TL;DR

Ghost of a Tale is an Adventure game with (Action-)RPG and Stealth elements, a highly immersive medieval fantasy world, cute and endearing characters and a solid and engaging story. The stealth aspects of the game are relatively forgiving but very effective and the enemies can at times feel absolutely terrifying. The game also has a great sense of humor and a lot of attention to little details, as well as many optional unlockables, including costume sets. I can wholeheartedly recommend this game, especially in 2020, the Year of the Rat.

❕ Informational ❕

Ghost of a Tale has been developed and published by SeithCG, a French one-man studio with a focus on providing industry standard animation tools helmed by game designer and DreamWorks and Universal Pictures veteran Lionel "Seith" Gallat.

Much like in any The Elder Scrolls game, you start your adventure as a prisoner, so your first task is to escape your cell and subsequently the whole prison. There are quite a few pickups littered around your cell tutorializing effectively how to interact with the world and how to use your inventory. The game manages in general to very effectively tutorialize most of its systems within the first few minutes without excessively holding your hand which is very much appreciated.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989671120
The core aspects of gameplay are exploration, minor puzzle solving, dialogue and of course stealth but there are some side activities that mix up the formula effectively.

What really surprised me is that the game even features dynamic day/night cycles, when the game could've easily gotten away with scripted transitions or none at all.

Another great thing is that you can actually see items that can be stolen on the enemies, meaning you have a realistic way of telling which guard might have the key you're looking for. Little details like that elevate the game in my eyes.


For a game with part of its focus on Stealth Mechanics, evading the enemies is fairly easy most of the time, once you learned how to handle them, and even if you do get spotted the game is pretty forgiving in letting you escape. The main difficulty here comes from spotting the gaps in the guards' patrol paths, especially when more than one is present. At some point in the story the sneaking effectively becomes an absolute non-issue, though.


Ghost of a Tale, on a surface level, tells a story about the mouse minstrel Tilo, who is trying to escape a terrible prison and find and free his wife Merra. However, if you pay attention to character interactions, footnotes and the bits and pieces of lore, as well as the more subtle aspects of the game, it becomes apparent that the game also tells a story about oppression and prejudice - in more ways than you'd suspect.

SeithCG succeeds in crafting a compelling story and believable characters each with their own flaws, strengths and motivations. It also manages to create drama but it knows how to effectively use humor.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989681234


The game features anthropomorphic animals in an otherwise realistic world. You can easily see SeithCG's expertise as I've rarely seen a game more realistically adorable~♥ than this. The game perfectly pulls off soft fur, shiny little eyes, pointy noses and curious round ears, as well as it does slippery stone, warm candlelight and cold, pitch-black shadows. Even more so it shows off the developer's skills when it comes to the animations, which all look very fluid and realistic but also extremely befitting of mice, rats, frogs and other animals. It may need some polish here or there, as climbing ladders for example would look even better if the little hands and feet actually attached to the rungs and guards would be more convincing if they didn't just repeat the same animation three times before moving on, but overall it's pretty amazing.

Another thing I very much appreciate is the Photo Mode, although it can be exploited to scout ahead. Perhaps the developer should've limited that function in some way.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989664531


The game offers both a beautiful soundtrack and a lack thereof, as it doesn't shy away from supporting its atmosphere with absolute silence at times, leaving you in a dank, cold, dark and dirty dungeon with just the sound of bare mouse feet on the hard, cold floor. Only very few games dare to leave the music off where it fits and it works extremely well here to make you feel isolated and lost. The sound design in general is amazingly believable in Ghost of a Tale, with the Rat Guards sounding especially menacing, giving the game just a hint of a horror game.

Additionally, you can occasionally sing one of the songs in your ever-growing book of songs and, while Tilo isn't voiced, the melody that accompanies the lines on screen, makes it easy enough to hear the song being sung in your head. It's quite neatly done and I have no idea how they pulled it off that well.


Both friends of Stealth games (Outlast, Thief, etc.) and epic Action-RPGs (Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Oblivion, etc.) can sink some time into this gorgeous game. Of course, being a mouse aficionado also helps and friends of An American Tale have something to look forward to in this game, too.

Classic:
Buy the game, play the game.
No paid DLCs, items, lootboxes.

You'd never guess that the developer behind Ghost of a Tale wasn't a veteran in the business and the level of polish, wit and subtlety on display make this an easy recommendation. Couple all that with the gorgeous art-style, the more than decent graphics and the stellar animations and you've got yourself a winner. Ghost of a Tale is one of the better games I've played in recent years and I can't wait to see more from SeithCG - perhaps even a sequel and/or prequel to this beautiful piece.

At the time of writing this, I haven't fully completed the game yet but I feel confident to judge what I've seen so far. As I progress further, I will adjust this review if needed.

If you're looking for more quality reviews like this, follow our curator page, Devils in the Detail.

