Truth behind the paradise mystery murder case《Paradise Killer》Review

Paradise Killer is the first well anticipated game developed by Kaizen Gameworks, an independent game studio. I sincerely think that that Paradise Killer is definitely worth a try and i highly recommend it to all mystery murder fans out there as I am also one myself. In order to find out the truth of the mystery murder case, the game enables players to freely investigate and look for clues in this open world island.

Game ：Paradise Killer

Developers ：Kaizen Gameworks

Publisher ：Fellow Traveller, Leoful

Official Website ：http://paradisekiller.com/

Platforms ：Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems

Genre ：Adventure, Indie, Role-Playing

Summary

Players will play as Lady Love Dies, an investigation freak who investigate the truth behind the mystery murder case and bring paradise back to life. Paradise was initially a place built by the Syndicate to worship their dead alien gods, but as time passed, the syndicate decided to hold a human sacrifice summoning ritual in order to resurrect their dead gods. However, the ritual ended with a failure, causing paradise to be corrupted by demons, and this cycle repeated for 24 times. The 25th ritual was supposed to be the perfect ritual, as the 25th paradise was deemed perfect by everyone. But on the night before the ritual event took place, members of the Syndicate were brutally murdered, Paradise was killed. Lady Love Dies was then released from her exile and was given orders by the judge to investigate the truth behind this mystery murder case. The game then begins once players jump down from the exiled land into Paradise as Lady Love Dies.

Paradise

Paradise is where the mystery murder took place, and players have to look for clues that are scattered within the island. Besides looking for clues, players can also choose to converse with the villagers on the island to gather intel or find out more clues. The main idea of the game is not to restrict player’s movements too much and enable them to freely explore whatever they desire in the game. Each villager has their own special characteristics to help the players to remember them easily, such as a skeleton in red because of bloodshed due to love, or a weirdo wearing a weird mask.

Besides clues that are scattered everywhere around the island, collectables and music tracks can also be found if players are willing to explore the whole island thoroughly. I myself have an obsession to complete a collection of that specific series, and with this excitement and desire for the collection, it adds a sense of pleasure for me while playing the game. I spent some of my time collecting collectables such as drinks from vending machines or gacha ( players are only allowed to purchase one item from each machine so if you want to continue collecting, you have to look for another machine in order to do that ) while looking for clues at the same time. Even though clues are all around the places, some clues are definitely well hidden and players won’t be able to see it if they are not observant. Sometimes, clues might also be found when you least expected it. There was a time where I made a mistake and accidentally fell down from a high place and when I was looking for my way to go up again, I found a clue that was quite important to the case. Therefore, making mistakes in the game sometimes is a blessing in disguise and, bring you some unexpected surprise.

Blood Crystals

Most games have their own currency, and this is no difference with Paradise Killer. The currency they use is indeed a little…”special” and it is called ‘Blood Crystals’ which players are also able to find around the Island. There are also other ways to obtain Blood Crystals, but I will leave it to the players to find out themselves. Now let us go back to the main point of what Blood Crystals is used for in the game? Players are able to purchase black market secrets from a character named Crimson Acid, currency for upgrades, unlocking teleport waypoints and so on.

Simple and helpful controls

Controls for Paradise Killer are relatively simple, where players are able to walk, jump, sprint and crouch. If players are willing to spend some blood crystals, abilities like double jump can also be achieved throughout the game. Most detective games require players to sort out the evidence and clues by themselves, but the special thing about Paradise Killer is that the player’s laptop (also known as Starlight) will help sort out all evidence and clues according to the suspects or case that players are currently investigating. Starlight even stores clues that are not related to any suspects or case into a folder named “Unsorted Evidence” so that players can come back and sort it out at the later part of game.

In Paradise Killer, you basically won’t die. I mean, you literally jumped down from the air into Paradise during the start of the game so what do you expect? But if you ever die, the game will respawn you to the closest telephone booth and everything you have collected won’t be lost, so less frustration as you do not have to start everything all over again. If players really worry that they may overlook clues and evidence along the way, the game has taken this point into consideration whereby anytime the players are near an item (evidence, clues, collectables), a ‘distorted’ noise can be heard and the noise won’t stop until the players found that item, therefore the noise helps to alert the players of an item nearby.

Lastly, as a player who has no sense of direction, I will definitely get lost in Paradise Killer, but one thing helpful in this game is that they provided an AR view which enables players to know how far they are from each suspect or crime scene, and this really helps to reduce the chances of being lost in the game.

Art and music

All music in the game is produced by Barry「Epoch」Topping, and each music has their own speciality. It was decided by the production team during the early stage of the game that urban pop elements are to be added in Paradise Killer, as it gives a relaxing vacation feeling to the players. Players are able to play the music tracks in the game using Starlight and continue exploring the island while vibing with the music. The interesting part of this game is the music tracks which are not provided to the players initially, but rather players have to achieve the music tracks from the radio towers that can be seen throughout the island.

The art in Paradise Killer is very unique and is a ‘beauty’ with the whole island designed in 3D, while the characters in 2.5D format. Each and every character is unique on their own to help players to remember them easily. When players are interacting with the characters, there will be a short voice-over which doesn’t match with the dialogues such as “do your job , “this is nonsense and my favourite sentence ”Nani the hell?“. The scenery in Paradise Killer is breathtakingly amazing, and players can take a break from clue-searching if they get bored by admiring the scenery in Paradise. Overall, I can see the effort put in by the production team with the art and music presented to the players throughout the game.

Conclusion

Paradise Killer is an interesting game, players can gauge a reasonable truth based on the clues they found. There is no real truth in the game as in neither right or wrong, only the truth that you believe in. Paradise Killer has multiple endings that will be affected based on the player’s choice. If I were to say something lacking in the game, it would be the rapid decrease of clues and evidence at the later part of the game and it will make players doubt whether to continue searching for clues or just head for the trials and end the game. Every player in the game is suspicious, even your closest friend, therefore what is the truth you decide to believe in as a detective?