Paradox Soul review for PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Switch

As I?ve written before, even though Ratalaika has a reputation for being just an easy Platinum, occasionally they deliver more than that. Sometimes, when you?re lucky, you get an amazing game out of the bargain too.

Other times, though, you get a game like Paradox Soul, that isn?t terrible, necessarily, but there?s really no reason why you should want to play it unless you really want that Platinum.

I mean, you?re certainly not going to play it for its story. In its description, it tells you that ?the only way for Dr. Alli Rose to figure out what?s going on in a peculiar test facility is to descend deeper down the rabbit hole and figure it all out by herself. No one is going to save her from this test facility, so help Dr. Rose collect every up-grade, defeat every boss and solve the mystery while you can.” There?s literally no mention of this anywhere in the game, and even as you make it down it further into the facility, it doesn?t tell you anything beyond the fact that there are lots and lots of robots to destroy.

You?re also not going to play Paradox Soul for its exploration or its interesting and varied environments. This is a Metroidvania where almost every room looks the same. Eventually the colour palette changes a little as you get further down, but it?s pretty much the same thing all the way down.

Not even the gameplay mixes it up very much. You get a laser shortly into your exploration of the facility (or, at least, you do if you play it correctly), and, eventually, you…turn that into a more powerful laser, which you can only fire directly in front of you. You get some bombs too, but they?re basically useless. So unless you really like firing off a unidirectional laser and the occasional bit of dodging behind boxes to avoid the robots that shoot back, you?re not going to be that impressed or challenged by what you find here. And, if you are challenged, you?ll be pleased to see that the game is very forgiving when it comes to respawning your character.

So, really, the only reason to play Paradox Soul is if you want to spend between $5 or so on a quick, fairly easy Platinum. No judgment if you do, but it feels like there has to be a better way to spend that money.

Ratalaika Games provided us with a Paradox Soul PS4/Vita code for review purposes.