IF YOU HAVE PS PLUS PLAY THIS

this is hollow knight with an easy mode lol

love the game, id recommend just playing with a photo of the full complete map and just explore

I'm floored with Ghost Song despite the numerous flaws. 9 hours flew by quickly. This game is amazing at building up a believable world, being very atmospheric and sounding great. I don't mean sound just in terms of music but also sound effects, voice acting (when there is some), the way sound is mixed and from which side it comes from when you're using a decent headset etc. The game has some little touches like how some of your friends carry an umbrella when it's raining, how it snows sometimes, how the living life forms truly feel alive etc. The setting is so fascinating and I wish I got to see more of it. The Metroidvania gameplay is also very well done. The modules are worth going after and it's addictive levelling up your character.

When it comes to flaws, I can think of 2 mainly. Story and difficulty. I enjoyed the story a lot but the way it was presented is not the best sometimes. And there isn't enough of it. Let me explain a bit more (without spoiling things).

Most of the story is gotten by talking to NPC who are either near the ship or somewhere in the field. You don't get all they have to say by talking to them once, you have to talk to them multiple times until they have nothing new to say until the next cycle. This is not the problem. The problem is when they also say some random shit or too much sometimes. Yes, you don't have to keep talking to them if you're tired but there are some very important lore mixed with stupid dialogue sometimes. Like when they say things like 'sometimes I dream of being carried by a tortoise' or 'do you think a girl lived here' or 'why don't you write a poem about a cat' etc. I know they were building up some personalities and setting up the mood but sometimes it goes too far. Also it is very easy to miss NPC dialogue and therefore lore when it happens in the field. You have to be at the right place and the right time to activate certain dialogues. I don't know what these conditions are but it is easy to think the game has bad story when you didn't speak to certain NPC. The ending also felt very abrupt. I wish they added a bit more to it, especially when we didn't get an answer about what Blue is, how she arrived at this planet etc. It's pretty bad to not answer those kind of questions when a lot of the plot is about it and most NPC asking what you are. I have my guesses of course but there is no confirmation in-game. Who knows, maybe I missed a dialogue somewhere.

About the difficulty, you get 2 modes. The way the game is intended to be played originally (a more difficult mode) and explorer. I went with explorer because I wasn't sure what to pick (in-game they advise you to pick explorer if you're unsure) and you can't change the difficulty mid-game. I would have liked giving the other difficulty a try and switch to explorer if I didn't like it. I thought the difficulty was fine for the most part but some sections did feel off. Like things could have been a tiny bit more challenging. But I don't want a frustrating time, hence the decision. There is new game plus that I sadly don't feel like giving a try before the game is taken off Humble launcher on November the 7th. But I might use my save and try it out if I ever get it on Steam someday.

This game is special. It truly got my attention. But it's not a game for everyone. Especially the ones focused on gameplay mostly. The gameplay is good but it's not the main selling point or does anything unique. I'm not sure if the game is challenging enough for those seeking this since I didn't try out the other mode. But ones looking for exploration, atmosphere and world building while having fun with the gameplay? It's definitely worth a look.

A Metroidvania/Metroid clone with an interesting art style in a creepy, grimy, abandoned planet atmosphere. Overall, I'm positive on the game but there are some things that need a bit more polish as I don't understand some of the design decisions.

Right off the bat, I'm not going to leave this one a star rating, as I did not even come close to finishing it (about 2 hours in). I'm more than likely not going to have time to finish this one before it leaves game pass. Shelving it for possible future purchase and playthrough. I'll update my review then.

Gameplay is very much Metroid but without the flashy feel. Every special collectible or upgrade seems to be a white glowy thing on the ground and there is absolutely no celebration in finding any of these. Remember in Metroid when you would collect an upgrade? That music? Yea, none of that.

Which is a shame because the game has cool, ambient music, but overall sound design is a bit strange. Some sounds rattled my speakers and others sounded muffled? I also didn't notice any boss music for bosses/named characters? Must've been on purpose? There aren't a lot of sound cues for things either.

There are NPCs with spoken dialog and your character talks now and then and I think the voice over is well done.

The game also has that whole, "die and you have to collect your stuff" mechanic thing going on. In this case, it's the points you collect from kills to upgrade your suit and buy stuff with. If you die, you have to find your way back to where it happened and get your points back.

