Smuggle contraband VHS tapes across the border. Discover the remnants of illicit industry. Prepare for an assassination.
This is Paratopic, an atmospheric retro-3D horror adventure through a cursed fever dream.
The good news is that 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.
Unless you really enjoy half-finished stories, Paratopic never really builds on its great aesthetic to be a game worth playing. It may aspire to bring you back to the late '90s, but given how disjointed it all feels, it never achieves its goal.
Although its retro presentational qualities place it above standard horror fare, Paratopic's lacking design & narrative diminishes its grander mysteries.
Videodrome Vibes
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...
