Darwin’s Paradox!
Developer: ZDT Studio
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), Switch 2, PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $24.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to selecting a different type of thing to play as rather than a human, many developers jump to something human adjacent or anthropomorphize an animal to fit the role. Very few actually take the step to not only select something completely out of the norm but also play it almost completely straight at the same time and while an octopus has been chosen as a protagonist before, this time around with ZDT Studio and Konami looking to deliver a more cartoonish approach to puzzle platforming, we have an octopod that just wants to get back home to the ocean, even if it means bumbling along a world-threatening catastrophe in the making while they do so in Darwin’s Paradox!.
Story
Darwin has simply been enjoying his life out at sea with his best buddy, a slightly larger red octopus that is showing him the ropes to his abilities such as camouflaging to avoid predators, shooting ink to block vision or sneak through locations, and of course using suction cups to climb up practically anything, including walls and ceilings. This idyllic ocean life isn’t without peril as eels may want to make a quick snack of Darwin but this quickly becomes the least of their worries as Darwin and their buddy are soon fished up out of the ocean and dragged away to a massive food conglomerate called UFOOD, intent on making octopi their next main dish to serve to the masses. Though after a bit of rebellion in a cutscene, Darwin finds himself thrown into a dump rather than into the chopping block and it is there where he must return home.
Darwin’s Paradox! features a surprisingly enjoyable storyline for one that lacks any actual spoken words and this is thanks to how well the story is told through the environments players travel through, the expressions of the characters including how well animated Darwin himself is, and the twenty collectables that players can track down throughout the roughly five hour long game. It is also nice to note that chapter select is generous to tracking down these collectables, especially since some give even deeper clues as to how long things have been going on.
There’s something about the unique presentation and set-up to the premise that UFOOD is all part of an alien invasion that means players will never know what will be around the next corner or what type of odd sight they’ll be treated to next. Combine this with plenty of slapstick and the storyline is quite enjoyable despite its lack of dialogue and abrupt ending that feels more like an attempt at a sequel than proper closure. Either that or a joke that harkens back to some classic Looney Tunes.
Gameplay
Darwin has all of the usual capabilities that an octopus would have in nature such as suckers that allow him to stick to and climb walls and ceilings, shooting out ink to block vision or break items in the background, and of course camouflage to blend in with the environment. While on land Darwin isn’t the fastest around but can jump decently as well as push and pull various items but underwater is where he really shines. Underwater Darwin is capable of a full range of movement, dash swimming, and even more effective ink shooting.
Unfortunately, Darwin’s Paradox! commits one of the worst sins that a game can do and that is to show off every ability that Darwin can do, and then strip every ability away outside of jumping for a significant period of time considering the game’s short length. Thanks to the way Darwin is left at the start of the game, he cannot climb whenever he is dirty and has forgotten how to shoot ink and even camouflage until somehow the knowledge of his own species’ biology snaps back into place. Eventually these abilities do come back into play as well as a number of other little factors that work for a few puzzles here and there, such as a robot with the handling of a rusty tank and some easily handled slingshots from place to place.
That being said, even when Darwin has all of his abilities the poor cephalopod is not a fighter and even pops like a little balloon whenever he is killed. At most Darwin can handle a few rat bites before dying or a second or two of contact with a hot pipe while nearly everything else will instantly kill the octopus. Be this an explosive, barbed wire strewn across a wall, an alien ray gun, being stepped on, or even a seagull. Thankfully the title is fairly generous when it comes to checkpoints for most of its puzzles, giving players plenty of ways to avoid having to repeat significant portions of a section, though there are some rather large difficulty spikes from time to time as well as a number of puzzles that are straight up designed with the “die to figure it out” philosophy in mind. While trial and error in a puzzle platformer is far from a bad thing, it does become annoying especially when the puzzle platforming isn’t actually the problem and the deaths come fast and cheap, often right after the most recent die to learn obstacles.
Similarly, many of these harder puzzles also lack the aforementioned generous checkpoints meaning players will need to simply tough it out or get a lucky break. There is a “hint” system available but it is generally useless about the actual challenging locations, such as a fleeing sequence where a camping enemy will almost always kill Darwin faster than they can swim to the next location and the only hint is to “press A to dash.” That being said, while some of the puzzles can be rather frustrating and feel like a brick wall that players need to beat Darwin’s head against, most of the game actually flows extremely well.
As mentioned before, the layout of the game’s storyline means that players never quite know what they’ll be doing next and the puzzles are exactly the same. One minute players can be precisely jumping from dangerous objects to another, timing running between death spikes, swimming around bombs or strange lasers, or even hiding from patrolling guards with camouflage. At the same time players can see a location and need to figure out exactly how to reach it, using all of their skills as an octopus to make it through the ceiling hatch or some other objective.
This helps keep things feeling fresh despite the frustration from time to time and there are even extra costumes that players can unlock by completing certain achievements such as different colored versions of Darwin and a direct Metal Gear Solid reference. It is worth noting though that there is a distinct lack of replayability as there are no alternate ways to solve puzzles and even the achievements are incredibly scarce outside of a couple difficult ones like never being detected in two separate locations.
Audio & Visuals
ZDT has done a wonderful job stylizing Darwin’s Paradox! to look like something just out of a Pixar movie. From their cartoonish art style and expressive facial responses on Darwin, the slapstick humor and unspoken reactions work so well thanks to the art style. The world itself is, as mentioned before, highly detailed and also quite important to the background storyline that is never really brought to the forefront for Darwin. All the different locations that players travel through are quite interesting, but it is worth noting that some can be a bit on the excessively dark side. While some of these are intentional, a few are quite difficult to navigate simply through poor lighting.
There are no spoken words throughout the game other than some grunts or screaming sounds and even these are relatively generic. The background music on the other hand feels like it would fit right at home in a cartoon and does wonders when combined with the game’s art style, creating a wonderful presentation even when a frustrating puzzle rears its head.
Overall
Darwin’s Paradox! may not be the longest puzzle platformer around nor one that has a great story to tell but it makes up for it with a lovably bumbling protagonist in the form of Darwin. Thanks to his wide-range of abilities players never quite know what type of puzzles they’ll have to solve next or platforming section that’ll challenge their wits, even if a few can be a bit too excessive with the challenge and require repetitive death just to learn the pattern. Even then, with a colorful presentation that feels like its right out of Pixar’s notebook, those looking for a challenging and shorter platformer will find Darwin’s Paradox! a satisfying delight.
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