Paranormal Teens

About

Paranormal Teens is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Visual Wordplay and was released on December 28, 2016. It received negative reviews from players.

Based on the fictional reality TV series Paranormal Teens. Free to play.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

39%

Audience ScoreBased on 59 reviews

humor4 positive mentions

atmosphere3 negative mentions

The game offers easy achievements, making it appealing for achievement hunters.
The art style has a unique charm, and the characters, while exaggerated, can be entertaining.
As a free visual novel, it provides a quick and light experience for those looking for something casual.

The game frequently crashes when starting a new game, causing frustration for players.
The storyline is heavily focused on Christian themes, which may alienate players looking for a more balanced narrative.
Character development is lacking, and many choices feel inconsequential, leading to an unsatisfying experience.

story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The story has been criticized for its heavy-handed Christian propaganda, uninteresting plot, and poorly developed characters, leading to a confusing narrative filled with clichés and plot holes. Many reviewers noted that the game shifts from a potentially engaging ghost story to a darker narrative focused on demon possession, where the only path to a good ending is through religious conversion. Overall, the storytelling is seen as forced and unsatisfying, with multiple endings that fail to offer meaningful variation.
- “I played it for the story and achievements.”
- “So basically before I started the game, I honestly thought that it was going to be a paranormal visual novel with ghosts and stuff, but this quickly became a lot darker and more religious than just a normal ghost story.”
- “I actually kinda liked the story and I think the idea itself was neat.”
- “It's a confusing story to read, and honestly, it's out there enough that I'm going to read this developer's other work to try and figure out what their mindset is.”
- “The plot feels rather forced, and selecting any option other than 'pray to Jesus' at the final choice results in a bad ending.”
- “Finally, the story itself is not interesting: 9 endings just consist of choosing different characters to see how it goes with them, without leading to very different dialogues.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The graphics received mixed reviews, with some praising the unique comic book art style and coherent visual presentation, while others criticized the inconsistency in background designs and overall underwhelming quality. Additionally, the choice of font and certain artistic elements were deemed unattractive, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Technically, it is well done, and I like the art style.”
- “The art style has a certain self-drawn comic book charm to it and is pretty good overall.”
- “I commend the effort that was put into this; the visuals and music follow a coherent style.”
- “The art style is really weird.”
- “Some of the backgrounds looked like photos, others looked like they were drawn, but not by the same person or in the same art style as the characters.”
- “But the artwork is underwhelming at least, and the chosen font is ugly.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is noted for its high production values, particularly in certain scenes, but it suffers from bugs that can disrupt the experience, such as stopping when sound effects are muted. While some players find the music bearable and even amusing, others feel that the overall presentation, including the visuals, detracts from the enjoyment, especially due to the presence of overly Christian themes.
- “Also, somehow at the bad end there's a song that plays that has shockingly good production values, but despite my searching its lyrics on the internet, I got absolutely 0 hits.”
- “I do commend the effort that was put into this; visuals, music, and such follow a coherent style.”
- “The music was bearable, even amusing at times.”
- “The music itself is okay, but it is buggy.”
- “Once I turned off the noisy sound effects, the music itself stopped.”
- “There were also some weird things with the music at times.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is polarizing; while some players find it amusing in an ironic, trash TV way, others feel it falls flat due to its heavy-handed religious themes and cringeworthy jokes. Although a few moments may elicit laughter, many reviewers are put off by the poor writing and art, making it difficult to appreciate the comedic elements fully. Overall, the humor may appeal to those with a specific taste, but it risks alienating a broader audience.
- “If you're not easily triggered by the whole Christian stuff and the exaggeration of the characters, it might be fine as a joke reading or something like you'd watch trash TV ironically (funny since the setting is actually a reality TV kind of thing).”
- “The description of the game is intended to lure in people interested in the paranormal, occult, and UFOs thinking that they’ll get a decent game about the subject matter with an open mind or at least a funny comedic take, but what the game ends up doing is preaching about how those are all evil and demonic, literally.”
- “I've heard that the [spoiler]jesus-tastic[/spoiler] ending is hilarious, but I just can't suffer through this bad art and awful writing to get there.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is hindered by awkwardly loud sound effects that fail to enhance the overall experience.
- “The sound effects are awkwardly loud and don't contribute to the overall atmosphere of the game.”
- “The environment feels lifeless and fails to immerse players in the game's world.”
- “The lighting is inconsistent, making it hard to appreciate the game's visuals and diminishing the overall atmosphere.”
gameplay
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The gameplay of this visual/interactive novel is criticized for being minimal and primarily consists of clicking through poorly written dialogue, raising concerns about its quality and suitability for publication. Additionally, there are mentions of bugs that may affect the experience, although a fix exists that some players may not have access to.
- “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, 'how did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
- “If I am not mistaken, there is a fix to this bug; however, I did not have the fix in my gameplay.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game is criticized due to frequent bugs, which detracts from the overall experience, especially for a visual novel. Users feel that even if the game is free, it should not compromise on stability.
- “The music itself is okay, but it is buggy.”
- “If this hadn't occurred, I would have given Paranormal Teens a thumbs up, but a visual novel should not be buggy, not even if it's a free VN on Steam.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect of visual novels and e-books tedious, likening the experience to a frustratingly slow reading process where each sentence requires a click to advance, detracting from the enjoyment of the narrative.
- “Visual novels/e-books are tedious at best. Imagine the best novel you ever read, be it 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' or '2001: A Space Odyssey' or 'Twilight' (if you have terrible taste in literature), but then translate that to a format where the words dribble out and you have to click your mouse every time you want to read the next sentence, instead of just turning the pages.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game resonates with players by evoking nostalgia, particularly among those who share a background in religious or paranormal interests during their teenage years. This connection fosters a sense of warmth and fondness, making it difficult for players to critique the game harshly.
- “I was once a religious teen interested in UFO phenomena, and 'Paranormal Teens' made me feel sort of nostalgic, so I can't really bring myself to be mad at it.”