‘The dead themselves have no regrets; how could they? They are dead and that is all. Only those remaining regret their passing.’
– Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Ubume no natsu, 1994.
Played with BertKnot. The game and this review mention extremely difficult events related to crimes, violence and abuse.
Contemporary Japanese culture is fuelled by a cycle of moral panics generated by high-profile criminal cases. Some, though mysterious, do not escalate into the gruesome, such as the 300 million yen robbery (1968), but others take a far more horrific course. The murders of Tsutomu Miyazaki are an enduring trauma for the Japanese, who associate them with the figure of the otaku, who has sunk into deep madness to the point of committing monstrous acts of violence. Other individuals have followed in his footsteps and continue to fuel the hatred of marginalised groups. Such events are not unique to Japan, but its artistic production always flirts with these traumas without ever completely overcoming them.
The shakai tradition in Japanese crime fiction
However, there is a long literary tradition built around these themes, and the detective genre is no stranger to them. Critics refer to these titles as shakai-ha, a literary trend that is primarily concerned with its social dimension. The mystery plays a fundamental role, not because of its complexity or brilliance – although these are not excluded – but because it reveals the malaise of a society whose social norms are no longer accepted by its members. The historical roots of this genre can be found in the works of Seichō Matsumoto. Suna no Utsuwa (1961), undoubtedly his most famous work, features a detective whose obsession with a criminal case disintegrates his personal life. Depicting a post-war Japan in the midst of hectic reconstruction, the novel describes a family in which the father is absent and the wife is in charge of the household and the children's education. Moreover, the reasons for the crimes underline the plight of Japanese women, caught between the ideal of yamato nadeshiko and rapid modernisation.
The prevalence of suicide in Matsumoto's works raises the question of its chronic nature in Japan. Masāki Kato has analysed a large sample of suicides and notes their anomic nature after World War II, to borrow Durkheim's terminology. [1] It is a feeling of general dissatisfaction with the inability to find one's place in society. For these individuals, it is necessary to adhere to particularly rigid social rules, and the slightest deviation from these idealised norms is grounds for suicide. Taking one's own life and that of others is the fundamental question that runs through the shakai genre. After Matsumoto, a tradition of female writers has emerged, especially since the 1990s. These stories focus on female characters who are confronted with a changing world. They face a socio-economic crisis that exacerbates the systemic sexism they experience. In Miyuki Miyabe's Kasha (1992), crime gives women a new independence after being denied by the social contract of Japanese society. As the losers of urbanisation and modernisation, they can escape from their low-paid jobs, fuelled by desperation and the desire for a better life – or to escape unbearable situations such as debt harassment.
The paranormal to create a chilling horror
If Japanese video games were quick to adopt the detective genre and produce remarkable adventures, starting with Portopia renzoku satsujin jiken (1983), they were inspired above all by the honkaku and shin honkaku genres, which reject shakai realism. On the contrary, the murders have to be particularly complex and have an aura of impossibility, which creates an intellectual game between the author and the reader. Social themes are not completely absent, but they are relegated to the background in favour of the mystery itself. There is certainly a sense of tragedy in the murders, which can be explained by difficult circumstances or sociological trends, but they explain the mystery in retrospect rather than being the crux of the narrative. Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha (1988) touches on the issue of the zaibatsu and their influence on the economy of certain regions, but it is a very secondary element in the plot.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo goes against this tradition, anchoring its story in the shakai style while incorporating elements of shin honkaku. At first glance, it appears to be a horror game inspired by Japanese mythology – the Honjo Nanafushigi are genuine legends and have been adapted in films by Shinko Kimura (Honjo Nanafushigi, 1937) and Katano Goro (Kaidan Honjo Nanafushigi, 1957). However, after the prologue, the tone shifts to become a long investigation depicting the malaise of Japanese society as the years of prosperity come to an end and the first signs of the bursting of the economic bubble in the early 1980s are felt. The player takes on the role of several characters caught up in a curse that has engulfed the Honjo district of Tokyo's Sumida. They are awakened by terrifying ghostly apparitions that urge them to commit murders in order to perform the Rite of Resurrection. This ritual would allow them to bring back to life a person of their choice, at the cost of the soul dregs collected from murdered people. Each protagonist is then able to use a curse to slaughter any person at night, as long as the conditions, inspired by urban legends circulating in Honjo, are met. The first protagonist, Shogo Okiie, meets Yoko Fukunaga in the prologue, who asks for his help in uncovering the truth behind the legend of the Whispering Canal; he is drawn into a series of violent deaths that the player must understand in order to unravel the Seven Mysteries of Honjo and the murders taking place in the neighbourhood.
The game is characterised by its atmosphere, which is supported by a unique art direction. The cold blue colours make Honjo's atmosphere frightening and underline the subtle tension between the various curse-bearers fighting for their survival. Gen Kobayashi's character design alternates between realistic softness and frightening expressions of terror. Dread is conveyed through wide eyes and plays with off-screen action. The player is frightened not so much by the jumpscares, but by the prospect of having to turn around to see them. The backgrounds, slightly distorted as if through a short focus lens, convey a sense of unease through the hollowness of their composition. Paranormasight brilliantly uses oblique shots and atypical staging of characters to emphasise the brooding nature of the discussions, while the architecture of the city overwhelms them.
On social representation through cultural references
Komagata High School is thus a reference to Ushimitsu High School from Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo (1989), with identical shots, but the coldness of the colour palette in Paranormasight makes the high school very disturbing; it is less a place of education to prepare students for the future, but rather a place where social inequalities and violence are reproduced, something that Japan accepts without flinching. The inadequacy of the teaching staff and the prevalence of juvenile delinquency are signs of the failure of Japanese social policy. The various female characters suffer from this, condemning them to academic failure or worse. Paranormasight takes up the plot of Sukeban deka (1976), a pivotal shōjo manga of the 1980s: it features Saki Asamiya, a delinquent high school girl who ends up helping the police solve several investigations, notably the apparent suicide of one of her best friends, Junko Yuina. The game very explicitly recreates the character of Saki through Yakko Sakazaki, be it in personality, appearance or motives.
In general, the game takes familiar elements of Japanese culture to modernise and comment on them. This is particularly the case with the female characters, who regain a high degree of agency in the pure shakai tradition. At first glance, Harue Shigima seems to be the embodiment of the yamato nadeshiko, full of the ideals associated with a traditional Japan, but the death of her son and the curse give her the energy to fight against the weight of society. Despite her tired appearance, she displays a very subtle wit through her careful and respectful speech. Yakko is particularly proactive and confident, following the example of Sukeban deka, while her friend Mio, a specialist in occult matters, is presented as a voice of reason, contrary to the cliché of the mad witch. This complex nature of the female characters is echoed in a more fragile representation of masculinity. The various male characters are presented with characteristics that undermine the myth of traditional, honour-bound masculinity. They are generally cowardly or display marginal masculinity. If Tetsuo Tsutsumi represents the serious and unyielding inspector, he is often the comedic force of the group, with deadpan remarks that take the edge off the game's terrifying tension. Richter Kai portrays a more jovial and chaotic manliness through his love of childish things, which leads to Harue's amused comments.
Paranormasight quickly reveals itself to be a title with a sharp critique of all forms of authority. The police are portrayed as an institution incapable of preventing crime and serving the public. While officers like Hajime Yoshimi try to be more akin to a social worker for troubled teenage girls, he is generally unable to structurally solve their problems, offering only what he can, namely a shoulder to lean on. The characters lament the fact that Japanese law prohibits police officers from intervening in cases of domestic violence – a situation that only changed with the Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims (2001). Hierarchical frameworks dictate behaviour in Japanese suburbs. Paranormasight repeatedly emphasises the importance of the dichotomy between the public face (tatamae) and the private face (honne). Michiyo Shiraishi's neighbours are sympathetic until the Shiraishi family strays from the discretion expected in a neighbourhood. Even within the working class, solidarity is not taken for granted and depends on adherence to social rules, however rigid and conservative they may be. The title also insists on the hypocrisy of the family myth, with reference to the coin-operated locker babies, who, for various socio-economic reasons, were abandoned newborn babies in lockers and left to die. This phenomenon, which was widespread between the 1970s and 1990s, haunts the various characters in the game.
Instantiating horror in a real setting: how to modernise a social representation?
It is precisely because these elements are central to Paranormasight's horror and mystery that the game works. The soundtrack is particularly effective in creating a strong atmosphere, alternating between dissonant tracks and music inspired by the emerging city pop of the time. The game is concerned with social modernity in its discourse: it is about representing 1980s Tokyo with respect to the social progress of 2023. The title is therefore against prison and in favour of rehabilitation, rejecting the idea that crimes are inherited through blood. Paranormasight, even though its plot is based on elements of Japanese mythology, stands out for its ability to tell a story whose social motives would remain the same even without the occult. In an eternal Buddhist cycle, the ills of society remain the same until structural measures are implemented by decision-makers, as illustrated by the chronic pollution of the Sumida River, the visual centre of the title.
In terms of gameplay, Paranormasight clearly borrows from recent adventure games, notably the Switch port of Famicom Detective Club (2021) and the second Ace Attorney trilogy. The grammar remains that of 1980s games, with the necessity to repeatedly bring up the same topic of conversation, but the game clearly indicates when all actions have been completed, or if further exploration and dialogue is required. The title uses the Story Chart system inherited from Kono Yo no Hate de Koi o Utau Shōjo YU-NO (1996) and Kotaro Uchikoshi's games, and tries to be as clear as possible about the branching paths the player needs to explore in order to follow the different narrative threads. It is only towards the end of the game that Paranormasight becomes more cryptic, although this does not cause any major problems. The title really tests the player's understanding of the case with relatively open-ended questions. These sequences are particularly effective because the player is always in a strong position compared to the protagonists. Having a transversal knowledge of the events, they are able to theorise in advance and identify the blind spots in the characters' deductions. This narrative style helps to create the impression that the protagonists are conducting a real investigation, with all the complexity this implies.
Paranormasight manages to modernise the adventure and detective genres with a believable story, despite the presence of supernatural elements. Carried by a deep and touching cast, the title presents an ingenious mystery rooted in the malaise of a society on the verge of collapse. Poverty, pollution, a crisis in education and a sense of alienation exacerbate a generational clash. The protagonists, although caught up in a curse that transcends them, are only individuals among others in Tokyo who harbour regrets, remorse and sadness. As the sun sets, the Sumida River turns bloody. The real killer is a city that is oversized and relentless. Paranormasight illustrates this unease with a unique horror texture, instantiating it in the physical reality of Honjo. If Japanese crime fiction has always insisted on the importance of locales while promoting mindful tourism – indeed, since 2001, this has been the function of the Mystery Tours in Meitantei Konan (1994) –, the game accomplishes an astonishing tour de force and establishes itself as a modern shakai staple for the video game medium.
__________
[1] Masāki Kato, ‘Self-Destruction in Japan: A Crosscultural, Epidemiological Analysis of Suicide’, in Folia Psychiatrica et Neurologica, vol. 23, no. 4, 1969, pp. 291-307.
– Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Ubume no natsu, 1994.
Played with BertKnot. The game and this review mention extremely difficult events related to crimes, violence and abuse.
Contemporary Japanese culture is fuelled by a cycle of moral panics generated by high-profile criminal cases. Some, though mysterious, do not escalate into the gruesome, such as the 300 million yen robbery (1968), but others take a far more horrific course. The murders of Tsutomu Miyazaki are an enduring trauma for the Japanese, who associate them with the figure of the otaku, who has sunk into deep madness to the point of committing monstrous acts of violence. Other individuals have followed in his footsteps and continue to fuel the hatred of marginalised groups. Such events are not unique to Japan, but its artistic production always flirts with these traumas without ever completely overcoming them.
The shakai tradition in Japanese crime fiction
However, there is a long literary tradition built around these themes, and the detective genre is no stranger to them. Critics refer to these titles as shakai-ha, a literary trend that is primarily concerned with its social dimension. The mystery plays a fundamental role, not because of its complexity or brilliance – although these are not excluded – but because it reveals the malaise of a society whose social norms are no longer accepted by its members. The historical roots of this genre can be found in the works of Seichō Matsumoto. Suna no Utsuwa (1961), undoubtedly his most famous work, features a detective whose obsession with a criminal case disintegrates his personal life. Depicting a post-war Japan in the midst of hectic reconstruction, the novel describes a family in which the father is absent and the wife is in charge of the household and the children's education. Moreover, the reasons for the crimes underline the plight of Japanese women, caught between the ideal of yamato nadeshiko and rapid modernisation.
