Mice, for a lot of people out there these might be seen as vermin and send chills and shivers down the length of your spine. For SeithCG on the other hand, mice are something entirely different. Meet Lilo, our story ‘s protagonist. Sent to jail and split up from his mousey wife. It’s your task to find and rescue her in the most cutesy way possible. Dressed up and with stealth abilities that could rival Solid Snake. In a game that will hook you in, you’ll have to traverse across all sorts of landscapes, ask for help and do some fetching. Because of course, information is always something you have to pay for, right? Will Lilo find his important other-half, or will he be done for? Ladies and Gentlemen, don on your cutest outfit, because it’s time to sneak our way through, Ghost of a Tale.
- Visually AMAZING: Let the looks of this game not deceive you. This really is an Indie developed game with looks that would easily put some of the other AAA games to shame. First off the lighting used here is superb. From the flickering of candles that make shadows dance across the cavern walls, all the way to the natural light. It makes the environment even more believable. You’ll feel like you’re experiencing a visual fairy tale being told to you throughout the levels. And let the level design in itself be something to gawk at as well. From damp caverns to lush fields, you’ll be driven along one of the better-looking games so far in 2019, in my opinion.
- Customizable Mouse: Let’s quickly have a word about our cute little mousey friend. You can put on Lilo whatever you want. Bringing into aspect the replayability of Ghost of a Tale. You can dress him up as a would-be king, or you can make him into an assassin or rogue if you want to. It’s up to the player what kind of backstory you give Lilo along the way. Has he seen many-a battles, or was he a noble mouse from House Squeeksworth? Or maybe a Pirate? Aaah… I love that tiny mouse. Aside from Roleplaying, you’ll notice that finding all the parts of the costumes will boost various stats, making it not only visually enjoyable but also gameplay wise an improvement.
- Stealth!: The stealth mechanic is used at its best here. There are countless places for you to hide in. This can be from menacing rats, dangerous badgers, basically anything that isn’t appreciative towards mousey creatures such as yourself. You might think, but how do I get past them then? Well, you do what mouses do best. You sneak. Every time that you get near an enemy, you’ll see an indicator pop up. This will slowly start to fill up if you aren’t mindful of your steps. Go to fast or don’t give the timer enough time to go back down and you’ll be chased. If that happens, hope to god that you are not too far from a spot for you to hide in or under.
- Smooth and Fluid: With how amazing the game looks, it’s hard to imagine this game not having FPS issues. But worry not, there was no FPS drop detected during my time in this amazing world. The movement in itself is very fluid as well and really intuitive.
- Listen damn you: I don’t know if it was related to my controller being a little mongrel, or if it was the game. But I’ve had times that my mouse just didn’t want to hide, and instead opened the chest or wardrobe that I was trying to get into to hide from a chasing rat. Of course, if you are an achievement hunter, one of the available achievements really relies on this hide mechanic working flawlessly! At least if you don’t want to reload a previous save. My tip? Save a lot! Which achievement? Well… You’ll have to find out, now won’t you?
- Fetch Quests AHOY: Even though this game is amazing you’ll quickly come to the realization that Ghost of a Tale could’ve been called Ghost of a Fetcher. The side-quests that you’ll mostly be getting are for you to go find an item or trinket, and bringing it back to them. But since this game has some huge levels, chances are you accidentally already picked up the item they needed and are able to finish these quests up almost immediately. I don’t mind repeating things, but too much is too much.
- Missed Opportunity: Note to everyone reading this. This is NOT a bad point. Rather a missed chance. Voiced narration. My god how I missed this here. The characters, the story. Everything gets driven by written text and dialogue. But how awesome would it have been to not just read the conversations, but also hear them! In a fairytale-like way. Deep grumbly voices, soft whispers… Oh well… A mouse can dream, can’t he?
★ Score: 81%
Ghost of a Tale surprised me a lot. Not only does it bring that feeling back of when I got read bedtime stories to, but it also has a warm-hearted touch to it. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a dark tale though. With visuals and environments that could easily rival a few of the AAA titles out there, SeithCG brought their A-game to the Indie market. I can only hope that any future games that they make will get the same polish and attention that this gemstone did!
Developer: SeithCG Publisher: SeithCG
Played on: Xbox One X Also available
Time to beat: Story: 10 hours | With extra’s: 15 hours
Achievement difficulty for 1000 Gamerscore: If you want to get the maximum out of the game it could range anything from 15 to 20 hours.
Perfect for: Stealthy buggers, mice enthusiast, Adventurers
Xbox Game Store link: Click here
