First and foremost, I really enjoyed the storytelling in this game. Despite the limitations of the game itself there is strong depth and suggestion of scale that captivated me. The game creator added such lore and history to the game world that I wanted to know more. But that also relates to what left me disappointed. Full disclosure, while growing up I loved the Redwall novels. They were obviously an influence to "Ghost of a Tale," and it's part of why I like it. The anthropomorphized animal inhabitants of this game world are of similar species. The setting is medieval-like, and there's a "ghost story" (honestly my favorite part) intertwined with the main story as well as "heroes of legend" who make up some plot points. The characters are charming and have a good dose of personality, and the character artwork (stills) and writing convey it. The spooky atmosphere is great. At the same time, all this depth tended to remind me of how limited the game was. I mean it's not a fullscale triple-A title, nor priced as such, but I found myself wishing it was. Yes, it has some rough edges mechanics-wise. There are no cutscenes, even animations are limited, and the areas to explore aren't particularly large or numerous (certainly not like GTA or BotW). Some item interaction can be finnicky, the save system is "eh" though serviceable, and I swear the dialogue trees could be better organized/more consistent. I did notice some audio clipping. Half of the lore is told through the journal mechanic--cleverly used when limited in budget and manpower, but darn I wanted to see some of the stuff it talked about. Most of all, for better or worse, the game left me wishing for more (and for spoiler reasons I won't elaborate). All in all, if you're looking for a sneaking-and-puzzle-solving game, I do recommend "Ghost of a Tale," especially for an entertaining story. Don't expect the "frills" of a triple-A title, but you will feel like you made your way through a rousing adventure.
