Baroque: The Lost Paradigm

BAROQUE is the kind of manga where just as you begin to vaguely understand what's happening, more and more weird revelations are thrown at you, twisting and overwriting everything you got. And I thought I was prepared, reading this after I finished the game!
Boy I knew nothing.

This is the epitome of "show, don't tell", and both the setting and the story are hard to grasp at first. The Neuro Tower? Angels? Wait, there are scientists, too? Is this pure fantasy, an alternate universe or some distant post-apocalyptic future? What are those monsters? Why are the characters so deformed? What's the deal with the protagonist? Wait, how many protagonists are there, really?

Of course I can't say much without spoiling the juicy bits, but for me, at least, the process of unraveling all those layers was the best part. The character designs are outstanding, and when you get that there's always an idea behind the deformities, you start to analyze them as well. The writing, too, provides food for thought at times, and the ending is pretty satisfying.

Final words?
This can be a great read. Give it a chance.
 
@Inori please do give us a review of the game.

I read the manga without knowing it was a game and wew, it was difficult to understand! But since the beginning it has some kind of unique charm and I like this sort of mix of horror/mystery (not much horror aside from the beginning with twisted beings, I guess). It's pretty messy though and I think this could have been done much cleaner, and a lot of things are still difficult to comprehend. The one thing I still don't get is why they're talking about a simulation and which part is inside a simulation / in the real world.
 
@Atzerkins I don't have much to say about the game, unfortunately. It's, like, 96% stressful yet repetitive grind and 4% sweet lore, but no one really deserves to pour tens of hours into running around the dungeon (the Neuro Tower in question) just to get three extra lines of dialogue. I mean, I guess it spoke to me on some deeper level or something, but it's not the most shining gem in the gameplay department...

As for the reality/simulation distinction,
it's just a narrative device to explain all those repeated runs in the dungeon, suggesting your final one is the real one, while all the others "were just a dream". Please do keep in mind I might still be totally wrong about all this (because I misinterpreted or forgot one random bit of lore that could crumble all my theories to dust once again).
 
@Inori I was also thinking only the last run is real, perhaps, but the problem with that is he does some stuff like fusing with the goddess in one run and making the archangel forget it happened. If it was a simulation would it be possible? The game didn't explain this any better?

I'm kind of tempted to try the game because the presentation looks original + I don't dislike that type of game. Maybe they didn't explore the idea enough but the presentation sounds cool.

Btw, after some research I've found out the original Sega Saturn game is completely different from the remake! It's a first person view dungeon crawler with a very creepy atmosphere while the remake is in third person view and much less scary. I think this is the one which is getting all the criticism.
 

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