So, what is up guys, Musical Anti Hero saying words and doing things with YOU my sexalicious
audience, and welcome back to another episode of:
The show where I talk about the games I'm playing and answer the question of:
YES.
YES IT IS.
SHUT UP, GO BUY IT.
STOP THE VIDEO AND GO BUY FINDING PARADISE RIGHT THIS SECOND GOANDDOITWHATAREYOUWAITINGFO-
Woo!
Sorry, let me get a hold of myself.
This time we'll be taking a look at Finding Paradise, the third game of the To The Moon
franchise constructed by Freebird Games, and it's director,
Motherfucker.
Motherfucker.
MOTHERFUCKING KAN 'REIVES' GAO!
Now, do not expect this video to be entirely unbiased, even in the remotest sense of the
word.
If you enjoy story-driven games with very few mechanics, then I really recommend you
spend the twenty bucks and just get the whole series right now.
I love this franchise wholeheartedly, as evidenced by all the times I've openly cried on camera
while playing these games.
[Crying] "IT IS SUCH A HAPPY LIFE!
I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M STILL CRYING!"
Each entry is well worth your time and money.
That being said, today let's take a spoiler-free look at Finding Paradise.
Finding Paradise is the Third Game in the To The Moon franchise, following Doctors Eva
Rosalene and Neil Watts on just another day in their line of work.
Employed by the Sigmund Corporation, Neil and Eva have the unique jobs of travelling
into the memories of dying patients and altering them.
In this way, their charge can have one final wish and live out their wildest dreams before
they die.
This time their patient is an elderly man named Colin, with a wish that seems so simple
on the surface; make his life far more fulfilling while keeping his family unaltered.
This simple crux sets up a twisted intrapersonal narrative as Neil and Eva journey back through
Colin's myriad memories, unlocking the secrets of his past to make those dreams come true.
Now, as a writer in my free-time, the story of Finding Paradise is utterly compelling.
While Doctors Rosalene and Watts take center stage as our lead characters and the vehicle
that moves our story forward, moving major plot-points along and working along as our
playable characters, they are not the main focal point of the story.
Moving through Colin's memories over the course of the game, the emotional focus of
the plot remains firmly on their patient, slipping through the memories of his pre-retirement
years and transitioning to the fragile, sometimes tragic state of his childhood.
As you play through the story you are constantly drawn deeper into the puzzle that is Colin's
life; nothing is ever quite as it appears on the surface, and once you as the player
realize that one begins to look deeper.
Why is Colin often alone in his youth?
Why, as an adult, does he socially function less successfully than as he did as a child?
The answers to these questions ARE there, there are no loose threads by the end of the
plot.
But none are ever present right on the surface, nor are they apparent in an immediate sense.
However, this isn't to say that Neil and Eva are underdeveloped as characters.
While their relationship throughout the game never develops past close colleagues, their
chemistry is absolutely undeniable.
Bringing a light-hearted air to the tale, Eva plays as the comedic straight-man often
unbudging in her temperament and focusing on the job at hand while her counterpart Neil
works incredibly well as her comedic foil; he excels as a nerdy, techy-computer geek,
drawing his dry, sarcastic humour from pop culture references that frankly make TeamFourStar
look like a bunch of narrative hacks.
These characters however are deep enough to still be human, however.
Eva has light-hearted moments where a quick quip or pun sail right through and draw a
laugh from the audience.
Neil displays moments of not just a serious work-ethic, but an incredible ingenuity that
bellies his intelligence, while hinting at a far darker, and infinitely more murky future
for the character.
And all of this depth and complexity, this beautiful interwoven narrative, is delivered
solely to you through text.
That's right, Finding Paradise is a text only game.
No voice-acting, few character related sound-effects, and few intonations through character models.
With all of that, this game still managed to elicit a response like THIS from me.
[Weepy] "This is gonna fuck me up too!
I don't wanna deal with this shit!
OH FUCK!....
Ooooooh…
Fuck…"
That is how incredible the writing in Finding Paradise truly is.
I have very little to critique on the dialogue or pacing of this game, except perhaps that
some of the more comedic moments can fly over one's head initially.
Because there's really no voice acting the player is completely reliant on backing music
to establish not just the tone of the scene, but the tone of the conversation.
More than once that can lead to comedic set-ups failing in dialogue, particularly when the
music is simply just a backing piece for that particular area or moment in time.
