The Immortal John Triptych Review – Review

Back in December 2021 I reviewed The Procession to Calvary, a game by solo developer Joe Richardson that hooked me with its unique presentation, while also combining point-and-click adventure-style storytelling with collage-like mashups of classical paintings. I’ll admit that when I gave the game an 8 I wasn’t expecting it to linger in my mind for as long as it did. Ever since, I’ve been awaiting his next title, which ended up becoming Death of the Reprobate. Now bundled together with Four Last Things and The Procession to Calvary, The Immortal John Triptych is an excellent collection that bursts not only through the fourth wall, but from your abdomen by making you laugh as well.

While the three titles can be enjoyed as standalone experiences, having the trio of them right next to each other highlights not only the connective tissues between them, but is a wonderful showcase for the improving talent of Joe Richardson as well. In each of the games you play as a person who is sent out across European-styled towns and forests to appease people in power. In the first game it is quite literally to receive salvation for the sins you have committed, while the second game sees you setting out on murdering the heavenly leader of the previous regime. Finally in Death of the Reprobate, you play as the son of Immortal John, who has to commit seven good deeds.

Each game sees you solving a series of quests for the strange inhabitants of these places. Examples include trying to figure out how to commit the sin of lust by besting the ‘pie-King’ in an pie-eating-contest, and learning the names of ten different birds so that you can spot them for the local hunter. Each scenario is delightfully weird and absurd in both the presentation and writing.

Previously I compared the writing to Monty Python. While I still stand by this, I think that I undersold the visual style in my original review. The more I played this trilogy, the more I was impressed and charmed by the way characters and the world interact. The animations are quite simple, but especially in Death of the Reprobate there is so much movement going on in both the background and foreground that the world truly comes to life.

I found it especially fun to try and spot where different paintings were mashed together to create its settings. The way the characters interact often made me chuckle, like the dry responses to interactions or the sheer shattering of the fourth wall. Comments on the game’s creation or interaction with its systems are often pointed out by in-game characters and it always fits the tone of the game wonderfully.

There is still the issue that you will be walking back and forth quite a lot for trivial quests or gathering information. It is especially notable in Four Last Things and Procession to Calvary, where the logic to solving certain puzzles can be incredibly far-fetched, which forced me to resort to an online guide. On the other hand, I did have a laugh that Death of the Reprobate overcorrects this problem with God literally pointing out who to help and a guide that explains the detail of every puzzle. These are always optional, of course, but you will need to adjust your mindset to traditional point-and-click logic from time to time.

For Switch 2 owners, unfortunately this is a point-and-click-adventure that will not support your Joy-Con 2 controller doing the point-and-clicking via mouse mode. That said, the overall controls have been improved over the earlier games. It still plays great on Switch 2 in both handheld and docked.

Finally I want to shout out some of the special features included in this package. There are a couple of behind the scenes videos showcasing how the world was designed. As someone working in preservation it is always a treat to get some insight into the creation of a game and here I was awestruck to see the sheer number of hours Richardson has put into the creation of his worlds. You may think these backgrounds are simple mashups of two paintings, but the meticulous attention to detail is wonderfully captured in these videos. There are even a few interactive bonuses that share commentary from Joe himself about why they were cut.

All in all, The Immortal John Triptych was a delight to play through. It was great getting to finally play Four Last Things and Death of the Reprobate. Returning to Procession to Calvary, which I probably would’ve skipped if it wasn’t part of this trilogy, was also a fun time. I blasted through the games in a short weekend and that was just perfect to see everything this tale has to offer. For point-and-click lovers, this title is a no brainer to pick up. The fun writing, the creativity with the visual style and the overall package are tremendous fun. Seeing it all concluded in Death of the Reprobate felt appropriate and made me even more excited to see what Joe Richardson will be cooking up next. To me, it isn’t just John that this trilogy has made immortal. Well done Joe, well done.