The saga of Paprium is finally coming to a close. What a weird ride it’s been. Reviewers have been posting their thoughts and I wanted to compile their general consensus into one post, as well as links to their thoughts. I strongly recommend checking out the individual reviews linked below, as each one offers a unique perspective on the matter; Matt is the person who developed the Genesis game Tanglewood from scratch and his technical knowledge on the matter is top-notch. St1ka has been following the Paprium saga since the beginning and his video series on it will clear up any confusion newcomers might have as to why people are so upset about the whole thing. Lastly, Joe Reddifer has multiple versions of the game, the Paprium arcade stick and red hair, giving him a unique perspective as well.
Their excellent reviews (and twitter threads) are linked below, but here’s the main points that stuck out to me, in no particular order:
- It’s a good game.
- There is no “Datenmeister chip”, it’s a combination off-the-shelf parts. That doesn’t make the game any less cool, just their marketing.
- You should remove the “heatsink” in the cart, as it doesn’t actually help with heat and is prone to falling off; If it disconnects while the game is running, it can short out connections, which is bad.
- The creator of the game, “Fonzie”, seems to find joy in offending the people who pre-paid for his game. Wasting money on leather thongs to include is the perfect example. See the Gamesack review for proof I’m not kidding.
- The game is still a bit buggy, which can be noticed in boss fights, as well as enemy AI.
- The arcade stick is surprisingly good.
- The sound generated by the custom chips is excellent, but not a necessary part of the game.
- Their FAQ is…well…see for yourself: https://twitter.com/bigevilboss/status/1338461922828705796
- The classic edition is a much better value for your money.
- Refunds have not been issued, supposedly due to PayPal problems.
You can pre-order a copy here. Let’s hope it won’t take years for this batch to arrive: https://www.magicalgamefactory.com/en/factory/paprium_2/
Paprium mini review time, I guess! pic.twitter.com/drKXu99q2N
— Matt Phillips (@bigevilboss) December 30, 2020
