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Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is a narrative-driven adventure game with a fresh new concept that effortlessly immerses you into its world. If you are more into good storytelling than perfect gameplay, you should check Paradise Lost out
Paradise Lost Game Cover
64%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
gameplay, stability
62% User Score Based on 1,283 reviews
Critic Score 67%Based on 13 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4XboxWindowsPlayStation
Paradise Lost Game Cover

About

Paradise Lost is a single player simulation game with mystery and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by PolyAmorous and was released on March 24, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Explore themes of retrofuturism, transhumanism, and grief in Paradise Lost, an emotion-driven post-apoc story. Discover the mystery of the underground city hidden in an abandoned Nazi bunker, where Slavic mythology mixes with unusual technology.

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62%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,283 reviews
story533 positive mentions
gameplay47 negative mentions

  • Beautiful and detailed environments with captivating atmospheric design.
  • Intriguing and emotional story with well-realized world-building and lore.
  • Engaging narrative exploration with strong visual and audio presentation suitable for fans of walking simulators.
  • Extremely slow movement speed and minimal gameplay that some find tedious.
  • Game-breaking bugs including being stuck after loading save files requiring level restarts.
  • Voice acting and writing sometimes awkward or flat; story sometimes predictable or lacking depth.
  • story
    1,354 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "Paradise Lost" is generally regarded as the game's strongest asset, offering an intriguing, emotionally impactful narrative set in an alternate post-apocalyptic WWII setting mostly uncovered through exploration, notes, and audio logs. While the story is praised for its atmosphere, rich world-building, and layered themes, many find it predictable, slow-paced, and sometimes confusing or underdeveloped, with some plot holes and abrupt shifts that lessen engagement. Despite a lack of gameplay depth and some technical issues, the storytelling and environment create a compelling experience for players who appreciate narrative-driven walking simulators.

    • “The narrative is deeply compelling, not just in its main plot but in the layers of environmental storytelling woven throughout the world.”
    • “Paradise lost was truly a masterpiece of storytelling.”
    • “The story is haunting and it is long, but if you enjoy a lengthy narrative story in game exploration form and can overlook a rough user interaction interface then this is a story/game for you!”
    • “The story is very thinly laid out, and unfortunately this happens from the very start of the game: we're meant to care about our character's mom, but we don't really have enough time to bond with her or really know anything about her to care that much; we're then left for a little while without actually knowing what's happened to her, and we only find out a good bit into the game's first or second act that she's died and that we're now looking for a man in a photo - this is said out loud by our character, even upon choosing not to reveal our true motivations to Ewa when we first meet her, which created a bit of a glaring discontinuity in the dialogue and role-play, and also contributed to making our dialogue choices feel empty.”
    • “The game feels as if the developers spent their entire budget on level design and story, they then only had enough to pay for a sixth grader learning how to code on YouTube to finish up the game.”
    • “All these neat story elements and concepts that the designers have come up with get mitigated by the fact this game is boiled down to nothing more than a walking sim with the majority of the story being told through notes you have to pick up and read and audio logs.”
  • graphics
    357 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals, detailed environments, and atmospheric design, effectively immersing players in a richly crafted world. While some technical issues and optimization challenges were noted, the overall artistic quality and aesthetic presentation stand out as one of the game's strongest aspects. Fans of walking simulators and narrative-driven experiences will especially appreciate the visual storytelling and unique worldbuilding.

    • “It's stunning visuals, thought-provoking story, and immersive environments create a hauntingly memorable experience.”
    • “The graphics and design are top-notch, and the overall atmosphere is both emotional and haunting—blending horror elements seamlessly.”
    • “The graphics are great, paired with a beautiful OST and sound design.”
    • “Runs fine on highest settings, but the graphics are a bit weird in a few sections and stunning in others, as if built in Unreal back in 2010 or something.”
    • “You either need to put your graphics setting really low or deal with the game constantly going from 60 down into the twenties or teens.”
    • “Even if there is a decent story and visuals, nothing is more annoying than having to restart the first level due to crashing and getting stuck to walls.”
  • gameplay
    282 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in Paradise Lost is widely described as a slow, clunky walking simulator with minimal interactivity limited mostly to walking, opening doors, pulling levers, and reading notes. Many users find the pace tedious and mechanics frustrating or unnecessary, with little to no puzzles, action, or meaningful player agency, leading to a dull or monotonous experience. While some appreciate the immersive storytelling and atmosphere, the lack of engaging gameplay elements and technical issues detract significantly from the overall experience.

