Finding Paradise
Giving games a numerical score out of ten is something I’ve reflected on during my years with PC PowerPlay. I’m not sure if anyone on the current editorial team knows this, but when I submitted A Collection Aside for the first few months, I decided not to submit scores and wait until someone asked for them. No-one ever did. Given that many of the indies I find are experimental, as well as often having one standout feature rather than being immaculately polished, I no longer have to justify scores in the review text, making information more useful.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t, or didn’t, approach scoring thoughtfully. I mark university assignments three times per year. People take numbers seriously, students and gamers. The score I’m most proud of in ten years, of course, was the only 10/10 I’ve ever given. To the Moon wasn’t perfect. It was only slightly interactive, the puzzles were sometimes incongruous and it was possible to miss something and get terribly lost. Simply, the story was so overwhelming in its reflectiveness and maturity that I desperately wanted to distinguish it with a 10.
Finding Paradise is To the Moon’s sequel and it’s less moving but more perfect. Honestly, I’m not sure my delicate emotions could have handled another TtM. It was a once in a lifetime experience, like when a Nepalese guy asked my husband and I if we wanted to hop in his car and drive to
see sunrise over Mt Everest. Finding Paradise is like a beautiful postcard of a past adventure with a ticket for a new one attached. It is certainly melancholy and the client’s journey explores universally relatable themes, it’s just a lot lighter overall.
The game opens with Rosalene and Watts arriving at Colin’s apartment. I missed their silly banter and knew exactly how Watts would respond when I chose him to solve a little girl’s problem in the garden. Dialogue is exceptionally natural, especially between colleagues and older characters. Colin has enjoyed a happy and successful life, yet feels something is missing. Unlike most of their clients who have a specific desire to change a memory or fulfil a dream, Colin makes an unusual request that has the potential to upset his grieving family.
As Rosalene and Watts traverse the dying man’s memories, they collect orbs for each increment of story. This allows the preparation of mementos through sequentially complex Match 3 puzzles, where you manipulate movement, direction and special tiles. They weren’t difficult, but did require an ability to think spatially. As in TtM, Watts is up to something and their equipment doesn’t always work as it should. He’s also made a character customisation tool for he and Rosaline, with one of the sock options being “dead sock puppets.”
How would I score Finding Paradise if asked? I honestly don’t know. It’s not quite that once in a lifetime experience, but it’s a noticeably more polished and thoughtful. For example, if you accidentally backtrack too far, Watts summons a chest and your favourite socks are inside. Also, the (optional) combat arcade sequences are surprisingly fun to play. It works beautifully as a sequel and on its own. One way or another, rummaging around in Colin’s head makes for some exceptional storytelling. Can I give it a nine and three quarters?