PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo Reviews
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is one of the best visual novels that I’ve played in a long time. It draws you in at the beginning, feeding you the vaguest pieces of the overarching story to keep you interested before opening to a wide-ranging mystery. While the pacing can be a bit slow at times, it’s worth putting up with to understand what’s really happening in this small Tokyo ward.
An ingenious visual novel that conveys Japanese terror through Edo-era legends to perfection, and later adds a great intrigue of detective series, investigation and thriller. Its proposal to get the player into this adventure is almost perfect.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While very well written and highlighted by some excellent fourth-wall breaking horror, Paranormasight far outstays its welcome with hours of unskippable rehashed and replayed text.
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a great example of the visual novel genre and an immense step up from many other versions of this style of gameplay. It has a great story, although there is some weaker characterization in the early game, and it’s just fun to figure out how to use your curses on others while doing your best to avoid theirs. It’s a great game for lovers of the genre and mystery stories in general.
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is an excellent visual novel game that blends Japanese mythology and fiction to create a compelling story, with a unique art style and fascinating lore, making it worth the price for fans of the genre.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a superb visual novel that blends together gripping storytelling with some really clever gameplay mechanics. I was completely hooked in from start to end, so much so that I found it hard to stop thinking about the game each time I stopped playing… it’s THAT good. I’d love to go into depth about all the things that make the game so damn good, but I don’t want to spoil anything here. Just trust me when I say it’s a fantastic experience and one that I’d recommend to both visual novel veterans and those who’ve been itching to dip their toes into the genre.
It doesn’t take someone with spirit sense to see that Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is something special. A horror visual novel game that blurs the role between character and player, Paranormasight is unique in its ability to give horror fans a new brain-teasing experience while allowing those who normally chicken out over this genre the ability to finally play a scary game by themselves. Paranormasight manages to blend familiar elements from beloved genres into something innovative, inventive, and altogether new; it is my hope this becomes a continuing franchise for Square Enix, who is on the cusp of further greatness. Grab Paranormasight or be forever cursed to remain outside its sinister, alluring shadow.
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is one of the most interesting games of its genre, standing out especially for its clever use of camera framing and for playing with the player's perception through multiple perspectives and metalinguistic elements. This title is an easy recommendation for any player interested in narrative works and shows how many ingenious ways to rethink the concept of adventure and, more specifically, visual novels.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a pleasant surprise from Squire Enix, a brilliant work of art that sets the genre's standard even higher. The game's dialogue-heavy design, challenging puzzles, and unexpected turns demand players' full focus. It's a must-play for fans of both horror and visual novels and games that use multiple perspectives to tell a gripping story.
Paranormasight is a well-crafted mystery-horror that leans more into the mystery while keeping things light with a snappy script.
Sumida and its urban legends come to life in PARANORMASIGHT in a way I didn’t expect from a 2D visual novel. I expected something artistic, yes, but I got something that engaged me, sent a shiver down my spine, and that I ultimately couldn’t put down.
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.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is more of a gift than a curse, turning into another must-play for 2023
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.
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is an absorbing romp that leaves you dumbfounded. You could say there’s not nearly enough banter, and indeed a character or two that are forgettable, but those that get attention surely shine. If you’re someone that thinks reading in video games is lame, the Visual Novel genre isn’t for you. I won’t sugarcoat it; that’s the bread of butter and why these titles enamour me and so many.
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a gripping page-turner of a visual novel. It occupied my brain so much that every second not playing felt like a second wasted. It felt like I was hit with so many fitting and bending twists I was second-guessing everything I once knew, always on my toes. Immensely powerful and engaging writing in-game is bolstered with memorable and distinguished characters. Those characters and the late 20th century Japan setting are incredibly realised; a feat only possible by the industry legends at the helm. In art, music and writing, players are in for a meaningful and unforgettable experience that's a must-play for the genre. Better yet, it even has fun with the genre tropes and traditions, creating engaging puzzles and problem-solving throughout. If there's one visual novel game you play this year, make it this one. You won't regret it.
The way the mysteries work with each other, the cast, and the atmospheric direction and presentation creates an enthralling tale that keeps players ready to unravel the next twist.
Square Enix seems to have taken to releasing smaller-scale games in between their big-name releases, and I couldn't be happier. If you enjoy horror visual novels and games with branching viewpoints that come together to tell a single narrative, Paranormasight is one you shouldn't miss. It's short, but it's a creepy delight from start to finish with a lot of little details that make it a unique experience.
Paranormasight is brilliant and subversive, toying with expectations and tropes across genres. The final product is entrancing — and it doesn’t loosen its death grip until the very last second.