Paradise Killer is out today (September 4th) on PC and Switch. It’s an open-world and free-roam detective game that doesn’t push you in any direction whatsoever. It’s up to you to choose which path you take as you explore the vast and bizarre world, scored by a banging vaporwave soundtrack.
There’s one solid main storyline to follow – the big murder case – but there are also several other cases and lots of evidence dotted around the island which you can find on your own. You play as Lady Love Dies, an exiled investigator called in to deal with a massive case of mass-murder on the island.
Paradise Killer is all about exploration. You are deeply rewarded for setting out on your own, discovering character arcs, uncovering clues, and solving puzzles as you try to figure out the culprit (or culprits) of the murder.
The game also features an extensive soundtrack – a real mish-mash of styles, with jazz, vaporwave, and ambient lo-fi. It’s the perfect backdrop to the gameplay and ooze atmosphere throughout the different environments. You discover cassettes dotted around the map so you build your soundtrack as you play.
Exploration also leads to plenty of new spiraling narrative arcs and interesting secrets hidden all over the place. You collect clues and gather new leads as you play, and the information you find can completely change up how you progress through the story. It’s really like a giant conspiracy-simulator, with pins put in all sorts of facts and ideas across a virtual corkboard.
The world of Paradise Killer is populated with a host of weird and wonderful characters, each with their own unique personality. Rendered in a quite strange 2.5D art style, they definitely pop-out from the environment. You’ll need to talk to as many people as you can to try and come to the right conclusion come the big courtroom ending.
Paradise Killer also has an interesting pace. It’s really up to you, the player, to form how the narrative progresses. That means at times the gameplay can fall into this sort of slow lull, but with the vivid environments, interesting characters, and that banging soundtrack in the background, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Paradise Killer is out today on PC and Switch. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a laid-back open-world experience.