Paradise Killer is a Weird Yet Interesting Detective Game That Made Me Sick

Update 13 August 2023: I complained about the reveal but I think it might be because I used a guide instead of actually figuring shit out on my own. Mark Brown in discussing detective games mentioned how instead of focusing on actual detective work, the main draw to this game is how the accusation is the focus.

I saw this game on Game Pass and I tried it out. It’s a weird detective game with great investigative mechanics. You play the rubenesque detective Lady Love Dies who’s been brought out of exile to investigate a brutal mass murder. There’s little handholding so it’s up to you to put all the pieces together. In doing so, you’ll realize just how fucked up this society is where all the residents have something to hide and the society runs on slavery. Some characters are even willing to cuss you in Romanian¹.

As fun as all the detective work was, there are three problems I have with the game:

1. It can literally make you sick. I couldn’t play more than 30 minutes at a time without feeling nauseous and getting a headache. You can reduce the sickness by adjusting the FOV and turning off motion blur.

2. Don’t know how to put this without spoiling too much, but the one big trial is rather underwhelming. Unless you do a perfect job investigating, you won’t get Ace Attorney levels of theatrics here. Maybe I’m expecting a definitive ending but it doesn’t feel like your evidence matters as long as you convict the right person.

3. Yakuza has spoiled me with a small yet detailed world so this game is far too spread out. Even worse, it costs money to fast travel about the map. It’s impressive for a little indie studio to pull off, but running all over the map gets annoying fast.

In all, it’s a great little game which has convinced me to give indie games on Game Pass a shot. Shame about the accessibility issues though.