| Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Review Overview
What is Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse?
Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse is a horror-mystery visual novel that explores untold horrors that lurk in the oceans of the remote island of Kameshima. The game follows Yuza, a pearl diver who encounters a mysterious doppelganger in the depths of the oceans as other mysteries start to affect other residents of the islands. Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse was released on Steam, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android on February 19, 2026.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse features:
⚫︎ Focus on Mermaid Folklore
⚫︎ Multi-Protagonist Visual Novel
⚫︎ 360-Degree Panoramic Investigation
⚫︎ Ama Diving Mini-Game
⚫︎ Meta-Narrative Puzzles
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse’s gameplay and story.
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 Steam |
 Google Play |
 App Store |
 eShop |
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| $24.99 | |||||||
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Great Story With an Even Greater Cast Clever Puzzles Stunning Retro Aesthetic and Character Art |
Lots of Exposition Dump Very Slow Start Exploration Segments Can Sometimes Feel Like Checklists |
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Story - 8/10
The character writing in this sequel feels much more personal, especially with the overlapping lives of its many characters. Their individual emotional arcs are nicely woven into a central mystery that remains tense and gripping throughout the entire 15-hour runtime. Even though the story occasionally hits a wall with long stretches of historical exposition, the payoff for sticking with these characters is consistently excellent.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Gameplay - 8/10
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is at its best when it uses its medium for fourth-wall-breaking puzzles that force you to interact with the game in really clever ways. Because of this, it feels much more involved than a typical visual novel. A lot of the time, though, the game drags you through rigid checklists where you have to click every single dialogue option just to move on.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Visuals - 10/10
The retro chromatic aberration filter returns to give everything a perfectly distorted 1980s look that feels like watching a cursed television broadcast. This aesthetic is supported by incredibly expressive character art. It is a rather visually flawless package that uses every bit of its art direction to pull you deeper into the depths of Kameshima Island.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Audio - 8/10
The soundtrack does a great job of combining tracks from the first game with new and equally memorable tunes. That immersion breaks slightly, however, when certain sound cues are repeated in a short span. Similarly, while the game works fine without voice acting, hearing the characters speak would help a lot during the long exposition sections that can otherwise slow the pace down.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Value for Money - 9/10
The quality of the writing and the rich detail in the world of Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse make this sequel well worth the $25 price. You get a solid 15-hour experience that feels satisfyingly complete, with a little extra time if you choose to track down every hidden sticker. This, though, only adds a few hours to the overall runtime; despite having a fairly non-linear structure, the game lacks the branching replayabity found in many other visual novels. However, that shouldn't deter you from getting such a solid game.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Overall Score - 86/100
The pacing can occasionally drag under the weight of long history lessons and a lack of voice acting, but Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse’s dive into the lives of these characters make the slow burn satisfying. Between its clever use of the game’s medium and its fully realized world, it is an engaging experience that feels thoughtfully put together.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Review: More Than a Drop in the Ocean
A Return to Cursed Waters
It was roughly three years ago when I finally swallowed my fears, dimmed the lights in my room, and booted up Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. I am not built for horror games. I avoid them on purpose. Jump scares stress me out, and I hate the feeling of waiting for something to pop up on screen. However, I’m still glad I played it. It ended up being one of the more memorable titles I played that year, thanks in large part to its 1980s visual style and the clever ways it utilized the video game medium.
Despite the critical praise from those who played it, I spent the last few years worried that Square Enix would simply abandon the IP. It was a niche title within a niche genre, and in an industry driven by blockbuster games, a low-budget visual novel doesn’t always get a second wind.
Imagine my surprise during the February 2026 Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase when the Storyteller reappeared on screen. I didn’t expect a sequel, let alone one coming out so soon, but seeing Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse announced was easily the highlight of that presentation for me.
Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse doesn't stray far from the foundation laid by its predecessor. It plays and still looks the same as the first game. Unlike The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, however, this new entry largely moves away from cheap scares and unsettling imagery, which I greatly appreciate.
What it focuses on instead is presenting a story with deeper characters and more expansive world-building. It feels like a more mature take on the series that doubles down on the emotional arcs of the mystery and the specific history of its setting.
