Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 28/Feb 04:02

Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse – Review

Square Enix is best known for iconic RPG series like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, but we’ve found ourselves appreciating the publisher’s lower-profile offerings more and more. Don’t get us wrong, we adored the latest Dragon Quest, but oddball titles like Voice of Cards or The Centennial Case show that Square Enix isn’t afraid to take risks. It’s even better when these games are given some room to grow: the aforementioned Voice of Cards only got better with each of its two subsequent entries, for example. Now, another one of these smaller titles, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, is given the opportunity to prove its staying power with a sequel; Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse. Story As is usual with story-driven games like these, we’ll avoid giving away too many details when talking about The Mermaid’s Curse’s narrative. We’ll start by saying that you needn’t have played The Seven Mysteries of Honjo to fully appreciate this new story. There are a handful of connections to the previous game, but they come across more as easter eggs and winks to an existing audience rather than important bits of information. You’re getting a self-contained mystery here, as well as an entirely new cast. Helming that cast is Yuza Minakuchi, a young diver whose parents died in a storm at sea five years earlier. As the sole survivor of that tragic incident, Yuza has been ostracized by parts of the community, as they believe there was a curse involved. The story of The Mermaid’s Curse is set in motion when Yuza becomes plagued by visions of a possible future where he commits terrible acts. Determined to avoid this seemingly prophetic future, Yuza begins investigating the legends of local mermaids and the curse surrounding the island. The narrative then expands to include three other perspective characters, including a housewife tied to the Paranormal Affairs Bureau, an amnesiac girl, and a fantasy writer, all of whom become entangled in a web of curses, murders, grudges, and regional folklore. Graphics For the most part, The Mermaid’s Curse sticks to the established art style of The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, retaining the illustrated, brush-stroke aesthetic, combining expressive 2D character portraits with panoramic backgrounds. Where the sequel differs is in how colourful it is comparatively. The darker, retro-TV-filtered nighttime aesthetic has been replaced with a brighter, more natural daytime presentation. The tonal shift of the visuals matches that of the story, which leans less into pure horror and is more character-driven. Sound Much of The Mermaid’s Curse’s atmosphere comes from the game’s soundtrack. We’d go as far as to say that the music is an essential part of the game’s identity, so it’s a good thing that it’s so damn good. For the most part, the music is new too, although there are some throwbacks to the original, like the opening theme and certain investigation tracks. This helps with establishing Paranormasight’s identity as a series rather than a standalone series, so it doesn’t feel like recycling as much as it does establishing continuity. New music leans into the game’s tropical, coastal setting, alternating between light-hearted, humorous tunes and more serious, drama-driven eeriness. The soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting in the absence of voice acting, though like with the first game, the soundscape as a whole is excellent, even if you don’t hear the cast talk. Sound effects and audio cues in particular help tie everything together and underscore dramatic story beats. Gameplay Like its predecessor, The Mermaid’s Curse is a slow-burn, text-heavy supernatural mystery visual novel. The gameplay consists of reading carefully, managing branching timelines, solving increasingly involved puzzles, and piecing together folklore, character motivations, and curses. The game unfolds across multiple playable characters, with the story divided into scenes on a Story Chart. You frequently jump between different character perspectives and timelines. Progress often requires using knowledge gained in one route to influence or reinterpret another. This new knowledge comes in different ways, including so-called Recollections, which are past events that provide new context or information. The game is deliberately structured in such a way that failure is an integral part of the experience. You hit bad endings, learn something, and try again with a better understanding. For seasoned visual novel enthusiasts, this makes for a much denser, brain-tickling experience, although we’d be hard-pressed to encourage genre newbies to dip their toes in the water with this one -stick to Ace Attorney if you’re still finding your footing. Compared to the previous Paranormasight, there is more emphasis on puzzles and interactive segments, including minigames. The former can be as simple as filling in blanks or cross-referencing bits of information, although the game’s final puzzle is notoriously difficult and unexpectedly introduces new mechanics. Generally speaking, the puzzles do require you to pay attention and go through every single dialogue option. Often, vital clues are hidden in what appears to be flavour text. Minigames, on the other hand, break up long stretches of dialogue and make for a welcome change of pace. The most prominent minigame is a diving game that ties into Yuza’s background. There is more to the minigames than you’d expect, and there is a sense of progress to them: as Yuza levels up, he gains more oxygen in future minigame runs, for example. In fact, that sense of progress resonates throughout the game. Just how much time you’ll spend with The Mermaid’s Curse depends on your reading speed, of course, but the game expects you to revisit it and unlock different endings, eventually aiming for the secret “true” ending. Our first run took us roughly 10 hours, and reaching that ending took another 9. While The Mermaid’s Curse isn’t going to be for everyone, getting roughly 20 hours of top-notch mystery novel content for a mere €19.99 is good value in our books. Conclusion If The Seven Mysteries of Honjo didn’t put Paranormasight on your radar, then hopefully The Mermaid’s Curse will do so. This second entry cements the series as an innovative and challenging mystery visual novel IP. Fans of the Hermitage and Famicom Detective Club games in particular will love what The Mermaid’s Curse has to offer, although the higher level of challenge does mean that this isn’t a particularly beginner-friendly title. Still, here’s hoping that The Mermaid’s Curse is successful enough for Paranormasight to get more entries in the (near) future.