Overall most helpful review

Posted on: September 5, 2020

227

Games: Reviews: 5

A surreal journey through villainy

Paradise Killer plays a bit like an open-world, exploration-based Phoenix Wright game. You play as Lady Love Dies, an investigator called back from her long exile to investigate the murder of The Council, the leaders of a group of immortals who have crafted an alternate reality using a dead god's knowledge and filled it with abducted citizens in order to resurrect some of these gods using mandated worship. If you can't already tell, the lore in this game is twisted. You're not exactly helping the good guys here. The gameplay involves finding clues scattered around the world and pestering NPCs until you discover the truth of the crime in question (as well as the truths of some related crimes), though you can also disregard the truth entirely and end the game in 15 minutes without spending a minute investigating. The truth you establish depends on your investigative thoroughness and willingness to throw people under the bus for the sake of the law (which doesn't always correlate with justice given that conviction carries the death penalty and some people have understandable reasons for committing their crimes). Ultimately, everyone's fates are in your hands. Really, the only part of the game that I don't care for is the movement, which can be a little finicky when grabbing a clue that requires carefully platforming to an out of the way area. Otherwise, this is a macabre little gem, and watching the dominoes fall after ~10-11 hours of investigating the island is incredibly fulfilling. It's also well-optimized for an UE4 game, as I was able to get around 30 FPS on an rx580 and Ryzen 2600 at 3840x2160.

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Posted on: September 7, 2020

Dreamboum

Games: 45 Reviews: 1

Vaporwave Outer Wilds

This game is tremendous and you are doing yourself a disservice not trying this out. While it is very inspired by Suda51's classics when it comes to style, the game is more akin to the masterpiece that was Outer Wilds than anything else, and this is a really good thing. Paradise Killer thrusts you in an island that was on the cusp of erasure in order to transfer to Perfect 25, the final island after 24 failed attempts by a religious council to create paradise. However, the entire council was murdered on the night of the transfer. You play as Lady Love Dies, a previous investigator in exile, who has to solve this unprecedented situation. Armed with your wits and a handy portable computer, you are free to explore the island however you want to. It is an open world where you have to talk to different suspects and explore every nook and cranny in order to find pieces of evidence that will lead you to the truth. Just like Outer Wilds, open world doesn't mean that the experience isn't guided. It has a comprehensive list of leads that you have accumulated and will always make sure that you are exploring with the knowledge of what you have to do instead of just wandering around aimlessly. It isn't a game about searching some random piece of evidence snuck in a corner of the map at all, so rest assured that you will always have a lot of fun playing through this game. What really strikes me as special is how incredible and well-realized the universe is. The lore is tremendous and fascinating, it's a story about dead gods, immortal religious zealots who all have something to hide and a ton of colorful characters with hidden allegiances. You are not just solving a puzzle, you are solving a fascinating one. The mystery itself is so interesting that you investigate because you want to, not just because you have to. Paradise works extremely well, I loved everything about it and I strongly recommend trying this out.

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Posted on: September 5, 2020

groze

Verified owner

Games: 1456 Reviews: 39

Obvious comparisons -- done right

So, Paradise Killer is an open-world Phoenix Wright, that much is established. I'd add it's an open-world Phoenix Wright as Goichi Suda would have envisioned it, in his earlier, zany style, right down to the presentation, the music, the use of digitized voices, the moon picture motif, the cryptic way characters talk and act, etc. Considering all of this (and this should be obvious, by now), Paradise Killer isn't a game for everyone (no game is, I can't stress this enough). Still, if you watch the trailer, look at the screenshots and read the description and feel interested, then you might just be the target audience for this title, and, if so, I can't recommend it enough. Let's get one thing straight: this isn't "just a Phoenix Wright clone". Far from it. The sense of freedom you get once you start the game and fall down to the island country is something no Phoenix Wright title ever gave us. This is not a linear game, in which you have a set of options and they make you strictly follow the "logic". In Paradise Killer, you follow your own logic. Truth and fact aren't necessarily the same, and it all depends on which you decide to follow your gut or going rational, law-abiding detective. I even tried to finish the game right at the start, accusing the first suspect I could, and it's definitely possible (all you have to do is go through the first 20-30 minutes of the game, and once it opens up, you can immediately "finish" it by arresting the first suspect, without doing any investigating whatsoever). It's certainly an odd game, it does wear its heart on its sleeve, and I'm pretty sure the usual people will blame it for being "too political" (whatever that means, I honestly don't know, anymore), but if you ignore all the noise, there's a wonderful game to be had, here. It's also extremely well optimized, it runs flawlessly on my 2015 laptop with integrated 512MB AMD GPU with no lag or artifacting or issues. Superb work done on UE4. Nice surprise, 5/5 for what it is.

