Paradise Killer

Remember way way back, before Persona 5 and Dark Souls, when Atlus and From Software were making weird niche games that rarely left Japan and sold only like 10,000 copies? Because Paradise Killer will bring all those memories rushing back. It's a zany, colorful blast from the past that would feel right at home on Dreamcast.

Although it's often compared to Ace Attorney [逆転裁判], Paradise Killer has more in common with collectathon platformers. You spend most of your time running around Island 24, gathering clues, collecting blood vials, and interrogating suspects. It's a true open-world game -- there are only a few progress-blocking gates, and most of them can be worked around in multiple ways. You can also end the game at any point. Once you feel you've collected enough evidence, you can return to the judge and start the trial.

Being an open-world game, Paradise Killer exhibits the same pros and cons that are common in the genre. Early on, when the world was still full of collectibles, I had a lot of fun running around, jumping up mountains, and chatting with random characters. But as I neared the end and there were only a few unresolved mysteries and uncollected items left, my patience began to wane as I aimlessly ran around the map in search of the missing piece. Ultimately I was able to find everything without resorting to checking a guide, but not before feeling a twinge of boredom.

Naturally, the game's open-world nature impacts not only the gameplay, but the narrative as well. In my case, I stumbled upon a very big piece of evidence right at the end of the game -- it was literally the last thing I found before taking my case to trial. Because my playthrough unfolded the way it did, this revelation led to a serious sense of deus ex machina. It was like the final piece clicking into place and it felt all too convenient. If I'd found it earlier and had been given time to mentally fit it into my investigative puzzle, perhaps it wouldn't have felt like such an abrupt contrivance. I suppose that's just the nature of open-world games. Everyone's experience will be a bit different, for better or worse.

The final trial is also relatively straightforward. If you're expecting the twists and turns of an Ace Attorney game, you'll be disappointed. Despite that, however, the character are well written and the story that's here is enjoyable enough.

Finally, I must note that the soundtrack is an absolute banger. If anything, I think it's underutilized -- the songs are played as background music when they really deserve more time in the spotlight.

Anyhow, that's Paradise Killer in a nutshell. Come for the platforming and vaporwave vibes, stay for the characters. I'll see you in Perfect 25.

positives

+ lots of unique and playful worldbuilding. the maximalism is a bit much at first but you do eventually ease into the esoteric cosmology after a while. it's quite fun and refreshing

+ the game's focus on platforming and exploration lends well to building on an open-ended mystery, with plenty of genuinely surprising secrets and new areas to discover over time

+ the narrative does actually end up meeting a coherent resolution and tying things together under two conspiracies which is kind of impressive given how all over the place it is

neutrals

o the characters are unique and interesting, but their fixed location and the pretty relationship mechanic makes them kind of paper thin (this is a pun)

o with sufficient evidence, the trial works alright, but it is a bit passive. you either have the evidence to support your choices or you don't. there's not a lot of overt feedback

o the cosmic deific vibe is wild but does stretch belief with the writing a little, like "oh yes that's happy zooboomafoo, the smile god. he's been pulling the strings all along"

o google images fills in the gaps with the texture design a lot. that's okay because it's going for a pop post-vaporwave thing but it is kind of jarring at times

o the theme of truth and facts and constructing one's own truth is interesting but not particularly well illustrated in the way the trial is executed (this is also another pun)

negatives

- the game seems to really want to rely on the player going well out of the way to discover seemingly unimportant things to resolve central mysteries in the game (such as the process to find dangionate)

- the non-linear open-world structure also sort of lends to the above, making important things easy to miss. lots of running around and exhausting dialog trees

- so much running around. oh my god. there's a sort of clunky fast travel mechanic but it's resource limited. let me warp around in peace please! i can only run so far

Any and all genres can be improved by the addition of a double jump and an air dash.

Any and all genres can be made worse by linking a fast travel system to a finite currency with multiple uses, thus ensuring I never use it.

Paradise Killer is a fantastic adventure detective game, that borrows a lot from Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa, but with plenty of differences and feel. Its similar in the way that it provides a colourful universe, with deep post apocalyptic lore (in similar style to danganronpa), as well as the very eccentric cast of suspects. But thats really where the similarities go. Paradise Killer offers one major mystery to solve instead of several individual cases, and it offers a secret filled open world to explore to search for clues in order to find who did the crime to end all crimes.

The story of the game is great. At the start its a bit overwhelming considering the amount of lore it dumps on you, given the very unique universe that the game takes place. But at the end of the day the game revolves around core human emotions and what leads to the commitment of crimes, and that is easy to understand even with characters as eccentric as the ones in here.

The game features a very colourful style that mixes 2d sprites in a 3d world. It works really well since its easy to visualize hidden clues or collectibles in the way that they standout from the background. Character designs and the world is really memorable.

The exploration part of the game is great, since there are plenty of areas with multiple secrets, collectibles and puzzles to solve. New evidence allows you to question the suspects further, which means a bit of backtracking but this is easily not an issue since the game is so enjoyable to transverse. There is something close to metroidvania elements in the game, as it is possible to unlock double jumps and dashes, which makes transversal and secret hunting really enjoyable. The transversal feels close to an arena FPS towards the end of the game, and the sprint speed is fast enough to make getting from A to B fast in such a contained open world.

The grand trial at the end is a bit of a letdown considering all the exploration that lead to it. Unlike the Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa games that could be divided almost 50-50 between gathering clues and the trial sections, in Paradise Killer the actual trial only amounts to 5 to 10% of the gameplay. Its just a matter of pinning all the evidence you collected to each suspect, with little reasoning requiring (or showing determined evidence at the right time). Its possible to get multiple endings considering who you choose to accuse, but thats about it. There is not a lot of replay value in here.

Overall this is a fantastic game and a very easy recommendation to anyone who enjoys detective based graphic novels.

There's a lot to love about Paradise Killer, the game offers a unique blend of open world exploration, visual novel-esque storytelling and fantastic artwork and music to complement the whole experience. It also has an original and fascinating world where this story unfolds. All of the characters are ageless immortals apart of a doomsday cult that seeks to ressurect their dark gods, however, after the defeat of their gods by the forces of humanity, they are forced to retreat to a series of pocket dimensions, where they are forced to continually create islands with the psychic energy harvested from humans kidnapped from the real world, the so-called "Citizens".

As a result, Paradise Killer does something unique in the detective genre, it makes explicit what is often implicit in these structures, as they exist in fiction and as they exist in real life.