A deadly date, a zombie, incoming disaster, and fabulous abs. Doomsday paradise washed up on Steam during November, but we’ve only just managed the vacation time to get away and try it out ourselves. With plenty of winter warmers of every variety, why on earth would you want to take a trip to the end of the world?
Developed by indie studio Lemonade Flashbang and ready to bring disaster to dating sims everywhere, Doomsday Paradise might seem eerily familiar to fans of the genre. With beautiful monsters, a comedic edge, and a thirsty set of suiters on our side of the keyboard, this follows firmly in the furry footsteps of Monster Prom and Sucker for Love. In this twist, players will find themselves falling through disasters and fighting off impending destruction in a mix of visual novel and RPG instances.
Pick your Piece
Players out to feel the sand between their toes, or is that ash, cab pick form a series of unusual avatars. Rather than build your own monster, you’ll play a range of pre picked exotic protagonists. these new visitors to a doomed island getaway will pick a crush before plunging into the chaos that is about to ensue. The cast of characters revealed at this early stage are and indicator of what to expect. Half man half crab with pecs of steel, a samurai frog, a zombie girl who only wants to eat cakes, a vain but dim vampire, and a retired hero with no sense of personal preservation are just some of the 13 available locals that you’ll encounter.
Looking Good
Aside from being instantly odd, Doomsday paradise leans heavy into the thirst. While the animated inhabitants this world are about to fight yet another apocalypse, probably, they all look good doing it. Whether you’re looking for swole, thick, or chiselled it’s probably here in one form or another. The brightly animated avatars are reflected around the various locations and enemies that you’ll encounter. The bar, dungeon, colosseum, hospital, and more don’t make much of an appearance but provide themed backdrops for in game events that fit beautifully with the comic book cuties that you’ll meet, and maybe date. If you’re looking for a respawn of Monster Prom that leans into the thirst, then this is definitely the right dating sim to while away the hours on.
Burn Down The Town Again and Again
After picking a player character, things function without too much confusion. Rolling for stats and picking the perfect date make it seem like there’s a perfect way to optomize, but the best way to play is to experience doom repeatedly. Jumping into play solo or against online opponents, you’ll find yourself days from a world ending monster of some description. Across a few days you’ll encounter a huge variety of monstrous scenarios and razor sharp writing. Tasting poison in the bar, petting basilisks, or oiling up the sexiest thief turned entrepreneur in the land could all happen. It’s up to you to decide how to work through some utterly chaotic ideas and zany dialogue.
Depending on whether you chose to sin, party, study, or otherwise, come based character stats can increase. This might not seem so important for forging friendship and eventually impressing your crush, but it will help avert disaster. After a few days in the sun, Doomsday Paradise leaps headlong into an RPG, introducing obscure monsters that must be taken down in turn based combat. The weapons, cards, buffs, stats, and party companions joining you against weird tentacle monsters will hinge on your actions in the preceding days.
This idea sounds far more interesting than it functionally ends up being. In some play sessions and higher difficulty, this random assortment of followers, weapons, and card deck can turn the tide. Equally, the loot dropped form narrative options can also feel pretty random. Even when I eventually got the hang of cheesing the narrative choices for end game power, this undermined my fun in the sun. This is a problem that plagues al but the longest play through sessions and can make the outcome feel a little un-engaging when it comes to action elements.
Despite this, if you crank up the difficulty and stretch out your vacation, then the random additions can bring some excitement to your stay. The turn based card battle system works well enough, but could use some polish to warp it into a true challenge.
Assuming you and your friends can survive the end of your getaway and waltz through the apocalypse, you’ll unlock one of 120 different endings. With an astounding array of possible outcomes outside of death, Doomsday paradise confirms that it’s not about beating the boss. In the end, it’s about the journey. If you manage to outsmart the occult and maybe get a date, all the better.
Doomsday paradise is an intriguing idea. It’s got some great concepts, wonderfully silly characters, silly writing, and some absolute cuties. Even when the game elements don’t mesh, this charming winter getaway is worth a few minutes of your downtime during the holidays. Check out this monstrous dating sim on the official Steam Store now.
A key was provided from PR for this review