Everyone is Obsessed With Mermaids
Even though you don't need to play Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo to play the sequel, it’s revealed pretty early on that it has been a year since the first game. The Mermaid’s Curse takes place in Kameshima, a remote island in the Ise-Shima region of 1980s Japan. It is a place where everyone seems completely obsessed with the local legend of the "Mermaids of Ise." Unlike the pretty Disney version of mermaids, these are tied to darker folklore about the occult, immortality, tragic curses. Developers Xeen evidently did their homework, as the setting is based on real life Mie Prefecture, which grounds the supernatural atmosphere.
Here, you follow several different characters whose lives collide on the island. There is Yuza Minakuchi, a man who, for one reason or another, takes up ama diving, a profession usually reserved for females; Sato shiranami, a girl with no memory who finds herself staying with the island’s most powerful family; and Yumeko Shiki, a housewife who just wants to go home to his husband but is obligated to stay on the island.
The cast is rounded out by others, like foreign treasure hunter and writer Avi Barnum. Each of them is on the island for their own reasons, and watching their paths cross is one of the most satisfying parts of the game that is hard to get into without spoiling big plot points.
The game has a structure that is both linear and non-linear at the same time. It follows a definitive timeline, but the game doesn’t give it to you in a straight line. Instead, you experience events oftentimes out of order and through the eyes of different protagonists. You might play a chapter as one character, only to reach a dead end that can only be bypassed by clearing a chapter in a completely different perspective.
This is where the game’s roots as a mystery make itself known. You are essentially piecing together a linear mystery by bridging the gap yourself. You have to take clues you’ve obtained in one character’s perspective and figure out how they apply to a situation happening elsewhere. It requires you to pay attention to the details of who knew what and when they knew it.
Lost in a Sea of Prose
My main concern, though, isn’t the amount of reading itself, but rather the heavy use of exposition. Since this is a mystery, the developers have to set up a lot of breadcrumbs early on so that the later reveals actually make sense. This results in long stretches where characters sit around and talk about local history or technical details of curses or locales or legends.
Although the dialogue is often fun and the character interactions well-written, these expository dumps can occasionally hurt the pacing, and it doesn’t help that the game is non-voiced. It can be a bit jarring to jump from a chapter filled with shocks and reveals into an hour of conversation about historical records. It is a necessary evil for a story this complex, but it definitely slows the momentum down at times.
Even though the dialogue can get heavy, the game handles its lore remarkably well through journal entries. As you progress through the story, you unlock detailed files regarding the characters, the setting, and the various legends you encounter. Some of these are just flavor text, but many contain historically important information that is actually relevant to the plot.
I found myself spending a significant amount of time reading through these entries for reasons best left unspoiled. Let’s just say that the game often rewards those who are thorough and curious about the world the developers have built.
More Tools This Time Around
As mentioned, since The Mermaid’s Curse is a visual novel, it should come as no surprise that the bulk of your time is spent reading. However, that does not mean you are merely clicking through dialogue for hours on end. The game retains the point-and-click investigation style of the first entry, where you are often required to scan your surroundings in a full 360-degree view.
You will frequently find yourself in segments where you must exhaust every possible line of dialogue and click on every interactive object in an area before the story allows you to move forward. Although this can sometimes feel like a bit of a literal checklist, it ensures that you don’t miss any crucial details before the plot gets going.
There are, though, new mechanics that break up the reading.
The biggest one involves the protagonist Yuza. Because he is an ama diver who harvests sea creatures without the use of scuba gear, the game features a dedicated diving minigame. In these segments, you control Yuza as he repeatedly dives into the sea to collect various shells and items. Here, you have a limited oxygen meter to manage. You have to be mindful of how deep you go and how much you try to grab, because if the meter depletes, you are forced to resurface immediately to catch your breath lest you fail the dive.
Everything you collect during these dives is converted into experience points, which are used to increase Yuza’s Diver Rank. This allows you to unlock and improve specific skills that help with later dives. For instance, you can upgrade Yuza’s lung capacity so he can stay underwater much longer, or you can upgrade his swimming speed. It is a rather simple loop, but it adds a nice distraction from the heavy dialogue scenes beyond it just being a piece of Yuza’s backstory.
