Tourists and investigators at the same time: these are the roles that you will be called to cover within Paradise Killer. In this original interpretation of the investigative visual novel genre you will have to solve a murder case not only by questioning the main suspects but also by exploring the island where the game is set, to verify their alibis and look for new investigative leads. The result of this original combination of mechanics and genres, we can anticipate it right away, seemed more than successful to us.
Paradise Killer: an open world to investigate
For 24 times the Council, which governs the world of Paradise Killer, has tried to create the definitive island in which to carry on the cult of one's divinities in order to awaken them. Each attempt, however, was a failure as each island eventually suffered a demonic invasion that led to its abandonment and the creation of the next one. On the eve of the transfer to Perfect 25, the definitive version that should protect from possible attacks, the entire Council was brutally killed. It will be up to Lady Loves Die, recalled from her exile, to resolve the case and understand if the official version of the facts is true or if any of the members of the Syndicate, the elite responsible for the management of Paradise Island, is responsible.
Already the premise of the game helps to understand how out of the box the story of Paradise Killer is between islands made and defeated, citizens forced to worship gods, demonic possessions and investigators in exile for 3 million years. After a first impact that leaves you disoriented and confused, the lore of the world created by Kaizen Game Works is gradually unfolding like a map in which, with the passing of the hours of play, it is always easier to find your way around.
In this sense, it is evident the commitment and attention with which the developers have traced all the events, mythology and characters of Paradise Killer creating a panorama, even in its absurd strangeness, perfectly credible. The various members of the Syndicate, not yet transferred to Perfect 25, would all have reasons for wanting to end the Council and, going deeper and deeper, it is possible to discover the envy, friendships, resentments and romantic relationships that bind the various suspects.
This credibility ends up exponentially increasing the involvement in the world of the game, at least for those players who appreciate this type of story, and precisely involvement represents the main thrust to explore the island. All the areas of the open world (from the seat of the Council to the residential districts passing through the beaches) can be explored in all their crevices and secret areas: from the roofs of the buildings to the underground areas infected by the demonic presence. Just like the story, even the open world of Paradise Killer leaves you disoriented at first but it is inevitable, after a few hours, to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the map, just like when, as a tourist, you learn how to move in a city that is only a little unknown. before leaving.
The map present in the game menu, among other things, is not a particularly reliable navigation tool since, we do not know whether by choice or by chance, it is extremely essential and does not even provide references to orient oneself like the cardinal points or the direction in which the character is facing (in addition to the inconvenience of not being able to recall it with a single button but having to navigate the menu).
In any case, it is also possible to obtain rapid movements unlocking them on every single save point. Each trip, however, will require at least one Blood Crystal, or the game's currency that can be found scattered throughout the settings. This choice obviously wants to encourage exploration given that, especially in the early hours, the Blood Crystals are not so frequent, but we must admit that already after 6 hours of play, passed from tourists to expert connoisseurs of the island, we would have preferred that the movements quick were free without having to go in search of the crystals, despite the ability of meditation that facilitates the discovery.
Meditation is in fact one of the two skills that can be unlocked together with the double jump and that will make it extremely easier to explore the environments. Other additional skills are those that concern the Starlight computer and that allow you to unlock some advanced terminals through puzzles based on some figures. True to the philosophy of the game, skills and upgrades for Starlight are acquired in an unconventional way, but despite the open world nature, players are never directed on how to get them. This can be a problem.
As players who love to explore every single aspect and examine everything, we have been lucky to unlock these skills in the first few hours but one wonders, given the unconventional and always different nature of how to get them, how different our perception would have been if we hadn't. made to buy drinks from vending machines or if we had denied Lady Loves Die a foot bath. This is an example of how the open world nature of Paradise Killer, on the whole well functioning, can occasionally run into some hitch. And this also concerns the investigative part.
Paradise Killer: some holes in the investigation
In one case, for example, despite having ascertained the true nature of the disappearance of a member of the Syndicate, during the dialogues our protagonist continued to talk about it as if it were still a case of disappearance. Cases like these do not happen too frequently during the adventure, but sometimes one gets the impression that decisive elements end up not being confirmed during the interrogations. This could be related to the extremely open nature of the game with which the narrative perhaps does not always manage to keep up. But there is another aspect of the investigations that did not convince us.
On too many occasions, despite evidence that raised strong suspicions about a suspect, Lady Loves Die ends up accepting convenient answers with the suspects who claim to have been framed, without our investigator exerting the right pressure that one would expect in these. circumstances. In a way, this is a limitation due to the structure of the game. In Paradise Killer there is a single, big case to solve, although there are secondary cases but still related to the resolution of the murder, and this creates a problem at the pace of the adventure. The choice of other investigative games to propose different cases, while always included in a general plot, is usually successful because it manages to vary the rhythm between the initial phase of the investigation up to the decisive moment. In Paradise Killer, however, these cliffhangers and build-ups of the story too diluted in the resolution of the long murder case are missing.
Even in this circumstance a lot is entrusted to the player. The twists are not lacking, especially when you find very important clues, but it all depends on the exploration. The freedom entrusted to the player, in dictating the pace of events, is too much and this approach can also be seen in the definitive solution of the case. In fact, at any time during the game, you can decide to bring any of the suspects to court. This also has its positive side, as once you think you have enough clues, you can get to the conclusion of the case at any point in the game.
However, these are small and large short circuits due to the courageous attempt to put together visual novel mechanics and an open world setting which, beyond the exceptions just mentioned, it can be considered successful on the whole and also redeemed by a never boring writing and by a careful characterization of the characters.
Paradise: between Suda51 and vaporwave style
The creative work behind Paradise Killer is quite remarkable and the result is a definitely original style with a character design that is definitely divisive and that seems strongly influenced by Jojo's Bizzare Adventure (but without the glam typical of Hirohiko Araki's style) and above all by the games of the designer Suda51. To be clear, the Syndicate characters starting with their names such as Doctor Doom Jazz and Crimson Acid, would be perfectly credible alongside Skelter Helter and Holly Summers in No More Heroes.
The points in common with Suda51 do not stop at the characters but also concern the punk soul of Paradise Killer and the more cryptic and esoteric aspects seen in Killer 7. Even more evident are the similarities with Flower, Sun, and Rain, the adventure developed also Grasshopper Manufacture, with which the game shares much more in terms of game design and setting (even there the protagonist was a sort of investigator struggling with the mysteries of an island to be solved with the help of your computer).
Just like in Suda51's titles, music plays a decisive role here too. The Paradise Killer soundtrack is the perfect sonic translation of the overall style thanks to its fifteen songs that are played, literally, on the island's speakers. It is undoubtedly one of the most interesting soundtracks we have heard recently in productions of this type with tracks (most of which will have to be found in the settings) that recall genres described by the developers as “original city pop, jazz fusion, dance pop” and we would also add synthwave and especially vaporwave.
The influences, especially of the latter style, are evident not only in the music but also in the entire aesthetic of the game that reworks many visual elements typical of the 80s. While not graphically shocking, the island of Paradise Killer surprises from its stylistic point of view with surreal scenarios: a celestial sphere that rotates quickly in the night sky, residential areas with geometric architecture and even beaches where deckchairs and umbrellas are flanked by black monoliths, without forgetting statues that represent the numerous divinities venerated by the inhabitants (the absence of which amplifies the artificial nostalgia effect of the aesthetics of the game). Everything is recreated through an environment certainly not characterized by a high number of polygons (and with some problems of bad clipping) but which precisely for this reason falls exactly within the canons of vaporwave. In this sense, we must admit that from our Paradise Island vacation we brought a good number of postcards in the form of screenshots.