The prevalence of suicide in Matsumoto's works raises the question of its chronic nature in Japan. Masāki Kato has analysed a large sample of suicides and notes their anomic nature after World War II, to borrow Durkheim's terminology. [1] It is a feeling of general dissatisfaction with the inability to find one's place in society. For these individuals, it is necessary to adhere to particularly rigid social rules, and the slightest deviation from these idealised norms is grounds for suicide. Taking one's own life and that of others is the fundamental question that runs through the shakai genre. After Matsumoto, a tradition of female writers has emerged, especially since the 1990s. These stories focus on female characters who are confronted with a changing world. They face a socio-economic crisis that exacerbates the systemic sexism they experience. In Miyuki Miyabe's Kasha (1992), crime gives women a new independence after being denied by the social contract of Japanese society. As the losers of urbanisation and modernisation, they can escape from their low-paid jobs, fuelled by desperation and the desire for a better life – or to escape unbearable situations such as debt harassment.
The paranormal to create a chilling horror
If Japanese video games were quick to adopt the detective genre and produce remarkable adventures, starting with Portopia renzoku satsujin jiken (1983), they were inspired above all by the honkaku and shin honkaku genres, which reject shakai realism. On the contrary, the murders have to be particularly complex and have an aura of impossibility, which creates an intellectual game between the author and the reader. Social themes are not completely absent, but they are relegated to the background in favour of the mystery itself. There is certainly a sense of tragedy in the murders, which can be explained by difficult circumstances or sociological trends, but they explain the mystery in retrospect rather than being the crux of the narrative. Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha (1988) touches on the issue of the zaibatsu and their influence on the economy of certain regions, but it is a very secondary element in the plot.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo goes against this tradition, anchoring its story in the shakai style while incorporating elements of shin honkaku. At first glance, it appears to be a horror game inspired by Japanese mythology – the Honjo Nanafushigi are genuine legends and have been adapted in films by Shinko Kimura (Honjo Nanafushigi, 1937) and Katano Goro (Kaidan Honjo Nanafushigi, 1957). However, after the prologue, the tone shifts to become a long investigation depicting the malaise of Japanese society as the years of prosperity come to an end and the first signs of the bursting of the economic bubble in the early 1980s are felt. The player takes on the role of several characters caught up in a curse that has engulfed the Honjo district of Tokyo's Sumida. They are awakened by terrifying ghostly apparitions that urge them to commit murders in order to perform the Rite of Resurrection. This ritual would allow them to bring back to life a person of their choice, at the cost of the soul dregs collected from murdered people. Each protagonist is then able to use a curse to slaughter any person at night, as long as the conditions, inspired by urban legends circulating in Honjo, are met. The first protagonist, Shogo Okiie, meets Yoko Fukunaga in the prologue, who asks for his help in uncovering the truth behind the legend of the Whispering Canal; he is drawn into a series of violent deaths that the player must understand in order to unravel the Seven Mysteries of Honjo and the murders taking place in the neighbourhood.
The game is characterised by its atmosphere, which is supported by a unique art direction. The cold blue colours make Honjo's atmosphere frightening and underline the subtle tension between the various curse-bearers fighting for their survival. Gen Kobayashi's character design alternates between realistic softness and frightening expressions of terror. Dread is conveyed through wide eyes and plays with off-screen action. The player is frightened not so much by the jumpscares, but by the prospect of having to turn around to see them. The backgrounds, slightly distorted as if through a short focus lens, convey a sense of unease through the hollowness of their composition. Paranormasight brilliantly uses oblique shots and atypical staging of characters to emphasise the brooding nature of the discussions, while the architecture of the city overwhelms them.
On social representation through cultural references
Komagata High School is thus a reference to Ushimitsu High School from Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo (1989), with identical shots, but the coldness of the colour palette in Paranormasight makes the high school very disturbing; it is less a place of education to prepare students for the future, but rather a place where social inequalities and violence are reproduced, something that Japan accepts without flinching. The inadequacy of the teaching staff and the prevalence of juvenile delinquency are signs of the failure of Japanese social policy. The various female characters suffer from this, condemning them to academic failure or worse. Paranormasight takes up the plot of Sukeban deka (1976), a pivotal shōjo manga of the 1980s: it features Saki Asamiya, a delinquent high school girl who ends up helping the police solve several investigations, notably the apparent suicide of one of her best friends, Junko Yuina. The game very explicitly recreates the character of Saki through Yakko Sakazaki, be it in personality, appearance or motives.
In general, the game takes familiar elements of Japanese culture to modernise and comment on them. This is particularly the case with the female characters, who regain a high degree of agency in the pure shakai tradition. At first glance, Harue Shigima seems to be the embodiment of the yamato nadeshiko, full of the ideals associated with a traditional Japan, but the death of her son and the curse give her the energy to fight against the weight of society. Despite her tired appearance, she displays a very subtle wit through her careful and respectful speech. Yakko is particularly proactive and confident, following the example of Sukeban deka, while her friend Mio, a specialist in occult matters, is presented as a voice of reason, contrary to the cliché of the mad witch. This complex nature of the female characters is echoed in a more fragile representation of masculinity. The various male characters are presented with characteristics that undermine the myth of traditional, honour-bound masculinity. They are generally cowardly or display marginal masculinity. If Tetsuo Tsutsumi represents the serious and unyielding inspector, he is often the comedic force of the group, with deadpan remarks that take the edge off the game's terrifying tension. Richter Kai portrays a more jovial and chaotic manliness through his love of childish things, which leads to Harue's amused comments.
Paranormasight quickly reveals itself to be a title with a sharp critique of all forms of authority. The police are portrayed as an institution incapable of preventing crime and serving the public. While officers like Hajime Yoshimi try to be more akin to a social worker for troubled teenage girls, he is generally unable to structurally solve their problems, offering only what he can, namely a shoulder to lean on. The characters lament the fact that Japanese law prohibits police officers from intervening in cases of domestic violence – a situation that only changed with the Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims (2001). Hierarchical frameworks dictate behaviour in Japanese suburbs. Paranormasight repeatedly emphasises the importance of the dichotomy between the public face (tatamae) and the private face (honne). Michiyo Shiraishi's neighbours are sympathetic until the Shiraishi family strays from the discretion expected in a neighbourhood. Even within the working class, solidarity is not taken for granted and depends on adherence to social rules, however rigid and conservative they may be. The title also insists on the hypocrisy of the family myth, with reference to the coin-operated locker babies, who, for various socio-economic reasons, were abandoned newborn babies in lockers and left to die. This phenomenon, which was widespread between the 1970s and 1990s, haunts the various characters in the game.
Instantiating horror in a real setting: how to modernise a social representation?
It is precisely because these elements are central to Paranormasight's horror and mystery that the game works. The soundtrack is particularly effective in creating a strong atmosphere, alternating between dissonant tracks and music inspired by the emerging city pop of the time. The game is concerned with social modernity in its discourse: it is about representing 1980s Tokyo with respect to the social progress of 2023. The title is therefore against prison and in favour of rehabilitation, rejecting the idea that crimes are inherited through blood. Paranormasight, even though its plot is based on elements of Japanese mythology, stands out for its ability to tell a story whose social motives would remain the same even without the occult. In an eternal Buddhist cycle, the ills of society remain the same until structural measures are implemented by decision-makers, as illustrated by the chronic pollution of the Sumida River, the visual centre of the title.
In terms of gameplay, Paranormasight clearly borrows from recent adventure games, notably the Switch port of Famicom Detective Club (2021) and the second Ace Attorney trilogy. The grammar remains that of 1980s games, with the necessity to repeatedly bring up the same topic of conversation, but the game clearly indicates when all actions have been completed, or if further exploration and dialogue is required. The title uses the Story Chart system inherited from Kono Yo no Hate de Koi o Utau Shōjo YU-NO (1996) and Kotaro Uchikoshi's games, and tries to be as clear as possible about the branching paths the player needs to explore in order to follow the different narrative threads. It is only towards the end of the game that Paranormasight becomes more cryptic, although this does not cause any major problems. The title really tests the player's understanding of the case with relatively open-ended questions. These sequences are particularly effective because the player is always in a strong position compared to the protagonists. Having a transversal knowledge of the events, they are able to theorise in advance and identify the blind spots in the characters' deductions. This narrative style helps to create the impression that the protagonists are conducting a real investigation, with all the complexity this implies.
Paranormasight manages to modernise the adventure and detective genres with a believable story, despite the presence of supernatural elements. Carried by a deep and touching cast, the title presents an ingenious mystery rooted in the malaise of a society on the verge of collapse. Poverty, pollution, a crisis in education and a sense of alienation exacerbate a generational clash. The protagonists, although caught up in a curse that transcends them, are only individuals among others in Tokyo who harbour regrets, remorse and sadness. As the sun sets, the Sumida River turns bloody. The real killer is a city that is oversized and relentless. Paranormasight illustrates this unease with a unique horror texture, instantiating it in the physical reality of Honjo. If Japanese crime fiction has always insisted on the importance of locales while promoting mindful tourism – indeed, since 2001, this has been the function of the Mystery Tours in Meitantei Konan (1994) –, the game accomplishes an astonishing tour de force and establishes itself as a modern shakai staple for the video game medium.
__________
[1] Masāki Kato, ‘Self-Destruction in Japan: A Crosscultural, Epidemiological Analysis of Suicide’, in Folia Psychiatrica et Neurologica, vol. 23, no. 4, 1969, pp. 291-307.
Definitely a game that starts very good but starts to lose steam at around the halfway mark or so. Not to say it becomes bad or anything, just not as good. There really is not much that can be said without getting into spoiler territory and I do think its worth playing if youre into Adventure Games/VNs, particularly Uchikoshi's work but with Occult Theming rather than Pseudoscience.
The music and character art are very good, even if it started to get distracting a few hours in when you notice that a lot of it uses seemingly rigged animation or recycled stuff for different characters? I don't exactly know how to put it but it does add an air of cheapness. Admittedly the game weighs 800mb and the director is most well known for mobile ADV games so maybe Squeenix really did give them a small budget.
The puzzles and navigation of the branching paths are okay for the most part, fairly intuitive and even predictable at points, with the glaring exception of one point of maximum confusion where the game asks you about a situation that ocurred at a specific time, but there is no visible time in the "story chart" , you have to manually select the chapter for it to tell you what time it was, and that couldnt be done without restarting the current chapter, seemingly that would be cheating apparently. But, this is a 10 hour VN with twists and turns! You expect me to remember all that shit in detail?! The kicker is, after brute forcing the solution and then finishing the rest of the game... I still don't know what the hell was up with that question?! Its the one thing I still dont understand. Maybe someone smarter will inform me, its the question with "8 am".
The characters are lnteresting to see, ranging from sympathetic to psychopathic and everything in between as you would expect. In particular enjoyed the "Dan from Game Grumps going to a rodeo"-looking private eye. The prose itself can get a bit confusing, the pacing isnt perfect with some mighty info dumps at times and odd placements of events but for the most part I enjoyed enough to keep playing and am fairly satisfied with its conclusion. And I enjoyed a couple of the, lets say "unconventional" puzzles. Just good spooky vibes, well worth the price of admission I would say.
SPOILER WARNING - I want to very briefly go over something about the plot details. You have been warned, spoilers beyond here.
