I'd initially been drawn in by the absolutely wonderful soundtrack as well as the overall aesthetic and these are truly the highlights of the game. Paradise Killer oozes style, from the character designs all the way to its world lore. Learning information about what had happened in the past took a while to get interesting but that ended up being my main drive, rather than the whole murder business (more on that later).
While I liked the aesthetic of the world, the same can't be said about the world itself or traversal. Some areas of the map are a hopeless mess (I hope Perfect Island 25 decided to actually employ a city planner), while actually moving around became a chore thanks to some finicky controls, weird momentum shifts and the fact that Lady Love Dies apparently cannot move across the slightest bump in the ground without jumping over it.
However, Paradise Killer's main crime is that it's not a very good murder mystery or detective game. Actually exploring the whole island is nice shake up, but all you're really doing is finding the clues. There's no brain power required on the part of the player to solve "The Crime to End All Crimes" as everything is spelled out to you in big obvious letters on finding a clue, leaving the rest of the game to play out more as a visual novel, and a visual novel that loves to repeat itself. The trial at the end was such a disappointment, requiring the bare minimum of thought to solve what happened.
And yet I kept on playing - sometimes a game's style really can be enough to pull you through to the end. It wasn't an amazing experience (and it certainly isn't much of a detective game) but I it was quite relaxing and chilled out.
While I liked the aesthetic of the world, the same can't be said about the world itself or traversal. Some areas of the map are a hopeless mess (I hope Perfect Island 25 decided to actually employ a city planner), while actually moving around became a chore thanks to some finicky controls, weird momentum shifts and the fact that Lady Love Dies apparently cannot move across the slightest bump in the ground without jumping over it.
However, Paradise Killer's main crime is that it's not a very good murder mystery or detective game. Actually exploring the whole island is nice shake up, but all you're really doing is finding the clues. There's no brain power required on the part of the player to solve "The Crime to End All Crimes" as everything is spelled out to you in big obvious letters on finding a clue, leaving the rest of the game to play out more as a visual novel, and a visual novel that loves to repeat itself. The trial at the end was such a disappointment, requiring the bare minimum of thought to solve what happened.
And yet I kept on playing - sometimes a game's style really can be enough to pull you through to the end. It wasn't an amazing experience (and it certainly isn't much of a detective game) but I it was quite relaxing and chilled out.