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.
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.