PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse

This is a genuinely well-written, complex, literary-quality mystery horror story that will teach you something about Japanese ghost storytelling traditions and does an exceptional job of highlighting one of the country’s more interesting, if less-visited, locations. It’s filled with intelligently structured and rewarding puzzles, and the gorgeous art really makes the atmosphere sing. I’m so very impressed that Square Enix has seen the value of these visual novels, and happy that they’ve been such creative successes. With any luck, this one is also enough of a creative success to earn a third, because there are a lot of ghost stories right across Japan that this series could go places.

Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is just as intoxicating and surprising as its predecessor, but has an integrally different tone and flavor to its surprisingly heartfelt love story. It’s a new classic for the visual novel genre.

I was enthralled by the mystery and story of PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid’s Curse. If you like mystery stories with a supernatural twist, I can recommend this game without any doubt. The cast of characters is a lot of fun, the ways in which the story unfolds are cleverly done and there’s even a dash of meta elements that make the game a lot more memorable. As a newcomer it has made me very excited to go back and experience the first game in the series.

In Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, everything feels familiar if you played The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. It cultivates the same structure, tone, and even soundtrack, but with some fine-tuning to the gameplay and a narrative that doubles down on psychological suspense. It has no direct ties to the first game, so you can jump right into the sequel and enjoy it to the fullest without the previous experience. Square Enix continues this visual novel series with immense personality. It delivers a complex, layered story filled with twists, supported by a simple yet efficient game design. The meta-narrative touches remain the star of the show, binding story and gameplay into a creative and immersive package that is simply hard to put down.

The final riddle's convolutions are forgiven by its payoff... [Issue#422, p.119]

Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse starts slowly but once it finds its rhythm, it delivers an unforgettable adventure. Recommended as one of the best visual novels on the Switch for fans of the genre.

PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse is an above-average visual novel game. It will certainly appeal to those interested in Japanese folklore, but horror fans will find the experience lacking.