The best way to experience what it feels to be one of the most intelligent creatures that exist.
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This year has been very special, and in just a few weeks, we’ve received a large number of high-quality video games. One of the main publishers responsible for this achievement is Capcom; however, this year seems to be the return of another Japanese giant.
Konami is responsible for supporting and publishing a title that, at first glance, seems to be not very serious and carefree, without great ambitions; however, appearances tend to deceive players, and we can see that behind this simple facade lies a very complete experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgohrVdCNA
Darwin’s Paradox! is the name of a game that catches our eye and immediately captivates us. More than a superhero or a character broken by many abilities, we are faced with a magnificent, real creature that manifests its gifts through this very rewarding experience.
Technical Section
As I mentioned at the beginning, the game is visually stunning, to the point where it seems like we’re in an animated movie, not just because of the character, but also because of the environments and everything we can enjoy while controlling our charming octopus.
We’ll see scenes that will delight us completely, like the beginning, where we’re in the ocean and can see the wonderful representation of a beautiful marine life; that’s right, with the threats that come with the package.
Although the game’s spectacularity is also reflected in different environments, such as roads, factories, offices, ships, enemies, and a multitude of situations that denote the work done by its creators, who have given a lot of detail to this world, making it look like an animated film, you know, like those from Pixar.
Color is one of the protagonists that will accompany Darwin on his adventure. I’ve loved the art and what I see while I’m playing; it’s wonderful. However, it’s not exempt from some technical details, such as FPS drops in demanding sequences, like explosions or very large environments.
Fortunately, this performance drop doesn’t affect the experience; in fact, I dare say it was only present in a few instances, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s there. Don’t worry about putting the game in performance mode; this won’t improve those specific moments. Maybe with a launch patch, they can fix these minor stumbles.
Now, let’s talk about the Spanish localization, which is present and reflected in its texts, which serve to explain what’s happening and fulfill their purpose. To conclude, the few complaints in this section are minor and present, but the sum of their tremendous work is superior to the game’s negative aspects.
Gameplay
I remember playing the demo of Darwin’s Paradox! and something that caught my attention was: how could they offer us a story with an octopus? This doubt is resolved in this complete version of the game, where we have this octopus as the protagonist.
Darwin is an octopus that lives in the ocean, exploring and living as such, but his life is interrupted when an alien spaceship arrives and abducts him. This takes us away from our environment and leaves us in an unknown world, where we’ll try to return home.
That’s how we take control of this cute octopus, which shows us that the gameplay will be in a 2D environment with lateral movement. What might make us remember similar titles, like Little Nightmares, Limbo, Inside, and even Unravel, is that it’s more similar to the latter.
We won’t be a character like the ones we’re used to controlling, although this might deceive us and make us think that our octopus is an ordinary protagonist. Not at all, here we have the repertoire of abilities of these animals and some extra ones added by the game.
That’s how we’ll try to return home and cross different types of scenarios, where, logically, we’ll have to escape without being seen, all with the help of our stealth. We’ll be able to jump on land, stick to most surfaces with our suckers, and camouflage ourselves with the environment.
Our series of abilities will allow us to dodge enemies, dangerous environments, and more. We’ll do this in levels with good portions of verticality, giving us options to advance. And, if I haven’t mentioned it, we’re facing a platform game and environmental puzzle-solving. This might sound boring, but it’s totally far from reality: it’s fun at all times.
And, along with everything I’ve mentioned, we have the game’s difficulty, which adds an extra layer to the experience; trial and error will be our sources of learning, as everything will increase exponentially, squeezing our abilities at all times.
The game can be frustrating for younger and less experienced players. I say this with all propriety, as I shared my playthrough with my 8-year-old son, and there were moments when he couldn’t resolve some situations that required agility and response time.
Duration
After a very positive balance in the previous sections, we come to the point that every player wants to know, and that’s about its duration. And, as I’ve already mentioned, the reference games for this new IP can also give us an idea of what this story might take.
In my experience, it took me around 6 hours to see the game’s credits, with 11 of the 20 collectibles available. Additionally, we’ll also have several skins to unlock, so the time can easily be extended a bit more.
It seems like a fair amount of time, but I feel like I’ve enjoyed it from start to finish, and it’s filled me up a lot. Moreover, maybe extending its duration could feel forced. Although it can be a negative aspect, the experience is substantial and leaves us wanting more.
Conclusion
The essence of fun should always be a factor that developers take into account, because, no matter how much technical aspect, story, and gameplay a game may have, it won’t be worth anything if we can’t enjoy the experience.
With that said, Darwin’s Paradox! is a short work that goes straight to the point. It’s very entertaining and allows us to experiment with some of the natural abilities of these creatures, as well as enjoy a somewhat different approach to this type of title.
With a very striking visual style and these qualities, I can undoubtedly recommend this game, which feels fresh and very entertaining. Despite minor details, the sum of its parts is superior, and it gives us a very interesting proposal for the Xbox catalog.
* Thanks to Konami for providing us with the material to make this analysis possible.
Video game, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch enthusiast. Frank is one of the most active video game news writers on the web. He covers absolutely every topic. In terms of games reviewed, as of 2024 he has already passed the 60 mark and his average score, according to Open Critic is 80.
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