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I have played a few japanese adv games/vns whatever you want to call them, in particular I am a fan of Uchikoshi's work, but I have to ask the VN heads who are reading : Is the whole "Story Flowchart/Branching is contextualized as canonical and the transfer of information between branches is diegetic/part of the plot" not Uchikoshi/Spike Chunsoft's thing? I might be showing my ignorance but I thought that was the particular innovation theyd come up with. Is it just a common feature of these games? Does it predate Uchikoshi? Did he popularize it and now everyone does it? Am I just "Man who has only seen boss baby watching another movie - Getting boss baby vibes from this"? Any answers would be appreciated, thanks
Cause this game definitely does it, in several ways. At first I thought it was just a gameplay mechanic but I definitely held out hope it would tie into the plot by the end and it did. Its definitely an interesting idea which I enjoy and I can see why it would become popular, if you are going to require the player to navigate a series of choices to get to a true ending, the act of navigation and correct choices being another puzzle in itself, why NOT incorporate it into the plot? Makes a lot of sense. I also would like to say I though the psycho mantis-esque puzzle to beat the Foot Washing Mansion curse was clever. At first you look at the options and see "voices" and wonder "huh, this isnt voiced?" and then you realize its only there to defeat a curse which is activated by listening to a voice. It did seem slightly silly but in context it makes sense that seiman would just disable that aspect if he was in control and knowledge of the various curses. Anyways, it was a good experience even if it fell off a bit towards the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4e96tRCnY
The music and character art are very good, even if it started to get distracting a few hours in when you notice that a lot of it uses seemingly rigged animation or recycled stuff for different characters? I don't exactly know how to put it but it does add an air of cheapness. Admittedly the game weighs 800mb and the director is most well known for mobile ADV games so maybe Squeenix really did give them a small budget.
The puzzles and navigation of the branching paths are okay for the most part, fairly intuitive and even predictable at points, with the glaring exception of one point of maximum confusion where the game asks you about a situation that ocurred at a specific time, but there is no visible time in the "story chart" , you have to manually select the chapter for it to tell you what time it was, and that couldnt be done without restarting the current chapter, seemingly that would be cheating apparently. But, this is a 10 hour VN with twists and turns! You expect me to remember all that shit in detail?! The kicker is, after brute forcing the solution and then finishing the rest of the game... I still don't know what the hell was up with that question?! Its the one thing I still dont understand. Maybe someone smarter will inform me, its the question with "8 am".
The characters are lnteresting to see, ranging from sympathetic to psychopathic and everything in between as you would expect. In particular enjoyed the "Dan from Game Grumps going to a rodeo"-looking private eye. The prose itself can get a bit confusing, the pacing isnt perfect with some mighty info dumps at times and odd placements of events but for the most part I enjoyed enough to keep playing and am fairly satisfied with its conclusion. And I enjoyed a couple of the, lets say "unconventional" puzzles. Just good spooky vibes, well worth the price of admission I would say.
SPOILER WARNING - I want to very briefly go over something about the plot details. You have been warned, spoilers beyond here.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I have played a few japanese adv games/vns whatever you want to call them, in particular I am a fan of Uchikoshi's work, but I have to ask the VN heads who are reading : Is the whole "Story Flowchart/Branching is contextualized as canonical and the transfer of information between branches is diegetic/part of the plot" not Uchikoshi/Spike Chunsoft's thing? I might be showing my ignorance but I thought that was the particular innovation theyd come up with. Is it just a common feature of these games? Does it predate Uchikoshi? Did he popularize it and now everyone does it? Am I just "Man who has only seen boss baby watching another movie - Getting boss baby vibes from this"? Any answers would be appreciated, thanks
Cause this game definitely does it, in several ways. At first I thought it was just a gameplay mechanic but I definitely held out hope it would tie into the plot by the end and it did. Its definitely an interesting idea which I enjoy and I can see why it would become popular, if you are going to require the player to navigate a series of choices to get to a true ending, the act of navigation and correct choices being another puzzle in itself, why NOT incorporate it into the plot? Makes a lot of sense. I also would like to say I though the psycho mantis-esque puzzle to beat the Foot Washing Mansion curse was clever. At first you look at the options and see "voices" and wonder "huh, this isnt voiced?" and then you realize its only there to defeat a curse which is activated by listening to a voice. It did seem slightly silly but in context it makes sense that seiman would just disable that aspect if he was in control and knowledge of the various curses. Anyways, it was a good experience even if it fell off a bit towards the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4e96tRCnY
This is an absolute unit of a mystery game that was probably too ambitious for it's own good. The conclusion after about 17 hours of intense debating about theories with my friend was decidedly mediocre (which is probably a generous statement).
Disregarding the ending and despite somewhat questionable writing and puzzles at times, I can only see the time spent as very worthwhile.
I'd say my favorite parts were the atmosphere and the mystique and folklore associated with curses and getting to know an interesting set of characters (very) slowly unraveling horrors and mysteries ranging from last week to nearly 2 centuries ago.
This is one of those games that will stick with me. Not because it is the greatest to ever do it but because of that feeling of suspense and the fun of bouncing ideas about pretty abstract concepts with a good friend.
Thus in conclusion, give it a shot the vibes are immaculate and there's a delinquent dove sticker by the name of High Coo.
Disregarding the ending and despite somewhat questionable writing and puzzles at times, I can only see the time spent as very worthwhile.
I'd say my favorite parts were the atmosphere and the mystique and folklore associated with curses and getting to know an interesting set of characters (very) slowly unraveling horrors and mysteries ranging from last week to nearly 2 centuries ago.
This is one of those games that will stick with me. Not because it is the greatest to ever do it but because of that feeling of suspense and the fun of bouncing ideas about pretty abstract concepts with a good friend.
Thus in conclusion, give it a shot the vibes are immaculate and there's a delinquent dove sticker by the name of High Coo.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a great, short visual novel. I just got this game on a whim because I saw OSTs of it popping up in my recommended and it was on sale, and I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
Honestly, I’m terrible at handling horror games and jump scares so thank god I only had to get through an unsettling hour of gameplay until those became essentially a non-factor. Conceptually, this game is so good. I love how each character gets a different talisman based on one of the seven mysteries of Honjo, each with a different activation to kill others. I loved trying to figure out how each curse-bearer activated their talisman, it was such a mystery. The prologue confuses me a bit, however, I loved the fact that it’s essentially a kill or be killed scenario, really reminds me of Danganronpa. The bulk of the main game is solid. I love the use of unconventional methods for gameplay like altering some game settings to deter death, really love how games like this get innovative with their gameplay elements. The story has a timeline, and you can lose yourself over worrying what happens when, especially in a mystery-esque game like this.
The game was great, until near the end where I kind of got a bit bored and wanted the game to finish. The final plot reveal was hella boring and probably is the main reason this game gets a four star rating. Also, I personally have a minor gripe with some of the sprites and their lips (I’m sooo picky but it’s just something that kept annoying me). That didn’t really detract anything for me, it was just extremely noticeable.
Overall, a great game, with a few blunders. Also, Erio is peak and must be protected at all costs.
Honestly, I’m terrible at handling horror games and jump scares so thank god I only had to get through an unsettling hour of gameplay until those became essentially a non-factor. Conceptually, this game is so good. I love how each character gets a different talisman based on one of the seven mysteries of Honjo, each with a different activation to kill others. I loved trying to figure out how each curse-bearer activated their talisman, it was such a mystery. The prologue confuses me a bit, however, I loved the fact that it’s essentially a kill or be killed scenario, really reminds me of Danganronpa. The bulk of the main game is solid. I love the use of unconventional methods for gameplay like altering some game settings to deter death, really love how games like this get innovative with their gameplay elements. The story has a timeline, and you can lose yourself over worrying what happens when, especially in a mystery-esque game like this.
The game was great, until near the end where I kind of got a bit bored and wanted the game to finish. The final plot reveal was hella boring and probably is the main reason this game gets a four star rating. Also, I personally have a minor gripe with some of the sprites and their lips (I’m sooo picky but it’s just something that kept annoying me). That didn’t really detract anything for me, it was just extremely noticeable.
Overall, a great game, with a few blunders. Also, Erio is peak and must be protected at all costs.
✅ Positives:
• Creative meta elements to its story
• Good atmosphere and music
• Well done supernatural premise and lore
• Very detailed descriptions in Files and Persons of Interest made it easy to keep track of all the info you learn throughout the game
❎ Negatives:
• A bit… dull I suppose? The game has a strong start with its horror focus on curse bearers trying to gather soul dregs off each other, but then the game goes to daytime and just kinda drops that since the curses only work at night. Basically means the majority of the game from there is just a more predictable detective story, not bad but also not as compelling with its characters personally
• The mysteries were interesting but the endings were underwhelming
• Minor gripe but having to click the same dialogue option multiple times until it exhausted all the text to proceed got annoying
• Creative meta elements to its story
• Good atmosphere and music
• Well done supernatural premise and lore
• Very detailed descriptions in Files and Persons of Interest made it easy to keep track of all the info you learn throughout the game
❎ Negatives:
• A bit… dull I suppose? The game has a strong start with its horror focus on curse bearers trying to gather soul dregs off each other, but then the game goes to daytime and just kinda drops that since the curses only work at night. Basically means the majority of the game from there is just a more predictable detective story, not bad but also not as compelling with its characters personally
• The mysteries were interesting but the endings were underwhelming
• Minor gripe but having to click the same dialogue option multiple times until it exhausted all the text to proceed got annoying
was extremely excited to play this as soon as i heard about it and for good reason, it fucking slayed. wonderful artwork/character designs, music, and central mystery.
the central scenario with the Rite of Resurrection sounded like it was going to lead to some high impact stuff emotionally (which it truly did) but what was more unexpected was how spooky this got. definitely some "oh shit!" moments in more than a few places.
slotting in comfortably as not only GOTY for 2023 (which i honestly don't see shifting but i'll keep looking) but also my favorite horror tinged VN that i've played. can't wait to come back to it after some time passes.
the central scenario with the Rite of Resurrection sounded like it was going to lead to some high impact stuff emotionally (which it truly did) but what was more unexpected was how spooky this got. definitely some "oh shit!" moments in more than a few places.
slotting in comfortably as not only GOTY for 2023 (which i honestly don't see shifting but i'll keep looking) but also my favorite horror tinged VN that i've played. can't wait to come back to it after some time passes.
This must have had an unexpected scheduling or budgetary setback because after the exceptional first couple of hours it nosedives hard into jargon-heavy procedural territory. Once the game hits the daylight section, it brims over with red herrings, underexplored themes, and off-screen endings; it abandons its clever use of 3D perspective and the creeping sense of dread that perspective handily abets; and it tacks the compulsory VN metatextuality onto the ending as if it's embarrassed to even acknowledge it. The characters remain richly written and expressively designed, and you get an interesting feint toward disentangling common cultural mythology as a problem-solving method (think King of Dragon Pass), but when so many of its other ideas fail to even get off the ground, its successes feel accidental. Really disappointing.
another shadow drop i'm positively impressed with! i really adore the showa era vibe and sound along with japanese folklore and i love how detailed everything was, i absorbed the whole atmosphere and read all the files i got along the way. also another thing i really appreciate is the sprites, they're really expressive and not repetitive like it can get in most visual novels. the characters are very good, i enjoyed what i got out of them!
the only thing i didn't like was that at moments the game got a bit predictable and some plot points were a bit rushed but honestly this game got me seated and engaged for a fair bit of time so i won't be getting too critical of it. it's fun, it's got a vibe going on and it's neatly packed and wrapped up :) a recommendation for anyone who likes zero escape!
the only thing i didn't like was that at moments the game got a bit predictable and some plot points were a bit rushed but honestly this game got me seated and engaged for a fair bit of time so i won't be getting too critical of it. it's fun, it's got a vibe going on and it's neatly packed and wrapped up :) a recommendation for anyone who likes zero escape!
interesting and spooky vn with a gripping mystery
the ayame jumpscares were awesome...
the ayame jumpscares were awesome...
a wonderfully playful mystery.
i went in expecting something a little bit more high risk and time management-y, but came away content with the more linear structure, as missing any shred of information about the characters or world was unacceptable to me.
a special thank you to Kobayashi's bold and expressive character artwork, and to Iwasaki's hauntingly sincere score, both massively contributing to and complimenting Honjo's vibe.
take control of your fate and play this game! i hope to cross paths with the Storyteller once again someday soon...
i went in expecting something a little bit more high risk and time management-y, but came away content with the more linear structure, as missing any shred of information about the characters or world was unacceptable to me.
a special thank you to Kobayashi's bold and expressive character artwork, and to Iwasaki's hauntingly sincere score, both massively contributing to and complimenting Honjo's vibe.
take control of your fate and play this game! i hope to cross paths with the Storyteller once again someday soon...
God, I really, really wanted to like this game. It has, far and away, one of the best prologues in recent memory. Its initial concept—surrounding a set of mysterious stones that can kill a person when certain conditions are fulfilled, and the possibility of resurecting a loved one through killing—is extremely compelling, with the resulting confrontations coming off like a mix of stand battles and poker.
