Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Review – A Haunting Supernatural Mystery Worth Diving Into – MonsterVine

Return to the world of Paranormasight and as soon as once more observe a branching supernatural story as curses threaten the distant island of Kameshima and a number of teams of individuals examine legends of mermaids.

Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse
Developer: Sq. Enix
Worth: $25
Platform: Nintendo Swap (reviewed), PC, iOS, Android
MonsterVine was equipped with a Swap code for evaluation.

I performed and reviewed Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo when it got here out in 2023, and I completely liked it. Ever since then, I hoped Sq. Enix would develop a sequel sometime, particularly after the director made feedback about wanting to show it right into a sequence, so I used to be ecstatic when Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse was introduced and even happier to have an opportunity to play the sport forward of launch for this evaluation.

Paranormasight Dives Into Mermaid Folklore and Japanese Fable

Like its predecessor, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is a visible novel with mild journey recreation components, together with a number of areas the place you get a 360 diploma view of the atmosphere, which makes the sport extra immersive. Generally investigating the atmosphere is required to proceed, however typically it’s merely for further dialogue and to search out the collectible stickers that make a return right here. The presentation is superb as soon as once more, with lovely artwork and music that stood out to me from the second I loaded the sport. The environment, nevertheless, is completely different this time round. Whereas the primary Paranormasight was overtly horror, this one has a extra relaxed environment and a brighter world to match. The lighter tone lets it discover its thriller in numerous methods, akin to feeling extra like a bunch of characters working collectively to beat harmful threats, and I respect these elements regardless of preferring the stronger horror components of the primary recreation.

That isn’t to say it’s with out darker components and heavy themes, nevertheless. It’s nonetheless a narrative about paranormal occasions and curses, this time centered on legends of mermaids and the assumption that consuming a mermaid’s flesh will grant immortality. A number of persons are trying to find mermaids, and their paths cross on the island of Kameshima, which is tied to mermaid myths. One such particular person trying to find a mermaid is Yuza, the only survivor of a catastrophe at sea 5 years earlier, who believes he was saved by one. Yuza can be coaching to grow to be an ama diver, a kind of Japanese diver that gathers shellfish and different finds from the ocean flooring, regardless of pushback from locals. That is included into gameplay as a diving mini-recreation. Diving controls are easy, however you might want to regulate your oxygen meter and return to the floor earlier than you run out of air. By gathering gadgets, you possibly can enhance your diving stats to make it simpler. If this sounds intimidating, don’t fear. Whereas it’s required at a few factors, it’s not an enormous a part of the sport. I noticed it principally as a enjoyable diversion, a option to take a break from the thriller now and again to strive for a better rating earlier than diving again into the story.

The truth is, whilst you’ll typically journey between completely different places on the map or have interaction in mild puzzle-fixing, a lot of the recreation is targeted on its story. You’ll spend most of your time speaking to characters, with varied dialogue subjects obtainable. A dialogue-heavy recreation like that lives or dies by its narrative, however happily, the mysteries are intriguing, and the characters are likable. By the tip, I used to be fairly hooked up to this solid of characters. On prime of that, you get a wealth of recordsdata that present detailed details about related historic occasions, cultural context, and mythological ties, all of which come into play.

Like within the first recreation, you possibly can change between completely different characters’ tales by means of the Story Chart, a flowchart that allows you to soar to a different scene. As you play, you’ll unlock new scenes, together with ones that happen earlier by means of a mechanic known as “Recollection.” On this approach, the story isn’t at all times introduced in a chronological order, and also you typically study particulars that change the way you view occasions set later within the timeline. The Story Chart is extra easy than within the first recreation, with the complicated elements smoothed out and fewer obligatory again-and-forth. Nevertheless, it nonetheless makes use of it to its benefit for some intelligent tips and attention-grabbing recontextualization. And whereas the simple construction may make development less complicated than the primary recreation, I finally discovered myself in a scenario extremely harking back to my time with the primary recreation, as I went round in circles attempting to determine the clues to getting the true ending. Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is perhaps completely different than its predecessor by way of tone and construction, but it surely’s no much less worthy of reward.

The Ultimate Phrase
Whereas it lacks the jaw-dropping twists of its predecessor, Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is a superb supernatural story that weaves historic and mythological tales into an intriguing and sometimes lethal thriller. If Sq. Enix continues to place such effort and care into these video games, I hope Paranormasight can grow to be a brand new lengthy-working sequence.

MonsterVine Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Nice