Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is very different game from 2023’s The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Although they are set only one year apart and have the same visual style, Mermaid’s Curse is a much slower burn. Where Honjo was largely a tense horror experience with instant death from curses around every corner, Mermaid has relatively few game overs and is more about the mystery. Rather than taking place in a real part of Tokyo, it is primarily set on a fictional island in rural Mie Prefecture. It’s still probably fair to assume that you’ll like one if you like the other, but Square didn’t just make a safe copycat sequel. This is its own game.
Mermaid’s Curse opens with you controlling Yuza Minakuchi on his first outing as an ama diver. This is actually a fully playable minigame where you can explore the ocean floor to collect various shellfish, then bring them back to the boat to level up and improve your skills. Mysterious events inevitably ensue, and from there you begin your quest to find a mermaid and prevent an ancient curse that’s due to activate in short order. Just like Honjo, this game features multiple player characters and you’ll see most events from more than one perspective. Unlike Honjo, where all characters were initially dedicated to their own goals, Mermaid is a more cooperative experience from the get-go. Although everyone has their own motivations and backgrounds, stopping the curse that threatens all of them is most character’s highest priority. The cast spends much more time in civil discussion than in life-or-death standoffs.
Fortunately, most characters are more fleshed out than in Honjo. Almost everyone has multiple reasons for being on Kameshima and a reasonably fleshed out background, which helps keep all the talking interesting and believable. The pacing probably could have used a few more dramatic events in the first half just to make sure you know it’s going somewhere, but when it does finally pick up, the rest of the story is quite a ride. It deserves praise for actually needing all of that setup: almost everything that happens in Mermaid is somehow relevant to the central mystery. There are a lot of quiet scenes to read in this game, but it isn’t wasting your time. I was also impressed by the way almost every character ties into the game’s theme in a unique way. They’re different people who have different answers to the question at the center of it all.
The rest of the game will be more familiar to anyone that played Honjo. Despite the different approach to pacing and setting, the gameplay still largely comes down to spinning the camera around and clicking on everything until a scene ends. Mermaid is thankfully more clear about when a choice matters and, aside from the true ending, never gates progress behind unexplained systems like Honjo did. Although it is set on a fictional island, it’s as devoted to the culture and history of the Ise-Shima area as Honjo was for Sumida. Music is the only part where Mermaid feels like a step back. Maybe the high energy jazz of Honjo wouldn’t have fit here, but I think it could have used a few more memorable tracks. As it is, I can’t really remember any music except for some returning themes.
Conclusion
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse isn’t going to be for everyone, but it’s an easy recommendation if another deep exploration of the myths and legends of a very specific place sounds appealing. Even though it takes a while to truly hit its stride, the end result makes it all worth it. This is an improvement on a game I already thought was excellent, and I’m eager to see where else Square takes this series.
Rating: 90%
Time to beat: Around 20 hours
Price: $25
Feel free to leave a question or comment below!
For more reviews, see my Steam curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43219041