Darwin’s Paradox! Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Darwinism waxes Pixar’s Finding Nemo in an all-new, slightly bonkers fish-out-of-water platforming floater—a nautical voyage that meshes the traditional facets of slippery side-scrolling with peculiar extraterrestrial world-building. With a dense layer of ink-drizzled plot material and a fascinating alien-oriented landscape of perplexing puzzles and strange happenings, Darwin’s Paradox! tangles its tentacles in an eccentric world that feels vaguely familiar, and yet oh-so-unorthodox at the same time. On the one hand, I love its attention to detail—the wholesome creature comforts and the sweetly animated cinematic infusions. But on the other hand, I’m slightly ambiguous about several of its chosen gameplay preferences. Don’t get me wrong, I adore the concept (we’ll tuck into that momentarily) and I can’t help but feel awfully compelled by the characters — even without the dialogue or context. Yet, there’s something here that tickles my patience, and I can’t help but feel that it’s an unfit match for what should be an excellent platforming experience with a ton of extraordinary trappings.

Let’s dial it back a bit. For the sake of putting you in the picture and not, say, a hundred nautical miles away from it, Darwin’s Paradox! is a puzzle-platforming adventure game that places its leading tentacled hero—a bubbly blue octopus, naturally—in the aftermath of an unusual alien invasion. In the wake of this rather bizarre opening, Darwin and a friend find themselves separated out on dry land, where the world is essentially up in flames and a junkyard, of all places, beckons the anthropomorphic protagonist to not only find their way back home, but to learn how to survive out of the ocean whilst their surroundings are reduced to ash and dust. A strange premise, but let’s just roll with it.

The game itself, which transpires over a rough three or four-hour journey comprised of slithering, sliding, and sticking to various crags and crevices, invites you to break free from the shackles of a nautical haven and enter the inner quarters of a seemingly post-alien borough. As this rather courageous octopus, it falls to you to explore vast areas, complete various puzzles, and utilize the power of camouflage to stealthily explore junkyard biomes and gloomy environments, again, all whilst the world is on fire. Well, sort of.

Darwin’s Paradox! is a lot of things—a nod to modern animation, a twist of the knee to beloved franchises à la Metal Gear Solid, and a slippery love letter to side-scrolling classics such as Limbo and Unravel. Yet, it isn’t just a tip of the hat to various monikers; it’s also a fully-fledged cinematic experience that fosters a lot of its own original ideas, from its creative puzzles and its oddly adorable characters, to its alienated aesthetic and its intriguing visual elements. Suffice it to say that, as far as concepts go, it’s a little far-fetched, and in no way something that you would expect to see pop out of the blue on a random spring morning. But then, maybe that works in its favor.

While there’s no denying that the game is rather short and without the full weight of all eight tentacles, it does bring about a lot of interesting layers to the surface. Of course, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, and, true to the dynamic nature of an octopus, it does make an effort to blend in with multiple genres. There’s a bit of platforming—an area that primarily involves bolting, diving, and sticking to various substances, naturally—and there’s a fair amount of stealth-oriented work to bundle yourself into, which essentially involves finding various ways to progress through tight areas and squeezing through unusual spaces. However, to call Darwin’s Paradox! a generic platforming game just wouldn’t be an accurate representation of what it is and what it strives to be. It’s different, but again, maybe that’s a good thing here.

I’ll admit that, while the act of squashing tentacles and squelching around in a post-apocalyptic world is a lot of fun, Darwin’s Paradox! isn’t without its flaws. The controls, for example, can be awfully tedious to navigate, no thanks to the unpredictable nature of an octopus’ movements and their tendency to stick and slither when you least expect them to. There is a bit of a learning curve to it, though nothing that’s going to put a damper on your mood, thankfully. Plus, even when the general mechanics and flow of the journey do prevent you from gliding through at a fluid pace, the game itself does manage to keep you thoroughly entertained, if not with its dynamic settings, then with its frequent cinematic twists and interactions.

Verdict

Darwin’s Paradox! captures the essence of an Abe’s Odyssey-like post-alien world and, through its own tentacle-tangled imagination, blends the vibrancy and voiceless charm of a Pixar animation to create an odd yet gracefully rendered puzzle-platforming journey that can leave you squelching and slipping for hours.

With all of the above said, Darwin’s Paradox! does still have its fair share of issues. However, if you can turn a blind eye to its unruly mechanics and slippery learning curve, then you should be able to unravel a genuinely interesting platforming game with a lot to showcase here. It’s an unusual one I’ll admit, but it’s also one that highlights a ton of great features, with its setting and creative exploits providing a unique feel to an otherwise familiar puzzle-platforming backdrop.

There’s a lot to love about Darwin’s Paradox, and just as much to hate. And yet, I think that there’s a great little hidden treasure here that deserves to be shared with the world regardless. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But, for the record, it is a game that will fit snugly into your collection, especially if said collection is mostly comprised of unconventional indie jewels that cater to a broad spectrum of tastes and themes. With all of that said, I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re actively searching for a clean alternative for the likes of Octodad: The Dadliest Catch. Sorry, folks.