I should also mention that upgrading your suit basically means leveling up. You need to find this decrepit statues to level up at, but when you do, you can level up as much as you like, as long as you have the points. You could potentially just grind out your levels and become super powerful and considering random, powerful, named characters just show up out of nowhere some times, that might be the way to go.

Anyway, as I mentioned above, I did not finish this one but I'd like to get it on sale in the future and jump back in.

On paper Ghost Song is another in a growing list of reasonably enjoyable metroidvanias that doesn't do much do drive the genre forward in a meaningful way. However what stood out to me is the mood. Even on this dead world full of dangerous creatures there's this uncanny calmness to the atmosphere. This is portrayed perfectly through the beautifully gentle voice acting of the player character. The world is full of deep lore and shrouded in mystery. Our protagonist has no memories and we don't even know if she's human, an artificial intelligence, or something else. Just that she is inherently a caring and considerate being that feels the need to help others. I'll stop there as to avoid spoilers but the interesting world, tone, and story give extra weight to what is otherwise a fun but unspectacular game.

There has been a recurring theme in video games, if something languishes in an unsteady development for too long it tends to result in a poor final product. Ghost Song first emerged as a Kickstarter all the way back in 2013, with an estimated delivery date of May 2014. Promising to create a striking 2D “metroidvania” that would appeal to fans of Metroid and Dark Souls. An overly optimistic target considering the game finally made its way to release a whole 8 and a half years later in November 2022 after undergoing a full rebuild on a new engine in 2018. Mostly created by one developer who did all the gameplay design and art, Ghost Song is certainly a testament to determination. Thankfully I am happy to report that, bucking the trend of most titles that get stuck in this form of “development hell”, this one is actually pretty good.

New Beginnings

You play as “Deadsuit”, a robotic looking protagonist who wakes up on the surface of an alien moon called Lorian with no memories of who they are or why they are here. No immediate story presents itself, instead you must explore this strange and intimidating rock to find ways of progressing forward. On your journey you will meet characters who will either add to your understanding of the world or attempt to kill you on sight. As well as one specific group who needs your help and will be your driving force to continue onwards and explore the subterranean tunnels beneath you. At this point the Dark Souls influence begins to show itself rather clearly as this is not a game that is here to tell you a direct story. Instead it just seeks to constantly whisper in your ear and pique your interest in the world around you, keeping questions in your mind as to what happened, it’s remarkably effective. Just don’t go in expecting answers, Ghost Song seems fairly content to let the audience try and piece together for themselves what is going on without ever giving the full story.


Time to Delve

As far as the gameplay goes it’s mostly a standard metroidvania affair, light platforming with plenty of combat while searching for abilities that allow you to progress further to as yet unexplored areas. Initially I found the platforming and movement a little clunky however this is greatly improved as you unlock additional movement options and pretty soon I was navigating around the levels with ease. This turned out to be a blessing because the game really does like to make you run around an almost unnecessary amount. While there are multiple fast travel points dotted around the map they feel a little too few in number, as well as being slightly too far from points of interest. Any time you end up dying to a boss (and you will be dying to the bosses) will result in a tedious trek back to face them a second time. Dying will also take a small chunk off your health bar until you repair it by spending resources so you are doubly punished for losing to a boss repeatedly as you need to take time out to get some xp and repair yourself. You will also be repeatedly forced into sections where you are unable to use the fast travel system. At first glance this felt like an interesting gimmick to re-traverse explored routes with my updated knowledge and powers, but by the 5th time it felt like padding and a lack of respect for the players’ time. These repeat journeys are made a bit fresher by adding some new enemies and challenges but the backtracking combined with a slightly abrupt ending gives the game a rather rushed feel, ironic for its extreme development time. It’s not a dealbreaker but given the exploration is great, I couldn’t help but feel covering the same ground repeatedly was taking me away from the strengths of the game.

