Once in a while I stumble upon games that more traditionalist of people would rather classify as “interactive experiences”. And there are countless different various ways they can be made and shapes that they can take. Paratopic works as a very linear, very directed interactive horror game that doesn’t really let you explore much and leaves you with more questions than answers. And even I am slightly torn about it.
The game itself isn’t shy about it’s big influence – Thirty Flights of Loving from Blendo Games, a game that introduced me to the idea of using purely filmic approach to editing scenes in a format of a game. You have smash cuts, abrupt changes in scenery, story told in bits and in a non-linear way and using limited mechanical ideas to get the mood and tone across. There are titles that also come to mind, like some of the Tales of Tales “nongames” titles, or some of the more experimental takes on the narrative exploration games. Or even the recent Sanguine Sanctum (and other projects by Modus Interactive) or earlier experimental titles from David Szymanski (like The Music Machine which I loved), way before he turned to more “traditional” gameplay with the modern classic FPS.
And when Paratopic is at its best, mixing foreboding mood, clear Lynchian and Cronenberg influences with simplistic gameplay, it’s genuinely engaging. It’s unsettling, it’s unpleasant, it’s mystifying. The visual style, reminiscent of late 90s 3D, is great, music, when it plays, is top-notch, sound design is great. There are no saves here, but one full playthrough will take you about 40-minutes, so it’s not that big of a problem. But, it has one big flaw – it sets its pace 100% and rarely ever gives the player any control over it.
It sounds fine, as it was for already mentioned Thirty Flights of Loving, as it can lead to a focused, well-paced delivery of the story or at least mood. Yet, what this game lacks is being… “concise” would be the word, I suppose. It has lots of little details that can only be noticed or experienced when replaying the game and making a slightly different choice. Yet replaying the game would also mean going through several scenes of just waiting, with nothing happening in them at all. Which feel painfully long on the first playthrough, way past the uncomfortable, past the mysterious and fully in the “this is tedious” territory. And this disrespect for the player time might kill the enjoyment for a lot of people.
I enjoyed this game for what it was. But I also got it from a bundle and didn’t expect much. Perhaps, if I didn’t experience far more fun to go through titles of similar kind before, quite a few of which are also free, I would’ve been more excited. Yet, even Thirty Flights of Loving was far more amazingly put together. And that was 7 years ago. If your expectations are right and you’re getting this for cheap or in a bundle, definitely give it a go. Otherwise, I would be hard-pressed to recommend this.