The game also gives other characters unique interactive abilities that are specific to their chapters. For example, Yumeko has a "special sight" and Sato has a handheld mirror that she uses to check what is happening behind her. These are integrated into the puzzles and investigations. You have to actively think about how to use these tools to uncover clues or avoid danger.
Of course, there is more to these gameplay segments than just providing a distraction from the reading. Much like the first game, The Mermaid’s Curse is very aware that it is a video game. It uses the medium in clever, sometimes fourth-wall-breaking ways, to tell its story. The puzzles often require you to think outside the box and consider how the game’s own interface or your previous knowledge from other timelines might be the key to progressing. These moments are best left for you to experience on your own, as half the fun is the "eureka!" moment when you realize what the game is actually asking you to do.
It Looks and Sounds Amazing
The Mermaid’s Curse carries over the unique aesthetic that made the first game so recognizable. It uses a specific visual filter—often referred to as chromatic aberration—that gives the entire screen a slightly distorted, retro look. It feels like you are watching an old television broadcast from the 1980s, which fits the period setting perfectly. This effect, combined with the 360-degree panoramic backgrounds and the camera shifts, creates a sense of place that most visual novels struggle to achieve.
This is complemented by the equally impressive character designs. Each character is highly expressive, with multiple sprites that convey a wide range of emotions. The game uses subtle animations and sharp art. When a character is panicking or hiding something, you can see it in their posture and facial expressions.
This sense of immersion is further supported by the soundtrack. The music is quite good, as it takes some of the most memorable tracks from The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. One of the best things about the music is how reactive it is to the scenes. The score is ever-present, but it shifts in intensity depending on what is happening on screen. If a conversation takes a sudden dark turn, the music transitions smoothly to reflect that change in tone without being jarring.
I can’t say the same, though, for some sound cues, which can get repetitive at times. There is only so much of the "reveal" cue I can take before it becomes entirely predictable, to the point where I knew exactly when the game was going to trigger it. It is a relatively small complaint when compared to how well the audio works as a whole, though.
Is Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Worth It?
Yes, It’s a Curse Worth Catching
Despite being some of the more obscure titles in Square Enix’s massive library, I wholeheartedly believe the Paranormasight series deserves much more recognition than it currently gets. The first game was an amazing surprise, and this second entry is equally impressive in how it handles its themes.
My personal playthrough of The Mermaid’s Curse clocked in at roughly 15 hours, which felt like the right amount of time for a mystery of this scale. Although you can certainly squeeze more time out of it by replaying your favorite scenes or hunting down all the Mocking Bird stickers throughout the world, there isn’t a huge reason to do a full second run once you know the big reveal. However, for the price of $25, the quality of the writing alone makes the experience well worth the investment.
Your experience will likely depend on what you want out of the game. If you come into this expecting a full-on horror experience like the first one, you might walk away wanting more. The Mermaid’s Curse has very few actual scares. The focus here is on uncovering the truth and watching how its characters react when pushed into impossible situations. Besides, the game doesn’t have to keep you looking over your shoulder to keep you completely glued to the screen.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam |
Google Play |
App Store |
eShop |
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| $24.99 | |||||||
Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse FAQ
Who are Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse’s Characters?
The game features multiple characters, some of whom the player will take control of. These characters are:
⚫︎ Yuza Minakuchi - an ama driver whose parents died five years before the game’s events
⚫︎ Azami Kumoi - Yuza’s childhood friend
⚫︎ Sato Shiranami - a mysterious girl who arrived at Kameshima without memories
⚫︎ Tsukasa Awao - Sato’s good friend who lives on the mainland
⚫︎ Arnav Barnum - an American who came to Japan looking for mermaids
⚫︎ Circe Lunarlight - an exorcist who accompanies Arnav Barnum
⚫︎ Yumeko Shiki - a housewife from Tokyo who comes to Kameshima Island
⚫︎ Sodo Kiryu - Yumeko’s assistant
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Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Product Information
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| Title | PARANORMASIGHT: THE MERMAID’S CURSE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 19, 2026 |
| Developer | Xeen, Square Enix |
| Publisher | Square Enix |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) Nintendo Switch Mobile Devices (Android, iOS) |
| Genre | Horror, Mystery, Visual Novel, Puzzle |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB M |
| Official Website | Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse Website |
