The Paracelsian Project

[i]The Paracelsian Project[/i] is a dystopian visual novel with puzzle-solving elements developed and published by Sixkilla Gaming. You take on the role of Elina and awaken to find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings with total amnesia. After meeting Tomoki and Mari, a couple of strangers who are in the same predicament as Elina, the three of them take it upon themselves to explore their surroundings and hopefully, retrieve their memories. After meeting (yup, you guessed it) a few more strangers who are in the same situation and some conversation, Elina finds herself in an office. One of her newfound companions discovers a computer and activates it, and then another stranger shows up on the screen. He explains that his name is Takwin and that he's here to help them to recover their memories, but in order to do so, they must explore their surroundings. Although this isn't much to go on, Elina and the others don't have much of a choice. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. As for the gameplay, [i]The Paracelsian Project[/i] has multiple choices presented throughout the story. The choices affect Elina's relationships with other people as well as ult…

If I had a choice, I would really give this a neutral review. But since I had to decide - and considering that this game already has quite a few positive reviews - I'll be going for a negative one. [b]Game Length[/b]: Completing the game took about 3.5hrs for me. Considering the current price, that's just too short. Way too short. [b]Story[/b]: I found the story to be quite mediocre. While the story had some good parts, a good chunk of it is just unimpressive. There are also no big twists... well, not exactly. There was one twist, but it was very predictable. The whole "humanity is done for" plot line has also already been explored many many times before and its execution in this VN felt also kind of... unbelievable? I don't know, the story was just kind of mediocre. It was not totally bad, there were some good parts, but it was far from amazing. [b]Writing[/b]: The writing had some typos. Other than that, it was okay. Also nothing amazing and sometimes the writing definitely felt a bit stiff, but overall it was fine. I couldn't do it better. [b]Characters[/b]: The characters were also okay. Again, nothing amazing, but it was alright. However, since the game is so short, we bar…

Wow... uh... I can see where the author was going with this, but it was absolutely NOT ready to be released. The text is so full of typos and redundancies that it doesn't seem to have had an editor at all. The dialogue is stilted, and characters seem to act without any motivation; events and actions are just forgotten. In fact, the characters keep admitting they've forgotten plot details, despite being in a life-or-death situation! Worst of all, the game can't decide whether the point of view is first person or third person omniscient (we should not, for instance, be able to see other characters' visions, because Elina can't see them). The characters talk incessantly about who they can and can't trust, and who the "puppet master" is. No one has any reason to suspect there's a puppet master at all, that they've been abducted, or that anyone actively DID something to them. They should be looking for an explanation, not immediately assuming they're in a death game or that someone can't be trusted; at most, only one character (the "suspicious one") should be jumping to conclusions. In better VNs in the genre, the characters in the game initially start as a cohesive whole trying to wo…

A relatively short sci-fi story that scratches the "you wake up in a room" itch decently well. I personally enjoyed it, especially at the new price, despite its flaws. The story explores some interesting ideas and concepts, but everything feels rather rushed. The characters generally feel like plot devices, and they're not all that fleshed out. There are [strike]alot[/strike] a lot of typos in the script, so if that sort of thing bothers you, you're in for a rough time. The game does have a (very basic) flowchart, which is a plus in my book for games of this genre. Puzzles were nothing special, but it did add some degree of gameplay and interactivity beyond the branching dialogue choices - and ofc, it has an obligatory Periodic Table puzzle! 😂 (Thankfully, the game provides you with it so you don't have to tab out to look it up. 🙏) Also, the music is solid - that was one of the highlights for me. Paracelsian Project is pretty rough around the edges, but I still had fun playing it. Decent effort for a first time game developer! 💪

A typical ontological mystery "you wake up in a room" story with a weight reduction kit applied - all semblance of plotting, character development or narrative depth is tossed out to make for the breakneck speed it is going. Still, while looking cheap and feeling rough to play, this game cannot be called misguided and it still has ideas that other works of the genre have yet failed to explore.

It's a very "eh" game. I debated for a while on whether or not to give it a positive review, but there's certainly worse ways to spend $4 and 2.5 hours or so. There is some neat stuff here, like the neat foreshadowing between the routes and the plot not bogging you down with re-explanations of information like a lot of visual novels. However, this does lead to some jarring shifts with characters and their goals. By the end, I only really cared about one character out of the entire cast. If you've already played a lot of other mystery visual novels and are looking for more, this can work as a binge read. this Just don't go in expecting complex puzzles or choice-driven gameplay.