About 10 years ago, I was in college and majoring in English. I wanted to be a writer more than anything and was convinced I would become an amazing screenwriter or novelist. I took each writing elective I could and was active in the creative writing club. Only when my work was seriously judged did I realize something. I wasn’t this big shot writer; I was a pretentious asshole that needed to be humbled hard. Even after all that, I still kept writing, and it’s a passion I keep to this day. But I do wonder what would happen if I doubled down on those negative aspects, and it’s something that wouldn’t leave my mind when I played Sister Other Paranoia.
Sister Other Paranoia is a dark visual novel written by nyalra, known for writing Needy Streamer Overload. In it, you follow Hasuya, a young man trying to write his next novel. You experience his day-to-day life as he feigns interest in others, all while struggling to write something new. The only solace he has is his little sister, who is always there for him at the end of the day. At its core, it’s an interesting premise, but I have mixed thoughts about it. Sister Other Paranoia is also a very dark story that may make some uncomfortable, but if that doesn’t deter you, then the terrible main character might.
A Writer’s Insecurities and Relationships in Sister Other Paranoia
Sister Other Paranoia takes place in modern Japan. It follows Hasuya, a college student who shuts himself off from the world and spends most of his time alone. At a young age, he developed the ability to read minds and pinpoint a person’s biggest insecurities. In high school, he made a boy jump out of his window, and since then, he has isolated himself. Not because he feels bad, but because he can’t stand other people. The only person he likes to be around is his little sister Sahana, the only mind he refuses to read. During his self-isolation, he writes a light novel that wins him a newcomer award.
Now in college, he must survive day to day while putting up with others’ thoughts as he tries to write a new light novel. During these days, he starts to develop a few relationships. Despite being in college, he’s getting to know his parents better and seeing why he doesn’t like them. In his college writing club, he meets Hiyakawa, a young man who despises Hasuya’s success. There’s Igusa, Hasuya’s only old friend, but one he doesn’t really care for. Dokudami is a coworker who might be dumb but genuinely wants to be friends. Last is Botan, a young girl who is a fan of Hasuya who reached out to him online.
I have a lot of problems with this story, with my biggest being Hasuya himself. Hasuya is terrible, and it’s pretty obvious you are not supposed to like him. He is insufferable, pretentious, and overly edgy to the point of being cringeworthy. His dialogue and writing try to make him seem important when his characterization is shallow at best. The worst thing of all, though, is that he’s boring. I like stories with terrible protagonists, but you still have to make the character interesting. The rest of the cast are more of a mixed bag.
The parents don’t really feel fleshed out, but their arc does get a bit interesting near the end before it abruptly ends. The same is true for Hiyakawa, the writing club member. He might be the only character worse than Hasuya, but his arc was trying to say something even if it didn’t land. Igusa actually feels like a character, an old friend you’ve grown apart from but still try to be in contact with. His story actually starts to say something before it also abruptly ends. Botan actually has something to say, a fangirl seeking recognition from the men around her. I really liked her story and wanted to see where it went, but then it abruptly ended like the rest.
The only character that has something resembling a full arc is Dokudemi. He works at the same convenience store as Hasuya and starts to develop a kinship with him. From start to end, it feels like he has something to say, and the ending works even if it’s similar to the rest. He’s also the only character with a second ending. I don’t have much to say about Sahana because she is barely here. The game makes you think she’ll be important, but outside of being relevant to the ending, she doesn’t do much.
I’m pretty mixed on the narrative as a whole too. It starts rough and takes a while to get interesting. Eventually, you get to the game’s main loop, and it starts getting better. The core loop has you pick someone to hang out with for the day, then you go home to your sister. This part of the story is the most interesting, and the narrative as a whole was actually starting to work for me here. For a moment, I thought the narrative would surprise me, but then each character got their ending, and it lost me again.
This complaint carries over to the game’s actual endings, too. It has two, one of which is the true ending, which you can only get after a full playthrough. The first ending feels like more shock value that tries to be deep but comes off as boring. After you get this ending, you can experience the true one, which is more hopeful. This ending feels unearned and started to annoy me more because it just devolves into spoon-feeding you its attempted message.
As annoyed as I am with the endings, I still felt compelled to see them. While they fumbled most of the messages they attempted, I can say they landed one. This story clearly wants to inspire people to start or continue writing, and it reminded me I want to keep doing it. It’s also why I’m so mixed on this story as a whole. I see potential here, and for a while I thought it would fulfil it. There is a strong story somewhere here, and I hope it can be made one day.
The Look and Sound of Isolation
While the story is a mixed bag, I can praise the visuals of Sister Other Paranoia. The game uses a mixed-media approach to its visuals, creating a perfect atmosphere for the story. Many scenes combine hand-drawn art, paintings, and videos, placing them in different frames. It conveys the characters’ mental state effectively, and it really helps the slower, poorly written parts. The presentation saves a handful of scenes, and I hope to see this style evolve further.
One thing I can’t praise is the music. The game has the same few tracks reused throughout the entire story, and they aren’t good. Many of them feel grating, and I found myself turning the volume down more than once. While the visuals save a lot of scenes, the music hurts just as many. One track annoyed me so much I wondered if it was meant to be bad on purpose to convey how annoying the main character is. At least the visuals are good, and you can turn the music down.
Another Abrupt End
I have mixed thoughts on Sister Other Paranoia. The main character is terrible but, worst of all, boring. While the rest of the cast can get interesting, most have abrupt endings with only one feeling complete. The story itself also has some issues. It starts rough, but it eventually gets interesting, and I felt like it was going to turn itself around. Sadly, it quickly devolves into another abrupt ending I felt nothing for, with the true ending feeling unearned.
Still, it isn’t a long game; you can beat it in an afternoon, and I felt compelled to see the endings. The visuals help save a lot of the slower parts, even if the music can hurt it. I still see a lot of potential in the story and hope to see a version that sticks the landing. For now, I can only recommend Sister Other Paranoia to the morbidly curious. Just know you’ll probably end up annoyed at the end of your playthrough.
Disclaimer: Serenity Forge provided a PC (Steam) copy of Sister Other Paranoia for review purposes.
