Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
released on Mar 08, 2023
How far would you go to bring someone back from the dead? Discover the depths that some will go to in this horror-adventure game.
Set in Honjo, Tokyo's Sumida ward during the Showa period (1926-89), this is the unsettling tale of those with the power to curse, derived from the gruesome real world urban legends: "The Seven Mysteries of Honjo."
Follow the cursed seven as they embark on a supernatural ordeal over a three-day period to realise their desperate hopes and dreams.
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Would never have expected Square Enix to release a murder/mystery visual novel but they really hit this outta the park. Perfect length, interesting and engaging characters, great story.
Copied my steam review:
Wow, what an incredible and fun game. I haven't had a game grip me like that in a long while. The mystery is very intriguing to work out and the game gives you a lot of moments to make you piece the ongoing threads together on your own and the pay-offs always feel very rewarding. The character writing is really charming, I loved the Tetsuo & Erio and Harue & Richter duos especially. There's a lot of heart in the mysteries, the heartfelt moments and the comedy too. I really hope we're getting another Paranormasight
Fantastic adventure game with great pacing and some interesting puzzles, can recommend to anyone who shows interest in it.
An interesting visual novel with great art and solid music that ultimately gets dragged down by some heavy plot convolution.
Really solid and fun detective game. Almost all characters are really fun and likable, art is great (Gen Kobayashi is just amazing) and the music adds a lot to the eerie feeling of the game. It was also just as long as it needs to be.
The curse infodump in the first hours in the game is hard to endure, but ends up paying off in the long run, especially when you eventually learn the full story.
I liked the way the whole game feels like a proper detective investigation all the way through, not feeling boring at any point and still being pretty grounded (especially for a story about curses). I also appreciate that the characters communicate and help each other very often, making the individual storylines feel connected and avoiding the frustration that comes from characters conveniently not interacting for the sake of easier storytelling.
My biggest problem with the game is the ending. It didn't feel "rushed" per se, but I think so much more could have been done with the final plot twist, which falls completely flat and sours the final moments of the game. It also retcons all of the story you've played, which is probably my least favorite kind of trope. Rewinding the world into a state where nothing bad happens also deletes everything you've played through, even if that world reaches the same conclusions. Also, I kinda wished for some of the main characters/assistants to have ulterior motives and betray you, but maybe that's just a me thing. I like that they're all good beans all the same.
Overall really recommended and fun, whished it sticked the landing better because that would make it an instant classic.
There are many thing to love about Paranormasight. Where do you even begin? It has terrific art, a stunning visual flair, great, jamming music, a fun core cast and an interesting narrative that caught me off guard several times. I loved it. It took me back to the Zero Escape games, another series I loved. Fully recommend this game and seriously, you can't go wrong with a 15 hour visual novel for $19.99.