PARANOMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo’ is a horror visual novel developed and published by Square Enix.

As soon as we launch into PARANOMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, we are greeted with a fantastic scene that introduces us to “The Storyteller”. Whilst, in this scene, we’re told about the settings and basic premise. To begin the game you are required to look at the controls, which is a fantastic feature. The story of PARANOMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is majorly focused on ghosts and the ‘Rite of Resurrection’.

We are first introduced to Yoko, who seems like a friend of the main character. Yoko is a paranormal fanatic and is looking for anything and everything paranormal. During gameplay, it can be easy to not understand what you have to do to continue objective-wise, but after a little, it isn’t that difficult to get yourself back on track.

The gameplay for PARANOMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo seems really interesting. When we first get into the game and meet Yoko, we’re tasked to look around and investigate the surroundings. We need to recall what we remember of Yoko, afterwards, we’re put into a cutscene of how we first met, and we learn a bit of information about the ‘Seven Mysteries’, as where we are in the game so far is supposedly the location for one of the Seven Mysteries, the Whispering Canal.

Yoko proceeds to tell us about the Seven Mysteries, and we then agree to help her find said mysteries. After a short period of time, something mysterious happens and Yoko somehow dies, our character now needs to try and resurrect her. Picking up a mysterious item that Yoko has dropped, we soon find we have been cursed and now we must continue searching for the Seven Mysteries of Honjo.

During gameplay, you are expected to read a lot and to be able to take in the story PARANOMASIGHT as it is a visual horror novel. However, when playing we do get some jumpscares, but there aren’t really any actual scary things that appear – you might get a small spook here and there, but it majorly focuses on the investigation side of PARANOMASIGHT. With the puzzle aspect of the game, there are only certain chapters that do include the puzzles, a lot of the chapters majorly have dialogue that you need to read to continue with the story.

As stated earlier, the controls for PARANOMASIGHT are quite easy to learn and it wouldn’t take much to fully understand them, as it’s mostly a click-and-drag styled game. The main controls are simple, for both console and PC users on keyboard and mouse. Thankfully in the starting area, we’re shown exactly how to move around and actively do things.

Along the way you will use these mechanics to solve many puzzles and investigate scenes. With the controls being easy to learn, you will be able to stop playing the game if you need a break and pick it up a couple of days later and easily re-pick up the controls, and that is an amazing feature for this genre.

The graphics in general are unique. The character models actually look realistic, and the surroundings and places that we visit make it look like we’re in a very real city somewhere in Japan. You’d be expecting a lot from a game that is based in Japan and I’d say it delivers very well on the Japanesesque feeling and cultural appreciation.

From the buildings, trees, and general environment, it all fits well into PARANOMASIGHT. I do believe PARANOMASIGHT has amazing graphics, the genre of the game doesn’t really require the best graphics, but it seems like it was focused on. Whenever getting into new areas it’s always good to look around and admire the environment, even if you’re unable to look around, it makes things feel more realistic and enjoyable.

The audio design is generally great. As thunder rumbles and lightning is about to strike; when it does finally strike it can feel like it’s directly outside your window which helps to make the game feel even more realistic. The ambient audio can be creepy, which fits with the game so well, as it is a horror-based novel. If there wasn’t any creepy type of audio to set the mood with the cool environments it would make the game a lot less spooky. The music for PARANOMASIGHT fits the game so well, one moment it’s relaxing music then a second later you’ve got that creepy, tension-building music as something freaky has happened.

In conclusion, PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo seems to be a really enjoyable horror story game with some aspects of investigation and an aspect of puzzles. PARANOMASIGHT has thrilling and amazing music and environmental sounds which makes the enjoyability of the game so much more. Nonetheless, the story is really interesting, it brings Japanese history into the modern day and brings a new feeling to the genre.

Written by: Mitchell Batchelor