Ghost of a Tale

Why are they calling it an action/rpg? There's no action, the world is static only excluding the guards on short patrol paths (not a single one crosses paths). So it's a stealth game? it IS till you get the manditory-plot-armor, then you just slowly waddle around getting items one at a time (the boat mice had me go upstairs to the same room three times for three things... this game has bad pacing). So take off the armor? nope. You circle around the keep more then the fucking rats, and stealth stops being a test when you have to repeat it every 5min (also being a guard is the only thing you role play). But it's cute? yes... beautiful, charming... So it's well written? nope. Apart from the dialogue, everything else doesn't work. Some quests will straight up NOT inform you what to do, one of them was just "get evidence", that's it. You will need a walkthrough at several points, which should be fine because at every point you could get lost, someone else has. And the plot is awful, especially with the smugglers side quest, which is the dumbest plot-line in the game. Even so, the main problem is that this is Silas's story, not yours. He's the one you learn about, he's the one with character development, he's the one on a hero's journey. He just uses you! because you're the player. My character is so un-needed in this world that it comes off as a convenience for others rather then a necessary quid pro quo to find your wife. They even pull a threat, out of their ass, to be the final boss, because nothing relevant to you would climatically resolve the your story. And it end the way it lives, as a fucking fetch quest.

This is exactly what the gamingworld needs today, a masterpiece created by an extremely small indieteam! This right here is proof that games doesn´t have to cost a fortune to create. Ghost of a Tale is a marvelous piece of art, a different kind of story. The charm and different setting shines through, every second from start to finnish, where 60$ AAA titles gives me an "eh, okey I guess...", Ghost of a Tale instead took hold of me and I had to play for every free moment I had for a week straight! I was instantly spellbound. The game is mostly made up by "Exploring to find stuff", solving puzzles and brainstorming to understand your next move. Sneaking and avoiding. From the perspective of a mouse. Just marvelous!

This game hits one of my biggest pet peeves, not knowing where I need to go. I thought it would get better once you get a map but... the map doesn't even tell you the names of the places. So if someone tells you, oh yeah, it's at the armory... well... I don't really know where that is either. You could argue that that's the point and the fun of the game, but it is a pet peeve of mine, and it made me dislike the game. The jerky camera didn't help either, since some times I would start walking, reach a corner or a door and the camera would turn and I would be walking in the opposite direction. Sometimes without even realizing it, sometimes strait into a guard. And combining stamina and health into one, although an interesting idea, is a nightmare, cause the more pressing run becomes the less you can actually run. All in all, I never knew where to go or where I was, and I really dislike when that happens in games.

Don't buy - unfortunately this game is still full of bugs. Even in version 8.33. I played it for a good hour and have seen 3 very obvious bugs - one of them serious. 1. you just fall through the ground at certain points (and then logically you're dead) 2. In certain situations you can endlessly reach into unopened barrels - nothing happens 3. and then the fun really stops - I was killed by a rat and then reloaded the previous game - now I am constantly floating through the air and can no longer interact with anything - that's a game breaking bug :( Really, really a shame - the game had so much potential - but it just seems to be a size too big for the developers.

I really wanted to like this game, it has pretty cute and well done assets: models, animation, sound design... But the bad level design, making the player lost for no reason with annoying and uninteresting fetch quest, trying to find characters that never seem to be where you're expected to find them. I think there's a reason a walkthrough is as hard to find as this game's end... Sorry, but no... I hate to have to abandon a game, especially when it's not my fault, but the player in me can't stand it anymore. With a more well researched level and quest design, this could make a pretty neat game and while I consider it a fluke, it's a pretty good first try. Hopefully Lionel Gallat will be able to do better in the future.