Return to the world of Paranormasight and once again follow a branching supernatural story as curses threaten the remote island of Kameshima and multiple groups of people investigate legends of mermaids.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse
Developer: Square Enix
Price: $25
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PC, iOS, Android
MonsterVine was supplied with a Switch code for review.
I played and reviewed Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo when it came out in 2023, and I absolutely loved it. Ever since then, I hoped Square Enix would develop a sequel someday, especially after the director made comments about wanting to turn it into a series, so I was ecstatic when Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse was announced and even happier to have a chance to play the game ahead of launch for this review.
Paranormasight Dives Into Mermaid Folklore and Japanese Myth
Like its predecessor, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is a visual novel with light adventure game elements, including several areas where you get a 360 degree view of the environment, which makes the game more immersive. Sometimes investigating the environment is required to proceed, but often it’s simply for extra dialogue and to find the collectible stickers that make a return here. The presentation is excellent once again, with beautiful art and music that stood out to me from the moment I loaded the game. The atmosphere, however, is different this time around. While the first Paranormasight was overtly horror, this one has a more relaxed atmosphere and a brighter world to match. The lighter tone lets it explore its mystery in different ways, such as feeling more like a group of characters working together to overcome dangerous threats, and I appreciate those aspects despite preferring the stronger horror elements of the first game.
That isn’t to say it’s without darker elements and heavy themes, however. It’s still a story about paranormal events and curses, this time focused on legends of mermaids and the belief that consuming a mermaid’s flesh will grant immortality. Several people are searching for mermaids, and their paths cross on the island of Kameshima, which is tied to mermaid myths. One such person searching for a mermaid is Yuza, the sole survivor of a disaster at sea five years earlier, who believes he was saved by one. Yuza is also training to become an ama diver, a type of Japanese diver that gathers shellfish and other finds from the sea floor, despite pushback from locals. This is incorporated into gameplay as a diving mini-game. Diving controls are simple, but you need to keep an eye on your oxygen meter and return to the surface before you run out of air. By gathering items, you can increase your diving stats to make it easier. If this sounds intimidating, don’t worry. While it’s required at a couple of points, it’s not a huge part of the game. I saw it mostly as a fun diversion, a way to take a break from the mystery every now and then to try for a higher score before diving back into the story.
In fact, while you’ll sometimes travel between different locations on the map or engage in light puzzle-solving, most of the game is focused on its story. You’ll spend most of your time talking to characters, with various discussion topics available. A dialogue-heavy game like that lives or dies by its narrative, but fortunately, the mysteries are intriguing, and the characters are likable. By the end, I was quite attached to this cast of characters. On top of that, you get a wealth of files that provide detailed information about relevant historical events, cultural context, and mythological ties, all of which come into play.
Like in the first game, you can switch between different characters’ stories through the Story Chart, a flowchart that lets you jump to another scene. As you play, you’ll unlock new scenes, including ones that take place earlier through a mechanic called “Recollection.” In this way, the story isn’t always presented in a chronological order, and you sometimes learn details that change how you view events set later in the timeline. The Story Chart is more straightforward than in the first game, with the confusing aspects smoothed out and less mandatory back-and-forth. However, it still uses it to its advantage for some clever tricks and interesting recontextualization. And while the straightforward structure might make progression simpler than the first game, I eventually found myself in a situation highly reminiscent of my time with the first game, as I went around in circles trying to figure out the clues to getting the true ending. Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse might be different than its predecessor in terms of tone and structure, but it’s no less worthy of praise.
The Final Word
While it lacks the jaw-dropping twists of its predecessor, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is an excellent supernatural story that weaves historical and mythological tales into an intriguing and often deadly mystery. If Square Enix continues to put such effort and care into these games, I hope Paranormasight can become a new long-running series.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
