Finding Paradise

A neat way of tying together Kan Gao's previous two games, Finding Paradise brings back Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts from To the Moon and has them poking around in the brain of Colin Reeds, the protagonist of A Bird Story, bringing the two previously disparate stories into the same universe. If you've played those two games - and if you've only played To the Moon, in fairness - you basically know what to expect here. Finding Paradise adds more goofy comedy and pop culture references to the mix, and is comfortably the weakest of the three games (its story holds the least emotional weight and, ironically for a game about an airline pilot, it really struggles to stick the landing in the third act), but Gao's ability to draw an incredible sense of warmth and humanity from a tool as rudimentary as RPG Maker remains undiminished. It's still heartwarming, it's still deeply moving, it still has gorgeous music (and it's directly entwined with the plot this time!) and an impeccably judged autumnal atmosphere, and you still find yourself marvelling at the fact that something that looks like this can bring tears to your eyes.