Paranormal State: Poison Spring

Sound: 6 Graphics: 6 Story: 5 Gameplay: 5 Commands: 8 Fun: 4 Time to load / lag: 10 Bugs / Problems: 9 Final score: 4

Can't believe I never reviewed this. This is such a silly game and just reminded me of the classic point and click adventure games that really weren't all that great. Especially with this one being associated with a franchise it isn't the best but it is rather fun and silly because of that.

As a fan of hidden object games, Paranormal State: Poison Spring is a decent but flawed entry in the genre. The artwork and location design are genuinely impressive, and the blend of hidden object scenes with point-and-click adventure elements keeps things from getting stale — I especially appreciated the interactive multi-step items in the HO scenes, even if the finicky hit detection made them frustrating at times. The story ties into a real A&E paranormal investigation show, which gives it a fun kitsch factor, though the expressionless character models and weak voice acting undercut any atmosphere the game tries to build. The lack of fast travel means a lot of tedious backtracking, and some puzzle solutions feel completely illogical. If you can grab it on sale for a few dollars, it's worth a playthrough for HOG fans, but don't expect anything that will stick with you.

I bought this game years before I actually got all the achievements for it. 2026 is the year where I work on my backlog a bit and try and complete some games in terms of achievements. I've always loved doing those so looking through my list of old games with a few unlocked I see Paranorma State: Poison Spring and say yes please. I love Hidden Objetc games. They're relaxing, enjoyable and force you engage your braina a bit to find the hidden doodads. The Story is a bit janky to be honest. I won't spoil it but since the game is based on the now defunct TV show of the same name (minus the Poison Springs part) you'd expect a ghost investigation. Well that's part of it but it deviates from that a bit to something you'd never see in a Ghost hunting show. It's not bad just not true to the TV genre and my only real gripe. The puzzles are fun and there are plenty of them to do as well as a number of variants centered around the various ghost hunting tools you'd use such as the famous EVP device. The objectives have a nice tracker in the form of a journal so you never really lose track of what you need to do and how you're progressing in your achievements if that's what you're trying…

This game is a buggy mess! I quit half way through. Quite a few hidden object scenes had a bug where you would click an item to combine it with another item , but the items refused to combine. took like 5 minutes to get it to finally work and thats just the HOS. In other parts of the game, on an item that you have to add stuff to, is bugged also. I finally gave up and quit the game.

because it's entertaining to people like me who have followed the show since it started.