.” He explained, absentmindedly massaging his damaged shoulder as he spoke. “My job requires a fair amount of manual work, so it’s inevitable.”

“So, think you can make something for him?” Runeheart piped in, seemingly eager to get a conclusion to her friend’s shoulder conundrum.

The chemist took another few seconds to think, before brightening up and offering her an eager nod, which Rune received with a wide proud definitly-a-bit-cocky-about-being-proven-right grin. 

“I could make a Heat Paste, that should help with the stiffness, and speed up the recovery process.”

The scene was enough to make Reyner roll his eyes, particularly at his friend’s obvious beaming ‘told ya’ attitude. All in all, his heart, and ego, had been rung through the ringer enough for one day. And besides…

“... You really don’t need to. I’ll be fine.”

Reyner took the opportunity to grumbly excuse himself, taking his chance to escape back to the safety of his workshop. Not that he for even a moment expected that this would be the end of the situation, especially not with headstrong Rune on the case. No, he’d have to mentally prepare himself for Rune, or possibly even Kliao, to make a swing by his workshop sometime soon with remedy in hand. The thought of it, and of the morning’s events in general, led him to breath out a hefty sigh.

Why did he have to pick the most headstrong person in the world to be his best friend?

___ ___ ___ ___

The visit came in the late afternoon of the very same day. Truth be told, despite fully expecting that Rune and her new friend would push on despite his protests and show up with some alchemical concoction for him to try, he had not at all expected for the chemist to produce it so quickly. As such, despite his former anticipation, he was still caught off guard when the two of them showed up in his shop shortly before he closed up.

“You two better not be here as customers, you should know how frustrating it is when people order last minute work.” He offered Rune a coy smile, to which the redhead rolled her eyes and let out a huff of pretend annoyance.

“We’re here to fix your shoulder, dummy.”

Despite half expecting that to be the case, her confirmation still managed to leave him feeling frozen over, stopping his absentminded process of brushing sawdust from his hands and leaving his shoulders tense.

“You don’t have to be here, I told you, my shoulder’s fine.” He protested despite the fact that the tension in his shoulders of course made his bad shoulder hurt, making him wince and confirming that it was, in fact, not fine. Rune, of course, wasn’t fooled by his act for a second, resting a fist on her hip whilst looking at him as though he were a misbehaving child.  

“Look at you! You still can’t even move properly.” The fact that she was right didn’t serve to make him feel any better. Rune gave a frustrated sigh, turning to the chemist with a sort of ‘are you seeing this’ expression. “Kliao, would you please just apply the ointment to him already so we can get this over with?”

The chemist gave a nervous laugh in response, but nodded in agreement and turned to Reyner again, looking for approval to proceed like he had done before. Reyner, however, once more felt like a spider trapped in a jar under the chemist’s gentile gaze, turning around to break eye contact before his nerves got the better of him. Grumbling for a second, he hung his head and ran his still-a-bit-sawdusty hands down his face in an attempt to sooth the building unease. Turning around and letting out a dispirited sigh, he once more resigned himself to his fate, just as he had that morning.

“Fine… Go ahead…”

Kliao gave a bright smile at the approval, setting his satchel on one of the nearby pieces of hand crafted furniture and dug around a bit to find the specific item he was looking for. Various sounds of rustling, clinking, sloshing and clanking emanated from the bag as they searched through it, and Reyner wondered to himself exactly how many things the chemist kept in that satchel of theirs, because it sounded like a lot. Before long he produced what looked like a dark tube of paste.

With the remedy in hand he made his way into Reyner’s personal space bubble for the second time that day. This time Reyner opted to stare at his cash register while the chemist worked. Despite its name, the paste at first actually felt quite cold when it made contact with his skin, only heating up after a few seconds of the chemist working it into his shoulder with a sort of massage. The Heat radiating from the paste did soon feel quite soothing, but the actual process of applying it meant that pressure was applied to tender spots and was at times honestly quite painful. Though, he had to admit to himself that his shoulderdid feel better.

Once finished, Kliao took a step back to give Reyner his space again, offering one of their signature pacifying smiles to put him at ease. “There, that should feel better now. But… you shouldn’t overdo it, okay. Don’t push yourself too much while you’re still recovering.”

