I've had my eyes on this for a while and I finally decided to check what's all the praise about. Turns out that Paranormasight is the type of game that comes close to being good... but no cigar.
Paranormasight is a creepy visual novel. A very well written one, in fact. Those are the game's biggest strenghts, from top to bottom. The setting looks spooky, characters are weird and mystery prowls around the whole story. The presentation is quite nice, which helps you to put up with some rather long expositions and slow moments, at times.
Because, truth be told, Paranormasight is a massive slow burn. Don't get me wrong, the story is very well put together and I actually cared for some of its characters (mostly Tsutsumi, Harue and Richter), but it took a long while to get there. There are some shocking twists here and there and some TENSE conversations, with reveals that I was actually not expecting. But in order to get to those moments, you have to go through lots of redundant dialogues.
Two things that I loved about this game, that kept me constantly piecing the story together, were how meticulous the files were organized for you to keep up to date with what was happening, and the "Story Chart". It's a nice structure, leading you through different timelines, optional scenes and more.
But while Paranormalsight got me hooked at first, it just kept dropping the ball. It mostly feels fine... just never great. I liked the characters - but they don't stand out, the story is good - but not immersive, well written - but insipid. Took me longer than it should to finish it because it never kept a good momentum going.
I was also disappointed by the use of curses in this game. I know it's a VN, but I expected a bit more interactivity from this. At first, it feels like it's going to be a big deal whether you use them or not, but you can barely use them, and when you do, it hardly lets you go with it. Decisions matter very little as well. Not to mention the soundtrack, which is bland as hell. At least the endings were cool. All of them but the "true one", to be honest.
I do not recommend Paranormasight. There are better visual novels out there and way better creepy stories to experience.
It's a game that has the elements to reach acclaim, but it's never quite there.
Paranormasight is a creepy visual novel. A very well written one, in fact. Those are the game's biggest strenghts, from top to bottom. The setting looks spooky, characters are weird and mystery prowls around the whole story. The presentation is quite nice, which helps you to put up with some rather long expositions and slow moments, at times.
Because, truth be told, Paranormasight is a massive slow burn. Don't get me wrong, the story is very well put together and I actually cared for some of its characters (mostly Tsutsumi, Harue and Richter), but it took a long while to get there. There are some shocking twists here and there and some TENSE conversations, with reveals that I was actually not expecting. But in order to get to those moments, you have to go through lots of redundant dialogues.
Two things that I loved about this game, that kept me constantly piecing the story together, were how meticulous the files were organized for you to keep up to date with what was happening, and the "Story Chart". It's a nice structure, leading you through different timelines, optional scenes and more.
But while Paranormalsight got me hooked at first, it just kept dropping the ball. It mostly feels fine... just never great. I liked the characters - but they don't stand out, the story is good - but not immersive, well written - but insipid. Took me longer than it should to finish it because it never kept a good momentum going.
I was also disappointed by the use of curses in this game. I know it's a VN, but I expected a bit more interactivity from this. At first, it feels like it's going to be a big deal whether you use them or not, but you can barely use them, and when you do, it hardly lets you go with it. Decisions matter very little as well. Not to mention the soundtrack, which is bland as hell. At least the endings were cool. All of them but the "true one", to be honest.
I do not recommend Paranormasight. There are better visual novels out there and way better creepy stories to experience.
It's a game that has the elements to reach acclaim, but it's never quite there.