Paradise Killer is a game about being a detective that refuses to hold your hand. That’s probably the best part about it. Usually, games focused around a detective story are incredibly guided; Paradise Killer starts you with a short handful of leads and turns you loose to explore them at your own pace. At the end of your adventure through this cyberpunk satanist utopia, you get to examine all the evidence and testimony you’ve gathered and prosecute the culprit of a sadistic killing spree.
Paradise Killer (PC, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: Kaizen Game Works
Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Released: September 4, 2020
MSRP: $19.99
Evidence sorts itself as you gather it. New pieces of information link themselves together if relevant and miscellaneous testimonies sit unsorted and are unusable when you go to trial. It encourages the player to revisit witnesses hoping new evidence you present to them might lead to them giving you bits of new information. Before I went to trial, I was only about eighty percent sure I had the real culprit, but sometimes you’ve gotta go with your gut.
Paradise Killer takes place on a tropical island where a group of funky immortals known as the Syndicate worship alien gods and make regular human sacrifices. Each sacrifice attempts to summon said gods and build a new island that is one step closer to the perfect world. On the eve of what would’ve been the birth of island twenty-five, the Syndicate's highest-ranking members are mysteriously killed.
The player character, Lady Love Dies, is then called back from a three million day exile to bring the criminal or criminals to justice. The way you do this is entirely up to you; because of this, things can seem pretty overwhelming at first. This game features a lot of walking, but thankfully this island is stylish as hell, and the smooth synth-filled soundtrack just adds to the ambiance.
The map is filled with collectible currencies and music tracks, but you want to start chatting with the islands freaky denizens to really move things forward. The 2.5D character models are marked on your map, and speaking with them brings the game from first-person exploration straight to visual novel mode. You can hang around with old friends or probe people for info on the murders. There’s even more than a few side cases to complete, and each one can aid in solving the bigger case and fleshing out more of this insane world.
Some of my favorite characters include Doctor Doom Jazz, a flirtatious mohawked physician, and Shinji, a mysterious demon with a penchant for exploding when he exits a room. You’ll find everything from star crossed lovers to skeletal assassins here. Of course, there’s also the goatman who hangs in the sewers.
The most notable accomplishment of the writing is just how suspicious everyone is. Every character has a motive, and nobody feels entirely innocent, but the game does its best to let the player draw their own conclusions. I spent over an hour pouring over all my evidence before I was comfortable enough to begin my prosecution, and I loved every minute of it.
To describe the unique flare of Paradise Killer, I kept thinking of Ace Attorney set inside a Shin Megami Tensei game. Everything is turned up to eleven; the characters are delightful, and the world in unapologetically weird.
Verdict: Paradise Killer is a delight. For fans of visual novels and particularly those looking for something like the Ace Attorney series with a deeper challenge and a stranger world, this is a must buy. It’s a unique and incredibly well-written game that rewards exploration and challenges the player to think. It also totes a killer soundtrack and an unforgettable world.
Buy it
Author: Rich Meister
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher]