The two Paranormasight games, The Seven Mysteries of Honjo and The Mermaid’s Curse, are among the most celebrated horror visual novels in recent years. Though it might be shocking to many, Square Enix is behind their development and publishing, and now their main creative is thanking indies for their success.
Takanari Ishiyama, writer and director on both games, explained how he and the development team have approached both games in an email interview for Polygon, as well as how he feels about the challenges of getting smaller games for niche audiences.
“High-quality indie games have started to stand out, bringing greater attention to smaller-scale titles as well,” Ishiyama told the site. “The Paranormasight series doesn’t aim to do anything new or groundbreaking; rather, it focuses on carefully crafting traditional games and ensuring they’re genuinely entertaining”, he added.
As pointed out by Polygon’s piece, Paranormasight getting a sequel was noteworthy considering Square Enix’s 2024 comments, which pointed to the publisher doing “quality over quantity” after a few high-profile disappointments. The first Paranormasight was top-shelf stuff from a creative standpoint, but sales numbers were never released, so you can see why we were surprised by The Mermaid’s Curse’s reveal and fast launch.
Ishiyama’s personal analysis might have some truth to it. Over time, it’s become increasingly clear players are paying close attention to the indie space, with some of the biggest winners when it comes to finances in recent years being made by small studios. Even if Square Enix isn’t a small publisher, games like Paranormasight partially run on that low-budget, focused energy, which allows them to potentially make a splash in the same spaces.
Eurogamer’s review of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo called it “a mystery, a puzzle, and a ghost story that’s genuinely haunted by the player on the other side of the screen”. Both entries have landed ‘Overwhelmingly Positive‘ and ‘Very Positive‘ user ratings on Steam.
