We had the chance to speak with Takaya Ishiyama, the game’s writer and director; Kazuma Oushu, producer; and Gen Kobayashi, character designer (best known for The World Ends with You) who will talk about the real-life inspirations behind the game, its unique atmosphere and art direction, and the potential future of the series.
Nintendo Life: Paranormasight is based on the real-life urban legend of the Seven Isteries of Honjo. What drew you to those myths and do you have a favorite myth or urban legend – from those or elsewhere?
Takaya Ishiyama: There are many different interpretations of the “Seven Isteries of Honjo”, and the fact that neither the number of mysteries nor their content is set in stone was fascinating, as it left so much room for the imagination!
Kazuma Oushu: As these seven mysteries have been around since the Edo period, the stories had similarities to Japanese folktales, making many of them unique and interesting. Although legends from long ago were passed down in various regions of Japan, it’s not that common to find so many mysteries originating from one region, and I got the impression that the stories would fit well with the game’s world as well as its theme, “the power of curses”.
There are some surprisingly funny and light-hearted moments throughout the game. How difficult was it to balance this with the overall uneasy tone of the game and how did you create that atmosphere?
it is not so common to find so many mysteries originating from one region
Ishimaya-san: I can proudly say that this is exactly my creative style, so the writing came about very organically. Works in which I participated, such as The The story of the case of detective Kibukawa Ryosuke series i School strikers they also have an atmosphere with a mixture of humor and seriousness.
What was the idea behind the Storyteller and the TV set that often appears to the player during the story?
Ishimaya-san: The narrator is a necessary existence within the world of Paranormasight. He is the guide that connects the player to the game, so his identity is a secret. We felt that the television was representative of the Showa period and decided to make it the symbol for this title.
What was it like working with the Sumida City Tourism Division and why did you want to pay so much attention to creating an authentic representation of Sumida?
Ishimaya-san: They cooperated with us by giving us permission to shoot backgrounds, helping us decide on locations and sharing materials from the Show period. We also collaborated in promotion. We wanted to be careful with Sumida City’s portrayal and image as we included real-world urban legends as part of the game’s theme.
Oushu-san: Our contact in Sumida City told us that the “Seven Isteries of Honjo” was an item rakugo stories (the Japanese tradition of comic monologue storytelling) and books, but was never the subject of a game.
The design itself was simple, so I was conscious of adding personality through facial expressions, poses and so on.
In the beginning, both sides explored how to describe the story and what initiatives were possible, but after playing the game (to monitor the background) and following us on location shoots, I think we managed to clarify what each side considers important and should be respected.
We’re big fans of the hand-drawn art style of the characters and love the use of a grainy TV filter in Paranormasight. Where did this idea of mixing a TV-esque feel with more manga style art come from?
Ishiyama-san: Since the game is set in the Showa Period and we used a CRT TV to symbolize that time period, in the visualization of the concept we decided to add noise and filters that evoke old TV footage. Another motif inspired by old ghost stories was the analog feel of brushstrokes, which prompted the addition of brushstroke-like touches to character drawings, as well as brushstroke-like GUI effects.
Kobayashi-san, considering your work on The World Ends with You series, the designs in Paranormasight are much more ‘normal’ than the highly stylized characters of Shibuya – except maybe Richter! How did you go about designing these characters and how much did you know about the story while creating them?
Gen Kobayashi: Compared to The World Ends with You, my goal was to create a more realistic world with Paranormasight, so that the unique traits in the character designs were within a range that wouldn’t feel out of place in a normal city.
We are looking at a completely blank slate in terms of future development
Since this piece is set a bit back in the Showa period of Japan, I tried to create designs that would evoke a sense of the time by incorporating fashion and hairstyles from that era. The design itself was simple, so I was conscious of adding personality through facial expressions, poses and so on. The story outline was already communicated to me at the beginning of the design process, so it wasn’t difficult to get the overall impression.
Are there any plans to return to the world of Paranormasight and bring back some of these characters?
Ishiyama-san: We are looking at a completely blank slate in terms of future development, so it will depend on demand. We greatly appreciate your continued support!
This interview has been slightly edited for clarity. We want to thank Takaya Ishiyama, Kazumi Oush, and Gen Kobayashi for telling us about this hidden gem.
Paranormasight: The Seven Isteries of Honjo is now available on the Switch eShop.