    • “Paradise Lost may not be the most mechanically complex game—it leans heavily toward being a walking simulator in certain sections—but what it lacks in gameplay depth, it more than makes up for with its exceptional storytelling.”
    • “Paradise Lost may not be perfect, and its gameplay might not appeal to everyone, but if you’re someone who values atmosphere, storytelling, and immersive world-building, this game is absolutely worth experiencing. While the mechanics of Paradise Lost can feel clunky, especially with the painfully slow movement, the game drew me in with its story.”
    • “While the gameplay is not the most engaging, I don't mind a good walking simulator.”
    • “Gameplay is barely existent; exploration is slow and painful due to walk/run speed and very slow interactions/dialogue locking you in front of a microphone.”
    • “The complete absence of any in-game mechanics is jaw-dropping and makes the whole game an utter slog.”
    • “About the gameplay, the movement is extra slow; clicking and dragging the mouse just to pull a lever or open a door feels tedious, and there is a game-breaking bug where you can't move after loading a checkpoint.”
  • atmosphere
    250 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Paradise Lost excels in creating a haunting, richly detailed atmosphere that deeply immerses players in its eerie, post-apocalyptic world, often evoking feelings of curiosity, sadness, and tension without relying on jump scares. While the game’s slow pace and limited gameplay can detract from the experience, the visual design, soundscape, and environmental storytelling consistently receive high praise, making atmosphere the game's standout strength. Fans of atmospheric, story-driven walking simulators will find much to appreciate despite some narrative and mechanical flaws.

    • “Paradise Lost is a deeply atmospheric narrative game that explores themes of loss, hope, and humanity.”
    • “The environments here have been made with meticulous care, the atmospheric audio design really draws you in (even the protagonist’s sighs seem almost deliberately paced), all the art made for the game is striking, and the soundtrack is simply haunting.”
    • “Paradise Lost may bring nothing new on the gameplay front, but its excellent atmosphere and heartbreaking story make it essential for fans of the narrative adventure genre.”
    • “You will realize that nothing will ever happen while playing— all that atmosphere and build-up to get nothing in return.”
    • “The visual imposance and the oppressive atmosphere of this place is marred by somewhat dusty graphics, choppy motion sequences, and limited freedom of movement.”
    • “Paradise Lost fails to take full advantage of its gripping premise and the haunting atmosphere of its setting.”
  • music
    87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is widely praised for its emotional, atmospheric, and immersive qualities, effectively enhancing tone and mood throughout the experience with a haunting and well-timed soundtrack. While most find the score deeply fitting and beautifully composed, a few users noted it can feel generic or infrequent at times. Overall, the sound design and music are considered major strengths that significantly contribute to the game's narrative and ambiance.

    • “Players that love a good story-line and immersive games will love this game; one of the best games I ever played about tragedy and loss and hope and renewal and the strength of the human spirit to never give up and keep moving forward no matter what comes, and the soundtrack is outstanding. You will not be disappointed in this amazing game.”
    • “The environments here have been made with meticulous care, the atmospheric audio design really draws you in (even the protagonist’s sighs seem almost deliberately paced), all the art made for the game is striking, and the soundtrack is simply haunting.”
    • “This game is so detailed and immersive - the story line takes you on a roller coaster of emotions and ethics with the soundtrack perfectly matching the ambience.”
    • “The soundtrack felt so generic that I do not even remember it.”
    • “Music is repetitive.”
    • “Lastly, the music left me wanting a soundtrack.”
  • stability
    71 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from numerous stability issues, including frequent bugs that cause characters to get stuck, forced restarts, crashes, and freezes, often hindering progress and requiring multiple playthroughs. While some players managed to work around certain glitches (e.g., disabling head bobbing), the overall experience is marred by poor optimization, inconsistent animation, and save/load problems that severely impact enjoyment. Despite these major technical flaws, a few reviewers found the story and atmosphere engaging enough to overlook the instability.

    • “But when it's so buggy that loading a checkpoint makes the character stuck and sometimes stuck on geometry, leaving the only way to get unstuck to restart the chapter, which can undo almost an hour of progress, it's just frustrating.”
    • “And that's especially because of the second issue, which is much more severe: while I only experienced one actual crash, there are numerous collider glitches where you can get stuck in place if you take a wrong step, with no option but to load the last save point.”
    • “It's terribly buggy, especially in the 3rd chapter - figuring out how to fix the big lounge-like area to progress was a chore due to missing doors and falling through non-existent floors; the optimization is terrible, you cannot skip dialogues or cutscenes, and the animations are weird and stiff.”
  • optimization
    65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from consistently poor optimization, with frequent FPS drops, stuttering, crashes, and performance instability even on high-end hardware. While the graphics are generally praised, players often need to lower settings significantly to achieve playable framerates, and bugs related to saving and loading exacerbate the experience. Overall, optimization issues detract notably from an otherwise visually appealing game.

