PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse
PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse
Game
Game2023
PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
Developer Square Enix
Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (Japanese: パラノマサイト FILE23 本所七不思議, Hepburn: Paranormasight FILE23 Honjo Nanafushigi) is a 2023 visual novel video game developed by Xeen and published by Square Enix for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and Windows. The game received positive reviews from critics. A direct manga sequel was released in 2025, while a standalone video game sequel, Paranormasight: The Mermaid's… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
364 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
94
LovedLoved
210 positive · 13 negative
95% range 90–97%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 210 | 13 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 59 | 1 | 52 |
| Mastodon * | 8 | 4 | 9 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 8 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Overwhelmingly Positive
1,969 of 2,062 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
94% recommend · 203 yes, 14 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 217 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (7,036 of 7,368 positive).
Players praise the game's art, music, and atmosphere. [1][2][3] Many note the prologue is thrilling but the rest shifts to a detective story. [4][5][6] Some find the horror elements mild and the gameplay thin. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [17]
i thought i'd surely like paranormasight... and in some ways, i really did. it's got an interesting premise, and the art and soundtrack are undeniably top notch in terms of quality. i also thought some of the puzzles were pretty fun and inventive, mechanically speaking. i wish i could give similar praise to the story and characters, but... therein lies the rub. this game's runtime is simply not long enough to …
- [4]
I enjoyed it, but a fair warning to those that try it. The intro is very different from the rest of the game. In the intro you're hunting down other curse users with you curse, figuring out how to kill them before they kill you. It's all very high stakes and thrilling. After the intro though, you never use a curse again. It turns more into a detective game where you're searching for the mastermind behind the whole …
- [2]
“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 …
- [13]
One of the best VN i have played. Compact and intriguing with multiple endings without needing multiple playthrus. And the true ending is almost impossible to get without a guide i feel
- [7]
It's ok. It's short ...It's a little... forgettable, is all. If you play it with zero problems not getting stuck at any point you're looking at like, a 13 hour long experience. Main heads up for people: It's not scary. Game is *very* japanese in themes, and the glossary/files are very verbose. You do need to read the files to progress. If that is not something you enjoy you could skip this one. Also, if you care: …
Summarised from 34 of the 333 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
94% of the 217 Steam reviewers we collected recommend PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. The complaint that keeps coming up: gameplay becomes thin after the prologue. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The Windows and Nintendo Switch versions of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator platform Metacritic. Joe DeVader of Nintendo World Report praised the game mechanics and art style, but opined that the horror gets in the way of the story occasionally, and deemed the Switch controls to be poor, noting awkward d-pad navigation. Ollie Reynolds declared the game to be "one of the most intriguing and engaging narratives we’ve experienced in a good while", and praised the game's visuals, characters, and horror scenes. Handley, while describing the game as having "few bells and whistles", said that it manages to be…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 364 · most liked firstWith the new Paranormasight releasing soon, I decided to make a small list of my favorite Japanese adventure games. I'm using the term "adventure game" loosely here, as some of these are more VNs than ADVs, but these are the titles that affirmed my love for this type of game and all its sub-genres.
neutral · AI labelView post →[ #paranormasight ] WE GETTING A NEW GAME YAHOOOO!!!!!!!
neutral · AI labelView post →Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse has a diving mini game that’s the first thing you can do before anything else in the game and my brain instantly locked in.
positive · AI labelView post →Paranormasight was THE game that encouraged me to branch out into visual novels beyond Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick. The opening story in particular is enormously effective.
positive · AI labelView post →I got to review the second installment of Paranormasight & much of what I loved in Seven Mysteries of Honjo still applies to The Mermaid's Curse. The new ensemble is as amazing as the first game, perhaps even stronger in some ways. It's a bit less scary, but does make you think more! It's awesome.
positive · AI labelView post →Whew... this month has been *nuts* for games. Nioh 3, Menace, Romeo Is A Dead Man, Crisol, Mewgenics, High On Life 2, Reanimal, Styx 3, The Killing Stone, Paranormasight 2, Star Trek Voyager, Love Eternal, Horsey Game, Ys 10, Demon Tides, Towerborne and Resident Evil 9. And so many other wild indies
neutral · AI labelView post →Here's my latest piece for @pcgamer.com! Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse is a brave, beautiful step forwards for the series; a game bold enough to be weird in its own unique ways - previous experience neither required nor helpful: www.pcgamer.com/games/visual...
neutral · AI labelView post →Finished playing this game a couple days ago... I like her... #パラノマサイト #Paranormasight
positive · AI labelView post →Play Paranormasight (this is official art to promote the game btw)
neutral · AI labelView post →[ Cursed Countdown: A Paranormasight Fanzine ! ] [ #パラノマサイト #paranormasight ] 📺 Announcing a new fanzine centered exclusively around the game Paranormasight! Televised direct to you, and releasing just in time for the Halloween season...
neutral · AI labelView post →Game #6: Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse big fan of the first one, wouldn't doubt it ends up being my favorite game of 2026 i love love Sato love that they go even a tiny bit into the struggle of tall women and how ppl are weirdly wary about them #mewgaming2026 #rkgk #paranormasight #パラノマサイト
positive · AI labelView post →Yoko from Paranormasight. She's ready to curse you! Or your cock...😈👻 Who else loves this game?🥰 I should upload another sketch of this game.
