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dkirschner's Paradise Killer (PC)
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| [October 16, 2024 04:51:22 PM]
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This was a huge surprise, and yet another gem in that narrative Humble Bundle from a couple months ago. I actually got this game once before and gave it away because I was on the fence about whether I thought I'd like it. But I got it again and figured I'd give it a shot. Good decision!
Paradise Killer is extremely creative. It's like a detective game / visual novel. I don't play either genre, so this was all pretty new to me. You play as Lady Love Dies, an "investigation freak" who gets called back from exile to solve a murder. There's a whole fiction here. Lady Love Dies is part of "The Syndicate," which is a group of...I don't even know what they are...special people, I guess...who live on an island. Every so often, they destroy the island and create a new one. They usually destroy the island, it seems, because demons invade it. That's more or less the case this time, too, except that on the night that they were supposed to move to the new island, the entire Council (the Syndicate leadership) was murdered. That's the one you're called back to solve.
There are 10 or so other (alive) Syndicate members. You run around the island, exploring it, finding clues and collectibles, learning about the history of all this, and meeting the other Syndicate members. You're collecting evidence, trying to make sense of the murder. Who did it, why, and how? Once you've collected enough evidence, you have a trial. Actually, you can have the trial immediately if you want to, just wildly accusing people. But, I was a good investigator. I think I explored most everything and discovered most all the evidence, and waited to call a trial until I had a good picture of what happened.
And there is a lot to explore. The island has like 10 areas, and there is hidden stuff everywhere. I thought the game was going to be more like a visual novel, and although I knew there was some exploration moving through a 3D world, I didn't know that that would be most of the game. I got completely engrossed in scouring the island for clues and collectibles. You will find a ton of stuff, and you will keep on discovering new areas and secrets if you're looking hard enough, all the way up until the end. I used the word "engrossed" earlier, but "exhilarated" also is appropriate. Like, it was really exciting to find hidden objects, secrets, to get more evidence against a character, to realize I learned something that could break an alibi, and so on.
I 100% want a sequel to this on the next island, and actually, I have some things I want to look up about this one, like what happens if you execute everyone and there is no one left to move to the next island? If you execute Lydia, can anyone be transported there? If you execute the Architect, then who builds the next island? Each character has a role, so what happens if those roles are empty? All the Syndicate members are suspicious for various reasons, and I gather in this game that there is no "right" answer. Like, it doesn't tell you if your accusations are correct; you just piece your evidence together as best you can, and if the Judge finds it reasonable, then the people you accused are sentenced and either executed or exiled. So, I guess that different players can have different outcomes of the trials.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Oct 16th, 2024 at 16:52:38.
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dkirschner's Paradise Killer (PC)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 25 September, 2024
GameLog closed on: Wednesday 16 October, 2024 |
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