How far would you go to resuscitate someone? In Paranormasight, this moral dilemma forms the cornerstone of the driving motivations of its various characters. Playing it, the game feels like the love child of J-Horror between Ace Attorney, Fate/stay Night, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The word “love” is applied liberally here. The passion of the development team emanates from virtually every facet of the project. With its strong story, colorful cast, and beautiful and unique aesthetic, Paranormasight is an unforgettable experience.
paranormavista takes place during the Showa era of Japan. As such, there’s a very retro vibe to all of the characters and even the game itself. The different protagonists are engaged in a battle for the Rite of the Resurrection. Using cursed stones that appeared before them in a flash of resentful memories and murderous impulses, they are able to kill people with curses that reflect various superstitions from the Seven Mysteries of Honjo. The more people you kill with a Curse Stone, the more Soul Slag it will collect. Whoever has the most soul remnants at the end of it all will be able to revive a deceased person of their choice. Thus begins a battle royale of kill or be killed throughout the district of Sumida City. Or so you might believe.
The vast majority of characters you control tend to be pacifists. Yakko and Tsutsumi immediately start not wanting to use their respective Curse Stones. Harue, on the other hand, is brimming with motivation. However, her private detective Richter manages to dissuade her. The characters you control react to threats, rather than being a threat themselves. In fact, the plot revolves more around solving the mystery of the Rite of Resurrection, as well as the story of the ritual itself. The royal curse aspect of the game is a small part of the plot. However, it is perfectly fine! It would probably be alienating for some people to play the role of a murderous maniac, even if are in the name of someone’s resurrection.
I particularly enjoyed Harue’s story for its more unique approach. Certainly, without Richter’s presence, she could have quickly become the aforementioned murderous maniac. On the other hand, the Yakko road was quite weak. Some of the revelations in her story seem to need more time to unfold, and Mio was a much more interesting character. However, there is understandably very little time for the many plot threads to get enough breathing space. The game is quite short, despite the complexity of some stories. It moves at a fairly rapid pace. And so the game uses humor to prevent the player from getting exhausted with all the twists or feeling that the game is too dark. Personally, I enjoyed the quirkiest jokes and characters. But some who want a more pure J-Horror gaming experience might want to keep that in mind.
From a meta point of view, I really liked the way he used his multiple tracks. You must actively move characters to locations for them to appear in another character’s path. This would then unlock a scene to advance the story. However, one downside is that when you get stuck, you get blocked. Which character must perform which action before they can continue on someone else’s path? It can really slow down your progress as you figure it out. The game using its core features like saving or adjusting settings as part of the story was also fantastic. In general, I enjoy games that use their medium in unique ways. NieR Automata is an example of one who achieves this effectively. This mechanic works well in Paranormasight without looking unnatural, thanks to its framing device. Oops, Square Enix!
What initially caught my eye on Paranomasight during the Nintendo Direct in which Square Enix featured it were the visuals. Sumida Ward Royal Government worked with the development team to ensure the environments are accurate. And there’s a wonderful watercolor aesthetic for all the characters. Gen Kobayashi (The World Ends With You) did an amazing job capturing such a wide range of emotions in everyone’s expressions. It’s a visually stunning game, even if not much happens due to its genre. I particularly liked the retro TV filter look of the menu. There’s even a slight curve to the words, as if recreating an old TV!
One aspect of the game that occasionally made me raise an eyebrow, however, was the music. It can ping-pong between appropriate and ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong here. I think of Hidenori Iwasaki (great chocobo price) is a fantastic composer. The spooky tracks in the game heighten the mood of the story. However, some characters have themes that seem a bit silly. For example, Tsutsumi and Erio, both police officers, have a theme reminiscent of procedural police J-Dramas of the 1980s. This is obviously due to the game’s Showa influence. But this and similar Showa-inspired themes stand out among more modern horror. Mood swings are not only very sudden, but they don’t feel like they belong in the same game.
With a catchy script and very annoying jump scares, Paranormasight is a very accessible J-Horror game. The slow spinning process using a PC mouse was a great way to increase the tension in many scenes. Because it leans more towards the mystery aspect of the horror-mystery genre, even gamers nervous about horror games can enjoy it. It’s a beautifully crafted game that makes imaginative use of its medium. At less than 10 hours, with some of that time wasted, idle, or just reading its incredibly detailed files, Paranormasight is a wonderful game for a lazy weekend.
Paranormasight is available for Nintendo Switch and Windows PC via Steam.