Paradise Killer is a deeply weird video game (PC/ Nintendo Switch) by Kaizen Game Works that I absolutely adore.

You are Lady Love Dies (pretty much everyone in here has names like that), an exiled immortal, who is forced to return to your homeland in order to investigate the murder of The Council, who were dedicated to creating a perfect iteration of paradise.

Gameplay-wise, you look for clues in a mostly abandoned tropical city, accompanied by a city pop-styled soundtrack; and interview NPCs to try and solve the extremely labyrinthine murder plot.

What really makes Paradise Killer unique is how it takes a lush, upbeat setting, and infuses it with a very dark subtext. Without spoiling too much, the game is essentially a cosmic horror story with a unique perspective (also a Marxist allegory, but that’ll have to wait for another day thread…). It’s an acquired taste, but it’s a game I find myself thinking back on quite a bit,