Paratopic

The atmosphere produced by the developer of this game is incredible; especially with the Playstation One style graphics. This is a game that I would pay for an extended version or even a sequel.

i love everything about this. dripping with atmosphere, we need more indie games like it

You have an enemy, friendo.

coool

Listen...was interesting heading out and takin pictures out in the woods but for the price...i cant justify it. Decent BUT for the price felt lacking.

This was probably the best gaming experience I had in months, if not years. And I cannot put my finger on to why.

Fantastic, very surreal, game with a PS1/N64 -type low-poly approach. The gameplay is simple and more-so about your immersion into the atmosphere and the 'feel' of the game. It's only short, and not that understandable, but I don't believe it needs to be any more than what it is. It's an interesting premise and it made me feel a pseudo-nostalgia emotion that I enjoyed. Highly recommend!

The atmosphere is cool but it's too boring and short even for $3, also the jump cuts were a dumb idea and the whole thing is paced badly. Just skip

My first play-through left me pretty uninterested. I thought the presentation was good as a whole but the narrative was too loose to garner any more investigation.

On a whim, I decided to play it again. It just clicked this time. I love stories that make you have epiphanies on re-inspection.

If you like atmospheric narrative "walking sims," I think this one is worth the price. Definitely worth it on sale.

i agree

i wish there were more driving sections

pretty quick game with a pretty art style! the sceneries and lore were worth spending all my 2 hours on. the achievements are pretty well thought out too -- 100%'ing the game should be pretty quick if you know how to pay attention to the road.

Positives out of the way first: 1) Decent atmosphere 2) Interesting soundtrack

In a word, disappointing. Long stretches of nothing. Exploration is mostly a waste of time and movement too slow for a bunch of empty space. Felt forced; i.e. overly cryptic, nonsensical for the sake of being nonsensical, gimmicky without feeling compelling, unlike a phantasmagorical fever-dream that evokes substantial emotions (what i'd hoped the game would be, but didn't deliver). Upon "beating the game" (?) the first time, you are shown that there is ostensibly a reason to replay with different choices... but then the game forces you to endure every tedious credits scene, dialogue, and nothingburger ALL OVER AGAIN which really dissuaded me from continuing to play since there wasn't anything in my first playthrough that sparked intrigue.

Even at a low price point, not worth the purchase. Just go watch some1 else play it on youtube or something.

I'm getting really tired of surrealism being a cover for mediocre game design.

There's no hidden meaning here, it's just the developers taking up your precious time while there's this stupid pointless walk or ride etc. It's boring as hell. The game could have been better, but it wasn't.

i was expecting something longer and less artistic to be honest, but oh well. i still respect the woork of the devs. 5 bucks it's kinda too much.

When the majority of a horror game is driving down an endless road with nothing happening, something has gone wrong. Love the aesthetic of this game and the premise, but it did not deliver.

Absolutely fantastic and weird, I thought there were more endings but I couldn't get them. I think the vending machine was broken too? Hate it when these things are out of order, I just wanted my DRINK

I am a 55 year old biker and trucker father, and probably one of the oldest people playing this game. I am a single father to my Son, who is 14 now. My son got this game for from his uncle, so we installed it on his computer and he started playing. By the end of the week he had 24 hours on this game. This was horrible for me, as it was already hard for me to find ways to spend time with my son, as he is always out with his friends or just watching YouTube. So i decided to make a Steam account and get this game to see if I could maybe play alongside him. I loaded into the game and started playing but I was stuck on what you where supposed to do. I asked my Son for help and he hosted a game for me to join. I loved it as it was the best time I had spent with my Son since my wife had died. This game has ever since brought me and my son closer again and now we actually spend time together outside the house together as well. This game reminded me that there's fun to be had in everything, and it has brought both me and my son many happy memories.

Thank you

Some might complain about how the story is left unresolved, but I can appriciate how this is just a slice in the lives of three people involved in something much bigger than themselves.

