izigame.me

I had a wonderful time playing Ghost Song. I feel like this metroidvania is wildly underrated. I recommend it to anyone interested. It is one of the best metroidvanias I have played since Hollow Knight. I really mean that. The story is really interesting, the worlds are gorgeous, the shooting mechanics are really fun, and the leveling-up system is awesome. That's not to mention the amazing music, animations, and effects. It is such a beautiful, atmospheric game that has entered my favorites list. I like how it is a game you can just get lost in. It felt so rewarding to just discover whatever I wanted to whenever I wanted to. My favorite aspect of this game was the exploration, the world felt so rich and full of life despite the setting being a dying world. The world tells a story without being heavy-handed. Also, the story of Ghost Song is both thought-provoking and melancholy, without being depressing or nihilistic. Stories that strike that balance are very impressive. I specifically found a new appreciation for the characters during a second playthrough. They are well-developed in a way that makes them all memorable and recognizable. While the names may be difficult to assign to each character, each character will feel distinct by the time you finish the game. The dialogue between the main character and the NPCs all felt very natural. All of the characters feel like they have rich lives that happened before meeting the main character and that they will continue to after the story. On a second playthrough, I was able to spend more time with characters that I hadn't gotten to know very well which was very rewarding.
I will mention some critiques I have of the game. While I love this game, I felt it was much more fun for me on a second playthrough with New Game+. Having more modules up front makes the combat more fun. Both the final battle and the ending felt a little anticlimactic to me. The final battle was disappointing in comparison to, say, the old singer battle or the Henrietta the changed battles towards the middle of the game. I understand why the creators took that route, as there is a theme on the importance of reasoning with people who pose no threat to you. However, a more climactic final battle does not detract from that theme. The character you are supposed to reason with takes place after the boss, so why not make the boss more difficult and have more variety with the battle phases? I don't know, the fact that I had more difficulty with weaker/secret bosses and finding collectibles is saying something. The very ending is very abrupt. No spoilers, but I wish they spent a little more time to let certain moments linger at the end. While I was able to get answers for a good chunk of my questions on a second playthrough, I wish the information I wanted was not such a grind to find. If you don't run into certain characters during specific points and exhaust their dialogue multiple times by the end of the game, you miss a lot of essential information to finish the plot. You need to grind for certain abilities to get essential plot info as well. Secrets are a lot of fun to find in games, and I enjoyed finding the ones I did! However, I personally feel that they should be the icing on the cake that rewards a dedicated player, not what ties the story together. There are a lot of loose threads to the story that are unresolved if you don't try to do a completionist route. I wish that specific intrigue on the deadsuit's origin was explored more and was more readily accessible to a casual player, as it would make the story feel more complete upfront.
At the end of the day though, these flaws were very minor. This game felt very special to me in multiple ways. I think it is a wonderful game and a very impressive first outing by a very talented developer. It deserves more love. It deserves more attention. It is a sci-fi game that I had an excellent time with and I wish there were more games like it. I have played a lot of platformers, but this one was very unique. From the combat to the art to the level design, this game felt different in a special way. I found a new appreciation for platformers again, as it reinvented the wheel while staying true to why those games are great. Please, check it out if you have the time/money.
To the developers: Thank you! :D