Review: Paradise Killer |

Who killed Paradise? That’s the big question in developer studio
Kaizen Game Works’ new game Paradise Killer. A weird investigation and exploration themed game where truth and evidence aren’t always what they seem. If I’m being honest, this game didn’t catch my attention right away, and this isn’t really my kind of game, but I’m giving it a fair try nonetheless! It’s this studio’s first game release, making me really curious to dive into this one.

What we liked!

Story and concept: Paradise Killer isn’t your regular investigation game, and you’ll figure that out pretty quickly after hearing the story. Paradise isn’t your typical island: it regenerates every few millennia. In search of the perfect island, demons usually corrupt every island, and a new alternate reality is birthed by the council. Just when the next island, Perfect 25, is about to rebirth, the council is murdered and Paradise is killed! That’s where Lady Love Dies, played by you, comes in. She is summoned from exile and has to investigate this horrible crime. She gathers facts and uncovers truths, but are these the same?
Puzzles: There is a little puzzling involved in this game, yay! You can walk around freely on the island, but some areas are not as easily accessible. There are little puzzles that aren’t too difficult, so they form a nice change from the investigation.
Characters: There are a bunch of suspects on the island. Every character is unique and yes, weird, its own way. There is even a weird-ass blue demon called Shinji that pops up every now and then and acts as some kind of a guide on your journey. While there is no voice acting when it comes to the dialogues, every character has a few audio lines they sometimes say. Your companion (slash laptop) keeps track of all your progress, including the case files on all the suspects.
Your truth: The game can have different endings for everyone. You basically have to sell your truth to the judge, and if you have the evidence to support your truth (a.k.a. who you think committed the murder), then you’ll get the conviction. This means that anyone can be put forth in the trial as guilty, as long as you can support your decision. This gives the game replay value and a personal touch.

Somewhere between

Lots of dialogue: The game relies heavily on dialogue, and I mean HEAVILY. Since it’s an investigation game, you can expect this. I do sometimes enjoy being a detective in a game, but Paradise Killer isn’t for everyone. The conversations you have with suspects are usually quite long, so if you don’t enjoy reading a lot, this won’t be a fit for you. Especially since there is no voice acting.

What we disliked

Map: The island is rather tiny, but a map is needed since the characters are spread all over the island. There is a map available but it was so, so, so annoying. It’s really tiny and the lack of detail annoyed me a little. I barely used the map because I found it so inconvenient.
Fast travel: With there being an unhelpful map, fast travel could have been really interesting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. When you activate a save point, that can also navigate as a fast travel point. In order to unlock the fast travel option at that point, you’ll need to use a blood crystal, which is used as currency in the game. Fine, I’ll pay. But then came the annoying part: you have to pay to travel to another point as well. The blood crystals are easy to find on the island, but still, I got frustrated by this because these crystals are so much more interesting when using them on suspects so this felt like a waste of currency.

Conclusion

Even though Paradise Killer really isn’t my kind of game, from an objective point of view, this isn’t a bad game. It’s a whole new take on the investigation genre and the journey is fun. Yes, there is a lot of dialogue, and the map and fast travel just suck but putting that aside, Kaizen Game Works did a great job on their first game. Especially the part where you ‘choose’ the culprit (well, if you can support your decision with evidence of course). Good luck, I’d say!