Paratopic

 Switch
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 7 out of 18

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  1. doomsdaydonut
    Dec 3, 2021
    3
    I've had my eye on Paratopic for about two years since I first saw it on the Steam store. I was immediately drawn to the art style and its accompanying promise of a horror/psychological experience. I picked it up on the Switch while it was on sale this week, and finally sat down to play it last night. All I can say is wow. What a disappointment. The game took me about 45 minutes toI've had my eye on Paratopic for about two years since I first saw it on the Steam store. I was immediately drawn to the art style and its accompanying promise of a horror/psychological experience. I picked it up on the Switch while it was on sale this week, and finally sat down to play it last night. All I can say is wow. What a disappointment. The game took me about 45 minutes to complete, and about 30-35 minutes of that experience comprised driving a car down a completely empty highway and walking through the woods at a painfully slow pace following a bird. What little story Paratopic tries to convey went completely over my head. I really wanted to enjoy this game, so I felt quite let down by what I was seeing. I found the atmosphere, soundtrack, and bits of conversation quite compelling, but the lack of story and gameplay really brings down the experience. The game literally cuts from scene to scene without weaving in any story to tie it all together. I feel like I paid too much for this game even though I purchased it for over 50% off.… Expand
  2. Reeg
    Dec 18, 2020
    0
    This game will give you a headache with the visuals. It's quite boring, too much dialogue, bad poly graphics that you have trouble recognising some things, you walk too slow and the driving scenes seem endless and for what purpose?
  3. Ultra_Wolfie
    Apr 27, 2021
    1
    This game is an absolute waste of 45 minutes of your life and complete and total garbage; well, sound design is okay but that doesn't make up for whatever waste of time I just (thankfully) bought on sale for under $3. My 1 star is because the only thing I could remotely compliment (and I had to dig here just to make one) was the sound design - which primarily was in the DLC as aThis game is an absolute waste of 45 minutes of your life and complete and total garbage; well, sound design is okay but that doesn't make up for whatever waste of time I just (thankfully) bought on sale for under $3. My 1 star is because the only thing I could remotely compliment (and I had to dig here just to make one) was the sound design - which primarily was in the DLC as a soundtrack!!! Hardly heard any of it actually in the game. This game was so bad, I actually signed up to Metacritic just to review it to tell others, SAVE YOUR MONEY.

    The game has no plot! Or whatever is supposed to be a plot is so poorly told and only through "emotion." None of the game makes any sense and is purely a hodgepodge of set pieces and absolutely PAINFUL gameplay. The gameplay you ask? Well, let's see, of this "45 minute game" you spend roughly 10 minutes of it in a car. Just sitting. You can turn the radio on to hear what sounds like someone gargling listerine or just some generic music. And that's it. You have to sit there and actually wait only to just start walking again after a jump cut.Then not to mention waiting for an elevator to appear at one point. A game is meant to be played, if I can sit and your game just continues then it's a movie or a video; NOT A GAME. I wouldn't be shocked if the devs next titles are Walking, Waiting, and Sitting Simulators.

    Whatever critics have praised this title are pretentious, pseudo-intellectuals whos only understanding of "intrigue" comes from the wall of a smelly bathroom truckstop stall in a crudely formed poem. Surely the high marks are people actually trolling.

    I actually feel like I did a little over a decade ago when a friend and I at a theater got an applause for both shouting; "I WANT MY MONEY BACK" and "THIS MOVIE SUCKED" at a screening of Paranormal Activity; and after this experience - that was a better waste of money.

    This game has no discipline in design, no discipline in direction, and is a jumbled mess of set pieces and confusion. Maybe you need to be on some drugs to play or something? Because it is clearly not coherent for the sober minded. All in all, I'm glad I paid like $3 for it because I would have felt UNGODLY ripped off at the $7 full price on Switch. I wouldn't have paid $0.05 if I knew how big of a waste of time it was. My $3 would have been better off on a fast food burger and a cherry coke. At least I can say I would have enjoyed that a whole lot more and I'd have 45 minutes of my life back.

    Addendum: ARK SURVIVAL on Switch; broken, nearly unplayable and practically abandoned on release is a better value than this.    … Expand
  4. DickBurns
    Nov 30, 2022
    2
    This game is the definition of all style and no substance. It starts off promising with its delivery. I love the PS1 style graphics and the creepy atmosphere. The dialogue in the opening scene has this vague mysteriousness to it that makes me want to keep playing and figure out what’s going on. However as the game goes on and cuts between random set pieces I realize none of my questionsThis game is the definition of all style and no substance. It starts off promising with its delivery. I love the PS1 style graphics and the creepy atmosphere. The dialogue in the opening scene has this vague mysteriousness to it that makes me want to keep playing and figure out what’s going on. However as the game goes on and cuts between random set pieces I realize none of my questions are being answered. It gets more confusing in a way that is more frustrating than satisfying. And that would all be fine if the actual gameplay, exploration, and dialogue were enjoyable. What started off as somewhat interesting interactions between characters in the first 2 set pieces all came to a screeching halt when you talk to the cashier at the convenience store. This is where I begin to grow annoyed with the game. It’s literally 5+ minutes of small talk with the cashier about restaurants and hotels. Some of the dialogue options are also trying to be funny which really clashes with the overall tone. It’s simply bad writing. And when you try to choose the dialogue option that seems to end the conversation, it just leads to another pointless topic of conversation. This is the games greatest fault. It forces you into these unremarkable, boring situations. This interaction is followed by multiple on rails car driving sequences that overstay their welcome. Nothing interesting happens during these segments and it’s like the developers think the “vibes” of the setting are cool enough on their own that they are forcing you to sit in for another 5+ minutes. It comes across as borderline pretentious. The game is full of these moments that by the end of it I felt like my time and money were wasted. And worst of all you can’t save. So if you exit out of the game you gotta sit through all this nonsense again if you ever wanna finish it!… Expand
  5. SuperClaudio64
    Mar 20, 2022
    4
    Gioco dal concetto interessante ma con una scarsa esecuzione. Paratopic è un walking simulator da 30-40 minuti che non lascia molto al giocatore anche dopo un secondo gameplay. Corto, quasi privo di variabili e poco coinvolgente.

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Cubed3
    Feb 7, 2025
    60
    There are no answers in this short spooky story. None. You might think there are, but there aren't. Paratopic is all atmosphere, and zero plot. Things are happening, but it's hard and maybe even impossible to make sense of it all. The good news is that when the atmosphere isn't just good, but fantastic, and as a result the adventure is very immersive despite its lack of a coherent narrative. A solid recommendation whenever the price is low enough, and in the mood for something enjoyably unsettling and mysterious, yet without much meat on its bones.
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  2. Nintendo Life
    Sep 14, 2020
    70
    Paratopic is a fever dream; a near-constantly engaging sequence of strange and at times frightening imagery. It's intriguing stuff, to say the least, but we felt that it rather fizzled out just when our interest in the various eldritch goings-on was piquing. We found that beyond experiencing it all over again there was nothing much in the way of meaningful replay value, but as a once-through bad trip, it'll keep you glued to your Switch from start to annoyingly-abrupt finish.
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  3. Vandal
    Sep 13, 2020
    70
    Paratopic is something different, a game with a tiny budget and the sole purpose of challenge your expectations. It’s very weird, but we love having these experiences that help us break our gaming routine.
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