Ghost Souls

Out of the platforming and the combat, the latter sees a lot more focus. While I referred to Dark Souls in the heading, it’s clear a lot of inspiration was also taken from Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight which was released during this game's development. Ghost Song actively encourages you to play a more aggressive high risk play style with its combat mechanics. If you use the blaster too much it will overheat and slow down to a mere sputter, however that heat is then built into your melee attacks to deal extra damage. Encouraging you to whittle foes down from a distance before dealing some damage up close. Thankfully Deadsuit can find a wide variety of different melee and special ranged options so you can find a combination that works for you. There is also a large variety of modules you can use to further enhance yourself with passive bonuses, very much akin to Hollow Knight’s charms. Although the amount you can equip is based on your level and you certainly don’t have room for all so you will have to make some agonizing choices on what you equip, and what stays behind.

The rest of the combat feels straight up Dark Souls. Enemy design is fantastic ranging from intimidating to grotesque. Run of the mill enemies are mainly a threat early on but are capable of chipping away at your health bar throughout if you aren’t careful. The bosses are an area where the game shines and are all varied in appearance/moves while mixing up attack patterns as their health is depleted. Each one initially gave me that feeling of being in over my head that souls-like players will be immediately familiar with. Their damage is high, their windows to get the perfect dodge are fairly slim and they will be sending you back to save points repeatedly until you “git gud” and learn their patterns. A number of these are also completely optional and guard new weapons/unlocks for those masochistic enough to seek them out. If you do fall in combat you will need to head back to that point and retrieve your body to avoid losing all the experience you had… very Dark Souls. The enemies can feel rather spongy but I can’t deny that I enjoyed littering the underground with robotic and alien remains and the feeling of triumph from beating a particularly hard boss.

A Lonely Planet

So why do I recommend you play this game? Honestly it’s hard to put a finger on the exact
reason why I came out of this game so charmed. The best I can explain is that it just has so much atmosphere to it. As you travel through this rather desolate and hostile feeling environment, the game just constantly hits you with such an overwhelmingly melancholic mood. I never felt like I was on edge, despite the tough enemies, rather filled with a slight sadness as to what has become of this place and the few remaining souls stuck on it with me. This is all reflected in Deadsuits’ voice and character. Displaying a rather childlike sense of curiosity but without any of the excitement. Everytime an objective is completed there is no celebration, just tiredness and a desire to rest. None of the character’s dialogue shows any high levels of emotion, it feels that everyone is just resigned to their situation and doing what they can to get through. It might not sound like it from the description but it makes all the characters feel rather endearing because you can relate to their mood through the tone the game is setting.

The soundtrack provides the perfect level of ambient tone to bring out the emotion of the wonderful background art that is a joy to look at in every new area. In fact the sound design on the whole is stellar. It induced a rather visceral reaction in me when I was trudging through a fleshy, pulsating alien tunnel and found myself charged by some sort of humanoid that had been taken over by the bugs. The creatures’ screams muffled by the giant alien clamped tight around its head sucked me into and immersed me in this strange location.

Ultimately Ghost Song created a world I just wanted to spend more time searching in. After each quest out I was eager to return to the characters I had met to get some new snippets of dialogue and lore and I was always happy to meet a new face while out searching new areas. The game as a whole does a great job of rewarding you for exploring, whether that be with an interesting locale, a new boss to fight or an interesting upgrade for your suit. By the time I finished the game after around 10 hours I had only discovered about half of the possible modules for Deadsuit and after writing this review I will likely go back and hunt for more!


Final Thoughts

If someone was to go into Ghost Song expecting it to be the next Hollow Knight, then I can imagine them leaving disappointed. However if you want to explore an interesting world, if you want to experience a passion project truly come to life. Then you should give Ghost Song a try, it might not be the best metroidvania you have ever played on a mechanical level, but I think it will be one of the most memorable overall. I really hope developer Old Moon uses this experience to come back and create a truly great followup because they are undeniably an artist when it comes to games.

absolutely beautiful game in visuals, audio, voice acting, and character writing, sadly brought down by critical issues in narrative and scope.

i was in love with it right up until the ending, which was so jarringly unsatisfying it made every story/lore thread that had been established and then not followed through on unravel the more i looked back on it. it made me terribly sad, because the characters really, deeply spoke to me, but in the end i was sorely disappointed, because they didn't get a satisfying conclusion like they deserved.

it's not a bad game! it's still enjoyable to play, and its flaws are really just the fault of overambition, since the team absolutely wasn't lacking in talent. but those flaws are still major ones, and in this case, i left the experience mourning what it could have been more than anything...

i think i would still recommend it if you're a fan of metroidvanias and want to enjoy the artistry on display, but only if you're prepared to be let down by the ending and unrealized potential.