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Posted on: September 8, 2020

FallenHeroX1

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 85

Cool game

It's a detective game in the same spirit as Ace Attorney and Danganronpa. Only unlike those those games, this is much more open ended with a whole island to explore and mysteries you can solve or miss. It's interesting because where Danganronpa and AA are one and done affairs. This game and it's world reward you for the more time you spend in it which means there is some replay value here if you choose to go at it again. You can possibly pick up on things you might not have before, maybe even change your verdict. It's a very interesting setup. The only point of contention here for fans of those games will be the aesthetic here then. Personally I like it. Vapourware music is relaxing and plays on notes of 80s nostalgia. Characters are appropriately exaggerated and memorable which is important for a game where you need to deduce who the murderer is. There is no agenda here or secret plan to turn you into a frog. It's an aesthetic that comes from a genre of music, whether you like that music or not will determine if you get it. Think Hotline Miami but instead of high tempo to murder to, it's chilled way down to solve a murder to. Even you don't like, I don't think there is any debating that nailed it. Palm trees, skull heads, mixtures of neon colors. It's really cohesive. Even the story which sounds nonsensical at first, quickly becomes something you understand. That might be what surprised me the most. The story and conversations are very fluid and easy to understand. You won't be rereading any text very often, if at all to try and comprehend the weird concepts going on in this world of aliens gods and demons. I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants to solve a good mystery or fans of the aesthetic. Just go listen to vapourwave for a few hours. If you like that music. If you like 80s nostalgia. Give this a shot.

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Posted on: September 9, 2020

Sivek

Verified owner

Games: 502 Reviews: 6

Interesting Concept, Flawed Execution

Paradise Killer is a mystery investigation game and has some interesting concepts but doesn't quite stick the landing. First off, I was impressed at the beginning of the game where you're basically given free reign to investigate the case. The island's scope impressed me and I really wondered if the whole area would be explorable and I can tell you that it is. This was cool and a point in its favor. The downside to this is that the world is largely empty and boring to traverse. Yes, the beginning hour or two walking around was exciting but after that, finding your one millionth blood crystal or lore trinket loses any sense of satisfaction. Normally, I wouldn't track down these largely useless collectables but the game's fast travel system is linked to them, which is incredibly annoying. I respect the developer wanting the player to foot around the island to get a sense of scale and how things connect, but at some point in the game you should have received a free fast travel upgrade since there is very little to see and do after you make your initial trek around the island. Exploring simply isn't very fun or as rewarding considering how much time you spend doing it. Gameplay and storytelling are...okay. I'm not a fan of the All Proper Nouns, All the Time aspect of the writing but it's decent enough though none of it really grabbed me. The writing in general feels too lore-focused which is something I'm not a huge fan of. The central mystery is nothing I haven't seen before but it avoids any serious pitfalls. The hieroglyphics puzzle are not used in any interesting manner. Some quick hits. -Character designs are very flash and can be hit-or-miss. -Music and UI are good. -There's some annoying pixel-hunting for certain investigation leads. -It's cool that you can begin the trial at any time. Recommended for mystery fans and people that are cool with visual novel-type games with some basic gameplay elements like 3D platforming.

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