But this game has no idea what it wants to be. Is it an intricate death game filled with weird powers and weirder characters? a fourth-wall breaking uchikoshi-style meta horror? a police procedural period piece? hell, is it a tourism sponsored edutainment game tinged with nostalgia for Japan's Showa era? I don't know! And neither does the game!
Those curse stone confrontations that fuel the prologue? They completely disappear for the rest of the story, as most of the stones either start off in the hands of—or are slowly collected by—people who refuse to use them, and then that vast majority of the game takes place in the daytime when they actively can't be used. Really interesting, complex adult characters dealing with loss like Harue and Tsutsumi? Ignored so the game can focus on high school girl hijinks and a parade of ever thinner villainous caricatures. Every time the game builds up a head of steam, it takes a sharp left turn right into a brick wall, killing the pacing and starting all the way over again.
And it sucks because when the game works, it really works. Its early color-TV aesthetic is fantastic, giving everything a ghostly, phosphorescent VHS vibe. The few bits of character development we do get with Harue and Tsutsumi are extremely well done, painting complex portraits of parenthood and grief with exceedingly terse dialogue. And the handful of meta moments really are charming—although definitely overstated, this isn't Inscryption, there's maybe three in the whole game and they're pretty small.
The charms are there but they're not enough to make this weird little mess cohere. I hope more VN experiments like this are released, this one just wasn't for me.
Also of note, this is maybe the only VN I've ever played that has actual jump-scares, be warned.
But this game has no idea what it wants to be. Is it an intricate death game filled with weird powers and weirder characters? a fourth-wall breaking uchikoshi-style meta horror? a police procedural period piece? hell, is it a tourism sponsored edutainment game tinged with nostalgia for Japan's Showa era? I don't know! And neither does the game!
Those curse stone confrontations that fuel the prologue? They completely disappear for the rest of the story, as most of the stones either start off in the hands of—or are slowly collected by—people who refuse to use them, and then that vast majority of the game takes place in the daytime when they actively can't be used. Really interesting, complex adult characters dealing with loss like Harue and Tsutsumi? Ignored so the game can focus on high school girl hijinks and a parade of ever thinner villainous caricatures. Every time the game builds up a head of steam, it takes a sharp left turn right into a brick wall, killing the pacing and starting all the way over again.
And it sucks because when the game works, it really works. Its early color-TV aesthetic is fantastic, giving everything a ghostly, phosphorescent VHS vibe. The few bits of character development we do get with Harue and Tsutsumi are extremely well done, painting complex portraits of parenthood and grief with exceedingly terse dialogue. And the handful of meta moments really are charming—although definitely overstated, this isn't Inscryption, there's maybe three in the whole game and they're pretty small.
The charms are there but they're not enough to make this weird little mess cohere. I hope more VN experiments like this are released, this one just wasn't for me.
Also of note, this is maybe the only VN I've ever played that has actual jump-scares, be warned.
i dont even know if this is the first vn to use google streetview 360 camera but if it is its awesome and if its not its also awesome
a visual novel... but its also slophorror where you turn the camera straight into jumpscares? okay.. you might be on to something
possibly the best thing square enix has made that isnt a rpg or related to a rpg since.. since.. uh.. hold on i'm checking the list of games for candidates.. uh ever i guess
yakko is cute! mio is cute! ayame is cute! yoko is cute! harue is cute! erio is cute! hitomi is cute! michiyo is cute! mayu is cute!
a visual novel... but its also slophorror where you turn the camera straight into jumpscares? okay.. you might be on to something
possibly the best thing square enix has made that isnt a rpg or related to a rpg since.. since.. uh.. hold on i'm checking the list of games for candidates.. uh ever i guess
yakko is cute! mio is cute! ayame is cute! yoko is cute! harue is cute! erio is cute! hitomi is cute! michiyo is cute! mayu is cute!
I enjoyed this. Nice art and presentation, a good mystery with characters I liked following, and some meta elements that I'm always a little bit of a sucker for (they make for a few cool puzzles but I wish they would have done more with it). Reminded me of 999 a bit, and I appreciated how this clocked in at a well-paced ten hours without tons of bullshit padding <3 though maybe it should have been longer?
I was disappointed with how some plot points/twists either didn't make a lot of sense or just felt... Underwhelming and a little stupid with how they resolved. There are themes, characters, and potential subplots that are established and then never resolved or explored in any depth. I spent the last few hours expecting some emotional payoff that never ended up coming, and I think this has the potential to be a game I look back on less fondly with time. I enjoyed most of my time playing it as I played it but thinking back on the whole narrative with context is reminding me of all the little plot threads and themes that underwhelmed me—it's a good game that could have been great! The soundtrack kicks ass though. No notes.
I was disappointed with how some plot points/twists either didn't make a lot of sense or just felt... Underwhelming and a little stupid with how they resolved. There are themes, characters, and potential subplots that are established and then never resolved or explored in any depth. I spent the last few hours expecting some emotional payoff that never ended up coming, and I think this has the potential to be a game I look back on less fondly with time. I enjoyed most of my time playing it as I played it but thinking back on the whole narrative with context is reminding me of all the little plot threads and themes that underwhelmed me—it's a good game that could have been great! The soundtrack kicks ass though. No notes.
that was fantastic! i was so intrigued by this game through majority of my time playing. i was about an hour into a secret sleepover society stream vod of this game and just had to buy it, it was definitely worth it! been playing this nearly non-stop for about two-three days
sometime when i was between a third and halfway through the game i found myself getting a bit underwhelmed by the impression i was getting of the mystery, but after a while longer i got my interest captured again and i was once again hooked! it wasn't so bad that i would've quit playing or anything, i was just running a bit low on steam as i felt like the story got in a bit of a rut and seemed to stray from the aspects that initially piqued my interest in the prologue. thankfully that didn't last long! the game does lose half a star for me because of this, though.
without saying much, i LOVED the breaking of the fourth wall. genius. there were a few moments where i took a long time to piece things together and would get things wrong but it usually only took me max 2 tries before i understood, so i'm very proud of myself for not turning to a guide at any point (because i am very prone to do so)! i got all the endings on my own and i feel very accomplished lol. the only thing missing is i didn't get all of the mocking birds, i sometimes just completely forgot to look for them. since i played all of this in just a few days, i think i'm going to take a more leisurely stroll through the story chart to find the remaining birds
i really liked that this game lets you figure things out on your own and while it does give you helpful hints from time to time, the hints didn't come across as overbearing to me at any point. they always felt more like they'd make me wonder "huh, that was an odd thing to say" to push me into thinking about it further without being too obvious. really liked that
loved how the ending plays out! the final message really speaks to me. looking forward to a sequel!
sometime when i was between a third and halfway through the game i found myself getting a bit underwhelmed by the impression i was getting of the mystery, but after a while longer i got my interest captured again and i was once again hooked! it wasn't so bad that i would've quit playing or anything, i was just running a bit low on steam as i felt like the story got in a bit of a rut and seemed to stray from the aspects that initially piqued my interest in the prologue. thankfully that didn't last long! the game does lose half a star for me because of this, though.
without saying much, i LOVED the breaking of the fourth wall. genius. there were a few moments where i took a long time to piece things together and would get things wrong but it usually only took me max 2 tries before i understood, so i'm very proud of myself for not turning to a guide at any point (because i am very prone to do so)! i got all the endings on my own and i feel very accomplished lol. the only thing missing is i didn't get all of the mocking birds, i sometimes just completely forgot to look for them. since i played all of this in just a few days, i think i'm going to take a more leisurely stroll through the story chart to find the remaining birds
i really liked that this game lets you figure things out on your own and while it does give you helpful hints from time to time, the hints didn't come across as overbearing to me at any point. they always felt more like they'd make me wonder "huh, that was an odd thing to say" to push me into thinking about it further without being too obvious. really liked that
loved how the ending plays out! the final message really speaks to me. looking forward to a sequel!
This review contains spoilers
Me when the mastermind is exposed and goes back to being dead in the span of 5 minutes without getting a single line of dialogue after her reveal.
Paranormasight is a horror and mystery-themed visual novel/adventure game hybrid that stars multiple protagonists with intertwining stories. The game has a ton of really unique and strong ideas both narratively and mechanically. Unfortunately, this is ultimately its biggest downfall, as the game is rather overambitious. It tries to do way too much, and it doesn’t have the time to explore all of its ideas in a satisfying manner. As a result, the experience feels rushed and rather unfulfilling.
The game takes place in the city of Honjo in 1980’s Japan, a time when fear of the occult was on the rise. Throughout the city, several people with an interest in a ritual known as the Rite of Resurrection, which allows whoever performs it to bring someone back from the dead, come into possession of cursed stones. These cursed stones provide them with the ability to inflict a curse upon others if their victims meet specific conditions. Everyone in possession of a cursed stone must use it in order to kill people and obtain enough “soul dregs” from their murders to be able to perform the Rite of Resurrection, and other cursed stone users provide far more soul dregs than regular people. As a result, the cursed stone users must compete with one another in order to be able to use the Rite for their own purposes. You play as several protagonists, each with their own narratives that intertwine with one another.
The gameplay is heavily reminiscent of the investigation segments from the Ace Attorney games and A.I. The Somnium Files. You explore environments that have various objects you can observe and people you can talk to. Normally in these games, locations are comprised of just one or two screens that you can swap back and forth between, but in Paranormasight, the locations are actually full 360 degree environments that you can turn around in. This makes the places you visit a lot more immersive, and early on, the game establishes a sense of paranoia with a couple of jumpscares from behind you, giving you the impression that you need to be vigilant, as you can never be sure whether or not there’s something or someone behind you.
There are other unique mechanics as well. There’s one mechanic in particular that I thought was really clever and executed extremely well, but I can’t really talk about it because I feel like it’s a bit of a spoiler. Aside from that, there’s the story chart, which is where you can view and pick between the different characters and their stories. Sometimes, you’ll need to perform actions in or gain knowledge from one character’s story in order to progress another’s. This generally works rather well, and is one of the game’s biggest strengths. However, it can get convoluted at times, especially during a section in one specific character’s story, which hinges on experiencing one of the most random, out of pocket, highly specific conversations ever in another character’s story.
Despite these unique and well thought out mechanics, the game barely utilizes them at all. As a matter of fact, you don’t even really do that much investigating in general. The vast majority of this game is just talking to people. You rarely need to inspect areas, and that cool and well executed mechanic I mentioned earlier is only used like - twice throughout the entire game. The game as a whole feels too short, despite being a little over ten hours. It isn’t given the time it needs to explore its mechanical ideas to a satisfying extent.
This problem applies to the story as well. The story in general is very heavy on exposition. It’s heavily rooted in Japanese folklore as well as the culture of the era the game takes place in. This means that characters constantly have to explain said folklore, such as what the seven curses are, how they work, the history of the city of Honjo itself, etc. This is in addition to having to explain the different characters, factions, and events unique to the story. Exposition ultimately takes up a huge chunk of the overall narrative, which makes it feel like you’re waiting almost the entire time for the game to get on its feet and kick things off. But it never really does, and then it starts to wrap things up when it feels like there should be a lot more to it. Potentially impactful aspects of characters, certain plot threads, as well as social issues the game brings up aren’t explored to a satisfying degree, making the whole thing rather flat as a result.
I think what ultimately harms the game the most is the prologue with Shogo. It inflates expectations way too much by introducing the game’s mechanics and establishing a tone as well as a majority of the plot threads that you expect the game to have major payoffs for. However, that ends up not being the case at all, and it’s really disappointing.
I really like its presentation. The character art looks nice, the music is appropriately moody, and I think it's really cool how the whole thing is framed as if you were watching it on a colored television set from this time period. It's one of the better elements of the game, and plays a role in keeping you immersed in the story.
In the end, Paranormasight didn’t really leave me feeling much of anything at all. While I wouldn’t say that the game does anything bad, I can’t help but feel that the experience as a whole was rather mediocre. It promises a spooky and thrilling mystery, but it never really lives up to that promise. It is still an interesting read, but it evoked little out of me in terms of emotion. It has some unique spins on adventure game mechanics, but these mechanics are extremely underutilized. The whole game oozes potential that it sadly never quite lives up to.