This game was in the line of fire for a recent Metroid craze.
It can best be summarized as: Metroid + (any 2D souls-like)

B E A U T I F U L art and music in this game.

This game isn't the easiest to figure out, and suffers the common Castletroid problems of back tracking, and looking up guides when I missed a small breakable wall.
That being said it's not the longest game either so it only occured once or twice.
Story wise I can't say I loved it, only because the story continually awed me with concepts and questions that I wanted to explore, only to never really have the opporunity. I want to care about these characters, but story just kinds ends....

Maybe the true ending is worth replaying it for.

i know this has been a labor of love from a single person over a huge amount of time,

so maybe the baffling design decisions - like the severe punishments for death instead of actual, engaging difficulty or the constant backtracking that makes the subpar level design really stick out - were the result of the inevitable doubts about the audience "getting the point" that tend to fester and take root in such a grueling process

but it's really heartbreaking that such wonderful atmosphere, characters, worldbuilding and a fun, if simple, gameplay loop are all crushed beneath the fruitless attempt to either AGAIN create catharsis through adverse game design, like every soulslike under the sun is trying, or to recreate the childhood experience of learning the Super Metroid map by heart by forcing the player to retread their steps ad nauseam, making the average-at-best level design stick out like a sore thumb

I enjoyed it a lot for the atmosphere, the soundtrack really delivered on exploring a desolate wild world, with melancholic tracks that matched wonderfully with the game's cool colour palette and detailed, eerie backgrounds. I loved the characters too, it was a colourful cast that helped flesh out the world and offered very welcomed moments of respite and reflection among the games gloom and often rather grueling combat encounters.

Which was the thing that really held this back for me, the game is hard and on top of the health spongy enemies I often felt like I was struggling against the controls for combat. The max health reduction from each death until you can repair at the sparsely placed statues didnt add anything for me except for tedious backtracking while dealing with boss encounters either, and while I did like the idea of the variety of weapon options the game has, most didn't offer a big enough jump in fire power to make dealing with rooms any less tedious or to justify using them over more basic starting tools. Honestly someone else might enjoy the slower, more deliberate pace of combat but it lead to moments of frustration for me.

However, getting to see more of this beautifully crafted world was enough motivation for me to push through. Theres a lot to love here but most people would be better served with the game's easier difficulty option.

Do Androids Dream of Tortoises?

Ghost Song just oozes with melancholic atmosphere and a sense of exploration. You are stranded on a moon infested by some sort of plant infestation without any memories. Your only purpose is to help a stranded crew that crashed due to a magnetic field which pulls every spaceship onto the surface. While the premise is not that intriguing at first, it develops into a greatly written tale of sacrifice and humanity that just gives you enough lore bits and clues to comprehend your place in it, while it can sometimes turn into a guessing game of where you can obtain that knowledge because some vital NPCs move places or turn up out of the blue in different spots on the map you already marked as explored, my sense of wonder still kept the better of me, and I'm sure it was purposely designed that way. It's not as grand or entangled as Hollow Knight or the modern FromSoftware games which obviously deeply influenced the game, but rather focused on a certain theme, and I found that rather refreshing.

It plays like a typical modern metroidvania with more focus on ranged combat than melee. You have many different modules, some more helpful than others, and several weapons. My favorite was definitely the precise laser gun mixed with a satisfying magnum of sorts. The biggest gripe I have, though, were the boss fights, which were very unspectacular and rather easy. Most of them had three moves at most and a rather large health pool, which turned them into a test of patience rather than skill.

The soundtrack, though, was something else; I absolutely loved it. It's practically a more simplistic "Tomorrow's Harvest" album from Boards of Canada with a more melancholic touch. The song that was playing in Stoffbloom will definitely live rent-free in my head for the next weeks. Also, it absolutely helped to alleviate the already lonely and post-apocalyptic atmosphere to the next level.

If I were to make a list with games like Hollow Knight, this one would definitely be among the top three. It comes very close to some aspects of it, and I think with a few more fine-tuning in the gameplay and some more budget to alleviate some of its presentation, the next game of this studio can reach new heights.