Which leads me into my absolute favourite part of Finding Paradise, the musical accompaniment.
Composed by the man,
MOTHERFUCKING KAN "REIVES" GAO!
as well as Laura Shigihara, Chris Ryker and Undertone, the game's score is incredibly
powerful.
While several pieces are designed with one or two lead instruments in mind, often the
cello or piano in this entry's case, Kan uses the entirety of an orchestral selection,
often relying on strings of every caliber to lead into the mid-range of most pieces,
with lighter woodwinds and scale-based percussion as musical leads.
However, Finding Paradise also deepens the instrumental well, this time drawing on both
acoustic nylon-stringed guitars (which I am a personal sucker for), as well as electric
synthesizers to lead in pieces such as the main title theme.
Every individual track I can describe as, without a doubt, uniquely uplifting.
From little staccato based quirks, to long, sorrowful piano solos, each part of the soundtrack
is an incredibly unique puzzle piece to the overall narrative, bearing with it not just
the energy of a bird in flight, but the sorrow of the game's main theming; by the end of
your journey, no matter whether or not you are successful, Colin will die.
Even in the happiest moments, as you relive a past childhood with the traipsing ease of
a dulcet Sitar, a quick turn into an echoing piano sonata will remind you of that final,
sorrowful fact.
In fact, what you are listening to now is a part OF Finding Paradise's original soundtrack.
As I do with every review, it is layered in behind my voice in editing.
I'm going to stop talking for a moment, just so you can hear ten seconds of this beautiful
soundtrack, uninterrupted, so you can understand it's majesty as I do.
As I'm sure you've heard, every note is placed JUST rightly so, and when the whole
orchestra chimes in, it really shows.
The same can be said about Finding Paradise's art style.
While it is based firmly in that genre of pixel-art, and is intended to be a minimalistic
reinterpretation of older-RPGs, the detail crammed into every square set-piece of this
game is frankly incredible.
Motions and pieces move seamlessly in their animations, and character design IMMEADIETLY
makes characters memorable and distinct.
Neil has thick, large glasses, while Eva is obviously darker skinned with long, black
hair.
You'll never confuse any other character with Colin because his design, even through
his advancing age, contains consistent themes.
Despite the limited possibilities within these art constraints, the artistic direction of
Finding Paradise is incredibly nuanced.
Each sprite has a wide variety of physical emoticons and actions, often belying character
emotion and tone through slight gestures and movements.
Trees ripple and move with the wind in game, even ducks, THESE BLOODY DUCKS, quack and
squawk and have their own unique animations.
There is no pixel not accounted for in this game and the world BREATHES because of it.
BUT.
Making the comparison between these two games is impossible to avoid, and frankly its predecessor
sets a bar that I don't ever believe will be surpassed, let alone raised.
To The Moon was a masterpiece in every sense of the word, and while Finding Paradise is
indeed a worthy successor to the series it misses a lot of that magic that made it's
predecessor memorable forever.
Frankly, while To The Moon and Finding Paradise tackle the idea of final wishes amazingly,
and the stories are woven together magnificently, To The Moon's reasoning and logic within
the narrative was just so much better, and so much better executed.
The climax was far more intricate and emotional, whereas Finding Paradise just ENDS with a
nice conclusion.
Johnny's reasoning and wanting to go to the moon was far more relatable, where everyone
could find some part of themselves echoed in his story.
The very crux of Colin's wish and most of his youth on the other hand, while it's
interesting and heartbreaking, really doesn't roll well into the emotional through-fare
that the game tries to set.
Furthermore, there just aren't stakes here.
While intellectually Colin's wish is far more interesting, the emotional implications
just aren't there as they were with Johnny; Colin has already lived a full life with little
regret, the life he wanted unlike his predecessor who sacrificed so much for the most important
person in his life.
Instead the game tries to rely on Eva and Neil who ARE interesting, but they just aren't
set up appropriately to get the narrative development that the series is alluding to.
However, this doesn't invalidate Finding Paradise as a sequel.
This game is fantastic and awe inspiring in every sense of the word.
If you were a fan of the first you'll fall in love all over again with these characters,
and if you're new to the franchise then I cannot recommend this game enough.
It is an utterly beautiful tale and one completely worthy of your love, your adoration and your
support.
[Crying] "Fuck you Kan Reives Gao!
For making me cry like a fucking bitch!"
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