The game takes place in the city of Honjo in 1980’s Japan, a time when fear of the occult was on the rise. Throughout the city, several people with an interest in a ritual known as the Rite of Resurrection, which allows whoever performs it to bring someone back from the dead, come into possession of cursed stones. These cursed stones provide them with the ability to inflict a curse upon others if their victims meet specific conditions. Everyone in possession of a cursed stone must use it in order to kill people and obtain enough “soul dregs” from their murders to be able to perform the Rite of Resurrection, and other cursed stone users provide far more soul dregs than regular people. As a result, the cursed stone users must compete with one another in order to be able to use the Rite for their own purposes. You play as several protagonists, each with their own narratives that intertwine with one another.
The gameplay is heavily reminiscent of the investigation segments from the Ace Attorney games and A.I. The Somnium Files. You explore environments that have various objects you can observe and people you can talk to. Normally in these games, locations are comprised of just one or two screens that you can swap back and forth between, but in Paranormasight, the locations are actually full 360 degree environments that you can turn around in. This makes the places you visit a lot more immersive, and early on, the game establishes a sense of paranoia with a couple of jumpscares from behind you, giving you the impression that you need to be vigilant, as you can never be sure whether or not there’s something or someone behind you.
There are other unique mechanics as well. There’s one mechanic in particular that I thought was really clever and executed extremely well, but I can’t really talk about it because I feel like it’s a bit of a spoiler. Aside from that, there’s the story chart, which is where you can view and pick between the different characters and their stories. Sometimes, you’ll need to perform actions in or gain knowledge from one character’s story in order to progress another’s. This generally works rather well, and is one of the game’s biggest strengths. However, it can get convoluted at times, especially during a section in one specific character’s story, which hinges on experiencing one of the most random, out of pocket, highly specific conversations ever in another character’s story.
Despite these unique and well thought out mechanics, the game barely utilizes them at all. As a matter of fact, you don’t even really do that much investigating in general. The vast majority of this game is just talking to people. You rarely need to inspect areas, and that cool and well executed mechanic I mentioned earlier is only used like - twice throughout the entire game. The game as a whole feels too short, despite being a little over ten hours. It isn’t given the time it needs to explore its mechanical ideas to a satisfying extent.
This problem applies to the story as well. The story in general is very heavy on exposition. It’s heavily rooted in Japanese folklore as well as the culture of the era the game takes place in. This means that characters constantly have to explain said folklore, such as what the seven curses are, how they work, the history of the city of Honjo itself, etc. This is in addition to having to explain the different characters, factions, and events unique to the story. Exposition ultimately takes up a huge chunk of the overall narrative, which makes it feel like you’re waiting almost the entire time for the game to get on its feet and kick things off. But it never really does, and then it starts to wrap things up when it feels like there should be a lot more to it. Potentially impactful aspects of characters, certain plot threads, as well as social issues the game brings up aren’t explored to a satisfying degree, making the whole thing rather flat as a result.
I think what ultimately harms the game the most is the prologue with Shogo. It inflates expectations way too much by introducing the game’s mechanics and establishing a tone as well as a majority of the plot threads that you expect the game to have major payoffs for. However, that ends up not being the case at all, and it’s really disappointing.
I really like its presentation. The character art looks nice, the music is appropriately moody, and I think it's really cool how the whole thing is framed as if you were watching it on a colored television set from this time period. It's one of the better elements of the game, and plays a role in keeping you immersed in the story.
In the end, Paranormasight didn’t really leave me feeling much of anything at all. While I wouldn’t say that the game does anything bad, I can’t help but feel that the experience as a whole was rather mediocre. It promises a spooky and thrilling mystery, but it never really lives up to that promise. It is still an interesting read, but it evoked little out of me in terms of emotion. It has some unique spins on adventure game mechanics, but these mechanics are extremely underutilized. The whole game oozes potential that it sadly never quite lives up to.
What if....
What if you had one chance to use the secret art of resurrecting the dead?
Yes, if you had the power to bring someone back to life, one time and one time only...!
What would you do?
Paranormasight, while not entirely grasping the reigns on its horror theming, has still grown to be one of my favorite mystery virtual novels behind Ace Attorney. I would like to thank fellow backloggd user Cadensia for encouraging me to play this game, her incredible review is worth the read regardless if youre interested in playing. Paranormasight is most definitley the most ambitious and fresh feeling game I have played in a while, taking several new concepts i have never encountered before and turning them into a distinct style of VN that leaves me desperate to see more of. While i generally feel like some of these concepts had more potential, each and every aspect of this game is thoroughly utilized near constantly. It is a game that never became boring, predictable. Every little thing from the flavor text to the menus was purposeful and smart. It is a thinking game, a very intelligent game that had me on a hook until the very end. The 360° Google Earth-like camera in particular fascinated me, it is an absolutely ingenious idea for both a horror and mystery VN alike. Though, with the horror aspect, i feel my biggest disappointment lies.
I will be honest, this games biggest strength is its intelligent character writing, artwork, and unconventional puzzle solutions. More on the topic of the characters in the next paragraph, but i feel like the scary aspects of this game are left woefully untouched from how tense the opening route was. The 360 camera control was anxiety inducing, having to manually swing your head around to investigate left me feeling incredibly open and vulnerable. Your character has a back, a place they cannot see, and the game takes full advantage of that fact both in terms of puzzle solving and well earned jumpscares. A core part of the game revolves around an object called a curse stone. Each carries its own unique curse with its own requirements to set off, kill enough people with it and you can access the Rite of Resurrection. The first part of this game had such a unique idea, trying to figure out other curse bearer's abilities while also attempting to discard them with your own. Its ingenious, and not to mention that Paranormasight is one of the few games that does 4th wall breaking well, with many of the puzzle solutions being something only the player can access. As the game goes on and new protagonists are introduced with their own curse abilities, i thought the entire game would be centered around the smart use of these stones to aid in storytelling. Deciding if one should or should not use their stone to take someones life seems like a given when it comes to a game with a story chart, though unfortunately once day breaks this entire mechanic is dropped mostly all together along with the outright horror atmosphere (though the game remains very tense). The rest of Paranormasight is not bad by any means, but i do really wish there were more scares set up with the paranormal element.
Yes, if you are interested in this game please know that it shouldnt be solely for a scary time. Paranormasight's largest strength by far is its stellar wriitng and excellent visual direcrion. This is absolutely the most important paragraph in my review, because i just cant underestimate how wonderful this game's writing is. So many games- even ones centered around reading- fail to break the mold in any capacity; not as well written as a book, not interesting as a game. So many character stereotypes rehashed again and again, both in writing and design. Paranormasight's writing takes on a completely new charisma of its own... character dynamics I have never seen depicted before, realized in such a grounded way that feels real and tangible. I was constantly endeared and amazed by it. Its hard to describe, but its almost like a person you might meet in your actual life: there is no defining them or their actions by only a few descriptive traits. Gone are the days where we have such thrilling VN characters such as Girl (crazy mean though attractive) or Girl (shy) or High School Boy Jersey Jacket (jock) and his friend High School Boy Glasses (he is smart).
Paranormasight is where it's at, from a gay private detective to a man who is struggling very much trying to explain his babied wife, it does not leave one wanting for diversity. The premise of the mystery is also consistently present, always leaving you thinking and hanging on each and every word. But more than anything i am deeply thankful and touched by the delivery of the female cast. Its something i dont expect from any video game whatsoever, nonetheless a Square Enix title. Half the characters in this game are women, and theyre all so wonderful. Visually distinct... they all have different features and styles, down to the way their bodies are shaped. They're all nuanced and contained in a way that is exactly equal to writing and positions male charactes recieve. They are interesting, cunning, thinking and endearing. They are shown to me as human people, and this is an incredibly rare thing to behold in any artistic medium. I am very very happy i played this game to see such a thing, once more i can not understate just how thoughtful and interactive the writing is.
Paranormasight a very precious game in the world of virtual novels (my new term) and a very exciting one. I hope this team gets to make more of whatever genre they feel like venturing into with a proper budget, but in my opinion even with limited resources they already shot 99% of horror/mystery VNs out of the water. This game will leave a very large impression on me for a long time. I already miss my gay detective and rugged school girl friends.
What if you had one chance to use the secret art of resurrecting the dead?
Yes, if you had the power to bring someone back to life, one time and one time only...!
What would you do?
Paranormasight, while not entirely grasping the reigns on its horror theming, has still grown to be one of my favorite mystery virtual novels behind Ace Attorney. I would like to thank fellow backloggd user Cadensia for encouraging me to play this game, her incredible review is worth the read regardless if youre interested in playing. Paranormasight is most definitley the most ambitious and fresh feeling game I have played in a while, taking several new concepts i have never encountered before and turning them into a distinct style of VN that leaves me desperate to see more of. While i generally feel like some of these concepts had more potential, each and every aspect of this game is thoroughly utilized near constantly. It is a game that never became boring, predictable. Every little thing from the flavor text to the menus was purposeful and smart. It is a thinking game, a very intelligent game that had me on a hook until the very end. The 360° Google Earth-like camera in particular fascinated me, it is an absolutely ingenious idea for both a horror and mystery VN alike. Though, with the horror aspect, i feel my biggest disappointment lies.
I will be honest, this games biggest strength is its intelligent character writing, artwork, and unconventional puzzle solutions. More on the topic of the characters in the next paragraph, but i feel like the scary aspects of this game are left woefully untouched from how tense the opening route was. The 360 camera control was anxiety inducing, having to manually swing your head around to investigate left me feeling incredibly open and vulnerable. Your character has a back, a place they cannot see, and the game takes full advantage of that fact both in terms of puzzle solving and well earned jumpscares. A core part of the game revolves around an object called a curse stone. Each carries its own unique curse with its own requirements to set off, kill enough people with it and you can access the Rite of Resurrection. The first part of this game had such a unique idea, trying to figure out other curse bearer's abilities while also attempting to discard them with your own. Its ingenious, and not to mention that Paranormasight is one of the few games that does 4th wall breaking well, with many of the puzzle solutions being something only the player can access. As the game goes on and new protagonists are introduced with their own curse abilities, i thought the entire game would be centered around the smart use of these stones to aid in storytelling. Deciding if one should or should not use their stone to take someones life seems like a given when it comes to a game with a story chart, though unfortunately once day breaks this entire mechanic is dropped mostly all together along with the outright horror atmosphere (though the game remains very tense). The rest of Paranormasight is not bad by any means, but i do really wish there were more scares set up with the paranormal element.
Yes, if you are interested in this game please know that it shouldnt be solely for a scary time. Paranormasight's largest strength by far is its stellar wriitng and excellent visual direcrion. This is absolutely the most important paragraph in my review, because i just cant underestimate how wonderful this game's writing is. So many games- even ones centered around reading- fail to break the mold in any capacity; not as well written as a book, not interesting as a game. So many character stereotypes rehashed again and again, both in writing and design. Paranormasight's writing takes on a completely new charisma of its own... character dynamics I have never seen depicted before, realized in such a grounded way that feels real and tangible. I was constantly endeared and amazed by it. Its hard to describe, but its almost like a person you might meet in your actual life: there is no defining them or their actions by only a few descriptive traits. Gone are the days where we have such thrilling VN characters such as Girl (crazy mean though attractive) or Girl (shy) or High School Boy Jersey Jacket (jock) and his friend High School Boy Glasses (he is smart).
Paranormasight is where it's at, from a gay private detective to a man who is struggling very much trying to explain his babied wife, it does not leave one wanting for diversity. The premise of the mystery is also consistently present, always leaving you thinking and hanging on each and every word. But more than anything i am deeply thankful and touched by the delivery of the female cast. Its something i dont expect from any video game whatsoever, nonetheless a Square Enix title. Half the characters in this game are women, and theyre all so wonderful. Visually distinct... they all have different features and styles, down to the way their bodies are shaped. They're all nuanced and contained in a way that is exactly equal to writing and positions male charactes recieve. They are interesting, cunning, thinking and endearing. They are shown to me as human people, and this is an incredibly rare thing to behold in any artistic medium. I am very very happy i played this game to see such a thing, once more i can not understate just how thoughtful and interactive the writing is.
