When we think of Square Enix, we think of JRPGs. After years of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, with their greatest efforts dedicated to that particular genre, it’s normal for everything to be associated with that genre. But among their ranks, they have some renowned creators who have been involved in franchises from genres very different from JRPGs. For example, visual novels. And in particular, detective stories.

Because the best detective game of the last five years, which you probably haven’t played, has received a sequel. And it is as interesting, if not more so, than the original game. Its name is Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, but the story of these games is as interesting as the story of its creator, who, although unknown in the West, is quite an institution in Japan. Also among JRPG fans.

A Big Man in Japan

The creator of the game is Takanari Ishiyama, which may not mean anything to you, and that’s normal. Although he has been working in the video game industry since at least the era of the first PlayStation, his name is not one that has resonated in the same way as other famous names like Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima. In fact, he started working for the latter at Konami. Working in the sound department, he was responsible for the editing, composition, and adjustments of the sound effects and voices of Metal Gear Solid, as well as handling the sound effects for two little-known games in the West by Kojima: the first two volumes of Tokimeki Memorial Drama Series. Two visual novels spinoffs of a famous dating sim from that era.

Although later he would also work on design tasks in the racing game franchise Tokyo Xtreme Racer, which is little known in the West but extremely popular in Japan, he would join Square Enix in 2005, where he would work on several major titles, as director and screenwriter, particularly for mobile platforms. Highlighting his work as director on  Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wing and Blood of Bahamut, for Nintendo DS, two of the most underrated games on the platform, he proved to be one of the most talented authors in the company. Even if he is also one of the least known.

But before that, Ishiyama had already gained significant fame. At least, in terms of Japan. Because three years prior, he had started a franchise of seventeen installments that was a massive success on mobile. And it attracted a new audience to video games.

The man who made mystery great

Ishiyama published in 2002 for mobile phones Tantei Kibukawa Ryōsuke Jikentan Vol. 1: Kamen Gensō Satsujin Jiken, which we could loosely translate as The story of the case of detective Ryosuke Kibukawa: the masked fantasy murder. This would be the first installment of the Ryosuke Kibukawa detective series, where an employee of a video game company dies while playing the RPG of a rival company. Having to discover how much of the claim that the video game is cursed is real and how much is, in fact, that someone had motives to murder him.

Being a tremendous success, especially among the young female audience, what I would highlight about the series Tantei Kibukawa Ryōsuke Jikentan is that it adds a unique twist to classic detective stories. All of them address social issues, have some kind of occult twist, and place a great emphasis on discovering how much truth there is in the esoteric part and how much in the crime.

Unfortunately, if you want to play any of the seventeen titles of Tantei Kibukawa Ryōsuke Jikentan, you will need to know Japanese. Although they are easily available on Steam at an excellent price thanks to the company G-MODE, they have never been officially or unofficially translated into any other language besides Japanese. But what we do have are the games that, inspired by Tantei Kibukawa Ryōsuke Jikentan, with a much larger budget and, to be honest, even less publicity, Ishiyama has made for Square Enix: Paranormasight.

Published in March 2023 on Switch, PC, and mobile platforms, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo offers us a most intriguing premise: in the Sumida district of Tokyo, a group of people is trying to unveil the Seven Mysteries of Honjo, a series of urban legends that seem to be behind a ritual that would allow them to resurrect the dead. Soon we will discover that all of this is true and that each of the mysteries is associated with a curse that can kill a human being if the right conditions are met, and that this is necessary to accumulate enough souls to bring someone back to life. Always for a price.

Our role here is that of a detective and facilitator. By putting ourselves in the shoes of each character in the story, being able to travel back in time and changing the order and the events themselves, we must ensure that they achieve their goals and do not reach dead ends, all while uncovering the secrets behind the mysterious disappearances and deaths surrounding each of them.

The game captivated both critics and audiences, both in Japan and the West. Even though it was in Japan where it stood out the most. Winning the Excellence Award at the 2023 Japan Game Awards, it was only a matter of time before Square Enix allowed Ishiyama to make a sequel. And it seems that the time has come.

Named Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse, the structure is the same and our purpose has not changed. But now instead of being in a rural neighborhood of Tokyo, we are on the island of Kameshima, in the most remote part of Japan. Suffering from different curses among themselves, our goal will be to uncover the truth behind the secret of the Ise mermaids. And while those who have been able to play it have loved it, with even greater critical enthusiasm than its original release, you won’t have to wait to try it: the game comes out on February 19, 2026. As of the publication date of this article. And without needing to play Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, although we recommend you do so anyway, what’s stopping you from diving into that incredible mystery?