Board 8 > PARANORMASIGHT Review Zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not many games I pick up these days tend to get enough reviews to actually do a shine ripoff topic for. Been making headway in this since it dropped and it has honestly impressed me with how solid this odd adventure game actually is. There's just the right amount of cinematic flair and atmosphere to its cutscene heavy gameplay for what is otherwise a... well, even more borderline VN than I anticipated. It's a pretty decisively unique game for what it is, as it's not much of a typical mystery adventure game or horror adventure game really. Not to mention the game has been throwing curveballs when one least expects it, in ways that affect both the narrative and the gameplay in subtle ways. It's difficult to really delve into it much in earnest because of that and the apparent relatively short length but I figured I'd post this to say that at its reasonable price (especially with launch discounts) it is certainly worth it.

https://opencritic.com/game/14408/paranormasight-the-seven-mysteries-of-honjo/reviews

Digitally Downloaded - 4.5/5
With stunning and highly stylised character art, some exceptional and efficient writing, and some excellent death game scenarios, Paranormasight is one of the better visual novels that Ive played in some time. Square Enix might not be known for this genre, but perhaps the company should look for more opportunities to participate in it, because while this wont outsell Final Fantasy XVI (to put that mildly), it does remind us of how, among the bigger publishers, it is probably the most creative and willing to take risks on smaller scale projects like this and just how good it is when big publishers support creative projects that arent expected to sell millions of copies.

Weve seen plenty of other films, TV shows and video games that play on this death game concept now. Paranormasight, at a very high-level conceptual level, isnt doing anything that Danganronpa, Virtues Last Reward, Gnosia, Squid Game or even reality TV like Survivor hasnt already proven to be popular with audiences many times over at this point. Its an application of Game Theory, with all the philosophical and psychological implications that come with that. But its also an exceptional application of it. Unlike some others (like Danganronpa), its not particularly interested in building up characters. Theyre presented as broad-brush archetypes for particular roles within a play. Theyre well-written in their brevity, but youre not going to get particularly deep characterisation out of them. It doesnt really matter, though, because the game itself is so intricately constructed and the various battles of wills and curse abilities are fundamentally fascinating. And tense. You often feel like you can cut the atmospheric tension with a knife, and the game is very effective at conveying just how critical the stakes are.

TheGamer - 4.5/5
"Hauntingly Good"
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a masterclass in puzzle-solving, utilising Japanese folk tales to root around to unravel a murder-filled mystery what more could you want? The captivating narrative, challenging gameplay, and stylish presentation make this one of my favourite games this year.

There was one death in particular that I was doomed to repeat multiple times as I just couldnt fathom how to change my fate. The solution, however, had me applauding the game for its out of the box thinking, rather than angrily muttering annoyances.

Noisy Pixel - 9/10
"The First Must-Play Mystery Adventure of 2023"
The announcement of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries Of Honjo from developer Square Enix was unexpected. Although theyre no strangers to the adventure genre, with the release of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story in 2022, it amazes me that they would put effort into something so niche. However, here I am, neck-deep in a murder mystery where death lurks around every decision made. Still, I must say this is a genuinely dark and brilliant narrative experience that will keep you guessing until the credits roll.
[...]
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries Of Honjo is a gripping and horrific adventure that branches outside of what genre fans would expect. It plays with your intuition and tests your deduction skills as you piece together each puzzle. Unfortunately, the narrative intermission brings gameplay to a crawl, but you'll want to stick through until the end to experience everything this twisted adventure offers.

RPG Site - 9/10
Admittedly, Paranormasight is a tricky game to talk about and is best experienced knowing as little as possible. If youre the slightest bit interested in an occult thriller set in 80s Japan, I highly recommend Paranormasight. Close this review now and play it as soon as you get the chance.
[...]
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is definitely one of the biggest surprises for me this year. I wasnt sure what to expect out of its very brief announcement, and Im glad I didnt look too deeply into what was shared. I urge people to go into this knowing as little as possible [...] If you bear the slightest bit of interest in what you just read or what youve seen from this game, I heavily recommend playing through it. Luckily, it isnt a full-priced title either and I think its absolutely worth the asking price.

RPG Fan - 70/100
Paranormasight wants to put on a horror show but is too goofy to realize how scary it could be.