The chemist’s advice caught on Reyner’s thoughts like a thorn to cloth. “So, I can’t do any harsh physical activity?”

The chemist shook his head no, and the concerns of its implications formed a small pit in Reyner’s stomach.

“But, how am I supposed to run the workshop like that?”

Rune reentered the conversation with a loud, frustrated groan, tired of her friend’s hardheaded antics.

“Reyner, please. You should listen to Kliao and stop with this nonsense!” She didn’t even sound mad anymore, just exhausted. The realization that he’d tired his friend out with his constant protests suddenly made him feel guilty. He didn’t mean to be a bother, he just… couldn’t help but feel concerned. Working hard, or possibly even overworking himself, has been a constant part of his professional life. And he genuinely didn’t know how he’d keep on working without that strong drive to push himself.

“Rune’s right. If you push yourself, you might end up hurting your shoulder again, and may even make it worse.” Kliao offered in support. He and Rune both shared the same look of well meaning concern when they looked at him, and again, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. They were both just trying to help. It wasn’t their fault his shoulder got hurt, and, if what Kliao said was true, it wouldn’t be their fault that strenuous physical activity would only make things worse either.

“Alright, I’ll listen.” He finally conceded, a tinge of an apologetic tone to his voice. “Besides, if things get really bad, I might not be able to work at all.”

The feeling of shame and embarrassment at disappointing his friend made his face flush up, and he quickly turned away to hide it. Rune for her part offered a soft laugh, signaling that she wasn’t really upset with her friend, just worried about him, and maybe a bit annoyed by his stubbornness, which she muttered about under her breath.

With the added privacy of facing away, he finally felt comfortable to let out an exhausted, slightly shaky breath. Having the chemist in his personal space twice in one day was certainly giving his nerves and his heart a proper workout, and he felt more than a little emotionally exhausted after the day’s events. He’d still have much preferred to have gone to Matheo instead, considering it wouldn’t have been nearly as… exhausting. But he still felt grateful, he thought. If nothing else, Rune and Kliao both did mean well. And they were simply doing their jobs, as a friend and a chemist alike. So he couldn’t fault either of them, regardless of how he himself might have felt throughout the whole situation. And come to think of it… he didn’t exactlydislike getting help from Kliao either, even if it did feel strange and uneasy and not nearly as business-as-usual as it would have been had he gone to Matheo instead.

“Thanks for helping Reyner anyway.” Rune spoke up behind him, and he could hear Kliao offering her a nervous laugh in response.

Feeling the need to also express his gratitude despite still feeling a little uneasy, Reyner turned to face the pair again, awkwardly clearing his throat before he spoke.

“I… I appreciate it. Thank you, guys.” He offered a small smile of his own, hoping that they’d be able to tell he was being genuine. Even though he had a hard time accepting help, especially from someone like Kliao, he still wanted them to know that he did appreciate what they did for him.

The chemist and Runeheart both accepted his smile with ones of their own, seemingly happy with the conclusion to the day’s events. Despite his protests, despite all the grief he gave them both in the process, they still stubbornly pushed on to help him. The thought made his chest feel a bit warm. He was lucky to have a friend like Rune… and…

And he was lucky that Moonbury had a chemist like Kliao.

[cozycottagegamereviews]

Review of Potion Permit

Developer: MassHive Media

Publisher: PQube

Release Year: 2022

I realize this game is a bit older, but I recently completed my first play through and wanted to share my thoughts.

Storyline

You play a chemist from the capital who is assigned to the small town of Moonbury. You quickly discover that everyone hates you and wants nothing to do with you, but the mayor has agreed to let you live in a rundown shack in hopes you can help his daughter. You help her and the other residents of Moonbury reluctantly agree to let you offer them health care.

You spend the rest of the game getting to know the residents, earning their trust and uncovering the secrets of the past that led to the people of Moonbury distrusting people from the capital in the first place.

I found the storyline for this game very satisfying, but it was also kind of short. By the time I’d wrapped up the story I was still making friends with some of the villagers and there were a lot of potions and upgrades that I hadn’t unlocked.