neutral · AI labelView post →Come to the dork side We have cookies …and horror visual novels 🎮 Now playing: Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse (TBH I’m already a handful of hours in but been slammed since PAX w work & work has been… bad. But shiny new game + nerding out w @bignerdgaming.bsky.social makes it less bad 😤)
positive · AI labelView post →Paranormasight is a game that breaks all my rules And I am THRILLED to be here 3 years later somehow reviewing a whole new entry in the franchise Feel like I’ve got some interesting nuggets about accessibility for a horror visual novel so pls check it out, but some added details in thread below 👀
positive · AI labelView post →Literally no one played The Centennial Case, even though Square-Enix made a 4K FMV detective game with a compelling mystery and rock solid direction? Even the folks who caught Paranormasight when it came out skipped this one, and that’s a damn shame.
neutral · AI labelView post →Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse Reviews: Noisy Pixel - 9.5 Game Informer - 9 Retcon - 9 CGM - 9 Vooks - 9 Siliconera - 9 DualShockers - 8.5 Gamer Braves - 8.5 Checkpoint Gaming - 7.5 Nintendo Life - 7 Don't sleep on the sequel to one of Square's most underrated games.
neutral · AI labelView post →The director of Paranormasight, Takanari Ishiyama, made a post celebrating that The Mermaid's Curse is currently the best selling game on the Switch 1 eShop in Japan right now. The first game also appears to be the 5th best seller.
neutral · AI labelView post →There’s also a new podcast episode up of Save Your Game! @mattaukamp.bsky.social and I talk about the NEW Paranormasight by Square Enix and I talk about my new favorite thing. zencastr.com/z/6ZOCljEy
neutral · AI labelView post →I’m starting a thread of games I’ve played this year because I want to share what I’ve enjoyed, plus it’s never too late to start such a thing! First game I completed this year was PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse, which I loved more than the first one! A must for mystery VN fans!
positive · AI labelView post →A horror gamer I am not - BUT I do sometimes find something spooky I enjoy Since it's discounted in the Steam Autumn sale AND on the Switch eShop, want to drop a rec for Paranormasight This is the game that really opened me up to visual novels & was a top 10 2023 game for me! (My old review below)
positive · AI labelView post →I’m in a video game playing renaissance lately. I haven’t beaten a video game since my playthru of the Tomb Raider reboot a WHILE ago, and here recently I’ve beaten LoZ:OoT, FFVII Remake, the first Paranormasight, immediately bought the second, and have started FFVII Rebirth AND Crystal Chronicles 🔥
neutral · AI labelView post →2026 game #14: Paranormasight The Mermaid’s Curse I don’t do horror. I’m picky w visual novels. It shouldn’t have worked on me once & it really shouldn’t have worked on twice. BUT IT DID & I was grinning ear to ear & the last thing I screamed was WHY IS THIS CUTE. I dare you to play & find out why
positive · AI labelView post →SURPRISE sale! Detective Instinct is currently 20% OFF on Switch/Switch 2 in the Americas and Europe! 😮 If you're looking for another character-driven mystery adventure game after playing the new Paranormasight, this might be the game for you 👁️ Links below:
neutral · AI labelView post →Been really struggling with art motivation this year, feel like I've taken quite a few steps back but I'm still trying. Here's a sketch from a game no one has heard of #art #Paranormasight
neutral · AI labelView post →Have no idea what Paranormasight is but that Mermaid's Curse game looked like my type of game
neutral · AI labelView post →Gonna be over the moon for the rest of today with the new Paranormasight game. I reviewed the first game when it launched & loved it. Please give my review a read & my interview with the key staff behind it! Review: www.rpgsite.net/review/13874... Interview: www.rpgsite.net/interview/14...
positive · AI labelView post →Just finished a game so good it broke me out of my wagie-induced art slump / inactivity #paranormasight #wip
positive · AI labelView post →Yesssss Paranormasight manga starring the coolest girls that takes place post-game with a new mystery!!!!!! Not the game I wanted, but I’ll gladly take this!
neutral · AI labelView post →Started Paranormasight The Mermaids Curse yesterday! I can already tell I’m about to get hooked and no life it like I did the first game 🔥
positive · AI labelView post →For me, it was the recent demo for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. I finished the demo a while ago but I still keep booting it up to walk around and look at stuff. Another in the recent past was Paranormasight because it felt like a game that was made for me specifically.
positive · AI labelView post →Started PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. This game just did one of the smartest things I've ever seen in a game already.
positive · AI labelView post →Paranormasight The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is currently 50% off on Steam ($9.99).
neutral · AI labelView post →I finished #Paranormasight : The Mermaid's Curse recently and MAN IT'S PURE LITERATURE PEAK in video game form!! I can't recommend it enough!! Just know you might slowly lose your sanity while playing,,, /pos #Fanart
positive · AI labelView post →Forgive me, Paranormasight. I was unfamiliar with your game. I was wrong to not play you sooner.
