PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

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Cursed strangers hunt each other through Showa-era Tokyo to raise the dead.

Platforms: PC, Switch, iPhone, Android
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (95% of 7,349 reviews); 4.9 on the App Store (62 ratings)
Length: about 11 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse, touch or controller: look around the 360 degree scenes, click to examine, choose what to say and when to curse.
Made by: Xeen (published by Square Enix)
Released: 2023

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What frightens Built on Tokyo's real Seven Mysteries of Honjo ghost stories: people who each hold a deadly curse hunt one another through dark streets and parks at night to win a rite that can raise the dead, and a wrong choice gets your character killed in a sudden, grisly way.
Content: blood, violence, death, suicide, strong language, jumpscares.

PARANORMASIGHT is a horror mystery visual novel from Square Enix set in Tokyo's Sumida ward in the Showa era. Several people, each holding a deadly curse tied to an old local ghost story, are drawn into a rite that can bring someone back from the dead. You switch between their stories, investigate, and choose when to strike or hide.

About PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was developed by Xeen and published by Square Enix in March 2023 for PC, Nintendo Switch, iPhone and Android. It takes its name and its ghosts from the Seven Mysteries of Honjo, a set of old ghost stories from Tokyo's Sumida ward, and it was made with the help of the ward's tourism office: its backgrounds are 360 degree photographs of real Sumida places.

It opens with Shogo Okiie, an office worker, going to Kinshibori Park at night with his friend Yoko to look into one of the stories, and things soon go wrong. The story then splits between other people chasing the same mystery: detectives looking into strange deaths, a schoolgirl searching for the truth about a classmate's suicide, and a mother set on revenge for her son. You move between them on a story chart and use what one learns to open a way forward for another.

The horror is in how these people use their curses on each other. Each curse has a condition, and if someone meets it they die; so every meeting is a battle of wits where you watch what others do and say. Look around carefully, pick up the right clue and choose your moment, or your character meets a quick, bloody end. Ghostly faces, a ouija-style board and a lot of night-time darkness keep the tension up.

It suits readers of visual novels and mystery lovers who want real dread without action. It is longer than most horror games, around 11 hours, and a sequel, The Mermaid's Curse, followed in 2026.

How to play PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

Start with Shogo's story at Kinshibori Park and read through the scenes.
Look around each 360 degree scene and examine everything marked to find clues.
Use the story chart to switch between characters and to return to earlier scenes with new knowledge.
Learn each curse's condition and choose carefully when to use yours and when to hold back.
When a choice gets a character killed, use what you learned to try another path.

Screenshots

PARANORMASIGHT screenshot: four characters, including detectives, gather in a quiet Tokyo alley as one asks about last year's kidnapping and murder case

PARANORMASIGHT screenshot: Yoko stands in a dark park at night beside a marked telephone booth to examine

PARANORMASIGHT screenshot: a finger on a coin moves across a hand-drawn spirit board of letters and numbers

PARANORMASIGHT screenshot: the story chart linking scenes for Shogo Okiie, Harue Shigima and Tetsuo Tsutsumi

PARANORMASIGHT screenshot: Yoko recoils in terror at night, crying out

Tips

Read every clue and note how each curse is triggered; most deaths come from missing a condition.
Use the Recall option and the story chart freely; going back is part of the game, not a failure.
Look all the way around each scene before moving on; the scenes are full 360 degree views.
Play at night with headphones for the full effect of the sound.