PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo Reviews

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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4.5 / 5.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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Unscored
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

Paranormasight tells a gripping story full of murder and mystery, with some moments you simply have to experience yourself.

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9 / 10.0
Mar 8, 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.

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Recommended
Mar 8, 2023

Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is more of a gift than a curse, turning into another must-play for 2023

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9 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

If playing in handheld mode you can get around this by using touch controls, which I found worked just fine for the game's purposes. The "horror mystery" also seems to steer away from the horror part at certain points, which might disappoint those hoping to see a lot of curse action, but the plot during these moments is just as interesting as when those curses are involved. I am happy my eye was pointed in Paranormasight's direction, as I think it may already be one of my favorite experiences of the year, and if this kind of game sounds like it appeals to you, it just might be one of yours, too.

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Mar 8, 2023

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.

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7 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo had an immersive mystery story, along with utilizing 2D visual novel features that amplified its overall quality.

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RPG Site
Top Critic
9 / 10
Mar 8, 2023

Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a surprisingly excellent horror mystery-adventure game that's tricky to talk about, and is an easy recommendation to anyone that's the slightest bit interested in it.

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70%
Mar 8, 2023

Paranormasight wants to put on a horror show but is too goofy to realize how scary it could be.

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45 / 100
Mar 8, 2023

The Switch version of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is awful. It’s not ready to be played right now, because the menu navigation is straight-up broken. The game needs a patch with cursor sensitivity options at the very minimum, but even that fix would still make for a lazy port, that isn’t console ready. The story of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is captivating, and the throwback point-and-click adventure gameplay will be a treat for some. But the game needs more time and effort to be an enjoyable experience.

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8.5 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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9.5 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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4.5 / 5.0
Mar 8, 2023

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.

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8 / 10.0
Mar 9, 2023

Overall, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a fun little visual novel that doesn't quite hit all the marks but is still a breezy and enjoyable romp with some creative use of gameplay mechanics. I had a difficult time getting past the fact that it wasn't the game I was had expected based on  the first couple of hours, but once I did, I was able to enjoy it for what it was. The setting is clearly built up to potentially allow for more games in the same universe in the future, and I hope the next game in the series is willing to be a bit more daring.

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Mar 9, 2023

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 I’ve 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 won’t 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 aren’t expected to sell millions of copies.

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8.5 / 10.0
Mar 10, 2023

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won't astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

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