I'll just say it. I am in love with Paradise Killer.

So many elements are done so well, and the whole comes together so beautifully.

• Gameplay.
  
  Hard 'gameplay' is somewhat thin on the ground. You won't find thrilling twitch challenges, rewarding statistical management, tricky boss fights, or complex puzzles here. Moment to moment activity consists of traversing the simple first-person environment, collecting 'artifacts' (almost all of which are set dressing that have nothing to do with the case), searching for points of interest, and above all conversing with the suspects. It doesn't sound that great, and if that's all there was, this would be a lackluster adventure title. But that's not all there is.
  
  
• Setting.
  
  PK takes place on a bizarre, wonderful, horrible science fiction island, populated by a "Syndicate" of immortals whose collective purpose is to construct a flawless paradise and resurrect a dead pantheon of horrific space gods, fueled by the souls of thousands of slaves abducted from the real world. So far, all attempts have been thwarted by demonic corruption, and each failure results in the destruction of the current reality and the building of a new one.
  
  Ridiculous! It's so far out there. Why have such an insane backdrop for a whodunit? The key is in how the setting is delivered, and how it synergizes with the cast of characters. The suspects and the protagonist are all members of the Syndicate, and everything described above is completely normal to them. The game doesn't insult the player's intelligence with the tired old trope of "You have amnesia and must learn the game world from scratch" - exactly the opposite. Although your character (whose name is Lady Love Dies) is a stranger to this particular version of the island, she already knows the history of the whole culture, and converses casually about it throughout the game. There are no "infodumps", no exhausting setting briefings to sit through; you just pick it up as you go along. This is how good science fiction is done.
  
  
• Characters.
  
  In addition to already knowing the setting, Lady Love Dies is also already on a first-name basis with the cast of characters: just under a dozen suspects, all high ranking Syndicate members with jobs to suit the outlandish situation, with a deft mixture of freakishness and humanity. One is the Architect who designs island realities; another is a bartender. The mix of outrageousness and normalcy even extends to their physical forms: one is a sexy pop idol in a low-cut kimono "blessed" with the head of a goat; another is a man who survived a murder through sheer strength of will, though all his flesh peeled off in the process and he is now a living skeleton; another is a fit-looking guy with a blackberry.
  
  Similarly, conversations veer wildly between the mundane and the sublime as if it's all the same to these people - because it is. A conversation can go from "What's your favorite whisky" to "We just slaughtered 2000 people to channel the psychic energy to the gods" and back again without even shifting gears. The fact that Lady Love Dies is friends with most of these people only further helps the player internalize it all.
  
  
• Presentation.
  
  The island is beautiful, in a garishly colorful "Florida postcard" kind of way. Again, the mix of normal and crazy is apparent with every step you take in the game world, with power boxes and water pipes next to clusters of tentacle god statues. The environmental graphics themselves come across as cheap, but intentionally so? The general effect is of the crappy graphics overlaid onto old FMV games, but in a charming way, seamlessly blended with beautiful vistas and the dazzlingly spinning stars of the night sky.
  
  Character graphics are, somewhat jarringly, in a different style, with 2D still images laid over the 3D world. The art itself is somewhat inexpert but bursting with ideas. One quickly adapts to all this and it becomes yet another "this is how this world is". As with everything else in the game, each person is highly distinctive and any imperfections in the art soon become bonded with the player's image of the character's personality.
  
  Although the game is not fully voiced, every character does have several audio lines to flesh out your image of them and this further helps establish their identities.
  
  The music of PK was a surprise for me. In a grim world of evil gods, stalking the rain-soaked streets in search of a murderer, why on earth would you soundtrack it with chirpy, upbeat dance synth? The island itself is actually dotted with loudspeakers everywhere - the government blasts this stuff around almost the entire city, 24/7. I found it wildly inappropriate at first; yet, once again, by the end of the game I wouldn't have wanted anything else. This is another instance of unexpected juxtaposition that simply works. I have the soundtrack on my phone and am looking forward to being brought back to this scary, sunny place when commuting.
  
  The song over the end credits, adding melancholy lyrics to a theme I already knew by heart from wandering the island, nearly brought me to tears.
  
  
• Story.
  
  So how does the mystery itself hold up? You won't be surprised when I say: beautifully. By the time you've criscrossed the island a few times and discovered some of its secrets, the setting will be deep enough under your skin that unpacking what happened, even the weirdest parts of it, will be perfectly within your reach. Putting it all together was a pleasure for me, and the trial at the end of the game, where I was allowed to reveal my findings, was a very satisfying conclusion.

With all that I have gone through over these 15 hours, I wouldn't have changed a thing. This is one of those experiences that carves out a place in your heart and makes you not want it to end - though the length is actually perfect too. They knew the story they wanted to tell and took the right time to tell it without dragging things out and without skipping over anything.

Above all, Paradise Killer fills me with nostalgia, triggering feelings of longing for my real world past through masterful evocation of its own fictional one. The setting taught me so much about itself that, as I played, I already felt nostalgic for earlier islands, the times of innocence I never saw, the old friendships with the whole cast; and now that it is over I'm nostalgic for Island Sequence 24 and the adventure I had there. I'll miss the living and the dead, even those I never met; I'll miss the help of the trusty Starlight computer sidekick; and I'll miss myself as Lady Love Dies. She does some damn good detective work.