It reminds me a lot of old sci-fi short stories that take an interesting idea and give you a taste of that world. The questions you ask are far more interesting to ponder than them explaining it all. This could have been a 10 hour adventure that explains every detail and lore tidbit, flesh out every character, and I'd probably feel empty after completing it. This 30-40 minute romp gives you that sense of discovery. Even the ending music as the hitman makes her way to the corpse, it leaves a sense of discovery and mysticism in the air.
If the game was linear, that sequence would be closer to the beginning and ruin that effect. It's clever pacing and very intentional. While not a game by any stretch of the imagination, it's a good example of what interactive storytelling can be.
Don't buy this game expecting a visual novel or gameplay, but if you want the interactive version of a sci-fi short story, go ahead. This game has buckets of atmosphere and some satisfying storytelling.

what a ride

MandaloreGaming brought me here.
Approx. 40 min. playthrough (no save function), multiple playthroughs recommended to not miss anything.
Someone called this game David Lynch Simulator and that's pretty accurate. Although I don't think Lynch would make this if he would be a videogame developer, but I think he would 100% enjoy playing it.
If you like weird games and/or experimental art, give it a try. It's definitely one-of-its-kind.
It's that sort of art that lives in your head rent-free and makes you think unsettling thoughs. (Forest hiking will never be the same anymore.) I desperately wish there would be more but then again, it might be less impactful then.
Oh, also for those who are complaining about the "boring" car driving sequences - use it as a training in patience. It's a usefull skill to have in life.

I gotta admit, I did love the aesthetic of the game. That old PS1 vibe? Chef’s kiss. The retro 3D characters were straight-up charming in that "I’m not sure if this is a bug or a feature" kind of way. But… yeah, I was confused the whole time. The devs aren’t exactly handing you a map, but now that I’ve wrapped it up, I think that was kinda the point. It’s a mystery, and you're the detective—except instead of a magnifying glass, you’ve got a controller or mouse and keyboard and a lot of walking to do.

Seriously, a lot of walking. So much walking that half the time I thought I was playing Gone for a Walk Simulator. Anyway, once I finally finished, I did what any self-respecting gamer would do: I hit up YouTube to get someone to explain what the heck just happened. And you know what? Once I understood the story, it actually turned out to be pretty cool.

It’s a bit on the short side, but the amount of walking really makes it feel like a marathon. If you’re into piecing together puzzles and have the patience to fill in the gaps (and I mean real gaps), then give it a go. The story is like playing all the parts of a road trip that no one really cares about—like driving to the gas station or trying to find parking. You’re left to piece together the mystery with crumbs of info. It’s honestly a pretty dope concept. But fair warning: it’s not for everyone. If you’re the type who prefers things handed to you on a platter, maybe give this one a pass.

But hey, for puzzle lovers? 10/10 would walk again.

Great game, a fever dream to play through that had the aesthetics and music to back it up. An interesting story to uncover if you are curious and willing to engage in it beyond the logic of established storytelling. Really good!

What I love about this game is the suspense. It starts kinda slow but it suddenly picks up the pace and suddenly you can't let go the controller(or keyboard), you are in a state of alert, feel unease, unsafe, and don't know what to expect.

Made me feel intense emotions from the safe place of my home, but I'm not sure this is home anymore...

David Lynch Simulator 10/10

I was starting to think I didn't like it, then I realized I was already on my third playthrough.

A Lynchian fever dream in video game form- this game is a masterclass in atmosphere and building tension. Not quite a horror game, Paratopic is ominous and stylish. It heavily encourages multiple playthroughs of it's strange story, as different dialogue paths will point you in some interesting directions for trying to piece together whatever the hell is happening. One of those cool experiences that could only ever be done in the form of a video game, and the world is better off for it.

cool game i dont agree with the pricing but other then that a classic game 7.5/10

it's hard to explain why, but this is one of my favourite games ever. it's not particularly exciting mechanically or easy to understand. but there's something about its atmosphere, its deeply harrowing electronic reverbs, its distant lights, its distorted visuals, its constant cuts and jarring sound design, that appeals to me a lot.

this feels like driving down a highway and taking a stop in the middle of nowhere, in a small gas station in the middle of the night. nobody is here, but you feel like there should be. but nothing happens. you drive away. and only when you think about that moment much later do you remember what horrors you saw.

