Paradise Lost Reviews
Paradise Lost is an engrossing adventure that will suck you right in and deliver just enough to keep you satisfied but leave you wanting more. The experience is hindered by an aggravatingly slow walk speed with no option to run. While you will get used to it, it only highlights the limitations the walking simulator genre has imposed on what is one of the most unique settings in a game based on this time period.
While there are some problems with pacing, mechanics, and glitches, Paradise Lost paints an interesting and immersive tale. Despite that the game’s objectives are simplistic, the short playtime is just right to produce a satisfying ending without dragging on.
Paradise Lost relies heavily on exploration and immersion as players make their way through some fantastically designed environments. Sadly, some issues with voice acting and brightness setting can take easily take you out of that experience. Still, I was intrigued to explore this war-torn world, even though some moments of the narrative can come off as overly ambitious.
Taken as a whole, PolyAmorous doesn’t get everything right with Paradise Lost, with some maddening technical issues too often dragging me out of potentially powerful or touching moments, but there are enough terrific little touches here that – when combined with a compelling narrative, haunting sound design and some interesting background storytelling – serve to make it worth a playthrough. Just be prepared to do a bit of squinting.
Paradise Lost is a slow-paced adventure where you have to watch and listen carefully most of the time instead of actually playing it. Whether that's good or bad depends on what you seek in a game.
Review in Russian | Read full review
A cerebrally enjoyable journey for those that fall in a specific history and story-loving niche, Paradise Lost is otherwise barebones in mechanics and gameplay.
While Paradise Lost has everything to be a great game, it ends up being just good. Its background story is strong and intriguing, but you can't feel it that much in the game. Locations and objects are well crafted, but invisible walls keep you from feeling them as if they were real and alive. Everything is in his place, but by the end nothing leaves you wanting more. This four-hour adventure is worth playing, but it won't change your life.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Paradise Lost offers a unique take on the after-effects of World War II, with its atmospheric journey proving intriguing throughout. I found it fascinating to explore the Nazi bunker and uncover its many secrets, whilst the moments of interactivity and choice-making made it easier to immerse myself in the walking simulator-style gameplay. It really looks the part too – who said derelict bunkers had to be ugly?! It does have a few misfires along the way thanks to the painfully slow walking speed, some frame rate drops, and the occasionally flat voice acting, but Paradise Lost’s gripping mystery ensure that it is certainly an adventure that’s worth embarking on.
Quite common today is the genre of narrative adventures, where following the thread of the plot takes on more weight than direct and complex gameplay. The truth is that it is a type of game that I like from time to time, and I even appreciate it, as I have done with this Paradise Lost. A story that stings and intrigue, an audiovisual and environmental part worked and immersive, and an interactive part with the hands on the pad and the mouse already more limited that also takes its toll on the narrative quality.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Paradise Lost doesn’t have any gameplay systems to keep players engaged and loses some of its potential because of it, but it does use its space well for its storytelling. It creates an otherworldly setting designed to simultaneously wow and disgust players as they make their way through gorgeous, yet heinous structures designed for evil. The stories within these structures are elegantly told for the most part as they reflect and strengthen each other along the way. Shooting Nazis in the face is almost always a blast, but Paradise Lost doesn’t resort to violence to make its point. Instead, it explores these horrors and wraps that inhumanity around the tragedy of a grief-stricken orphan, a rarity in the medium that demonstrates that how gaming can portray such evil needing to shoot at it first.
PolyAmorous took a risk and it paid off. With a fresh story and an unorthodox setting, a lot could have gone wrong. And save for a few technical mechanics, it went fairly smoothly. Paradise Lost is a great narrative and a great concept, it just has to work on the “game” part of the game.
Paradise Lost is a grim alternate history lesson that asks tough philosophical questions about humanity and sacrifice. With a fascinating story and a genuinely engaging setting, it’s a game that’s easy to recommend to fans of the adventure genre. If you don’t mind the game’s lack of puzzles and plodding pacing, then be sure to make your way underground to uncover the bunker’s dark secrets. You won’t be disappointed.
If you're in the mood for a tense first-person narrative, turn the lights down and play Paradise Lost; it's a true atmospheric gem.
Set in a macabre alternative universe, Paradise Lost creates a captivating world that begs to be explored and uncovered. Every moment of the game will keep players hooked to the screen, desperate to find out more. It goes to some dark places, but as long as you’ve got the stomach for it, this is a game that will stick with you long after you’ve seen the credits roll.
Paradise Lost may bring nothing new on the gameplay front, but its excellent atmosphere and heartbreaking story make it essential for fans of the narrative adventure genre.
Paradise Lost is a beautiful yet unsettling story.
Paradise Lost is a simple and short game, strengthened by a hauntingly beautiful environment, and weakened by its underdeveloped story. Despite the atrocious animation and movement speed, I enjoyed my time with the game. It would have benefited from a cleaner story, additional bug testing, and the trimming of some game mechanics, but it bodes well for the developers behind the game. Environmental design is crucial to walking simulators, and they clearly know how to create a fascinating environment. I look forward to playing their future games.