Spooky visual novel The Mermaid's Curse is the best kind of sequel: a self-contained mystery

Spooky visual novel The Mermaid’s Curse is the best kind of sequel: a self-contained mystery | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Roguelike Mewgenics provides the best proof yet that the turn-based tactics genre is the true home of drama and excitement in gaming Horror Reanimal review: Astonishingly bleak and oblique survival horror Action Styx: Blades of Greed review: Engaging, challenging stealth in dizzyingly vertical puzzle boxes RPG I applaud this gacha game for ditching anime characters for puppets, but it still can’t escape the pitfalls of a post-Genshin Impact world Roguelike Mewgenics review: The creator of The Binding of Isaac has transcended his own past work with this sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike Action Yakuza Kiwami 3 spoils an interesting remake with odd changes and an abysmally misjudged recast RPG The best King’s Field-likes on PC Sim One of the best-reviewed new games on Steam right now is about feeding raccoons and cryptids with the cosmic, Lynchian oven of your eerie woodland house Action Nioh 3 review: This samurai soulslike epic is a serious contender to Elden Ring Adventure I’m obsessed with detective games, and I think these 9 prove that 2025 was the best year for the genre ever Action Cairn review: A gripping ‘strand-game’ about the limits of the body Adventure Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium Games The best indie games on PC RPG Nioh 3’s open world is incredibly formulaic compared to Elden Ring’s, so I’m slightly embarrassed by how much I’m loving it Sim The demo of Sucker for Love: Crush Landing is the gentle reminder I needed that dating an eldritch god wouldn’t be straightforward, actually PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Games Visual Novel Spooky visual novel The Mermaid’s Curse is the best kind of sequel: a self-contained mystery Features By Kerry Brunskill published 18 February 2026 Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse is better for not caring if you’ve played the first game. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter There are plenty of superficial similarities between The Mermaid’s Curse and the original Paranormasight, a 2023 visual novel that’s quietly built up a reputation as one of the best mystery games of the last few years. There’s the artistic style, the spooky tone, the use of an ensemble cast who have nothing and everything to do with one another.I was happy to see all these things that helped Paranormasight find an adoring yet undeservedly small audience present in this unexpected sequel, because I’m very ready to spend more hours picking through the shattered fragments of meticulously researched horror adventure that blurs the line between fiction and reality. But what I really love about this second game is that everyone, regardless of whether they picked the original apart or are hearing about it for the first time this week, immediately gets stuck in the same bloodstained boat.The Mermaid’s Curse has the confidence to essentially start over, and that means nothing I mastered in the earlier game will help me survive this one. Related articles The Seance of Blake Manor is a folk horror detective game, but I’ve been too busy digging through my fellow hotel guests’ drawers to solve its supernatural mystery TR-49 review: A tense and beautifully written mystery, told entirely on a bizarre 1940s computer Pathologic 3 review: One of the most compelling mystery adventures since Disco Elysium The focus this time is on mermaids and (I’m pretty sure they left this part out of the Disney movie) the twisted immortality a single bite of their flesh can bring. Not knowing exactly what’s going on is considered a normal part of the experience and the script, always fond of prodding at the fourth wall, makes repeated efforts to emphasise that any uncertainty is entirely natural. Characters complain how easy it is to confuse a tangled web of dusty old dynasties, or how annoying it can be when historical records mention someone having a chance encounter with a magical creature and little else, as if the observer just shrugged and let it wander off.These instances offer acknowledgment and reassurance to stick with the myst