Developed by indie developer Kaizen Game Works and published by Fellow Traveller, Paradise Killer is an open-world murder-mystery game that is set on the beautiful Paradise Island 24. This is one of the games that I have been watching ever since it was announced because I really like investigation games and its setting was especially unique. A Beautiful island that kills itself and is reborn, but a certain murder has stopped this cycle and now it can only move on until the case is solved. This certainly sounds promising. This is our review of the PC version of Paradise Killer in which we chat with some naked demons and try to accuse everyone of murder.
Paradise Killer is set on an island that keeps dying again and again. Paradise Island is essentially an island where the locals worship alien gods and every year they try to resurrect them by sacrificing civilians and weird psychic worship rituals. Every year, these rituals go wrong, and people end up summoning demons instead that causes the island to be discarded, and a new island is reborn in its place. Things were going as planned for Island 24 as well, and it was one day away from being replaced with a better Island 25, but at the last night, the Council was murdered in their chambers where no one was allowed to go and thus Island 24 is now stuck unless the culprit is caught and justice is served. This is where you come into the story.
In Paradise Killer, you play as Lady Love Dies (yes, that is a real name), who is an exceptionally good detective. She used to be the official detective for the Syndicate, but she was exiled to a prison located high in the sky above the island for centuries. With the Council now dead, you come into play again as the Judge of the Island 24 requests you to pick up your detective glasses once again and solve the weird mystery behind the killing of the highest members of the Council. You begin the story inside your prison which acts as a small tutorial section as you explore the area and are introduced to your virtual assistant called Starlight.
Starlight plays an important role in the game as it acts as your assistant in every way. It keeps your case records safe, also analyzes all the collected evidence, and stores them in a way that is extremely convenient for you. It also keeps a database of every location and NPC that you can find on the Island along with all the interactions that you ever had with them. Your every small bit of clue and lead is stored for your future reference because Paradise Killer is one game that does not give you an easy straight-forward approach to any solution. After your arrival on Island 24 and meeting with the Judge who informs you of what happened, you are set loose on the island to take whatever direction you want for your investigation.
This is where the best part of Paradise Killer begins. The whole island is free to explore and Paradise Killer is one game that seriously rewards any sort of exploration. The game is filled with different collectibles, evidence, hints, clues hiding in various nooks and crannies around the island. If you see a place, you can go there and chances are that you will find something there that is useful to your main case or any of the smaller tasks. As you explore the Island 24, you find out that the main murder case is not the only case that needs to be solved. This brings an interesting twist into the story and even with branching leads, the game still gives you a free hand on where you want to go next, which suspects you want to investigate and how you want to proceed with the case.
Right from the start of the game, you have to keep an open mind about your investigation because everyone could be a potential culprit. This is where the game gets confusing where every NPC is so brilliantly made that none of them appear to be fraudulent when you investigate them. This is where your own investigation comes into play because if you have the right evidence, you can find out whether the suspect was telling the truth or not. Evidence plays a very important role in your case because the game does not offer any sort of guidance about what you should be doing next. It all boils down to your own personal approach to suspects, how much evidence you collect from crime scenes, random spots, and how your personal feelings get in the way during the investigation.
I really liked the visual presentation of the title as well. While the game is played in the first-person mode, as you interact with other NPCs for conversations, the game becomes a visual novel, and you are given multiple options for certain dialogues as well. The dialogue is extremely well-written, and the delivery suits the characters they are assigned to extremely well. Although there is very limited audio for these dialogues as the NPCs and our own character only speak a few chosen words such as ‘Investigate’, ‘Suspect’ etc. The dialogues stay on the screen in a separate section so while you are presented with a choice to make, you have the whole history of dialogue right there in front of you which makes making decisions easy.
Paradise Killer also comes with a manual save system which means that there is no autosave in the game. This particular mechanic plays a vital role in your approach to your case because only certain locations offer save points so you do not have an ‘all0time0 save point access that would give you the option of reloading the game in case you want to change a previous decision that you made. With the amount of freedom Paradise Killer offers, you can completely end up accusing and even executing the wrong person if you have enough evidence for it. This seriously calls for multiple playthroughs and with a single playthrough lasting for around 8-10 hours, you can easily replay the game and try out a different approach for your next playthrough.
Overall, Paradise Killer is beautiful, wacky, and hides a sinister mystery under all the glitz and glam if offers. The NPCs are fun to chat with, even if they are 2.5D, while the island looks gorgeous. Couple this with a soothing soundtrack and it is enough for making you forget about the dead bodies lying in various parts of the beautiful island. All of this sets the perfect backstage for a brilliant open-world investigation game where you get complete freedom to explore, find clues, and conclude the trial at the end of the game.
Final Verdict:
Paradise Killer is a brilliant detective game that gives you complete freedom about how you want to go with your investigation. Not only it features excellent gaming mechanics, but the characters you meet are funky, the world is beautiful, and the overall presentation of the game is top-notch. I can easily say that Paradise Killer is one of the most surprising game for me in 2020. I went in with just okay expectations and it literally got me hooked with its weird aesthetics and pleasant soundtrack. For fans of detective games and even generic open-world games, Paradise Killer is a brilliant game. I will highly-recommend that you play Paradise Killer and the game will indulge you in it itself with its brilliant mechanics and charming 2.5D characters. This is one game that you should not miss.
Final Score: 9.0/10
