Paradox Review

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: Paradox Soul
Developer: Ritual Games
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Website: http://www.ratalaikagames.com/games/paradoxsoul.php
Genre: Metroidvania, Action, Shooter, Adventure
Platform: PS4, PS Vita
Age Rating: PEGI 7
Release Date: 03/07/19
Price: £3.99 – Rapid Reviews UK was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

Some games do anything to pad out themselves just a little bit more, one more cutscene, one more detour, which makes it interesting when a game takes it upon itself to have everything be short and condensed and just as big as it needs to be. Paradox Soul is one such game.

But sometimes the game can be too short, take, for example, the bosses in the game. Now, the bosses in the game are fun, they’re all very unique, and were satisfying to beat. But there’s only 3. This can also be seen with the enemy types, they’re all decently creative, but there are only a few variants. The gameplay is fun, and the controls are decent, but it’s just too short to be considered “good”.

The presentation also leaves something to be desired. The pixel-art style in the game is fine, nothing more, nothing less. The sound design in the game was just bad, and some enemies made sounds so awful that I always tried to leave the room quicker or turn down the volume because of how annoying it was, and this was consistent throughout my experience. One thing I did enjoy was the music, it was very atmospheric and never got too old during the game.

The story is there, but you have to figure it out for yourself. This I like and reminds me of Hollow Knight, or Journey. But unlike the other two, it’s pretty easy to figure out what happened, now, I won’t spoil the story, because that ruins a bit of the experience of figuring it out, but the visual clues are right in front of your face. Now, this isn’t a bad thing, nor is it particularly a good thing, but mostly just a thing to help keep you entertained through the small game.

The level design in the game is weirdly exact. Going through a room reminded me more of something out of a Zelda dungeon, with each area given its small challenge on what you have — so playing it a slightly different feel than most Metroidvanias, especially since you get the entire map almost immediately because again, the game is very short.