positive · AI labelView post →'Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse' Reviews: NintendoLife 7/10 DualShockers 8.5/10 RPGSite 8/10 RPGfan 88 Console Creatures 9/10 GameBlast 9.5/10 NoisyPixel 9.5/10 Forbes 9/10 GameInformer 9/10 OC 82 opencritic.com/game/20116/p... MC NS 85 www.metacritic.com/game/paranor...
neutral · AI labelView post →Of most companies, I did not expect this game to come out of Square Enix. Not that I think Square Enix are a bad company by any means, it’s just that – from my viewpoint – they have always made decisions that made me question their intention beyond trying to print more money for themselves. So when I picked this up, and finally loaded it up, it was when I wanted to expand my visual novel horizons to the horror genre to see what it could offer me. And I was delighted that this game scratched an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ayame Tono 😳 As promised here's another sketch about Paranormasight. Such a good horror game... but we're here for the ass!🍑
positive · AI labelView post →I enjoyed it, but a fair warning to those that try it. The intro is very different from the rest of the game. In the intro you're hunting down other curse users with you curse, figuring out how to kill them before they kill you. It's all very high stakes and thrilling. After the intro though, you never use a curse again. It turns more into a detective game where you're searching for the mastermind behind the whole thing. It's still enjoyable, but I found that the intro was easily the best part…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paranormasight canonically the first thing I wrote about on Tsundoku Diving btw, the coolest game around, extremely baxtercore by one of gaming's secret best writers, am I BEYOND excited for 2 holyyyyyy
positive · AI labelView post →Bro, it just hit me... This game is literally the DR2 tropical paradise of Paranormasight. youtu.be/GYKXkgxYvwc
neutral · AI labelView post →Note: Thanks to a wonderful friend, I had a chance to play this game and give my thoughts. ^^ An amazing visual novel that blends the horror, supernatural, and mystery. :o Introduction PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a supernatural horror, mystery visual novel with point-and-click elements developed and published by Square Enix. It is the first game in the PARANORMASIGHT series. Initially, you take on the role of Shogo Okiie, an everyday office worker who meets up with his…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paranormasight fanart 🗣️ Circe and Avi kept me fed in the new game 😌💖 [ #paranormasight #fanart #circelunarlight #circe #digital ]
neutral · AI labelView post →NEW PARANORMASIGHT GAME ANNOUNCED I AM GONNA CRY IM SO HAPPY AAAAAA
positive · AI labelView post →I bought Paranormasight on my phone to “play” at work.. Ayyoo this game is freaky.
neutral · AI labelView post →A new mystery unfolds in Square Enix's PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse for Switch on February 19!
neutral · AI labelView post →Just got an achievement in Paranormasight because I was playing the game after midnight. First achievement I've ever gotten that I thought was genuinely cool 😭
positive · AI labelView post →finished Paranormasight: the Seven Mysteries of Honjo thoughts: this should have been a candidate for game of the year when it came out. Holy shit. Play this game. Perfect presentation, use of systems and elegant asset implementation, fantastic cast and story, class act game.
positive · AI labelView post →What begins as a string of creepy neighborhood ghost stories turns into a ruthless battle of wits. In the end, people are far scarier than ghosts.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paranormasight is such a good game, y'all. #fanart #paranormasight
positive · AI labelView post →My sister was telling me to get into bluesky so I've returned after... well. A while . . . my bad... Here's a tribute I did for the game Paranormasight, very cool little game! #PARANORMASIGHT
positive · AI labelView post →NEW PARANORMASIGHT GAME IN 2026!!!!!!!! I dreamed of days like these…
positive · AI labelView post →Alright, time to play a scarier game finally. Hopefully this one doesn’t end up being too scary and I can finish it. 🎮 Paranormasight
neutral · AI labelView post →Drew some Harue Shigima from #Paranormasight! A fantastic game if you haven't tried it yet~
positive · AI labelView post →The story is cool and all, but the prologue leads you to believe that there will be more puzzle solving. That is not the case, and the rest of the game is basically a regular visual novel with the occasional "were you paying attention?" style multiple choice questions. Good visuals though. I'll give it a 7/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Most Castle-coded game since PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo.
neutral · AI labelView post →Paranormasight File23 gets Paranormasight File25 manga Set after the end of the game. After an elderly woman’s death, Nino notices strange events, leading to an encounter with Kurosuzu Mio. Mangaka: Momoyama Hinase (Umineko EP6, Higurashi EP7) 2025
neutral · AI labelView post →If a game shows me a beautiful map, I *will* screen shot it lol I find it fascinating that Paranormasight takes places in a real world location, and Japanese fans have documented the real world locations. The website below has some fantastic comparison photographs note.com/kumasan4160/... #blutoid
positive · AI labelView post →Will Aickman is back at it Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo for The Hotspot Who’s playing this @square-enix-games.com game? adventuregamehotspot.com/review/6585/... #adventuregame #horrorgame #pcgame
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has exactly the right amount of eeriness that gets me tense for the whole playthrough without being too scary for my easily frightened ass.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Paranormasight is such a banger game, man...
positive · AI labelView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.