One of my favorite pastimes is exploring the Steam store page. And it just happened that I stumbled upon PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, which is developed and published by Square Enix, and released on March 8, 2023.  It’s an adventure, visual novel, supernatural horror game. Instantly, based on the cover, I knew it was going to be a quality game. Was I right? Well, it’s no masterpiece but it’s quite entertaining.

If there is one thing I learned from this game is that men are still afraid of women, especially those who have the face of a smiling Buddha (Uh oh, is the game pointing at me?).

After all, it takes a lot of skill to regulate one’s emotions to appear pleasant and attract customers–because people sure respond better to an attractive face. So it wasn’t a surprise to me to learn that the main protagonist, Shogo happens to work for a soap company which belongs to an ambitious, aging woman who is obsessed with eternal youth. At first, I thought I smell sexism. But then I realized there are other villains in the game such as the low-life perverted English teacher who looks down on his student; the chubby general shop owner by Sumida River who abducts high school girls; and the conceited occult researcher who is passionless about teaching. Just to name a few. I suppose the soap is a metaphor for cleansing and purging the ugliness that one may feel about themselves. All of the societal crimes are caused by the characters mentioned above. They are just rotten to the core and they hide their stench pretty well. But that’s just my reading. I am, after all, actively fishing for metaphors. I may very well be taking things out of context. Nonetheless, the plot sounds crazy. Hence why this game makes a perfect, entertaining horror story.

Despite the notion of evil women, I think this game has good intentions. It speaks to teenage and college students who are having a hard time navigating life alone. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have loving parents or guardians to guide them to the right path. Clearly from the dialogues, the intended audience for this game is targeted toward the vulnerable youth population. However, I can also see mature audiences appreciating the game as well for its craftsmanship.

I won’t go into any further detail about the plot since this game is relatively new. I do hope you will check out this game. The story can be dramatic to your liking and will appeal to those who enjoy reading and learning about the detailed world revolving around The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the art style is pleasing to the eye. In terms of gameplay, there are some memory tests, which are a good way to engage with the player. Also, this game encourages players to think outside the box. In doing so, you can get a good ending!

So, if you are up for a good supernatural story with a touch of humor, this game is for you! Trust me, I laughed more than I expected even though the game indirectly called women like me evil! Yes, ambitious artistic women can be so selfish. It is even eviler when we tried to retain beauty for vanity sake. Tsk tsk. I don’t think some men can ever understand why it’s important to keep up with one’s appearance. We all can benefit from using good soap. It’s just basic human etiquette.

P.S.

If I have to choose a favorite character, I would say it’s Mio. I don’t see a chubby short girl in a video game that often who has an interesting role.