Paranormasight a very precious game in the world of virtual novels (my new term) and a very exciting one. I hope this team gets to make more of whatever genre they feel like venturing into with a proper budget, but in my opinion even with limited resources they already shot 99% of horror/mystery VNs out of the water. This game will leave a very large impression on me for a long time. I already miss my gay detective and rugged school girl friends.
A story that is at odds with itself. The game is truly at its best when its analyzing the malaise of the time period that the story takes place in. Sumina is a wonderful city with rich history but the rapid industrialization post WWII has left it polluted, both in a physical and metaphysical sense. There's a moment where two main characters stand on a bridge discussing the nature of the Sumina river. The Sumina River in this case is treated as the gateway between life and the afterlife, though it has been polluted through decades of industrialization. The city is littered with poverty. One of the main locations is a high school of impoverished students who have no consistency in teachers since they can only hire people on a temporary basis. Students with no prospects become ruffians, and are treated as unteachable animals that exist simply to be isolated from society. Members of the community try to treat them with care such as the policeman Hajime who treats his job much more like a social worker than an ACAB. The tapestry here is vivid.
Often the biggest sign towards this pollution is the powerlessness of women in this society, from Sumeo not given the option to pay the ransom for her child or Michyo forced into awful circumstances stemming purely from the death of her father. Women cannot not choose their circumstances and are only finally given some amount of power once given the powers of the curse echos. @Cadensia did a wonderful job adding a historical context to the story itself and how it fits into the sociocultural frameworks of gender, socioeconomics, etc. It's much better than what I could put together discussing the gender elements at play here so go give it a read!
The problem here is while the atmosphere of Sumina and certain plotlines are impeccable the story ultimately falls flat in terms of both theming and the mystery. Did you know that the only way you can learn the motivations of the true villain is through a File in the menu? Those motivations in themselves are also pretty whack. The story is best when looked through the lense of Sumue, a woman who is both trying to gain power that she's lost in society as well stubborn in her desire to ressurect her child. Often depicted as obsessed and morally questionable, she ultimately gets that ethos dissected into three different endings for her, all of which feel complete and conclusive. On the other hand, the villain? Abjectly evil. Decidedly feminine. Depicted with an obsession on pride which while being a fine villanous crutch is ironic when at one moment in the end a main male character does a "noble sacrifice" of sorts based entirely in his pride. While the themes identify gender and the power that men have in society as a root of so many issues, it in itself does not treat the male and female characters equally in its final moments.
As soon as the story tosses away the morally complex main characters to focus on the morally one sided villanous opposition it falls flat on its face. The mystery becomes unengaging, the plot threads begin to unravel, and ultimately the themes of the story lack consistency. Sumue cannot exist in the same story as Ashino, unless the thought process is that motherhood justified her pride or added some extra layer that makes it more morally complex than Ashinos desire to stay beautiful.
Ultimately the story leaves me frustrated. It is beautiful in so many small moments. It frames its historical context so well and the themes are so rich at first, but its fixation on morality is its downfall. The story does not treat its characters equally, which is unfortunate since all the problems in Sumina stem from its inequity.
Often the biggest sign towards this pollution is the powerlessness of women in this society, from Sumeo not given the option to pay the ransom for her child or Michyo forced into awful circumstances stemming purely from the death of her father. Women cannot not choose their circumstances and are only finally given some amount of power once given the powers of the curse echos. @Cadensia did a wonderful job adding a historical context to the story itself and how it fits into the sociocultural frameworks of gender, socioeconomics, etc. It's much better than what I could put together discussing the gender elements at play here so go give it a read!
The problem here is while the atmosphere of Sumina and certain plotlines are impeccable the story ultimately falls flat in terms of both theming and the mystery. Did you know that the only way you can learn the motivations of the true villain is through a File in the menu? Those motivations in themselves are also pretty whack. The story is best when looked through the lense of Sumue, a woman who is both trying to gain power that she's lost in society as well stubborn in her desire to ressurect her child. Often depicted as obsessed and morally questionable, she ultimately gets that ethos dissected into three different endings for her, all of which feel complete and conclusive. On the other hand, the villain? Abjectly evil. Decidedly feminine. Depicted with an obsession on pride which while being a fine villanous crutch is ironic when at one moment in the end a main male character does a "noble sacrifice" of sorts based entirely in his pride. While the themes identify gender and the power that men have in society as a root of so many issues, it in itself does not treat the male and female characters equally in its final moments.
As soon as the story tosses away the morally complex main characters to focus on the morally one sided villanous opposition it falls flat on its face. The mystery becomes unengaging, the plot threads begin to unravel, and ultimately the themes of the story lack consistency. Sumue cannot exist in the same story as Ashino, unless the thought process is that motherhood justified her pride or added some extra layer that makes it more morally complex than Ashinos desire to stay beautiful.
Ultimately the story leaves me frustrated. It is beautiful in so many small moments. It frames its historical context so well and the themes are so rich at first, but its fixation on morality is its downfall. The story does not treat its characters equally, which is unfortunate since all the problems in Sumina stem from its inequity.
The most evocative facial expressions video games have produced since Hotel Dusk
This review contains spoilers
First of all, the presentation is wonderful, some of the best I have ever seen in a VN. (Although I don’t understand the apparently industry-wide allergy to using curly quotes and apostrophes.) On the basis of vibes, this is a five-star game. The soundtrack in particular is lovely.
Unfortunately a VN is not just an audiovisual experience, but first and foremost a story, and as a story, Paranormasight is...a lot. On one hand, I appreciate that, as visual novels go, this one is mercifully short, only 10-15 hours. On the other hand, there are so many heavy themes in this game that wind up underserved by the story, I...I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I...I think I wish it were longer?!
Well, some room to breathe might have helped, but the issues with the writing run quite a bit deeper, one of the main ones being that Ishiyama Takanari (credited both as director and sole writer) is unable to portray extreme emotions or psychological states. The characters work fine as archetypes—you got your gruff daddy cop, spunky schoolgirl, eccentric private eye, wealthy housewife, etc.—but their lack of human depth becomes obvious as soon as the emotional stakes are raised. As a result the darker and more lurid aspects of the story come off as cheap and often icky exploitation.
Paranormasight is not shy about including some of the most horrific shit that can happen to a human being: the lore contains a graphic parallel to the real-life torture and murder of Furuta Junka (in fact multiple children in the game are kidnapped, tortured, and murdered); and a girl violently coerced into participating in the murder of a child is later raped by a teacher threatening to expose her, and then summarily run over by a car. Bleak stuff! But rather than showing any genuine interest in how these horrors might affect somebody—like a grieving mother, or a teenager wracked with guilt after learning that her friend was suffering unimaginable abuse—the game seems more invested in unserious twists and gotcha moments. Like, hey, you know that girl you thought died by suicide because she was suffering unimaginable abuse? Turns out she was actually run over by a car!
(Half the plot hinging on a random hit-and-run is maybe the worst bit of writing in the game, but it is rivaled by the final mind-boggling twist of...aha, turns out you already killed the villain, because part of you knew she was the villain, but then a different part of you unkilled her, so you could learn that killing is bad before you kill her again, or something? Lmao. Nothing in the prologue makes any sense whatsoever retroactively—like how is Shogo, the blandest man in the world, or the spirit within him, or whatever, supposed to be this scion of good in the battle between good and evil when he/you immediately embark[s] on an unrepentant murder spree?)
The more low-key story beats, like Tetsuo’s absent-father angst, or the sinister corporate machinations of Hihaku Soaps, end up tragically overshadowed by Ishiyama’s insistence on explaining his dumb paranormal rules down to the smallest punctilio. Like, dude. I could not possibly give less of a shit about soul dregs! It is hard to care about the particularities of who is able to kill whom under what circumstances when these details so rarely matter. If the story played out as more of a pulpy death game, with the characters trying to outwit each other to survive, these details might feel more relevant (and the tone might feel more appropriate). But Paranormasight never quite finds its genre groove: it’s too predictable as a mystery, inconsistent as a thriller, and never fully commits to horror. In the end, it probably works best as the anime equivalent of a trashy ’80s buddy cop movie, or as a Monkey’s Paw-style morality play—although its ideas about morality are also pretty wonky. At one point it is suggested, with a straight face, that a kidnapping victim who kills her captor to escape might just as bad, deep down, as the guy who kidnaps her—a man who has tortured and murdered several people for kicks. Uh, what.
I almost kind of admire just how much this game bites off and tries to swallow without chewing. There’s a red herring suggesting police corruption will play a major role in the plot, while in the end it’s implied that people only hate the police because they are workaholics who don’t spend enough time with their kids (or because they’re just too darn good at catching the bad guys). There’s a subplot about juvenile gangs that raises the specter of all manner of social issues that are never addressed. There’s an unresolved tension with the story’s own attitude toward the supernatural; on one hand, it is very much real (and explained to death), but on the other, legends about the supernatural are falsely embellished memories of ordinary phenomena. There’s some meta stuff tossed into the blender, too, because why not. There’s the Storyteller’s gender being listed as “???” for some reason when he is only described using male pronouns (when gender-neutral pronouns are correctly used elsewhere in the script), an inconsistency I thought might be setting up for a twist, but no, it’s just weird. (I demand nonbinary Storyteller to be canon!!) There’s even more weird gender stuff when you consider that the original sin in this universe, unleashing unspeakable evil across generations, was a bad lady wanting to be pretty.
I would like to be charitable to this game because it is not without charm (and the music really does bang), but the story just feels so cynical and pointless. Paranormasight is a perfect illustration of what happens when a story is assembled from a list of popular tropes (or a “1980s Japan” wiki page) in order to check off boxes. It exists to elicit periodic “oooh, neat” reactions. Idk, maybe a game about horrifying child abuse should aim for something a little bit more?
Unfortunately a VN is not just an audiovisual experience, but first and foremost a story, and as a story, Paranormasight is...a lot. On one hand, I appreciate that, as visual novels go, this one is mercifully short, only 10-15 hours. On the other hand, there are so many heavy themes in this game that wind up underserved by the story, I...I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I...I think I wish it were longer?!
Well, some room to breathe might have helped, but the issues with the writing run quite a bit deeper, one of the main ones being that Ishiyama Takanari (credited both as director and sole writer) is unable to portray extreme emotions or psychological states. The characters work fine as archetypes—you got your gruff daddy cop, spunky schoolgirl, eccentric private eye, wealthy housewife, etc.—but their lack of human depth becomes obvious as soon as the emotional stakes are raised. As a result the darker and more lurid aspects of the story come off as cheap and often icky exploitation.
Paranormasight is not shy about including some of the most horrific shit that can happen to a human being: the lore contains a graphic parallel to the real-life torture and murder of Furuta Junka (in fact multiple children in the game are kidnapped, tortured, and murdered); and a girl violently coerced into participating in the murder of a child is later raped by a teacher threatening to expose her, and then summarily run over by a car. Bleak stuff! But rather than showing any genuine interest in how these horrors might affect somebody—like a grieving mother, or a teenager wracked with guilt after learning that her friend was suffering unimaginable abuse—the game seems more invested in unserious twists and gotcha moments. Like, hey, you know that girl you thought died by suicide because she was suffering unimaginable abuse? Turns out she was actually run over by a car!
(Half the plot hinging on a random hit-and-run is maybe the worst bit of writing in the game, but it is rivaled by the final mind-boggling twist of...aha, turns out you already killed the villain, because part of you knew she was the villain, but then a different part of you unkilled her, so you could learn that killing is bad before you kill her again, or something? Lmao. Nothing in the prologue makes any sense whatsoever retroactively—like how is Shogo, the blandest man in the world, or the spirit within him, or whatever, supposed to be this scion of good in the battle between good and evil when he/you immediately embark[s] on an unrepentant murder spree?)
The more low-key story beats, like Tetsuo’s absent-father angst, or the sinister corporate machinations of Hihaku Soaps, end up tragically overshadowed by Ishiyama’s insistence on explaining his dumb paranormal rules down to the smallest punctilio. Like, dude. I could not possibly give less of a shit about soul dregs! It is hard to care about the particularities of who is able to kill whom under what circumstances when these details so rarely matter. If the story played out as more of a pulpy death game, with the characters trying to outwit each other to survive, these details might feel more relevant (and the tone might feel more appropriate). But Paranormasight never quite finds its genre groove: it’s too predictable as a mystery, inconsistent as a thriller, and never fully commits to horror. In the end, it probably works best as the anime equivalent of a trashy ’80s buddy cop movie, or as a Monkey’s Paw-style morality play—although its ideas about morality are also pretty wonky. At one point it is suggested, with a straight face, that a kidnapping victim who kills her captor to escape might just as bad, deep down, as the guy who kidnaps her—a man who has tortured and murdered several people for kicks. Uh, what.