As a horror experience, Paranormasight has a few jump scares where the music blasts as the camera zooms to an extreme close-up of a creepy image. However, the real horror is putting a curse stone in your hands. You, the monster, stalk the night, having awkward, creepy conversations with people you bump into on the streets at 2 a.m. The greatest horrors occur offscreen, as characters recall grisly events from the past that arent depicted. If you want that fun feeling of getting creeped out by a horror story, it feels as though youre missing out on the best stuff. The story, unfortunately, doesnt have much more to offer than this. It turns toward a suspenseful drama with supernatural frosting.

Inverse - 9/10
"Paranormasight Is Already the Most Underrated Game of 2023"
Paranormasight is brilliant and subversive, toying with expectations and tropes across genres. The final product is entrancing and it doesnt loosen its death grip until the very last second.
[...]
I genuinely hope the game gets the attention it deserves, but it feels like one of those titles perfectly poised to be on cult-classic lists in a few years time.

I've been following this game since, I presume, a post you made about it previously. Haven't picked it up yet but I'm glad it's getting such good reviews!

I preorder this on a whim because of the store art, glad to hear it should be solid. Also ordered that really indie looking horror game (2 letters long...forgot the name) that was right next to it on the eShop since I've seen it popping up in Twitter for a while.

glad my other posts made a difference already in getting it on people's radars

honestly i was just planning to pick up Anosuba HD this week instead but that got delayed to late april, was surprised how this has turned out to be a more than worthy substitute for it though

oh yeah incidentally, I know there are some reviews on there that are super critical on the switch version's controls, but i really haven't had any issue with them (have been using joycons)

Ooooh a mystery game I hadnt heard of, me like

Would you compare this game to DR? Not in terms of tone of course, but as far as VN first but with minigames throughout?

Or is it more Zero Escape, VN first but with actual extended puzzles throughout?

That's a difficult question since it is puzzle oriented but they're brief enough to be more like minigames from what I experienced so far. In either case, like I said it's more borderline (ie. loosely) a vn than I expected. In truth, it is the fact that it is surprisingly difficult to liken its gameplay to others in its genre that has drawn me to it. It's surprisingly light on investigation elements yet is still more gameplay oriented than you'd otherwise expect.

Also, while it is a "death game" of sorts, I know you said disregarding the tone, but I feel it's worth mentioning that it is dramatically different to most others due to the fact that its "participants" are being affected by curses that are trying to kill people.

I'd say the puzzle is more abstract in that you need the right people to be in the right places and make the right actions.

Sometimes, yeah. Turned out that it was more investigation-focused than I thought, though investigating the areas themselves certainly seemed to remain a non-priority for a vast majority of it other than for the misc collectables that I... don't think had any purpose? I expected some trivia or something for collecting them all but I guess not? For the best I guess since scanning each area extensively for them in every chapter was pretty tedious given the lack of other things to check most of the time

Finally finished it off myself now (all endings) though and didn't have much trouble getting conditions right smoothly. The only difficulty I really had past the prologue portion, and this is a bit ironic after what I said before, was just an issue in getting a single gesture to register properly one time in the game (i guess the switch version really was flawed after all...)

(okay that's a lie i did also trip up on the final puzzles a bit)

Still consider it solid enough though and really hope it can become a series quickly.

...OK I'm going to need confirmation on this motion control stuff because I pretty much only play switch games docked with a real controller.

This ain't gonna require me to shake something is it?

if it did require shaking it would've probably worked fine. No, there's a point where you have to move the right analog stick to shake your head and it just doesn't work properly for whatever reason. Was stuck there for about 20 mins lol

Ouch, well hopefully it's patched by the time I get to it lol.

I picked up the game because of this topic, enjoying it quite a bit so far!

UF8 posted...

Sometimes, yeah. Turned out that it was more investigation-focused than I thought, though investigating the areas themselves certainly seemed to remain a non-priority for a vast majority of it other than for the misc collectables

Even if they don't serve much purpose, I love finding the Mockingbirds. It's a fun concept that makes me smile. I mean, Illegal Eagle? That's good shit.

mcflubbin posted...

Even if they don't serve much purpose, I love finding the Mockingbirds. It's a fun concept that makes me smile. I mean, Illegal Eagle? That's good shit.

yknow what fair, i just wish i didn't have to spend as long as i did on them (including a solid 15ish mins trying to get the "jackpot" one to the point that i was pretty much convinced i was wrong about where it was) only for there to be no other reward (at least on switch with no cheevos) for collecting all of them

i hope in the sequel (if it happens) that they play a bigger role somehow