Paratopic

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5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 18 Ratings

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  • Summary: You got caught smuggling VHS tapes across the border, and now there's hell to pay. You want to find an elusive rare bird in the forest and snap its picture. You have to kill a man in the back room of a shady diner.

    This is Paratopic, an experimental first-person horror game named by Rock,    You got caught smuggling VHS tapes across the border, and now there's hell to pay. You want to find an elusive rare bird in the forest and snap its picture. You have to kill a man in the back room of a shady diner.

    This is Paratopic, an experimental first-person horror game named by Rock, Paper, Shotgun as one of the best games of 2018, and by FACT mag as having one of the top 10 soundtracks of the year.

    A narrative-driven horror-tinged adventure game that takes you on a journey through a cruel fever dream world.Cut between numerous detailed and varied vignettes to unravel how the stories of three separate characters intersect.Explore the detritus of forbidden industry, kill, drive through the night, find yourself in conversation with some very off-kilter individuals.A leisurely playthrough should take forty-five minutes, give or take, with plenty more to discover in the detailed, grimy low polygon environments. Or speedrun it, if you'd prefer.Over an hour of gorgeous dark ambient music is used to create our subtly dynamic soundscape. An anachronistic blend of modern and outdated production as glitches and textural pads meet synthesis & sampling akin to 1990s Unreal Engine soundtracks.Playable both in TV and handheld mode, experience a short-story masterpiece and enjoy the story anywhere. Take the horror with you.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 5 out of 13
  1. IamSquid
    Jan 2, 2022
    10
    Walking simulators are bad right? Right.
    ...but Paratopic is the exception.
    I give it a 10/10.
    Yes, I actually do mean that!
  2. HiddenGemsHunt
    May 26, 2021
    10
    Art can be videogames. Paratopic shows that wells, blending great movie-like atmosphere with PSone graphics and simple, yet interestingArt can be videogames. Paratopic shows that wells, blending great movie-like atmosphere with PSone graphics and simple, yet interesting gameplay. Paratopic is not for everyone - yet it is fresh, interesting, different, and I would love to have more games like that.… Expand
  4. syntaxapproval
    Mar 18, 2021
    9
    Paratopic is a very strange experience. There seems to be a lot of negative reviews based on it's visual style, which I found wonderful andParatopic is a very strange experience. There seems to be a lot of negative reviews based on it's visual style, which I found wonderful and nostalgic, as if playing a lost PS1 game, or an early Half-Life 1 mod. Elements of the engine remind me of other early PC games as well (à la Quake 2). While you may deem this as a walking simulator, the point remains to immerse yourself in a short yet satisfying hallucinatory experience; interacting with a mysterious gas station clerk, photographing birds in a state park, or trying to not fall asleep at the wheel while dialing through your AM/FM radio. Although a short game, there are elements of replay in unlocking all of the "achievements", which in turn make for some interesting observations on second and third replays. Not to mention that the audio and soundtrack are fantastic. For fans of mystery, intrigue and a short captive experience (under an hour), I highly recommend Paratopic. I strongly believe we need more games like this that attempt to break the ever-present mold of cookie cutter games. I'd rather pay less than 5 dollars for something I finished than 50 for something I got bored of.… Expand
  5. robnamnam
    Nov 8, 2020
    6
    Disclaimer: this is not a game. It's an experience. A semi-interactive 1 hour-ish movie that clearly wants to be experimental and provocative.Disclaimer: this is not a game. It's an experience. A semi-interactive 1 hour-ish movie that clearly wants to be experimental and provocative. Nothing bad about it.
    Very crude on the graphics side (deliberately inspired by 90s Playstation videogames) and non-linear in the storytelling (with jumps back and forward in between characters and timelines), it falls back to linearity in the gameplay (if we can talk about gameplay).
    Can anybody appreciate that? Probably not. Did I enjoy playing it? Not a bit. 6 for the artistic-value and the attempt at making something different.    … Expand
  6. Dangusse
    Apr 21, 2023
    6
    the vast majority of my points removed have to do with the price, since i enjoyed the game for what it is. however, it feels more like a demothe vast majority of my points removed have to do with the price, since i enjoyed the game for what it is. however, it feels more like a demo than a full title, so i think it should probably be free with suggested donation.

    if you can get it for free or heavily discounted, it's worth a play, and probably best played alone with headphones as suggested. if you choose to pay for the game at full price, i would consider it the same as a kickstarter.

    i think more could be done with the same environments if there were a few more people to talk to, a radio show in the car, something a little more interactive and meaningful like the cashier at the gas station. i want to go into the hole in the bunker. it just feels like the whole game is a sketch for what could be a much better entry with even a little bit of added length and scripting.

    the game is ominous, includes a(n) jumpscare, and has decent writing, interesting pacing and creative animation. i don't actually mind that so much of it is empty and monotonous, it's often a cool way of making the game more immersive and to hammer in some foreboding themes. overall, it's really good, but it's so short that you don't get much more out of playing it than you would from watching someone else do it on youtube.    … Expand
  7. 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 alGioco 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.… Expand
  8. 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 recognisingThis 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?… Expand

See all 13 User Reviews