The octopus is one of the most fascinating creatures on our planet. Masters of camouflage, these invertebrates can hide from even the most blood-thirsty of predators. Their intelligence is undeniable, being able to escape captivity in frequently surprising ways. So how would a cephalopod manage in an environment other than Earth? Darwin’s Paradox! from ZDT Studio and Konami presents us with this very conundrum.

Eh? What’d you say? I’m the hero?

In Darwin’s Paradox! you play as the titular Darwin, a young octopus who is focused on navigating the depths around him, until a strange beam of light fills his world and whisks him away to an unfamiliar place. Surrounded by a foreign landscape, Darwin embarks on an adventure to learn about this new environment and try to find a way back home. Along the way he’ll find some familiar faces within this alien landscape, and he’ll have to do everything in his power to ensure that he and his friend, Poulpy, make it back to safety.

The story in Darwin’s Paradox! isn’t very deep (pun intended), and honestly, that’s one of the areas I found to be the most disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, Darwin’s Paradox! is a fun game, but it seemed like there was a lot more being set up within this world that just wasn’t fully fleshed out. Yes, there are tidbits you can uncover by finding collectibles and paraphernalia hidden all throughout each level, but these only provide small glimpses into the alien nation that captured you. The whole adventure is told without dialogue and relies purely on environmental storytelling, much like Limbo and Little Nightmares. This works to a point, but just isn’t quite robust enough to make the narrative as compelling as I feel the developers were aiming for.

These types of collectibles are scattered all across each each section to provide more context as to what’s going on.

The gameplay in Darwin’s Paradox! is simple, yet effective. Darwin can swim, climb, launch himself across pitfalls, and even camouflage himself from enemy eyes. The game is a mix of stealth/platforming/and puzzle solving. Even though there’s not much more to the gameplay than this, honestly, this is really all that’s needed to make for an entertaining time. The controls are responsive, and I never had an unfair advantage from troubles with the inputs. That said, there are some difficulty spikes in a few areas that can get pretty frustrating.

There’s no combat in Darwin’s Paradox!, so you’ll have to rely largely on stealth to make your way through each treacherous location. The stealth sections are occasionally fun, but at times can feel tedious, especially after failing certain sections over and over. One of the most frustrating aspects is when you have to operate a giant mechanical hazmat suit that makes you feel like you’re walking on ice. It’s nearly impossible to stop right where you want, and you’ll find yourself plummeting off ledges and platforms numerous times. These areas and the chases through maze-like canals are by far the most aggravating, but thankfully, these are few and far between. The vast majority of the game is a lot of fun to explore.

I didn’t prematurely ink, I swear!

The visuals in Darwin’s Paradox! are gorgeous. The game feels like a playable Pixar film. The character designs are bright and delightfully cartoony, which makes for a wonderful contrast against some of backgrounds. The levels are pretty varied, ranging from Darwin’s happy ocean home, to an oceanic wasteland, to an alien-run factory, to a bizarre and beautiful alien landscape. Everything is in 2.5D, which adds a fantastic layer of depth to this platformer.

The sound design is also well done. Sound effects run the gambit from undersea sounds, homicidal seagulls on the attack, to the beeps and whirs of alien machinery. The musical score does a lot of the heavy lifting to convey the overall tone of each scenario. From happy and carefree, to ominous and foreboding, the soundtrack successfully evokes all the tensions and relief felt by surviving each section.

Being overly friendly is a plus in this world.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing Darwin’s Paradox!. It’s not a flawless experience, but it does what it set out to do successfully, for the most part. The characters were cute (even when they were trying to murder me), the world was full of wonder and secrets, and being able to camouflage myself in front of an entire alien factory practicing Tai Chi is something I didn’t know was missing in my life until I did it. I wish the game had been a little bit longer, only because I was having so much fun exploring the strange environment, but at about five to six hours to beat (without searching for all of the hidden collectibles), Darwin’s Paradox! is absolutely worth diving into. Take the plunge and see what awaits!

Darwin’s Paradox! is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Darwin’s Paradox! was provided by the publisher.