I almost kind of admire just how much this game bites off and tries to swallow without chewing. There’s a red herring suggesting police corruption will play a major role in the plot, while in the end it’s implied that people only hate the police because they are workaholics who don’t spend enough time with their kids (or because they’re just too darn good at catching the bad guys). There’s a subplot about juvenile gangs that raises the specter of all manner of social issues that are never addressed. There’s an unresolved tension with the story’s own attitude toward the supernatural; on one hand, it is very much real (and explained to death), but on the other, legends about the supernatural are falsely embellished memories of ordinary phenomena. There’s some meta stuff tossed into the blender, too, because why not. There’s the Storyteller’s gender being listed as “???” for some reason when he is only described using male pronouns (when gender-neutral pronouns are correctly used elsewhere in the script), an inconsistency I thought might be setting up for a twist, but no, it’s just weird. (I demand nonbinary Storyteller to be canon!!) There’s even more weird gender stuff when you consider that the original sin in this universe, unleashing unspeakable evil across generations, was a bad lady wanting to be pretty.
I would like to be charitable to this game because it is not without charm (and the music really does bang), but the story just feels so cynical and pointless. Paranormasight is a perfect illustration of what happens when a story is assembled from a list of popular tropes (or a “1980s Japan” wiki page) in order to check off boxes. It exists to elicit periodic “oooh, neat” reactions. Idk, maybe a game about horrifying child abuse should aim for something a little bit more?
Oh this was a delight.
In the 1980s, various citizens of the Honjo district is awakened to the spiritual realm. Their minds are infested with the final, murderous thoughts of nine separate spirits. When the civilians reawaken from the shock, they have been gifted curse stones with magical abilities. By using these curse stones, they can gather soul fragments from their victims. After gaining enough soul power, they can use the Rite of Resurrection to revive one person from the dead. With their own goals and motivations, the curse bearers begin a cat-and-mouse game to gain power over their enemies and complete the ritual.
The first hour of the game already slams you with what a creative enterprise this is going to be. Little visual tricks or savvy computer trickery. By starting the game with a fun “the game knows your username” goof, it establishes quickly that you need to think a couple levels deeper than just reading information. As the game kicks off and the stand battle royale begins, it encourages you to weaponize any trick at your disposal to gain victory.
That said, its hard not to feel a little disappointed when, after the first route ends, the mind game battles and the gameplay tricks kind of vanish. They’re still present to a certain degree, but the game becomes more focused on mystery solving as the heroes join together and pool their resources. These mechanics come back into play every now and then, but it’s not as constant as the initial hour of the game suggests.
It helps then that the game’s protagonists are so charming and endearing.
Shogo, plain audience insert, isn’t all that interesting, but acts as a key opener. He’s your generic ordinary vn man, which is why its so effective how quickly he resorts to murder. The way the curse stones shift priorities and prey on someone’s desires is subtle and devious, but it also emphasizes how easy it is for any of these people to become serial killers under these circumstances. He doesn’t have a lot going on, but it fills an important introduction to the more interesting characters.
Harue Shigima arrives quickly afterwards to cement herself as one of the more dangerous protagonists. A grieving mother, whose husband refused to pay ransom for their kidnapped son, out for revenge against the kidnapper and the most determined to pursue the Rite of Resurrection. She makes an instant impression with her baggy eyes, world-weary air. Its perfect that she’s paired with Richter, the eccentric private detective she’s hired for her investigations. He’s cartoonish and silly, but he’s also sincerely concerned about Harue’s stability. He brings her down to earth, humanizes her, and reigns her in from killing people willy-nilly.
In some ways, this can be a hindrance. The story’s logic means that no one can activate a curse during the day, which prevents the villains of the piece from launching a quick assault against the protagonists. But it also means Harue doesn’t get much of a chance to show off her willingness to murder. If she had more chances to launch some bad endings, she would fade into the background much less than she does. Even so, whenever the narrative returns to her goals, she instantly reminds you just how ruthless and stunning she can be in action.
Tetsuo Tsutsumi is the cop.
I always have mixed feelings about police officers in these kinds of stories. I understand it’s just part of mystery dramas that there’s gonna be a Heroic Police. You gotta leave the frustration at the door. Even so, when Tetsuo becomes the character who absolutely never uses his curse stone under any circumstances, to the point he can take on numerous curse stones without ever being influenced to kill… it’s a little annoying. His arc hits a lot of the expected beats. Heroic Gritty Cop Dad Too Busy For Family kind of thing.
What’s really devastating for that feeling is just how charming he is as a character. As the serious paragon, he’s frequently gets paired with the more ridiculous situations, constantly throwing him off his groove. Chasing down serial killers (potential or otherwise), put him in the same room as various people with flawed logic. He keeps expecting reason and gets increasingly baffled and unhinged as he reckons with the absurdity in his world. He’s fun to watch unravel. And, without getting into detail, the “good” ending makes the bold choice of leaving his life unfulfilled. He gets every answer he could ever want, he mends all his bridges, and everything’s wrapped up tidy in his main route. But, to get the best ending with the least deaths, he can’t learn those lessons. He drifts through life unhappy. If he’s going to be a Good Cop, he doesn’t get to be happy. That’s the sacrifice.
Yakko Sakazaki is amazing. Love this girl, 10/10. Following the alleged suicide of her best friend, Yakko embarks to uncover the truth. Unfailingly honest, quick-tempered, and always eager to get into a fight, Yakko’s an excellent driving force for the narrative. Much like Harue, as the heroes converge, there’s a risk of her falling into the background at times. But her bold personality and her determination to see things through add such a good layer for her to keep shoving her way back in, refusing to be ignored or let anyone else be ignored. One of the best optional little scenes is between Harue and Yakko, as most of the scene’s choices involve just letting characters exposit at each other. Instead, the two girls just quietly commiserate together with how overwhelming this all is and how they refuse to be left out of the narrative once they exposition is over. There’s a brief camaraderie there that works.
What also makes Yakko so compelling is how much more she wrestles with the power of the curse bearer. Shogo and Harue are chomping at the bit to use it, Tetsuo never gets tempted at all. Yakko becomes the center of this emotional conflict as she feels the immense temptation to hurt others. Knowing that her friend Michiyo could be revived, knowing that her killer could be out there, preys on her mind and wavers her resolve. She’s the most sincerely heroic of the cast and seeing how that heroism can tempt her towards murder gives her such excellent emotional drama to work with.
When I finished Centennial Case last year, I was hopeful that Square Enix would continue to seek out other developers to publish these non-AAA stories. And I’m really delighted to see them continue to help fund these projects with that FF14 money.
The way the game puzzles out and fits together has some disjointed pieces. Some characters get lost in the wider plot make-up and there’s a lot of places that could use some rewrites. More bad endings could help provide a bit more variety to the more straight-forward middle sections of the game. But there’s such a joy in the process, in the discovery of the narrative, that its hard to complain too much. I adored this game. I really hope to see more things like it soon.
In the 1980s, various citizens of the Honjo district is awakened to the spiritual realm. Their minds are infested with the final, murderous thoughts of nine separate spirits. When the civilians reawaken from the shock, they have been gifted curse stones with magical abilities. By using these curse stones, they can gather soul fragments from their victims. After gaining enough soul power, they can use the Rite of Resurrection to revive one person from the dead. With their own goals and motivations, the curse bearers begin a cat-and-mouse game to gain power over their enemies and complete the ritual.
The first hour of the game already slams you with what a creative enterprise this is going to be. Little visual tricks or savvy computer trickery. By starting the game with a fun “the game knows your username” goof, it establishes quickly that you need to think a couple levels deeper than just reading information. As the game kicks off and the stand battle royale begins, it encourages you to weaponize any trick at your disposal to gain victory.
That said, its hard not to feel a little disappointed when, after the first route ends, the mind game battles and the gameplay tricks kind of vanish. They’re still present to a certain degree, but the game becomes more focused on mystery solving as the heroes join together and pool their resources. These mechanics come back into play every now and then, but it’s not as constant as the initial hour of the game suggests.
It helps then that the game’s protagonists are so charming and endearing.
Shogo, plain audience insert, isn’t all that interesting, but acts as a key opener. He’s your generic ordinary vn man, which is why its so effective how quickly he resorts to murder. The way the curse stones shift priorities and prey on someone’s desires is subtle and devious, but it also emphasizes how easy it is for any of these people to become serial killers under these circumstances. He doesn’t have a lot going on, but it fills an important introduction to the more interesting characters.
Harue Shigima arrives quickly afterwards to cement herself as one of the more dangerous protagonists. A grieving mother, whose husband refused to pay ransom for their kidnapped son, out for revenge against the kidnapper and the most determined to pursue the Rite of Resurrection. She makes an instant impression with her baggy eyes, world-weary air. Its perfect that she’s paired with Richter, the eccentric private detective she’s hired for her investigations. He’s cartoonish and silly, but he’s also sincerely concerned about Harue’s stability. He brings her down to earth, humanizes her, and reigns her in from killing people willy-nilly.
In some ways, this can be a hindrance. The story’s logic means that no one can activate a curse during the day, which prevents the villains of the piece from launching a quick assault against the protagonists. But it also means Harue doesn’t get much of a chance to show off her willingness to murder. If she had more chances to launch some bad endings, she would fade into the background much less than she does. Even so, whenever the narrative returns to her goals, she instantly reminds you just how ruthless and stunning she can be in action.
Tetsuo Tsutsumi is the cop.
I always have mixed feelings about police officers in these kinds of stories. I understand it’s just part of mystery dramas that there’s gonna be a Heroic Police. You gotta leave the frustration at the door. Even so, when Tetsuo becomes the character who absolutely never uses his curse stone under any circumstances, to the point he can take on numerous curse stones without ever being influenced to kill… it’s a little annoying. His arc hits a lot of the expected beats. Heroic Gritty Cop Dad Too Busy For Family kind of thing.
What’s really devastating for that feeling is just how charming he is as a character. As the serious paragon, he’s frequently gets paired with the more ridiculous situations, constantly throwing him off his groove. Chasing down serial killers (potential or otherwise), put him in the same room as various people with flawed logic. He keeps expecting reason and gets increasingly baffled and unhinged as he reckons with the absurdity in his world. He’s fun to watch unravel. And, without getting into detail, the “good” ending makes the bold choice of leaving his life unfulfilled. He gets every answer he could ever want, he mends all his bridges, and everything’s wrapped up tidy in his main route. But, to get the best ending with the least deaths, he can’t learn those lessons. He drifts through life unhappy. If he’s going to be a Good Cop, he doesn’t get to be happy. That’s the sacrifice.
Yakko Sakazaki is amazing. Love this girl, 10/10. Following the alleged suicide of her best friend, Yakko embarks to uncover the truth. Unfailingly honest, quick-tempered, and always eager to get into a fight, Yakko’s an excellent driving force for the narrative. Much like Harue, as the heroes converge, there’s a risk of her falling into the background at times. But her bold personality and her determination to see things through add such a good layer for her to keep shoving her way back in, refusing to be ignored or let anyone else be ignored. One of the best optional little scenes is between Harue and Yakko, as most of the scene’s choices involve just letting characters exposit at each other. Instead, the two girls just quietly commiserate together with how overwhelming this all is and how they refuse to be left out of the narrative once they exposition is over. There’s a brief camaraderie there that works.
What also makes Yakko so compelling is how much more she wrestles with the power of the curse bearer. Shogo and Harue are chomping at the bit to use it, Tetsuo never gets tempted at all. Yakko becomes the center of this emotional conflict as she feels the immense temptation to hurt others. Knowing that her friend Michiyo could be revived, knowing that her killer could be out there, preys on her mind and wavers her resolve. She’s the most sincerely heroic of the cast and seeing how that heroism can tempt her towards murder gives her such excellent emotional drama to work with.
