Finding Paradise

FreebirdGames’ debut game, To the Moon is an exceptional storytelling masterpiece. The game is famous for being built with a game engine known for churning out cookiecutter 16-bit JRPGs. What’s most surprising is that To the Moon has no combat or RPG mechanics. In fact, the game could have easily been a Visual Novel or even written as a novella. Despite its unconventional origins, To the Moon is an indie darling and an easy recommendation for all. Its sequel, Finding Paradise, may not live up to the success of the first game, but manages to carve out its own niche by expanding the To the Moon universe in interesting ways.

Finding Paradise takes place sometime after To the Moon. You yet again play as the Sigmund Corp. duo: Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts. Sigmund Corp. specializes in a memory altering technology that allows their patients to believe that they lived a completely alternate life. To accomplish this, technicians have to infiltrate the patient's mind, unlock their past, and then implant and/or erase their memories. Due to the massive repercussions and potential lawsuits, the technology is only used on comatose patients at the late stages of their life.

Eva and Neil immediately hit a stumbling block when they meet their new patient Colin. Unlike their first patient, who expressed a clear objective to visit the moon, their current patient gives an ambiguous request. Colin does not want to change anything, yet wants to have a fulfilling life. Colin’s wife and son can’t provide any clear answers either. The only option Eva and Neil have, is to delve into his mind and determine what or who is causing his life to feel unfulfilled.

Finding Paradise plays identically to To the Moon. The main gameplay loop involves walking around as Eva or Neil, finding clues to unlock Mementos, items of great significance to the patient and watching cutscenes. Unlocking Mementos involves completing a mini-game similar to the tile-flipping mini-game in To the Moon. The music remains excellent, full of melancholic piano scores, expertly sequenced for maximum impact. Improvements from the original game are sparse, but welcome. There is an improvement in the quality and variety of sprites and locations. The introduction of the cello in the music adds some nice variety. Unlocking Mementos is easier with less pixel hunting. The pathing when using mouse controls is smarter and less finicky. And there is the option of using WASD as movement in addition to the directional keys.

It’s clear that programming is not FreebirdGames' strong suite, but it is regrettable that so little was improved upon over the six years between the release of To the Moon and Finding Paradise. The lack of modern quality of life features is jarring, there is no message log, no ability to auto advance the text nor an option to skip or fast forward cutscenes. With To the Moon, one can overlook these deficits knowing that it was a passion project mainly developed by a single person on a brand new IP, but it is harder to ignore these flaws with Finding Paradise. There is no excuse why the game uses the default Times New Roman font, runs in a 4x3 aspect ratio and has zero controller support. The problems are especially egregious with the new mini-games which are especially amateurish in presentation.

Despite all this, players who have any interest in Finding Paradise are here for the story and not for the gameplay and it succeeds in spades. Finding Paradise does not hit the same dramatic notes of To The Moon but manages to craft its own compelling narrative experience. The Sigmund Corp. employees are given more depth. More time is spent peering into the mysterious organization and their inner workings. Dr. Neil Watts plays a more nuanced role instead of just serving as the comedic relief character. And the game provides enough twists and turns that will keep players second guessing until the very end.