To me, Ghost 1.0 is a significant improvement from Unepic. Likable characters, decent story, better and more-focused gameplay, and significantly improved production values. I still could have done without all the overdone sci-fi movie references though. That aside, the action is solid and smooth and the puzzle-platforming is challenging enough without being super hard. I must say I wasn't that keen on the "lose all but your basic upgrades on death" mechanic at first, but the longer I played the less of an issue it became because it actually ended up making me a better player. Lastly, Mini Ghost is a fun little 2-hour-some retro-styled bonus diversion. :)
I bought this game because I enjoyed Unepic, another game by the same author. I have not yet beaten the game, but I have put quite a few hours into this game so far. The game has a decent level of challenge without being insanely difficult. The first boss was actually the hardest I've fought so far. I couldn't beat it until I obtained all the powerups in the first section. So yes, there is some grinding involved -- particularly in the 'alarm rooms". The grinding is to get obtain the in-game currency for purchasing powerups. It does take some time to get used to the controls, but after an hour or two the controls feel pretty natural. I used an Xbox controller to play; I haven't tried a keyboard and mouse. But a game like this lends itself well to a gamepad.
There will be some backtracking through the game to access areas passed by earlier in the game after obtaining the necessary abilities or items to access those areas. But since there are warp locations, it does alleviate some of the tedium of backtracking. There are plenty of secrets throughout the game which are often obtained by reaching hard-to-access places in rooms. So revisiting old areas to jump into an obscure corner may result in a reward of some kind. The reward may be kind of small, but it does provide some motivation to explore.
Unless you want to make the game more challenging, you'll probably want to obtain powerups as soon as possible. The game does start to get much easier after powering up. Speaking of making the game more challenging for yourself, there are some skills in the skill tree that actually make the game harder. Apparently the game rewards you if you beat it by maxing out these skills.
In any case, I'd definitely recommend this game for it's action, storyline, and reasonable challenge.
Let's start from the fact that if you love the style of UnEpic_Fran, you will love this GHOST 1.0 too! For the rest it is a bit Metroidvania, a bit Shooter and a bit Adventure, not perfect but fun and immersive. The thing that I found most unbalanced is the difficulty system that goes (in some places) from normal to tragically difficult. I'll just give an example when talking about the first Boss who, in fact, will turn out to be the most difficult of the entire game! I recommend playing GHOST 1.0, especially if you are a fan of retro gaming.
I loved this game, it's well balanced and the story is very nice (a bit predictable if you know something about chemicals). The control is fine, and the voice acting is VERY good. I was charmed by my characters.
The only reason I don't give it a 5/5 (should be 4.5/5) is that hardest boss is the first one, and you need to grind a bit for it, for a normal skilled player. Then you think you need to grind for others, but you don't (at least, you don't need too much), since you don't need all weapons or objects. I only unlocked 20% or less.
This game, since it's an story, has low replay value. But it worth!! Ghost, Jacker and Booger, I will miss you!