Art

Loved the art for this game! The characters, the monsters, the village and the surrounding environment were all beautiful to behold.

I really liked the photo album in the chemist’s house. As you reach a certain friendship level with each character, you unlock a photo of them. It gives you a better idea of what they look like and incorporates some beautiful character art into the game.

Friendships

Making friends with the villagers and unlocking their stories was probably my favourite part of the game.

Each character had a fun storyline to explore and it was great getting to know them.

My one complaint (and it’s minor) is that I like learning which gifts to give each character in a game like this, but that’s not part of Potion Permit. The people of Moonbury have a tradition where they give each other a certain tea and that’s the only gift you can give. It’s a nice part of the story, but you don’t learn the individual tastes of each character.

Romance

I have to be honest, this part of the game was a little bit of a let down in some ways.

For one, romances in Potion Permit only advance to the dating stage. You can’t marry anyone or even enter an exclusive relationship.

For two, when I was doing my play through there were only six characters who could be romanced: three female and three male.

For the men there’s Reyner, Xiao and Matheo. All fine choices. I was immediately drawn to Xiao and found the romance plot with him quite sweet. Matheo is the person who hates you the most when you first arrive and at first I was curious as to why he was even a romance option. But the story with him was also really sweet and well done.

For the female characters there’s Martha (the requisite female character who can’t wait to throw herself at you), Leano (pirate empress of my ❤️) and finally Rue, the mayor’s daughter and a CHILD!

I could not for the life of me figure out why Rue was a romance option, especially when there were other characters who seemed like more obvious choices. Bubble is super sweet and kind, and Runeheart is a badass.

Since my play through though it seems they’ve added two additional romance options, Helene and Victor, so maybe there are future plans to add even more romance options. (Like Lucke and Forrest, for instance, or the two women mentioned above.)

I’ll have to go back and spend more time with Helene and Victor. The one nice thing about the romances only progressing as far as dating is that you can spend time with multiple characters and there are no hurt feelings.

Foraging and Potion Making

Considering the name of the game I maybe should have opened with this.

The gameplay revolves around you heading out into the wilderness where you forage materials using a scythe, pick axe and regular axe. You pick flowers, mine rocks and cut down trees. You also defeat monsters and harvest their corpses for potion ingredients.

Then you take everything home and throw it in a cauldron. Each ingredient takes the form of a different shape and is one of four colours, depending on its element. Each potion requires you to fill a certain shape. Some potions can use ingredients from all four elements, while others use only three, two or one. Somehow you have to fill in the shape to make the potion.

The foraging was mostly fun and exploring the wilds surrounding Moonbury was challenging, but not overly stressful. My only complaint is that sometimes you had to grind pretty hard to get all the materials needed to upgrade your tools, your cauldron, your house and your clinic.

The actual potion making I found to be a lot of fun. It was my favourite part after getting to know the villagers.

Diagnosing the Villagers

In order to know which potion each villager needs, you first have to diagnose their ailments. This involves completing one of three possible mini games.

For the most part I did okay at this but you eventually get to the point where the rhythm section mini game can be quite challenging. Luckily you can unlock a potion to help you bypass these harder mini games, but only once you’ve completely upgraded your cauldron. I recommend prioritizing the cauldron upgrades.

Cooking

I love cooking in this game! The only real purpose the food serves is to replenish your energy (you can’t gift it) but it was still fun to discover the recipes and ingredients.

The one weird thing is that I hit the credits and there’s still one recipe I haven’t unlocked. Not sure what I missed.

Fishing

The weird thing about fishing in this game is that you can only fish in one of four specific spots.

But the fishing mini game is a lot of fun (once you figure it out). To fish in the game you cast your line and drag it past a fish-shaped shadow, hoping for a bite. Once the fish is on the line, you reel it in, but the fish will put up a fight. If the line turns red, let the line go slack and wait for the fish to exhaust itself before reeling it in again. (Very similar to Fae Farm.)

Honestly, even though the fishing was fun the limited locations meant I didn’t fish often. It was only when my beloved Leano demanded fish that I prioritized it.

Overall

I had a lot of fun playing this game, but it was pretty short. I’m excited to see some new content has been added and will check it out.

[itsgono]

Rue from Potion Permit :)