Welcome to the finale of our PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo retrospective!

In previous editions, the team has discussed the inception of the game, how they implemented the fourth wall-breaking puzzles and much more.

To bring things to a close, Kazuma Oushu (Producer), Takanari Ishiyama (Director), Gen Kobayashi (Character Designer) and project members of the PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo team discuss the game’s amazing critical reception and answer some burning questions we have about the game’s story!

To read the full article, please go to: http://sqex.link/5z0z

How did it feel to finally launch Paranormasight?

Takanari Ishiyama (Director): I thought that we’d made an interesting game, but I was really nervous, as I had no idea how a traditional text adventure game like this would be received in this day and age. I couldn’t stop wondering how players outside of Japan would find the game.

Are there any reactions to the game you’ve been particularly surprised by?

Ishiyama-san: I was surprised that Yutaro Namigaki was such a popular character, as my intention was that he would be the type of character that people would generally dislike.

I think if I’d intentionally tried to make an unlikeable character that people would end up liking, it wouldn’t have worked. It’s just one of those tricky things.

Also, there’s a section of the game where the player is forced to save manually so that the characters can make good on their promise to never forget what has happened, and I’m really happy that this, along with the story beat that goes with it, was so well received.

What message do you have for players?

Ishiyama-san: We are planning to keep on making games, so we hope that you will continue to offer your support!

And for anyone yet to play the game, thank you for giving PARANORMASIGHT your attention! If it has piqued your interest, why not explore some related content further – perhaps by watching a stream of someone play it as a first step, for example? You won’t regret it!

To read everything else, the blog is available in full here: http://sqex.link/5z0z

To celebrate the game being 40% off for a limited time, we're continuing our retrospective!

Last time, the developers of the game talked about its inception, and the considerations that went into making a supernatural game based on real urban legends. Today, we discuss the implementation of these ideas, including their approach to the fourth wall-bending puzzles and distinctive environments.

Answers were provided by Kazuma Oushu (Producer), Takanari Ishiyama (Director), Gen Kobayashi (Character Designer) and project members. We hope you enjoy their insights.

To read Part 1 of the retrospective, click here: http://sqex.link/8rpj

To read the entirety of part two, click here: http://sqex.link/587s

PARANORMASIGHT is different to many visual novel-style games in that it has 360-degree areas you can look around. How did you achieve that effect?

The idea to do this came from Character Designer, Gen Kobayashi.

We actually went to Sumida in Tokyo and took some panoramic photos using a camera that could shoot in 360 degrees. Once we had done that, we created the backgrounds on the basis of those photos, tweaking them in places to look closer to the 1980s aesthetic that we wanted.

This means we were able to put together a gameplay experience that utilizes space and depth in a way that doesn’t normally come across in 2D adventure games.

What help did the Sumida Ward provide to help you make the game as accurate as possible?

The first thing relates specifically to the backgrounds in the game. When it came to shooting our panoramic photographs to use in the game, we needed to shoot some areas that would normally be off limits to the general public, but we were given permission ahead of time to shoot there.

Also, when we were adjusting everything to make it feel more like the 80s, they provided us with materials from that era. They also checked the images and in-game screens that we had produced and offered their feedback so that we could tweak everything to make it look more like how Sumida would have actually looked.

Were there any real-life locations you wish you could have used, but they didn’t fit into the final game?

Although the Tokyo Skytree is the most well-known landmark in Sumida, it didn’t fit with the time during which the game is set. So, any time it showed up in a photo, we had to remove it when creating the in-game background!

The game has multiple endings, including a secret additional ending. How did the team implement the different endings into the game?

Takanari Ishiyama (Director): There are different goals for each character’s path through the game, so we came up with endings that fitted with those goals, and then added them in.

I actually thought that this game didn’t have all that many endings when compared to a typical visual novel-style game. Personally, I think that the more branching points a game’s story has, the harder the players find it to keep track of what information came up on what path, so I prefer not to create too many endings and overload them.

To read even more insights, click here: http://sqex.link/587s

Yet to play? The game is 40% off for a limited time...

PARANORMASIGHT: THE SEVEN MYSTERIES OF HONJO Is Now Available on GeForce NOW! Journey to the Sumida Ward of Tokyo, Japan with the power of the cloud. The low-latency gameplay is a perfect way to discover the twists and turns of the 'Rite of Resurrection.'

