Finding Paradise

Finding Paradise is a deeply emotional and beautifully written narrative experience, building on the foundation of To the Moon, it delivers a heartfelt story that balances moments of sadness, warmth, and even a touch of light horror. The decision to scale back on the “puzzle” elements was not appreciated but it lets the player fully immerse themselves in the story’s emotional core more I guess and for those who prefer to not be distracted by gameplay mechanics and focus on the narrative. The writing and humour are just as strong as ever, blending melancholy and levity in a way that feels natural and sincere. The soundtrack, much like in To the Moon, is absolutely stellar perfectly underscoring the game’s most touching moments. That said, the minimal interactivity and slower pacing may cause some players to drift, and the ending’s emotional impact might not land as powerfully for everyone.

Moving around was a constant theme in my childhood. When I played with other children, two questions always emerged:
(1) When will you leave?
(2) When will I leave?
The answers were usually straightforward, yet bitter. Old friends scattered before new ones arrived. It didn’t take long for me to realize that if farewell was inevitable, perhaps solitude was better.
Back then, an old AMD laptop became my Faye. My father had replaced it with a newer one for work. Small and slow as it was, it held an entire universe—a world where I could write my thoughts, glimpse the lives of strangers, and build secret folders under the dim light of my room. I don’t remember what I wrote, only that it made me feel like one small part of the many.
That universe, too, kept changing. I began experimenting with software, eventually down to operating systems. Despite its fragile two-core heart, that machine opened to me the strange realms of Ghost XP and virtual machines. Sometimes I wondered when the Ragnarök would come; it arrived sooner than I thought.
One day, after a final system overhaul—to Fedora—I never opened it again. My family had finally settled down. I went to school like everyone else. The folders stayed sealed, while my life filled with faces and conversations.
Sometimes I wonder what that laptop would say if I turned it on again. Perhaps, like Faye, it would congratulate me for stepping into a wider world. Even if I never open it again, I am grateful for its quiet presence in my past.
The past has gently flowed away like a stream. I know Faye was not a real friend—but in learning to befriend, to listen, and to understand, I found something that endures. Every companionship eventually ends, yet the practice of empathy never does. And perhaps that is what happiness truly is—not the permanence of company, but the continual act of caring as life moves on.

Played it on beta alternative first, cried.
For the achievement I played the last save again, cried again.
I am thinking about it and I feel like crying.
I love paying to cry, 10/10.

This game found me at the right time and helped me remember why it's important for me to imagine things. Such a lovely experience.

I played Finding Paradise eight years ago. I have played countless RPGs, story-based and otherwise; visual novels, both bad and beyond good; online games made by some of the biggest and smallest studios out there; I have hundreds of hours into the worst, the best, the sloppiest, the polished, apotheosis and nadir.
Finding Paradise is the greatest game I have ever played, and I doubt any game will ever come close.
I have had an obsession with the idea of creation when I was very young, and I was born into a place that did not respect the idea of art as a concept. Not even as a career, just the very idea of creation of something that belongs to you, made by you, for you, is sacrilege. It wasn't a tough childhood, but it was not easy. I was in a state of spiritual ennui that would latch onto anything that had any form of emotional beat. I was, in a way, very lucky that my first actual 'emotional' game was To The Moon. It was a simple and tragic story with beats that broke my heart; but it made me see, for the first time as a very young and headstrong writer that had my creativity beaten out of me, the worthiness in the very act of creation, and that creation is something that is not just putting pen to paper but the very act of thinking and imagining something that could be.
Finding Paradise is a game about the value of personal creation. To The Moon is about the ethical questions of dying with your dreams fulfilled, questioning if the happiness just before death is a blessing for those to pass on or a curse and insult to all that came before. I remember when Finding Paradise was first released, the common consensus was that it had weaker story beats that To The Moon and that, while touching, it was inferior. Nowadays it's not so clear cut, but I always disagreed with the notion.
It's a very simple idea - sometimes the easiest way to make someone happy is to never show anything else can change. Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes; but it sounds heinous. The idea of withholding a better life for the sake of the happiness in the moment should be something evil - but nothing is truly evil. The pursuit for happiness is something that is far more complicated than just a person's wishes. Shaped by experiences and what they lose by forsaking those experiences, the memories that they reject and despise but would be completely different without.
There is pain in this. A person can die before taking their last breath, and a person can live far beyond that. The melancholy that lies within the idea of a life well-lived is not to live to the fullest, not to achieve your dreams, nor to live the best life you can - but a well-lived life is a life that has been lived for itself. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be horrific, it doesn't have to be spotless or fantastically exciting. It just has to be yours.
I have a great love for story-based games because of Finding Paradise. It has shaped my entire life, and I do not exaggerate. Every single time I write something or do anything creative, it comes from this game's mark on me when I needed it most. There is no other game in my life that has etched itself so deep, and there likely never will be, nor should there be.
Finding Paradise is existential, heartfelt and a spectacular soundtrack. I am greatly fortunate that I stumbled upon Freebird Games when I was still young, and I owe this game far more than I care to admit. It came at a time when games were still personal and incredibly unique, and I deem Finding Paradise to be up there in sheer story quality over all else.
There are jokes that did not age well, but the sheer corniness only makes the tragic beats hurt more as time progresses. In a world where the normal user has become desensitised to sincerity and writes it off as 'tragic bait', Finding Paradise remains stalwart in its genuine message. Most of the modern games have lost this sense of sincerity, in my opinion, but it's irrelevant.
The very chase for happiness is irrelevant - it's about you, and you are enough . You have always been enough, and you, alone, will always be enough. No one, no one thing, no concept, nothing will ever be enough. The only way to find happiness for yourself is to accept everything that you are - the good and bad. Some can't do that, but that's okay. Some can never find self-acceptance, and that's okay. There's a sense of levity at the idea of looking into yourself, especially in the current state of the world, but to finally find peace the enemy is within. It's such a simple concept, but sometimes the simplest of things are the most important.
Finding Paradise is a masterpiece. I wish to anyone that needs it, to find it one day. I can only hope it speaks to you as deeply as it did to me.

I may be in a very small subset of people who didn't enjoy 'To The Moon'. I probably played it 14 years too late and I ultimately found it a slog to finish.
However, I carried on through the minisodes plus 'A Bird Story' (which I enjoyed) and as soon as I started 'Finding Paradise' I was hooked. Immediately I could sense the creators experience had grown in the years between games, the pacing felt much better, the minigames/puzzles were more engaging and the experience just felt smoother to control.
Storywise, I resonated way more with Colins journey. Maybe it's because I'm getting kinda old and have some life experience to look back on, or maybe playing 'A Bird Story' succeeded in getting me invested in the character beforehand. Either way, I was really engaged travelling through his life and was really eager to know what happened.
For anyone playing through the series, I really hope you enjoy this entry, it was easily the strongest for me so far.

I often forget the experience of loneliness. I don't really grasp it like others. I've been alone, but I enjoy my own company. Not as much as others but I don't hate myself and I never have. However I recognize how beautiful it is when someone lifts you out of that darkness and helps you live life instead of plodding through it emptily. I've needed help with it too even if that didn't stem from the usual place.

There's not much I can say about the story if you wish to experience it for yourself. Most of the time I have no problem spoiling shit but this is a story that's best left untouched, free from my commentary. My tear stained cheeks however speak volumes of what to expect. lol Basically, Freebird makes top shelf tearjerkers and if you need a cry or at the very least an emotional movement, this game is here, waiting for you to receive it.

P.S. Neil and Eva are still as unhinged as ever. lol XD