    • “The visuals and optimization, on the other hand, are great and what you'd expect from the underlying UE4 tech.”
    • “Graphics are quite good and game is nicely optimized, it doesn't lag like most of the games nowadays.”
    • “The game overall would be nice, but it's very unoptimized and pretty chaotic in story.”
    • “Poorly optimized, unrealistic shadows and reflections, horrible controls, and frequent stuttering even on top-of-the-line PC hardware.”
    • “The game has simply delectable environmental and art design, with painstakingly meticulous animation... that serves either only as window-dressing or else actually slows down the proceedings, both in terms of movement speed and frame rate; the optimization of this game baffles me, as playing with literally every single setting failed to elicit a comfortable, consistent frame rate.”
    • “It is let down by bad optimization (a right that can play CP77 1.0 on ultra at 70fps at 5k was struggling to keep up with high 50's on medium at 1440p here), but that's a common problem with Unreal Engine 4 and 2080 RTX GPUs.”
  • emotional
    51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a predominantly emotional experience with a touching, thought-provoking story enhanced by a haunting atmosphere and evocative music, culminating in impactful endings. While some praise the narrative depth and art direction, others note inconsistent voice acting and occasional emotional detachment during gameplay, though the ending often redeems the journey. Despite its short length and minor flaws, it remains a worthwhile emotional adventure for fans of narrative-driven walking simulators.

    • “The narrative of 'Paradise Lost' is its standout feature, offering a poignant and emotionally charged exploration of loss, survival, and the consequences of unchecked power.”
    • “And few endings depending on difficult choices at the end only make the game better - it gives the emotional impact so important to end the game on a high note.”
    • “It's been sitting in my library for a while and I'm glad I took a day to play through it; it made me feel and think and reflect.”
    • “I didn't know this, so I had to restart a chapter and spend 25 minutes walking slowly through the same bland, boring story.”
    • “This is the worst, boring story and the worst wasted potential for a game in all of 2021.”
  • grinding
    41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is widely criticized for its excessively slow movement and tedious interaction mechanics like dragging to open doors or pull levers, turning exploration and progression into a monotonous chore. Long animations, broken checkpoints, and inability to sprint exacerbate the sluggish pace, making gameplay feel repetitive and unrewarding despite some appreciation for the story and environment. Overall, the grinding detracts significantly from player engagement and enjoyment.

    • “A lot of grinding.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The absurd decision to give the player such an incredibly slow pace and tedious drag-and-hold mechanics to interact with objects turn what could be a really good interactive narrative into a monotonous chore.”
    • “Broken checkpoints and tediously long animations bring this slog of a game to an unbearable low.”
  • replayability
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers limited replayability, primarily due to a short story with only slight variations in endings and minimal impactful choices. Although it has multiple endings (typically 2 to 4), slow pacing and lack of gameplay variety reduce the incentive for multiple playthroughs. However, some players may find value in exploring all endings or atmospheric elements despite the generally low replay value.

    • “3+ hours to complete with four endings and decent replay value.”
    • “Once they fix the bugs I can see a high replay value due to the atmosphere.”
    • “While I think the replayability of the game is absent, I'm sure there are some people who want to get all the endings and fully enjoy this creation.”
    • “Story doesn't change aside from slight variation on the ending, so replayability is low.”
    • “And once you have uncovered the story the game has about zero replay value to offer.”
    • “Because there's no combat or puzzles, I'd suggest getting the game on sale due to fairly low replayability.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is noted as unintentionally ironic, contrasting sharply with its static and uninteractive storytelling. Additionally, issues like missing subtitles and untranslated dialogue create a frustrating and absurd experience that undermines comedic intent. Overall, the humor comes across as more awkward or unintentional than genuinely funny.

    • “It's funny because most of it truly unveils in chapter 4, by which point everyone has it figured out.”
    • “It's funny because the rest of the storytelling in the game is on the exact opposite side of this - for the most part you're forced to stand in one place and listen to conversations with literally no way to interact with everything.”
    • “The second one is even more absurd, and therefore intolerable: you can't turn off subtitles. However, certain dialogues have subtitles missing; what's funny, or so idiotic that makes you go through the 5 stages of grief that give name to the game's chapters, is that sometimes there are Polish words or even phrases and nobody cared to subtitle them!”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game receives mixed feedback, with some users finding it weak, particularly criticizing the voice acting, while others appreciate the story and the growth of specific characters like Szymon, finding it worth exploring.

    • “Story and character development are well done.”
    • “Paradise Lost is a story worth exploring once, especially the alternative ending focused on the story and character development of Szymon.”
    • “The voice acting and character development are really weak.”
    • “Paradise Lost is a story worth exploring once; the alternative ending targets those who were drawn in by the story and the character development of Szymon.”
    • “Story and character development”
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5h Median play time
4h Average play time
3-5h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Paradise Lost is a simulation game with mystery and post-apocalyptic themes.

Paradise Lost is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 4 hours playing Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost was released on March 24, 2021.

Paradise Lost was developed by PolyAmorous.

Paradise Lost has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Paradise Lost is a single player game.

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