When I finished Centennial Case last year, I was hopeful that Square Enix would continue to seek out other developers to publish these non-AAA stories. And I’m really delighted to see them continue to help fund these projects with that FF14 money.
The way the game puzzles out and fits together has some disjointed pieces. Some characters get lost in the wider plot make-up and there’s a lot of places that could use some rewrites. More bad endings could help provide a bit more variety to the more straight-forward middle sections of the game. But there’s such a joy in the process, in the discovery of the narrative, that its hard to complain too much. I adored this game. I really hope to see more things like it soon.
Paranormasight is a clever, concise visual novel with great presentation and a neat atmosphere. I would say this is a pretty good game for its price point. The game ends up feeling relatively short, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, and I felt as though it told and explained everything it wanted to. I ended up finishing it in ~10-12 hours.
The character dynamics and mystery aspect of the game are definitely what make this game stick out in my head the most. This is definitely the type of game that you feel compelled to take notes during to get the whole picture (though the game has a pretty extensive "File" system on keywords and characters so I never felt I had to). There are some meta-puzzle aspects that I never found too difficult, but I understand that they may be confusing if you took some time away from the game and started forgetting some of the minor details.
Overall, I think this is a pretty good game that flew under the radar. It left me thinking about it even after finishing, but I'm not sure I would call it a masterpiece. However, it is definitely a fun read, and I feel it's relatively low price point justifies the length.
The character dynamics and mystery aspect of the game are definitely what make this game stick out in my head the most. This is definitely the type of game that you feel compelled to take notes during to get the whole picture (though the game has a pretty extensive "File" system on keywords and characters so I never felt I had to). There are some meta-puzzle aspects that I never found too difficult, but I understand that they may be confusing if you took some time away from the game and started forgetting some of the minor details.
Overall, I think this is a pretty good game that flew under the radar. It left me thinking about it even after finishing, but I'm not sure I would call it a masterpiece. However, it is definitely a fun read, and I feel it's relatively low price point justifies the length.
as mazelas sociais do nosso mundo, poluição, abuso, relações de poder entre adultos e jovens influenciando diretamente o âmbito etéreo, depois desses acontecimentos o que sobra são as histórias, os arrependimentos e vontades dos afetados.
adoro o desprendimento que esse jogo tem com alguns mistérios dele serem óbvios ou qualquer coisa assim, a maior surpresa dele é deixar de ser um jogo de horror depois das primeiras sei lá, 2 horas? e virar um jogo de investigação com vários personagens nas próximas 18 horas. as resoluções são todas bem amarradas e geralmente quando você suspeita de algo é porque você está certo (o jogo chega a te testar quando você está no espaço meta-narrativo).
o jogo perfeito para se falar de jogar video game como possessão espiritual - você é o agente que nenhum personagem na tela tem contato, mas todos eles vão receber seu comando ou sentirem vontades inexplicáveis (pois vieram de fora do plano material do jogo) que provém de uma escolha feita por nós. isso se torna mais poderoso ainda pelo fato dos personagens ainda se respeitarem bastante quanto ao que eles são, se recusando a cair nos empurrãozinhos que o jogador pode dar pra eles.
adoro o desprendimento que esse jogo tem com alguns mistérios dele serem óbvios ou qualquer coisa assim, a maior surpresa dele é deixar de ser um jogo de horror depois das primeiras sei lá, 2 horas? e virar um jogo de investigação com vários personagens nas próximas 18 horas. as resoluções são todas bem amarradas e geralmente quando você suspeita de algo é porque você está certo (o jogo chega a te testar quando você está no espaço meta-narrativo).
o jogo perfeito para se falar de jogar video game como possessão espiritual - você é o agente que nenhum personagem na tela tem contato, mas todos eles vão receber seu comando ou sentirem vontades inexplicáveis (pois vieram de fora do plano material do jogo) que provém de uma escolha feita por nós. isso se torna mais poderoso ainda pelo fato dos personagens ainda se respeitarem bastante quanto ao que eles são, se recusando a cair nos empurrãozinhos que o jogador pode dar pra eles.
It's always hard to comment and review on story-driven games like this visual novel avoiding spoilers. Paranormasight is a well-put-together visual novel that provides a good narrative, interesting characters and plot, and an intriguing setting. The story and plot are interesting throughout the whole game and keep the player engaged in finding out more about the curses that are affecting the City and how the ultimate goal of the curses is/will be activated as well as finding out the story behind it.
Gameplay revolves around reading a lot and making decisions/asking questions to progress. Parts of the game involve a 360 panoramic view that allows the player to inspect different components within the view. There are some very clever uses of in-game files and observations that the player will have to use in order to progress through the game. The soundtrack and sound effects are very good and appropriate for the nature of the game and its setting.
All in all, this is a very solid visual novel that came out of nowhere and it's definitely worth exploring if you are a fan of the genre.
Gameplay revolves around reading a lot and making decisions/asking questions to progress. Parts of the game involve a 360 panoramic view that allows the player to inspect different components within the view. There are some very clever uses of in-game files and observations that the player will have to use in order to progress through the game. The soundtrack and sound effects are very good and appropriate for the nature of the game and its setting.
All in all, this is a very solid visual novel that came out of nowhere and it's definitely worth exploring if you are a fan of the genre.
i want to first say something
anyone who's complaining about "modern square enix" might just not like videogames at all. at least not as an art form. no other company have been giving so much voice to auteurs and small devs like them recently. i don't care if you didn't like XVI or about your misogyny-filled take about Forspoken, their output has been nothing short of excellent and varied and this game is just another proof of that.
i'd recommend this text as companion to what i'm about to write because the author is much better at actually explaining one of the best parts of this game even if the text is about another completely unrelated game and does not cite it once
Paranormasight might be one of the easiest ways to introduce someone to VNs, much like Ace Attorney was. it's fast, it's interesting, it has horror elements, the art is amazing, it's a mystery (and those snag people easily) and the soundtrack is stellar. however, unlike the previously mentioned game, this game does not rely on it's plot twists to fully tell the story. in fact, a lot of the mysteries are solved early and are easy to figure out. most people will probably think of them as red herrings, but they're played straight. also everything paranormal about the game bleeds into it's detective mystery setting and yes you're supposed to believe it and understand it's logic to even engage with the game. the thing is that i can see that turning off some people out of the game, especially modern mystery fans. what paranormasight asks of you is not your keen intellect or your character analysis prowess, it'll sometimes ask you to think outside the box and it's super fun to figure out something before the game says it, but mostly it asks you to enjoy it's story. feel the locales, that are mostly altered and touched-up photos of real places, know the characters and pretty much enjoy the atmosphere. it's sold as an horror game i guess but most people by now know that's not really the case (or maybe they don't, because i didn't). there's a lot of cute and clever puzzles thrown in too that honestly made this experience one of my favorites out of this year. it's cheap too and while i never really factor that into any game i play, in this one i say it feels almost unfair to the devs.
it's an infinitely interesting game with honestly great characters and a great setting. and definitely made with tons of love since it's very own director probably keeps a tab on mentions of the game since they liked one of my pt-br tweets praising the game which i found really sweet.
in any case i vibe with this game tremendously and i hope we can see more stuff like this
anyone who's complaining about "modern square enix" might just not like videogames at all. at least not as an art form. no other company have been giving so much voice to auteurs and small devs like them recently. i don't care if you didn't like XVI or about your misogyny-filled take about Forspoken, their output has been nothing short of excellent and varied and this game is just another proof of that.
i'd recommend this text as companion to what i'm about to write because the author is much better at actually explaining one of the best parts of this game even if the text is about another completely unrelated game and does not cite it once
Paranormasight might be one of the easiest ways to introduce someone to VNs, much like Ace Attorney was. it's fast, it's interesting, it has horror elements, the art is amazing, it's a mystery (and those snag people easily) and the soundtrack is stellar. however, unlike the previously mentioned game, this game does not rely on it's plot twists to fully tell the story. in fact, a lot of the mysteries are solved early and are easy to figure out. most people will probably think of them as red herrings, but they're played straight. also everything paranormal about the game bleeds into it's detective mystery setting and yes you're supposed to believe it and understand it's logic to even engage with the game. the thing is that i can see that turning off some people out of the game, especially modern mystery fans. what paranormasight asks of you is not your keen intellect or your character analysis prowess, it'll sometimes ask you to think outside the box and it's super fun to figure out something before the game says it, but mostly it asks you to enjoy it's story. feel the locales, that are mostly altered and touched-up photos of real places, know the characters and pretty much enjoy the atmosphere. it's sold as an horror game i guess but most people by now know that's not really the case (or maybe they don't, because i didn't). there's a lot of cute and clever puzzles thrown in too that honestly made this experience one of my favorites out of this year. it's cheap too and while i never really factor that into any game i play, in this one i say it feels almost unfair to the devs.
it's an infinitely interesting game with honestly great characters and a great setting. and definitely made with tons of love since it's very own director probably keeps a tab on mentions of the game since they liked one of my pt-br tweets praising the game which i found really sweet.
in any case i vibe with this game tremendously and i hope we can see more stuff like this
came here looking for a nice horror visual novel, got something far far better. I don't think there's ever been a game that surpassed my expectations so much as this one.
great story, characters and mysteries. if this isn't a hidden gem then i don't know what is.
great story, characters and mysteries. if this isn't a hidden gem then i don't know what is.
"just play the game for yourself so you don't get spoiled" type reviews are probably the least fun to read, but it's so hard to not just make that my review of this game. this was a very pleasant surprise, even going into it with relatively high expectations by virtue of a friend's glowing review of it. this is surprisingly gory in the "gives you enough details so your imagination fills in the blanks" kind of way that honestly sucker punched me. the art style here is remarkable too; it does so much of the heavy lifting for making so many moments work. there's an intentional uncanniness to a lot of the facial expressions here that requires a deft touch. i think maybe the strongest thing about the game is that it consistently zigs when you think it's going to zag while still having very logical and solvable mysteries within its narrative structure.
i've never heard of xeen as a developer before this game, and looking through their catalogue, this game sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the mario sports titles and whatever the hell rhythm thief is. paranormasight is so effortlessly confident that it feels like it's a game that xeen's been waiting to make for years now. it's safe to say that the wait was most certainly worth it. this stands out as another visual novel gem with an art style that should be studied for future inspiration. think of a hotel dusk meets 999 while simultaneously surpassing both. if you like either of those games, you really owe it to yourself to look into this.
again, it bears repeating: this is a great game. please play it if you have even any mild interest in horror or visual novels. it is worth your time. it's put xeen on the map as a developer to keep an eye on, and i do look forward to what their next project may be.
i've never heard of xeen as a developer before this game, and looking through their catalogue, this game sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the mario sports titles and whatever the hell rhythm thief is. paranormasight is so effortlessly confident that it feels like it's a game that xeen's been waiting to make for years now. it's safe to say that the wait was most certainly worth it. this stands out as another visual novel gem with an art style that should be studied for future inspiration. think of a hotel dusk meets 999 while simultaneously surpassing both. if you like either of those games, you really owe it to yourself to look into this.
again, it bears repeating: this is a great game. please play it if you have even any mild interest in horror or visual novels. it is worth your time. it's put xeen on the map as a developer to keep an eye on, and i do look forward to what their next project may be.
Wow, wow, wow. I started the game not expecting to be swept up in the hype, and then every 10 minutes some new cool thing happened that had me excited and gobsmacked. The atmosphere is immaculate, the mystery is compelling, the characters are appealing. The visual style is really distinctive, though I worry about accessibility for those who experience eye strain. I really appreciate the acuity of the characters, putting details together and working cooperatively, not cluelessly dragging out a mystery for a long time. The metanarrative touches are also extremely, extremely cool. The game's a little short, but that helps with the brisk pacing, and the game is priced accordingly.
i support women’s wrongs [gives the okay to harue to murder innocent people]
I was very very pleasantly surprised by this game. I played it with a big chunk of nonlinear story mystery esque games such as Gnosia and 13 Sentinels, and I did not play AITSF at that time but it is reminiscent of that too. The way things fit together and how you can pretty much always figure it out is just great. There are some very emotional moments but the narration typically has a good sense of humor, and I truly loved the characters. One in particular i thought was absolutely delightful and craved more of every time she wasn't on screen. overall, huge recommend to fans of games in this specific genre.