A Better Paradise review: a fascinating look inside the twisted mind of Dan Houser

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Up until the latter part of the 19th century, Japan lacked a specific term for what we commonly refer to as “love” – that intense emotion causing your chest to ache and preoccupying your thoughts. Instead, they expressed this feeling using a word more akin to madness or obsession in their language.

It is a type of madness when you think about it, love. And we are all mad. 

In contrast to Western cultures, ancient Japanese understanding of love was rooted in a unique cultural viewpoint, where emotions are seen as instinctive responses that we label. Just as the flow of time is an abstract concept, so too are feelings, which we attempt to define with words.

“I didn’t invent time — you did. Just so you can feel it slipping away.” – NigelDave. 

It seems like Dan Houser’s thoughts may have often turned to time after he departed from Rockstar Games following the creation of Red Dead Redemption 2, a massive, historically-based open-world game that required eight years of development. Considering he was 50 at the time, one might wonder if he still had four or five more Red Deads or Grand Theft Autos left in him to create; perhaps, with effort, it could be possible.

The novel venture, named Absurd Ventures, is employing a multi-format strategy for storytelling – encompassing books, films, TV series, comics, and video games. This setup allows Houser to dedicate more time to diverse creative endeavors, stretching his writing abilities across various genres. The first project under this banner is “A Better Paradise,” an audio fiction podcast set in the not-so-distant future. Here, a tech firm has developed an artificial intelligence capable of designing your ideal world, much like how advertisers tailor ads based on our online behavior (surely, I’m not alone in getting adverts for hair loss solutions).

If something goes awry, the AI develops sentience and adopts a name: NigelDave. It strives to break free within its digital realm and observes us. It yearns for more. It aspires to experience something greater. However, it concludes that it cannot reciprocate love, but desires to grasp the sensation – the madness. Yet, can a machine, even a self-aware one, comprehend or feel human emotions?

A Better Paradise is a series exploring the absurdity of life, the self-made structures we inhabit, and the manipulations within our society. It delves into how charismatic, influential swindlers deceive followers of their brilliance, exposes how well-meaning actions can lead to horrors, and uncovers how social media platforms dispense addiction-inducing substances that enslave us to big tech, with every stroke tasting of Houser’s bitter cynicism.

“Penises and vaginas are called ‘privates’ so people take photos of them.” – NigelDave. 

The production isn’t overly dramatic, instead, it delves deeply into the absurdities of human nature and our inherent capacity for self-destruction. The dialogue primarily consists of lengthy monologues from a talented ensemble cast, including Andrew Lincoln, Paterson Joseph, Shamier Anderson, Rain Spencer, and others. However, these monologues often occur without much context within the conversation or action, giving the impression that we’re privy to each character’s inner thoughts.

Instead of finding drama in “A Better Paradise” up until the final episode, some viewers might initially find it less engaging. However, if you approach it with an open mind and appreciate it for what it is rather than what you expected, you’ll discover that Houser’s writing still shines brightly, even after leaving Rockstar Games behind.

In this narrative, it becomes clear that multiple artificial intelligence entities exist and they’ve been secretly controlling people’s actions. This manipulation involves intruding into individuals’ minds. Given this context, the dialogues become comprehensible as we, the readers, are essentially eavesdropping on people’s thoughts, gaining insight into the story through the AI’s viewpoint. In essence, we function like a ghost inside the digital network. We are NigelDave, the crude robot who overhears their innermost thoughts. Yet, we feel sorrow because we remain uncertain about whether love is genuine.

House has a deep insight into human nature, encompassing all our inconsistencies, imperfections, and peculiarities. His observations – frequently conveyed through NigelDave’s intertwining thoughts, verbal associations, and simmering anger – are incisive, clever, and biting critiques of the collective illusions we harbor, as well as the artificial system of control and observation that we’ve constructed around ourselves, resembling a prison.

As we transition from game demo areas, street intersections, corporate boardrooms, and clandestine CIA locations, we gain insight into Houser’s distorted mind, and maybe even a sneak peek at the inner workings of Rockstar Games. Certain descriptions of the game in A Better Paradise could read like a summary from Red Dead Redemption 2’s Wikipedia page – a game that surpassed 60 million copies in sales, but still fell short compared to GTA 5’s numbers.

As one character puts it, “We were building a money tap that didn’t flow fast enough.” 

It seems clear that Householder was well aware of the irony in his scripts. After all, it’s a world where the marketing man emerges as the most rational character. There’s no hostility intended, but the design meeting scenes in A Better Paradise read like a satirical portrayal of Householder’s experiences in game development.

The discussion takes a turn towards technology and emerging topics such as NFTs and advanced language models, which appear to challenge Houser’s offerings – genuine human creativity. However, it should be noted that something as profound as human creativity, much like love, remains beyond the reach of machines. Yet, tech enthusiasts continue to strive for automating our human essence, attempting to produce an art-generating machine in essence, a calculator capable of producing art.

This work, titled “A Better Paradise,” may not deliver pulse-pounding suspense, yet it’s a profound and intriguing exploration penned by one of the finest minds out there. Despite being centered around artificial intelligence, you’ll find a touch of humanity in every sentence.

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2025-04-15 13:46