Mysterious, Eerie, and filled with superb surrealist aesthetics. This is a mystery worth exploring.

If I wanted to play a driving simulator, I'd buy a driving simulator

Paratopic is a remarkable game. Most retro graphic games I have played are quite limited in their design. Paratopic is not. It's surreal, unsettling and very unusual. It doesn't quite make sense, but that is fine. It's very cinematic. We jump from different locales and times. We see strange sights. The sound design is very strong and also very weird. Voices are distorted and unintelligible.
This is an unusual game and it's well worth playing.

I loved the atmosphere.

"I have to return some videotapes."

A bizarre and surreal little trip that I enjoyed taking.

Interesting game! The kind of thing you'd love to see expanded into a full work, but it's a great vignette at I'd wager 50 minutes or an hour of playtime. Multiple playthroughs required for all achievos (three for me, so if you wanna do the math yourself) and some extra things of intrigue you might've missed first time around. Leaves you with unanswered questions.

Contains postmodern non-chronologically linear storytelling, mild body horror in PSX graphics, and big balls of twine.

If you thought the elevator scene from NGE was boring, you haven't played this game (sorry Devs)

Really short, really ghetto. Not worth 5 dollars. You can't do anything and you drive a lot and its aids. And i got scammed out of a $1 copy on G2A by a guy called DZMIEN0921

very short for the pric tag however its a very unique game with excellent world building

great game! still seems quite underrated unfortunately, the game has a immersive first person story telling emphasis similar to half-life 1/2 & almost plays out like a movie. Go try it out you can easily beat it in less than 5 hrs and have a great experience

Great, unsettling atmosphere. As long as you're in the mood to sit back and take it all in, this game delivers.

Very short rather unique experience (even if mostly walking sim). Theres not too many of these especially at this caliber.

just finished it

what happened

Surreal horror crime thriller of sorts where you're tasked with smuggling snuff films across the border. The game is designed to be played in one sitting with there being no save points but don't worry as the game only takes around an hour or so to beat your first time. Game is filled with tons of hidden stuff and is short enough to make replays fun an enticing. As a horror game though, it didn't really scare me or creep me out as much as it made me go what the fuck is going on due to it's surreal nature but, that's what it's ultimately going for so it achieves its goal.

A very unique game that experiments with storytelling, set in a surreal world. Its retro PS1-style graphics create a nostalgic yet unsettling atmosphere. The non-linear narrative encourages players to piece together the story from various perspectives, enhancing immersion through eerie sound design and haunting visuals.

Gameplay focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving, emphasizing atmosphere over traditional horror mechanics. The sparse dialogue allows the environment to convey much of the story, which can be both engaging and ambiguous.

I bought this game for the horror tag but there's none to be found here aside from excruciating boredom. It's a walking simulator that plays like someone's bad, disjointed dream. It seemed weird for the sake of being weird. At no point was I entertained.

That one mf who baits you into a High-Five and pulls away
The friend you drive around like a soccer mom without so much as a thank you

Left to Hang Type Game

7.3/10, A pretty and strange little game, (50-60 mins), It's an underappreciated game that isn't scary or too tense but I thoroughly enjoyed with how pretty the art style is at times, with the nice soundtrack, with how you want to find out more about the story and other aspects of the game. I enjoyed the characters and scenarios you come across as it builds a solid world, but the game is hard to fully understand sometimes. I also think certain scenes drag out slightly too long and I think the end of the game is slightly under cooked. But as a whole it's an enjoyable experience and I recommend that you go into the game not expecting insane gameplay or to understand everything but go along with the vibe of the game as it's what carries the game for me!

what

simple is that