Paradise [English mini review]

Tragedy in magical Africa

Genre: Adventure [Point and Click]

Creator: Benoît Sokal

Platform: Microsoft Windows, iOS, Nintendo DS

Developer: White Birds Productions

Publisher: Micro Application, Ubisoft

Country of Origin: France

Link to my narration of this review in English. On YouTube

Game modes: Single Player

Release date: April 21, 2006 (Microsoft Windows, Europe)/November 14, 2008 (DS, Europe)/August 3, 2011 (iOS, North America, Episode 2)

Country of Origin: France

Recommended system requirements: O.S.: Windows 98 SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10
CPU: Pentium 4 1.5 GHz/AMD Athlon XP 1500+
RAM Memory: 512 MΒ
Hard Disk needed space: 3 GΒ
Graphics card: ATi Radeon 9800 Pro and newer or NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 and newer (not GeForce 4 MX)

Sound card: Direct X 9.0 compatible

DirectX version: 9.0c
Mouse
4Χ CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive

I finished Paradise a few days ago. It’s a truly beautiful game. The plot is very good, original, and deeply psychological. This game is about a tragedy taking place in Africa so the ending is a difficult one but not so abrupt if you think about it afterward. Characters and dialogs are very well done and the game manages to convey emotions but not as much as Syberia games. Apart from the ending which is very emotional indeed.

The only real problem with the game is that it doesn't captivate the player's interest from the beginning meaning you will have to be patient with the first world/area of the game because it is a bit boring. But if you reach the second world and beyond the game keeps getting interesting. 

Graphics are good but feel unpolished most of the time. Music is interesting but not as great as Syberia's music. The game is a lot harder than Syberia 2 but the puzzles are logical. This game is much more realistic compared to the poetic Syberia, but there is a feeling of surrealism in the air. You will also see machines that will remind you a lot of Syberia's automatons and you will also see weird fictional animals. So the game has a lot in common with Syberia.

The only complaint I have with the game is that it includes a lot of pixel hunting. Before you play the game make sure you download patch v. 1.1.1. Because the game is buggy and problematic in the original version. Do not download patch v. 1.1.3 unless you know how to apply a no-cd patch and where to get one.

Patch v. 1.1.3 uses StarForce copy protection program that makes legitimate users unable to start the game.  Also, it would possibly help if you turned animated cursors off in the options menu. The game is fully compatible with Windows Vista/7/8 and 10, 64-bit. If you are a follower of Sokal's previous games you will also like Paradise. Overall I give it a grade of 4/5 stars. Have fun!

Pros:

·         Very good story

·         Very good sound and music

·         Impressive cutscenes

·         Well organized menus

·         Ideal difficultly level (not too easy and not too hard)

·         Interesting characters

Cons:

·         Bug in mouse operation

·         Unpolished graphics

·         Clipping and animation

·         The “Starforce copy protection” program

·         Heavy pixel hunting

Final Grade. 4/5