PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

除了太短了，基本没啥缺点的恐怖ADV。有解谜要素但是不多，除了最后结局外基本不会卡住。 太短了太短了太短了。。。意犹未尽。

Half-puzzle game, half visual novel. It feels a bit reductive to call this a visual novel, since the experience is a lot more interactive and investigative than just clicking through dialogue trees. Disclaimer: I normally hate visual novels. I don't mind extremely dialogue-heavy games or walking sims (see: 1000xResist), but most traditional visual novels just feel like overly long and flowery stories shoved into the most uninventive format. Not so here. Paranormasight feels like, to this non-VN fan, what fans describe the ideal VN as, with some extra goodies thrown on top. While this is not the deepest or most character-focused story, per se, it makes up for that by being very inventive with its presentation and metanarrative, such that the whole story, even at its weakest, is at least fun. Will the story shown bring a tear to your eye? Probably not. From a storytelling standpoint, most of Paranormasight's strengths are in its central mystery and keeping you guessing. There is twist after twist after twist, some of which verge on a David Lynch-styled absurdity that the game itself acknowledges regularly. There is a lot packed into this 8-14 hour game, such that it feels almost overwhelming to think about it retrospect. Without spoiling anything, the plot concerns four individuals who find themselves equipped with "Curse Stones", items that let them instantly kill someone provided certain conditions are met. Those individuals are pitted against others that all seek the same thing: to gather enough souls to resurrect someone from the dead. Now, this initially sounds like a battle royale or "quest for one wish" plot format that I'm usually a huge fan of. I think it's a great way to explore some psychological foibles we all find universal. But that isn't really the kind of story Paranormasight tells. The first third or so of the game is mostly horror focused as the characters find their footing. After that, the game is much more about investigating the central mystery surrounding the curse stones and why they've appeared. I think the transition is handled well and makes more use of the game's metanarrative elements. For those that are expecting Jojo-styled faceoffs or escalating between curse bearers, look elsewhere. I do applaud the game for its cast even if it doesn't delve as deeply into their psyches as I would've liked. Harue Shigima and Richter Kai are real standouts, fun and emotionally engaging in equal measure. Not that Shogo or Yakko are poorer by comparison, but Harue and Tsutsumi, as older and more cynical/depressed figures, aren't what I'm used to from an anime game, in a good way. They represent the kind of figures that are usually reserved for stock villains or supporting characters, at best. When's the last time a game let you play as a morbidly depressed, near-nihilistic housewife? Yet, the metanarrative is where the game truly shines. Your player character is not just an avatar of yourself. They are, indeed, truly a character interacting with the game elements. Everything from your ability to read background information and character files, your ability to jump between events in a nonlinear fashion, and your interruption of events to ensure characters act in ways they would have no reason to are all accounted for in the plot. Instead of just presenting static camera angles, the game dynamically zooms and floats about, letting you view the character you're watching from a third-person perspective. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling things, but this was by far the coolest part of the game to me. It sets the "visual novel" apart from a regular "novel" experience, even if it lacks some of the long-term routing that's traditional to a VN. Otherwise, fantastic art and great music. Two thumbs up.

内容很棒

神中神，视觉小说还能这麽做，每个角色都刻画的很好

I've played a lot of visual novels and adventure games in this format but this one was something special. It's not long but it's not short, it's perfectly paced and the mystery is solid with some clever meta writing, but the characters are really engaging and grounded so solving the mystery is really about reaching a personal conclusion for each protagonist. I enjoyed all the twists and it never got too convoluted for me, plus there's a healthy dose of interesting japanese history and folklore for the history buffs to dig into. Highly recommended and will check out the sequel in the future.

第一次见到叶子，并没有什么特别的感觉，因为独属于我的咒灵，我早已经遇见~