I remember reading interviews a few years ago with the Paranormasight director/writer, who hoped it could become a series. But since there was reportedly no marketing it didnāt seem likely. Now, suddenly, thereās a second game.
Iāve played a few hours and itās very good so far. All new characters and a mix of familiar and new facial expressions.
If youāve never played the first one, Iād start there.
They are visual novel-type games with additional elements. You solve a mystery using a Shadow of Destiny-style timeline, but with supernatural investigation stories rather than time travel.
I watched the first few scenes then unlocked a flashback near the end. I chose to see the flashback rather than move the story forward. I then unlocked a flashback within the flashback, then another flashback within that flashback and just now another flashback within that last flashback
Another thing that makes these games work so well is that all of the characters are basically as smart as youād want them to be for their roles. There are some very funny scenes, often involving exaggerated character reactions, but thatās applied to everyone within tasteful bounds rather than including unintelligent comic relief characters.
I had to look up a couple steps to get the ātrueā ending. Unlikely I ever would have arrived there otherwise. Regardless, I think this is a worthy sequel in every way.
The second game is definitely more bright and colorful than the first one, but that didnāt detract for me. (I guess itās kind of like SnowRunner vs. MudRunner in that way.)
Because it doesnāt happen very often, the scenes where characters sling curses are particularly fun to see.
Yeah, the first game was pretty inconsistent in tone, with the prologue (~first hour) featuring a lot of horror, but then the rest of the game settles into a slow-burn mystery. I kept expecting the intensity to ratch up again at some point, but it never did.
If I were in charge, I wouldāve resolved the problem in the other direction because I liked the prologue the best. But even though it does the opposite of what I thought I wanted, Iām finding the sequel good so far. The horror elements are still there, it just doesnāt try to startle or disgust with them anymore. And it otherwise has a lot more variety and dynamism (flashbacks, better puzzles, setting changes between day/night and land/ocean, more Japanese history/myth concepts).
I quite like how the game manages to portray the sea as a quiet beautiful but menacing presence. Almost like the surface of the sea is the gate to the netherworld and the divers are exploring death itself
The text is very rich with historical details, but almost too rich. I loved learning about ama divers, I cared less about the 20th japanese region mentioned
Hidden within the game are 20 bird stickers you can collect. After finding 5 bird stickers you unlock a bird relationship chart and can know read their descriptions.
Itās cute / weird how this game ends on an ARG-like quest to get the true ending in 2026. Everybody is going to check the internet on how to get the true ending come onā¦
I loved the experience, it did have the same weird pacing as the first one.
The stakes are way higher earlier on when the traitorās identity is a genuine surprise and theyāre mass murdering everybody on the island. The second villain in comparison is obvious and much less threatening
The game was very touching and as always gorgeous and Iām always down for more Paranormasight in the future