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is celebrating a year since its release with a limited time 40% discount. Additionally, we wanted to celebrate the occasion with a Q&A!

In this new series, we’ll be chatting to the development team, including Kazuma Oushu (Producer), Takanari Ishiyama (Director), Gen Kobayashi (Character Designer) and project members of the PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo team to pull back the curtain on this eerie adventure. The full version is available on the Square Enix website: https://sqex.link/ng9e

How did the idea for Paranormasight come about?

We thought about how we could make an engaging, high-quality experience with a limited development window and budget. We decided that the only answer was to come up with an adventure game that leveraged experience from Director Takanari Ishiyama’s previous titles, such as Detective Ryosuke Kibukawa Case Files and Schoolgirl Strikers.

That was when our Producer had the idea to take a horror game - something which works well for livestreaming - and mix in some mystery elements. All that led to the creation of the game that you see today.

How did you research all of the different potential curses of Honjo?

We actually visited Honjo lots of times to gather material.

We looked through a lot of old documents in the library, and collected information from archivists at the local chamber of commerce and museum

How did you decide which curses to implement?

Despite being known as the “seven mysteries of Honjo”, there a actually more than seven incidents according to the documentation that we saw.

We thought that this contradiction would actually contribute to what makes this such an interesting idea, so we actually included all nine incidents that we found. As we adapted these for the game, we incorporated the curses into the gameplay as adventure-game mechanics.

The full version of the first part of this interview is available on the Square Enix website with plenty of additional questions via the following link: https://sqex.link/ng9e

After a night of mysterious deaths, it's up to you to face supernatural foes and lead the investigation into paranormal events.

Survive in a battle of wits and curses in this critially acclaimed visual novel set in Tokyo's Sumida Ward. See what's earned PARANORMASIGHT a 96% approval rate on Steam!

“one of the biggest surprises this year” 9/10 – RPG Site
“a masterclass in puzzle-solving” 4.5/5 – TheGamer
“brilliant and subversive” 9/10 – Inverse

Winner of the Award for Excellence at the Japan Game awards 2023.

To celebrate a succesful year of investigations, PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is 40% off until 25 March.

Under the language settings, which can be accessed from the General tab in the in the Properties menu, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese are displayed. However, these two language settings are currently unavailable.

We apologize for any confusion. Once these language settings become available, we will issue a follow-up notice.

Please consider nominating PARANORMASIGHT: THE SEVEN MYSTERIES OF HONJO for Game of the Year!

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is now Steam Deck Verified!

After a night of mysterious deaths, it's up to you to face supernatural foes and lead the investigation into paranormal events.

Survive in a battle of wits and curses in this critially acclaimed visual novel set in Tokyo's Sumida Ward. See whats earned PARANORMASIGHT a 96% approval rate on Steam on Steam Deck!

“PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo” has been updated to Ver1.1.
Update details are as follows:

[Caution]
Please note that if an update has been made to a scenario where you saved in the middle of a chapter, you will need to start over from the beginning of that chapter when you load the game after the update.

■ Adjustments to Game Contents

・Implemented a “Fast-Forward Function” that will activate by holding the Cancel button. Players will be able to fast-forward all text and presentations freely with the exception of certain scenes.
(*Note) Due to the implementation of this function, we have made changes to the default controller layout. If you are using a custom controller layout, please be aware that you may not be able to use this fast-forwarding function.

・Added <Chromatic Aberration ON/OFF> feature in Video Options. If you wish to turn off chromatic aberration effects on-screen, you may do so by using this option.

・Adjustments have been made so that the cursor does not appear in unnecessary situations, such as during conversations.

・Adjustments to presentations and other contents have been made to a number of scenes where it may have been difficult to understand how to progress in the game.

・Adjustments have been made to various information messages so that they are easier to understand.

・When playing on a Steam Deck or in Big Picture mode, a software keyboard will be displayed when entering text.

・App icon has been changed.

■Fixed Issues

・Fixed the issue where the achievement “Don't Be a Quitter” could not be properly achieved. Those who meet the requirements can achieve this upon launching the game after updating to Ver1.1. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

・Fixed minor bugs