I'll just say it. I am in love with [i]Paradise Killer[/i]. So many elements are done so well, and the whole comes together so beautifully. [list][*][b]Gameplay[/b]. Hard 'gameplay' is somewhat thin on the ground. You won't find thrilling twitch challenges, rewarding statistical management, tricky boss fights, or complex puzzles here. Moment to moment activity consists of traversing the simple first-person environment, collecting 'artifacts' (almost all of which are set dressing that have nothing to do with the case), searching for points of interest, and above all conversing with the suspects. It doesn't sound that great, and if that's all there was, this would be a lackluster adventure title. But that's not all there is. [*][b]Setting[/b]. [i]PK[/i] takes place on a bizarre, wonderful, horrible science fiction island, populated by a "Syndicate" of immortals whose collective purpose is to construct a flawless paradise and resurrect a dead pantheon of horrific space gods, fueled by the souls of thousands of slaves abducted from the real world. So far, all attempts have been thwarted by demonic corruption, and each failure results in the destruction of the current reality and the building of a new one. Ridiculous! It's so far out there. Why have such an insane backdrop for a whodunit? The key is in how the setting is delivered, and how it synergizes with the cast of characters. The suspects [i]and the protagonist[/i] are all members of the Syndicate, and everything described above is completely normal to them. The game doesn't insult the player's intelligence with the tired old trope of "You have amnesia and must learn the game world from scratch" - exactly the opposite. Although your character (whose name is Lady Love Dies) is a stranger to this particular version of the island, she already knows the history of the whole culture, and converses casually about it throughout the game. There are no "infodumps", no exhausting setting briefings to sit through; you just pick it up as you go along. This is how good science fiction is done. [*][b]Characters[/b]. In addition to already knowing the setting, Lady Love Dies is also already on a first-name basis with the cast of characters: just under a dozen suspects, all high ranking Syndicate members with jobs to suit the outlandish situation, with a deft mixture of freakishness and humanity. One is the Architect who designs island realities; another is a bartender. The mix of outrageousness and normalcy even extends to their physical forms: one is a sexy pop idol in a low-cut kimono "blessed" with the head of a goat; another is a man who survived a murder through sheer strength of will, though all his flesh peeled off in the process and he is now a living skeleton; another is a fit-looking guy with a blackberry. Similarly, conversations veer wildly between the mundane and the sublime as if it's all the same to these people - because it is. A conversation can go from "What's your favorite whisky" to "We just slaughtered 2000 people to channel the psychic energy to the gods" and back again without even shifting gears. The fact that Lady Love Dies is [b]friends[/b] with most of these people only further helps the player internalize it all. [*][b]Presentation[/b]. The island is beautiful, in a garishly colorful "Florida postcard" kind of way. Again, the mix of normal and crazy is apparent with every step you take in the game world, with power boxes and water pipes next to clusters of tentacle god statues. The environmental graphics themselves come across as cheap, but intentionally so? The general effect is of the crappy graphics overlaid onto old FMV games, but in a charming way, seamlessly blended with beautiful vistas and the dazzlingly spinning stars of the night sky. Character graphics are, somewhat jarringly, in a different style, with 2D still images laid over the 3D world. The art itself is somewhat inexpert but bursting with ideas. One quickly adapts to all this and it becomes yet another "this is how this world is". As with everything else in the game, each person is highly distinctive and any imperfections in the art soon become bonded with the player's image of the character's personality. Although the game is not fully voiced, every character does have several audio lines to flesh out your image of them and this further helps establish their identities. The music of [i]PK[/i] was a surprise for me. In a grim world of evil gods, stalking the rain-soaked streets in search of a murderer, why on earth would you soundtrack it with chirpy, upbeat dance synth? The island itself is actually dotted with loudspeakers everywhere - the government blasts this stuff around almost the entire city, 24/7. I found it wildly inappropriate at first; yet, once again, by the end of the game I wouldn't have wanted anything else. This is another instance of unexpected juxtaposition that simply works. I have the soundtrack on my phone and am looking forward to being brought back to this scary, sunny place when commuting. The song over the end credits, adding melancholy lyrics to a theme I already knew by heart from wandering the island, nearly brought me to tears. [*][b]Story[/b]. So how does the mystery itself hold up? You won't be surprised when I say: beautifully. By the time you've criscrossed the island a few times and discovered some of its secrets, the setting will be deep enough under your skin that unpacking what happened, even the weirdest parts of it, will be perfectly within your reach. Putting it all together was a pleasure for me, and the trial at the end of the game, where I was allowed to reveal my findings, was a very satisfying conclusion.[/list] With all that I have gone through over these 15 hours, I wouldn't have changed a thing. This is one of those experiences that carves out a place in your heart and makes you not want it to end - though the length is actually perfect too. They knew the story they wanted to tell and took the right time to tell it without dragging things out and without skipping over anything. Above all, [i]Paradise Killer[/i] fills me with [b]nostalgia[/b], triggering feelings of longing for my real world past through masterful evocation of its own fictional one. The setting taught me so much about itself that, as I played, I already felt nostalgic for earlier islands, the times of innocence I never saw, the old friendships with the whole cast; and now that it is over I'm nostalgic for Island Sequence 24 and the adventure I had there. I'll miss the living and the dead, even those I never met; I'll miss the help of the trusty Starlight computer sidekick; and I'll miss myself as Lady Love Dies. She does some damn good detective work.