To read my Review on To The Moon, click here!
I honestly can't remember if I had written a Review on To The Moon so I was pleasantly surprised that I had found it in my blog archive. The sequel/second episode was released very late in 2017 and it caught me by surprised when I saw cosplayer Katyuska Moonfox talk about. I fell heavily in love with the first game so naturally I wanted to play this one as well. Finding Paradise is a puzzle/story game by Freebird Games done up in the style of the 16-bit era of gaming. While you don't need to have played the first game, there are little nods to it throughout the game that made me go "Oh snap" with the writing. You once again take control of Drs. Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts of Sigmund Corp as they fulfill another dying patient's last wish. This time around, you have Colin Reeds who was an Airline Pilot for most of his life. Though when I found out what his wish was, I certainly was taken aback. Mainly he just wanted to make sure he had lived a fulfilling/happy life.
Much like the first game, you go around both the present day and his memories as the Drs. in the stunning scenery. Freebird Games certainly put so much love into both the backgrounds and music. I pretty much almost cried at certain spots of the story when musical pieces would kick in. When traveling through the memories, you have to find significant points in each moment to fill up your bar. As you gather them, you can access previously locked off parts and soon place each key moment into an object called a memento. That's when the puzzle element comes in, though this is new in comparison to the first episode. You control a grid with images of objects that represent the memento being prepared. Basically you have to match up 3 in a row to fill up the percentage meter to 100% to move on.
As the game progresses, new elements get added into these puzzles such as the inability to move certain columns, having blank spots be generated with images, and other additions. The writing had me laughing lots more than I imagine the first game did. Pop culture references to DBZ, Street Fighter and even Watchmen were of course done by Dr. Watts since he's that kind of person.
The interesting twist at the end caught me by surprise but that led to the back half of this story having me laughing with its drastic gameplay changes and references. Ken Gao did a phenomenal job with this game as he did before. The story at the end hints at other new issues that'll no doubt be solved in a future entry. Much like To The Moon, that's pretty much all I can say in regards to how this game is. A beautifully captivating story detailing one man's life and wondering if he truly did enough and was willing to let go of things holding him back.
Should you Play this Game?
Yes! Finding Paradise is another beautifully crafted story that's sure to tug at your heart strings. A calm environment, gorgeous music and likable characters populate this journey into another man's memories.
