PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

“PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo” is, in my opinion, a wonderful use of the visual novel genre. I found the mechanical layer to be interesting, with its “story chart”, use of meta knowledge (also "meta mechanics"), and being asked meta questions. I enjoyed how you have to look around in 360-degree environments, memorise key information and use “files” to your advantage. The character art style is eye candy, as are the expressions. The characters themself are also very fun, and it was a joy to learn more about them. The game’s setting and world-building were also really enjoyable. I’d say that the only hit-or-miss things are: how you don’t really get to play around with the curses (something that at first might seem like an important aspect), and the [spoiler]true ending, which is generally fine, but makes it so that most of the game “didn’t happen” (I am not a fan of this “motive” - having all your progress get deleted/made unimportant)[/spoiler]. Outside of that, it was great! I didn’t play that many VN games; therefore, I can’t say if this one is “groundbreaking” with its mechanics, but it felt NOVEL to me! Haha novel, like y’know uhhh visual… novel…

Picked this up for $10 during a sale, and I think it was well worth the price. It’s a very good visual novel with excellent artwork and an interesting mystery that kept me engaged throughout. The game is a bit spooky at the beginning, but the horror elements mostly disappear as the story progresses. I also think voice acting would have made the experience even better, as it would have added more personality to the characters and dialogue. Overall, I’d give it a solid 7/10. The achievements are straightforward and none are missable, which is a nice bonus for completionists. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel the next time it’s on sale.

Took me a few attempts to properly get immersed in this game, but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience from start to finish. Well-written and while the plot twists were reasonably obvious ahead of time, when I found myself guessing them correctly, it felt like a consequence of good writing feeding me the small tidbits of information I needed to make a deduction, and by no means a negative detraction from the experience. Visually the game is stunning, with an amazing art style and direction. Harue's eyes and expressions will sit with me for a long time.