Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo wasone of my favourite gamesof 2023. In fact,it was my personal game of the year.I love a good visual novel with creepy vibes, especially when it’s steeped in ghost stories and urban myths. So, it should come as no surprise that when I heardUrban Myth Dissolution Centerwould be at Gamescom, it was one I justhadto play. And it did not disappoint.
The game follows Azami Fukurai, who can see spiritual entities to some degree. She ventures to the Urban Myth Dissolution Center for answers, only to end up becoming its latest hire, working under creative director Ayumu Meguriya and alongside operative Yasumi Tomarigi to solve paranormal cases.
As the title suggests, cases focus on different urban myths and legends that have popped up on the internet over the years, including taking the team to rental properties with dark histories, cursed relics, and dimensional anomalies.
My hands-on preview focused on the opening, introducing us to the characters and basic mechanics. The only occult mystery I dealt with was a cursed chair that ultimately, didn’t seem cursed at all, but was rigged with a poison, which Ayumu used as a challenge for Azami before hiring her. We were then taken to our first real case involving a creepy ghost figure caught on camera in an apartment building. Sadly, my appointment reached its end before I could solve this mystery, so I’ll have to wait until launch to get to the bottom of that spook.
Aside from the intriguing premise, one of Urban Myth Dissolution Center’s most striking features is its beautiful pixel art aesthetic. Especially in the cutscenes, which give off some proper anime vibes. The game utilises a limited colour palette for the most part, so most of the scenes were in shades of blue in the part I played. However, the paranormal entities and points of interest appear in bright red, which adds an impactful, stylish flair.
With the help of some special glasses, Azami can see spirits more clearly, and this also adds a specific mechanic where you may flip between using them and seeing the ghostly oddities around you, or not. There is some exploration involved, and while I didn’t see any of this during my limited time with the game, I’m hoping we’ll get a puzzle element or two that really challenges us or makes us think outside the box.
Paranormasight seemed to sneak in under the radar at launch, without much fanfare or marketing ahead of its release to clue the masses into just how much of a banger it would be. I feel that Urban Myth Dissolution Center might be the same, which is all the more reason to shout out about it now so that you guys get it on your radar. If you love visual novels with an occult mystery flavour and stunning pixel graphics, keep your eyes peeled for the launch later this year.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center is set to launch later this year for PC and Nintendo Switch, and you canwishlist it for Steam right here.
