Posted on: February 8, 2023

2Fangz

Games: 300 Reviews: 5

Not for investigation freaks.

Summary: Paradise Killer is a remarkable game but not a remarkable investigation game. The outstanding lore, environment, characters and atmosphere elevate PK so high its weak investigation mechanics were not enough to bring the overall experience down. I bought PK on a whim after reading a review here on GOG in which the reviewer compared PK to Outer Wilds, a game I'm very fond of. This comparison only sticks on a very surface level though. In Outer Wilds the information gathered by the player is passive. It sits on your ship's log. It's up to the you how to interpret it and how to act on it. In PK the clues you gather that are scattered around Island 24 are automatically interpreted by your character Lady Love Dies. She spells it all out, leaving nothing for you to conclude or observe yourself. Whose knife is it, timeline contradictions, mismatch between official reports and evidence and so on so forth. You don't need to read or pay attention to anything. Just roam and scour the island after highlighted objects, talk to people from time to time and in a few hours your Starlight log will have all you need to start pointing fingers before the judge. No exaggeration. All I said in the paragraph above is irrelevant though. At least for me. People looking for a game like Phoenix Wright could potentially be disappointed by what PK has to offer. I wasn't looking for anything like it so I was not disappointed. On the contrary, after I finished the trial I just couldn't leave Island 24. I felt like I was going to miss it somehow and proceeded to stand on top of the Zigurat overlooking the Island for a good 20 minutes, just taking it in. That never happened to me before in any other game. The world and lore are so well realized and unique. Little details like the ghosts, the mementos and the bar tidbits. Shinji (the best character in the game). The aesthetic and music. It all came together so well throughout and in the end that I fell in love with this game. Perfect 25.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: September 6, 2020

Headless_Monkey

Verified owner

Games: 587 Reviews: 7

good detective adventure game

minus one star for the art-style and music which wont be for everyone, but matches the game perfectly regardless. I hated it for the first 10 mins but it grew on me. There is very little voiced dialougue, stoy and exposition is mostly delivered through text, and what there is is mostly delivered through stings that dont always seem to gel with the subject discussed. However if you like a whodunnit, this is a must. Travel about the island via platforming find clues, nik-naks, currancy and suspects to interrogate before starting a trail. when and how you progress is up to you and you wont really be penalised for fingering the wrong person... they just go down. Your the investigator after all, you wont be told you got it right.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: September 18, 2020

ksterker

Verified owner

Games: 185 Reviews: 3

An artistic masterpiece

Among the things that stood out the most for me are the bold art style, which evoked a bit of an 80s feeling (and what better decade could there be!), the setting, which has a bit from both Lord of Light and The Dancers at the End of Time and the music, for which I have no comparison, but which was very fitting to both art and setting. On top of that, it is an excellent open world exploration game, mostly because "there's an awful lot of random crap scattered around the island isn't there?" - Shinji It's just so much fun to roam all over the place, with no quest arrow or mystic GPS forcing your way, and with a world that's so lovingly crafted and full of little snippets of lore, secrets and the occasional puzzle. I would've happily given 5 stars, if only the murder mystery had been up to par. A couple of reviews liken the game to Ace Attorney, but I feel that it's quite far from that high ideal. The trial at the end of the game has you name a suspect for each crime and go through the list of evidence you collected. There's no battle of wits against unruly witnesses, no scrambling to find subtle contradictions in their testimony and no not knowing until the last possible moment how the crime was accomplished and who's the killer. All becomes pretty much apparent while exploring, turning the whole investigation into legwork rather than a cerebral exercise. I will give 4 stars, because I really loved the legwork, but I so wish I could have gone to trial without being totally certain about the who and why and how.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: November 22, 2020

Sataron

Verified owner

Games: 106 Reviews: 1

Pretty damn okay

Paradise Killer was a pretty good time for me. From start to finish that was about all I can say about the game. It’s not a criticism exactly, but the game has weaknesses and it is hard to ignore them. Probably the biggest weakness of the game is that, besides the last 30 minutes of the game, nothing really happens. To be clear I mean that in the very present “right here, right now” sense. The characters and the world they live in have a lot of history and personality, and for the most part is feels original and interesting. But they are also very static. The player character (quite literally) jumps into the main hub area of the game and is then free to interact with anything and everything at their own pace. No one ever attempts to attack, question you or provide any obstacles beyond locked doors that can be opened with simple puzzles. To be blunt, none of them are even inclined to move. It reminded me of the ‘investigation’ and ‘free time’ parts of Danganronpa, crossed with the exploration and puzzle solving gameplay found in Myst. Is that a bad thing? Well, no. Both Danganronpa and Myst are some of the most renown ‘cult-classic’ games of all time. However, there is a reason they are considered cult-classic games. They certainly have their appeal, and dedicated fan-bases. But neither has the kind of action and excitement to compete with the fast paced, adventure gameplay found in almost all of the modern major releases. So, as far as Paradise Killer goes, I suggest being open minded, but rational about it. If it looks like nothing but a visual novel with a walking simulator bolted on to it to you, then you might want to give it a miss. However, if the colour, music or general vibes you see in the trailer gel with you, I suggest giving it a try. I think you will find yourself having a good time.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: March 25, 2023

Tofik1992

Verified owner

Games: 68 Reviews: 2

Weird investigation with gorgeous music

I enjoyed it. Gameplay is simplistic, and can grow a bit tiresome at the end, but colourful NPCs, surreal setting, and fantastic music make it worthwile.

Is this helpful to you?

Discover CD PROJEKT RED games

Highlights

Featured

Close, but not an exact hit

Paradise Killer

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Delete this review?

Report this review

Additional Details (required):

Report this review