Developer Kaizen Game Works has struck conceptual gold in Paradise Killer, a mash-up between the stylish darkness of the Danganronpa series and an exploration system that draws inspiration from old-school first-person adventure games. Everything about the title oozes charm and aesthetic, whether it's the frank, gorgeous character designs or the slow-building lore that threatens to topple paradise with even the slightest push in an encouraging direction. While actually having to play the game and connect the dots through exploration can skim the surface of a tedious, mediocre experience at times, the payoff of an engaging, unique story and the sprawling directions it heads is still well worth the time.
It's hard to describe Paradise Killer in brief, but it's at least similar to what would happen if someone locked Cthulu inside an 80s island resort and had the eldritch horror watch Miami Vice episodes ad nauseam for years. The neon flash of that period of fashion is everywhere, whether it's in the over-the-top clothing of every character or the ostentatious design of most of Paradise Island's grander features. Characters only change expression in limited mannerisms during dialogue, but their default is their best attempts at a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure pose, so it's not like there isn't a lot to unpack after initially meeting them. The soundtrack, which is an immediate standout, colors the seedy underbelly of Paradise Island with uptempo synth that contrasts what it accompanies much the same way every character's testimonies begin to muddle each other's involvement in the Crime to End All Crimes.
Paradise Killer tasks players with interacting with these larger-than-life actors and solving a locked room mystery that's threatening their way of life through the eyes of Lady Love Dies, an "investigation freak" who has spent centuries in exile for being deceived by a god. Set in a world outside reality that's influenced by said alien gods, Paradise Killer's broader concepts can be a lot to grapple with at the best of times, and the game makes no effort to explain most of its mysteries in the early going. This means dialogue, exploration, and incentives need to be largely carried by the player and the people they meet. Thankfully, the cast of Paradise Killer is up to the task. Each of them behaves and speaks in different ways, views the world through altering - and scratched - lenses, and will offer a different experience. They're all likeable in their own way, even at their worst, and part of the strain in playing the game is coming to grips that any of them - and possibly all of them - are murderers, both in the short-and-long term of their long lives.
Actually playing Paradise Killer is a story of two different core mechanics, one of which works significantly better than the other. Interrogating characters, learning their secrets, and piecing together puzzles using Nightmare Computers is engaging and fun. While never the most difficult game, Paradise Killer's branching options mean casual players will likely miss a lot on their first go, while completionists will have their work cut out for them. Unfortunately, the game's exploration falls well short of the polish and entertainment present in virtually all of its other facets. Exploring Paradise Island is interesting for a while, but having to hop back and forth between areas gets tiresome, and the graphics lose a lot of their lustre when they're not rendering the game's fanciest locations. More industrial areas are sparsely populated and very repetitive, which can make them easy to get lost within.
There's also a tension in Paradise Killer's set-up that never feels like it strikes the right balance between obscure and accessible. Some of the game's mechanics are hidden behind investments of Blood Crystals, the currency players will find (or occasionally be rewarded with) throughout their environment. These can be tough to come by without really committing to exploring the more mundane areas of the game, and they're needed in a lot of different ways, whether it be unlocking and then using fast travel, buying secrets, or buying soft drinks (absolutely do this, by the way). One mechanic that unlocks after having a foot bath - an expensive one at that - feels unproductively buried, which was a frustrating experience for us, but not necessarily one that everyone who plays will have.
That's really the crux of what Paradise Killer is: something that will feel and play out different for each player. While limited in the amount of information available and interactions a player can have, the pieces of the story at play in Paradise Killer are malleable and interlock with each other in many potential ways. Unlike some luminary investigative games in recent memory - specifically, AI: The Somnium Files comes to mind - there is no clean ending. Interrogations and accusations play out in spectacular fashion once a player believes they have enough evidence to put together a case, and the game delivers on its promise that everyone is a viable suspect. Did Lady Love Dies make the right choice? Is there a right choice? These are the kinds of broad questions the game asks while not being unsatisfactory in its closing moments.
Ultimately, Paradise Killer is a sun-bleached acid trip into one of the strangest investigative settings in gaming. While it could've been satisfied with that and still come away as memorable, it does more than just be weird for weird's sake. While it's reliance on exploration hinders the game and saddles it with some unneeded slowness, everything else functions to make up for that shortcoming. Paradise Killer is equipped with an unforgettable set of characters, an equally striking fantasy setting, and a great spin on the classic locked room murder mystery. Even those who've never considered themselves murder mystery fans will want to give this game a shot.
Paradise Killer releases on Nintendo Switch and PC on September 4, 2020. Screen Rant was provided with a Nintendo Switch code for the purposes of this review.
Paradise Killer
- Released
- September 4, 2020
