Ghostory Review

Ghostory is a 2D puzzle adventure title by RigidCore Games and the game is now available on Steam. Luckily, we had the chance to review the game and give you some first impressions about this brilliant and enjoyable title.

Damn you, mysterious lake which looks like a totally normal lake!

Ghostory tells the story of a lonely traveler who is being chased by the wolves in the woods. Finally, when he gets the chance to take a rest, he drinks from a mysterious lake to quench his thirst. The bad news is that the lake has an effect which turns him into a ghost.

After that moment, our protagonist gains the ability to shift between being a human and a ghost whenever he likes. From this point of view, it may look like a superpower more than a curse. But, this power is slowly killing him and we are to find a cure and turn him into a fully functional human being again.

After a short time, we come across a cabin in the woods which is occupied by an old lady. This lady is the key to everything and promises us a cure, an antidote to be exact. In order to get the antidote ready, she needs a special rare mushroom which can be found in a nearby cave. She is old and grumpy, so we are to get this mushroom to her. And, it looks like a small price to pay when you think that you are slowly fading from the mortal world.

This easy task turns into a disaster with an earthquake hits and the cave ground collapses. Well, this is where our journey begins. Our protagonist is a lost soul who is now lost in a cave filled with new adventures.

The best student project

Ghostory is created in 2 years as a student project and won the ‘Best Game’ in the category of ‘Best Student Project’ at Game Access ’16 conference. After that, the team continued to work on it and finally created a mesmerizing game which will satisfy gamers who love puzzle-platformer genre.

Like I’ve mentioned before, our adventure begins at the moment when we first step into the cave in order to find the magic mushroom. And, if you think that a student project would be easy and superficial, think again.

The cave we’ve fallen into is filled with platforms which get harder and harder to pass. The game is designed as short levels. At first I remember thinking ‘Well, this is going to be easy’ and boy, what a fool I was! I consider myself as a patient person and gamer, at least I know that I am not a rage-quitter. But, now I confess that I kept thinking about that maybe I am getting impatient until the moment I saw that there is actually a ‘skip’ option. You can skip levels whenever you like, but seeing that option opened my eyes.

Then it’s time I disappear

Ghostroy is hard, and it is getting harder and harder. But, it offers a rewarding gameplay and brings brand new ideas to the genre. The platforms we use in order to proceed in the game start to change, move, disappear and re-appear. Luckily, you can also disappear and re-appear as you wish.

Being stuck in the realm between the ghost world and the human world is something you can use on your behalf. In every level, you will encounter with some locked doors and levers. Every lever must be used and every door must be unlocked in order to move on. The item you need is a key which matches with the thing you want to unlock. You must find keys, you must unlock levers, you must use these levers to move some platforms and get other keys and finally, you must open doors with these keys. The things you must pay attention are the colors. If you pull the blue lever, blue platforms will move or disappear, if you want to unlock the red lever, you need to get access to the red key and such. If you are colorblind, do not worry. There is a colorblind mode.

At this point, becoming a ghost feels great. With just a button push on your keyboard, you can become a ghost and pass through platforms, walls and even the ground. There is this advantage, yet when you are a ghost, you can not interact with the world. You can not carry your bag when you are a ghost and in order to carry the key, you need your bag. Here is the trick; you must switch between ghost and human and carry the bag to the key by following the path you create and this is where the game gets tough. At some points, you need to move and switch so fast, you want to punch the screen. But, it feels satisfying while also keeping you on the edge.

During your gameplay, you will always switch between ghost and human. This is the main element of Ghostory. When you think that it is impossible to beat a level, you will try and find a new way out which is surprisingly amusing and challenging.

What was that altar and portal about?

The cave which we delved into is no ordinary cave. You don’t have to move that further to figure it out. Our old and grumpy lady who is a master of puns will communicate you through portals, and you will encounter with some weird symbols and altars and such.

What is this place? It is clear that you are not here by mistake. But, this is the part you must solve during your gameplay. There is another thing you will encounter while playing the game and it is the charming pixelated art design. Yes, it is always cave walls and platforms, yet it is detailed and designed beautifully. It could be so much better, we’ve seen glorious examples of pixelated art lately. Every level differs from each other when it comes to environmental design and difficulty, yet I would prefer a bigger change in order to not to feel repetitive.

When it comes to music, I can say that it is in harmony with gameplay. When the level changes, the soundtrack will also change with it.

Once and for all, I need to draw your attention that the main achievement of the game is not the environmental design or the soundtrack or the story. They are all successful, yet the main objective is using the ability to beat the highly complex and challenging levels. Switching between a ghost and a human adds an extra beauty to Ghostory and creates a unique gameplay experience which we’ve never seen before.

I enjoyed Ghostory at full and I encountered no bugs, no crashes and no technical issues during my gameplay. I had a very pleasant gameplay experience with some stressful moments thanks to complex puzzles and platformer elements.

Ghostory is now available on Steam and if you like what you’ve read, you can visit it’s Steam page and start your own ghost story.

Ghostory was reviewed using the Steam key provided by the publisher.