--Nimrod, Agony
Agony takes a very unique and bold concept--a thoroughly unbiblical vision of hell full of brutal imagery (and nudity), though still not as much of it as many other reviewers imply--and pairs it with gameplay that fails to fully live up to the ideas behind it. The general reaction to Agony from many critics was one of disgust, but disgust over the mechanics and design rather than the graphic content. This is an overreaction: Agony is almost certainly not the worst game of 2018. However, it is one of the darkest. The main character alone is revealed to have committed numerous human sacrifices, engaged in worship of a pagan pseudo-deity, and attempted to defeat God himself before his entry to hell. Agony is one of the most mature games I have ever encountered, but it is at least distinctive enough in concept to merit a playthrough for lovers of indie horror games or those who enjoy highly controversial content in video games.
Production Values
The occasional environmental objects that vanish and reappear depending on how close you are to them are not the worst of Agony's visual problems. It was impossible for me to see a great deal of what was on the screen when I started playing, but maximum in-game brightness settings removed almost all of the darkness. At that point it became clear that the graphics are on the lower tier of Switch character and environment models at best. Anyone who wants to play Agony without running into walls in black hallways or standing on a surface that falls away will want to ensure their brightness settings are very different from the default recommendations, or else death and confusion will almost certainly result. The better brightness unfortunately does away with only some of the game's problems, as the graphical deficiencies, slowdown, and loading errors increase near the end of the game.
Adjusting the brightness settings also does not improve the halfhearted voice acting, which is not only often delivered poorly, but also suffers from other issues. For example, walking into certain rooms (like "The Pit" near the beginning of the game) triggers background speech from offscreen figures, which is repeatedly uttered until you leave the area in question--and the overlapping noises can be very cacophonous. The lore that is addressed in some of the dialogue is often vague as it is, so even the information revealed in it is not as helpful as it could have been. It is not that ambiguity is the enemy of all great art--ambiguity can be used very well! In this case, the utter simplicity of the story (at least for much of the game) suggests that there merely was not a lot of thought put into the lore in the first place.
Gameplay
The gameplay is the weakest part of Agony, and the general lack of instructions can lead to aimless wandering or trial and error attempts to progress. An entire boss fight with the demon Baphomet at the end of the first level is actually optional, but the game does not tell you if you must perform the task necessary to trigger the fight or if you can simply walk past the area completely. This ambiguity can increase your vulnerability, but it can also lead to gratuitous frustration that only hinders one's enjoyment of the game.
There are still some unique gameplay mechanics worth mentioning, such as the opportunity to possess nearby human bodies if one's current body is killed by demons. At specific points, the player can leave their body without being killed and float around in search of a new body to possess in order to reach new locations. You can switch between men and women and can even temporarily possess demons in some cases. An alternate mode called succubus mode lets players play through the main game as a specific female demon and revel in the freedom to slaughter martyrs and challenge demons, the power of the succubus blatantly contrasting with the weakness of Nimrod and his host bodies.
Knowledge points earned from gathering collectibles in story mode and succubus mode overlap (they are used to unlock content in art galleries), and some collectibles can only be obtained by playing as either Nimrod or a succubus. Many collectibles are rather easy to discover, though, and some areas contain two or more placed very close to each other. It is hard to walk through a new area without seeing at least one or two miniature statues on the ground or on the map. Hunting items does add more layers to exploring hell's crevices and secret chambers all the same.
Story
Some spoilers are below!
A man who finds himself in hell and is quickly identified by another inhabitant as the historical-Biblical figure Nimrod desperately seeks the Red Goddess, a being at least partly responsible for creating hell. Because she was involved in the realm's creation, it is thought by some of those in hell that finding her is the key to escaping.
Intellectual Content
Even though Agony's loading screens and some of its background lines cite Bible verses, its version of hell is drastically different than the hell described in the Bible. The Biblical hell was made for Satan and demons (Matthew 25:41) rather than being made as a place for demons to torture or kill humans. In other words, hell (the lake of fire or Gehenna) is not a place where demons enjoy the opportunity to practice sadism on each other and on humans while they do not suffer the punitive effects of divine wrath. Moreover, the Biblical hell is not even implied to have any sort of erotic nature, succubi, or Red Goddess--and the way some of these things are included outright contradicts the moral nature of God as described in the Bible.
For example, sexual manipulation and sexual violence are present in this version of hell. If sexual exploitation is sinful (and it is according to passages like Deuteronomy 22:25-27, which condemns all rape and sexual abuse by extension even if only rape is assigned the death penalty), then it cannot be a part of divine punishment, for an injustice cannot be just. It is details like this that so many people overlook when analyzing portrayals of hell. When playing succubus mode, the succubus touches male and female victims in sexually suggestive ways before killing them, as if nonconsensual sexual contact is a happenstance violation the unsaved will face in hell at the hands of demons rather than a type of sin that is punished in hell.
Perhaps the most major deviation from Christian theology is the consistent references in notes to the unending nature of the torment the damned souls have to endure [1], even though their bodies stop showing any signs of consciousness when they are seemingly killed by demons. However, Agony does portray its hell as a very physical place, which actually does overlap with the Biblical details of hell. The Biblical hell is described using references to physical things like human bodies, fire, and worms (Matthew 10:28 and Mark 9:43-49).
Conclusion
Few games--or films or TV/streaming shows--ever amass the same level of controversy as Agony. For all of its serious faults, its intentionally grotesque imagery reflects a bold premise that deserves much more developed gameplay mechanics and, at least on the Switch version, graphics that better showcase the capabilities of the system. Succubus mode may capture the interest of players who are bored or frustrated with the story mode, but the primary mode fails to develop its story until fairly late in the game and can be challenging due to unpredictable glitches or seemingly random demon behavior. This is not the best video game based on a pseudo-Christian idea of hell (Dante's Inferno is much better), but it at least is not the totally abysmal display of poor quality that so many reviewers have labeled it.
Content:
1. Violence: In story mode, you need to pull the hearts out of crucified men at the very beginning of the game, and the playable succubus is also able to pull the hearts of its human and demonic victims. Other humans can attack you in story mode, though they can be repelled by pressing certain buttons and striking them. The succubus can also reduce humans to dismembered body parts.
2. Profanity: One of the collectible documents I found used the word "fucking."
3. Nudity: With the exceptions of a small number of people wearing masks or shredded clothes, every human you encounter or play as in the game is completely naked. Nude men and women hang suspended on crosses throughout hell. The genitalia of male characters is prominently visible, and their penises move realistically, although the female genitalia are left blank due to the ESRB's double standards around full nudity (a penis can be directly shown without exceeding an M rating, but realistic vaginas can earn an AO rating, otherwise called Adults Only).
4. Sexuality: A scene in an area called the Temple of Pleasure features a lesbian orgy with succubi. The succubi are described as sexually preying on human males in hell.
[1]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-truth-of-annihilationism.html
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