Completed
Paradise Killer (GOG)
An island outside of reality. A rogue human civilization hoping to resurrect dead ali
www.gog.com
Also on Steam
Imagine a game with Danganronpa vibes, but less of the minigame garbage, and with one extra-long case and an open world where you can uncover its mysteries non-linearly.
Paradise Killer is about not only uncovering the truth, but creating it too. Everyone on the island has created their own truth that they are trying to push - and as the main character, the detective Lady Love Dies, you can too. A murder has been committed in a paradise island wedged in an alternate reality, where despicable people worship despicable gods, enslaving and ritually sacrificing ordinary people to maintain their paradise. However, such a paradise gets tainted by demons every 1000 years or so, and the whole thing needs to be rebuilt, learning from the mistakes of the last. On the eve of moving to the 25th such "paradise", the leaders of The Syndicate, the privileged humans who run the island, are murdered. The highest authority in the land, the Judge, brings Lady Love Dies out from an 8000 year exile to investigate the murders and regain her place in the now diminished Syndicate.
Most of the game is spent wandering around the island for better or worse (more on that later), finding out the truth. After you are done investigating, you bring all the islanders to the court and present your evidence. However, unlike in something like Danganronpa, where the investigation is linear and the court outcome is either failure or finding the correct guilty party, Paradise Killer lets you decide what to do with the truth. Do you spill it all out in the court, pinning responsibility for a variety of smaller crimes culminating in a grand conspiracy, or do you think the lesser-involved parties - while technically guilty - are as much victims as they are perpetrators, and should be spared the death penalty by not divulging their culpability?
The way the game presents its evidence, there's a clear timeline and version of events that is factual, but is that the truth that you wish for? That's the kind of question this game asks, even if not explicitly so. The game doesn't judge you for getting it wrong - it just accepts as fact your "conclusions" and moves on to the next issue. And since there are many characters who have their hands in many pie, there aren't actually many people who are innocent in this game. Does it matter that they get found guilty for a crime they didn't commit when they were connected anyway, especially if that means people you consider friends get off?
But what are friends in this hell hole? Paradise is awful, as are most of its residents. The elites in The Syndicate are responsible for the enslavement and ritual slaughter of thousands, while the one citizen we do meet in the game is vulgar and possessed by a demon. A highlight of the game, Shinji, is a rude demon who kind of accompanies you around the island. Ultimately harmless, it gives you things to think about on one hand. yet veers into Monokuma-style non-sequiturs in the other.
I enjoyed trawling around the island for evidence, but about 10-12 hours in the fatigue began to set. The leads were thinning and the hunt for the remaining strands felt more like a wild goose chase. Add in that you need to walk back and forth around the island (or pay blood shards, the island's currency, to fast travel) and it felt like the game was being stretched out longer than it should have. I think it could've been saved by removing the blood shard requirement to fast travel, as I am psychologically loathe to spend it as a hoarder, and ended the game with nearly 70 blood shards (each fast travel is worth 1, and I could've easily spared the expense with hindsight).
But the game has a whole lot of reprehensible characters, a fascinating setting and engrossing lore that I pushed through anyway. At full price, this game presents excellent value for those after an extra hit of Danganronpa, but want a slight change of pace. It's just a shame that the game is vague about how much money you'll actually need, as I could've done a bit more spending. I feel like I could've saved a lot of time.
9/10