[h1][i]»All good Micefolk know to never Put their saves in one slot–ever.«[/i][/h1] [h3]- Old Mouse Proverb[/h3] [quote][h1]TL;DR[/h1] [spoiler][i]Ghost of a Tale[/i] is an Adventure game with (Action-)RPG and Stealth elements, a highly immersive medieval fantasy world, cute and endearing characters and a solid and engaging story. The stealth aspects of the game are relatively forgiving but very effective and the enemies can at times feel absolutely terrifying. The game also has a great sense of humor and a lot of attention to little details, as well as many optional unlockables, including costume sets. I can wholeheartedly recommend this game, especially in 2020, the [b]Year of the Rat[/b].[/spoiler][/quote] [quote][h1]❕ Informational ❕[/h1] [i]Ghost of a Tale[/i] has been developed and published by [i]SeithCG[/i], a French one-man studio with a focus on providing industry standard animation tools helmed by game designer and [b]DreamWorks[/b] and [b]Universal Pictures[/b] veteran Lionel "Seith" Gallat.[/quote] [h1]🎮 Gameplay[/h1] Much like in any [i]The Elder Scrolls[/i] game, you start your adventure as a prisoner, so your first task is to escape your cell and subsequently the whole prison. There are quite a few pickups littered around your cell tutorializing effectively how to interact with the world and how to use your inventory. The game manages in general to very effectively tutorialize most of its systems within the first few minutes without excessively holding your hand which is very much appreciated. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989671120 The core aspects of gameplay are exploration, minor puzzle solving, dialogue and of course stealth but there are some side activities that mix up the formula effectively. What really surprised me is that the game even features dynamic day/night cycles, when the game could've easily gotten away with scripted transitions or none at all. Another great thing is that you can actually see items that can be stolen on the enemies, meaning you have a realistic way of telling which guard might have the key you're looking for. Little details like that elevate the game in my eyes. [h1]🔥 Difficulty[/h1] For a game with part of its focus on Stealth Mechanics, evading the enemies is fairly easy most of the time, once you learned how to handle them, and even if you do get spotted the game is pretty forgiving in letting you escape. The main difficulty here comes from spotting the gaps in the guards' patrol paths, especially when more than one is present. At some point in the story the sneaking effectively becomes an absolute non-issue, though. [h1]📖 Story / Presentation[/h1] [i]Ghost of a Tale[/i], on a surface level, tells a story about the mouse minstrel [i]Tilo[/i], who is trying to escape a terrible prison and find and free his wife [i]Merra[/i]. However, if you pay attention to character interactions, footnotes and the bits and pieces of lore, as well as the more subtle aspects of the game, it becomes apparent that the game also tells a story about oppression and prejudice - in more ways than you'd suspect. [i]SeithCG[/i] succeeds in crafting a compelling story and believable characters each with their own flaws, strengths and motivations. It also manages to create drama but it knows how to effectively use humor. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989681234 [h1]💻 Graphics / Art-style[/h1] The game features anthropomorphic animals in an otherwise realistic world. You can easily see [i]SeithCG's[/i] expertise as I've rarely seen a game more realistically [b]adorable~♥[/b] than this. The game perfectly pulls off soft fur, shiny little eyes, pointy noses and curious round ears, as well as it does slippery stone, warm candlelight and cold, pitch-black shadows. Even more so it shows off the developer's skills when it comes to the animations, which all look very fluid and realistic but also extremely befitting of mice, rats, frogs and other animals. It may need some polish here or there, as climbing ladders for example would look even better if the little hands and feet actually attached to the rungs and guards would be more convincing if they didn't just repeat the same animation three times before moving on, but overall it's pretty amazing. Another thing I very much appreciate is the [b]Photo Mode[/b], although it can be exploited to scout ahead. Perhaps the developer should've limited that function in some way. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989664531 [h1]🎼 Soundtrack / Sound[/h1] The game offers both a beautiful soundtrack and a lack thereof, as it doesn't shy away from supporting its atmosphere with absolute silence at times, leaving you in a dank, cold, dark and dirty dungeon with just the sound of bare mouse feet on the hard, cold floor. Only very few games dare to leave the music off where it fits and it works extremely well here to make you feel isolated and lost. The sound design in general is amazingly believable in [i]Ghost of a Tale[/i], with the Rat Guards sounding especially menacing, giving the game just a hint of a horror game. Additionally, you can occasionally sing one of the songs in your ever-growing book of songs and, while [i]Tilo[/i] isn't voiced, the melody that accompanies the lines on screen, makes it easy enough to hear the song being sung in your head. It's quite neatly done and I have no idea how they pulled it off that well. [h1]👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Target audience[/h1] Both friends of [b]Stealth games[/b] [i](Outlast, Thief, etc.)[/i] and epic [b]Action-RPGs[/b] [i](Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Oblivion, etc.)[/i] can sink some time into this gorgeous game. Of course, being a mouse aficionado also helps and friends of [b]An American Tale[/b] have something to look forward to in this game, too. [h1]💰 Business Model[/h1] [quote][u]Classic:[/u] Buy the game, play the game. No paid DLCs, items, lootboxes.[/quote] [h1]📋 Conclusion[/h1] You'd never guess that the developer behind [i]Ghost of a Tale[/i] wasn't a veteran in the business and the level of polish, wit and subtlety on display make this an easy recommendation. Couple all that with the gorgeous art-style, the more than decent graphics and the stellar animations and you've got yourself a winner. [i]Ghost of a Tale[/i] is one of the better games I've played in recent years and I can't wait to see more from [i]SeithCG[/i] - perhaps even a sequel and/or prequel to this beautiful piece. [quote]At the time of writing this, I haven't fully completed the game yet but I feel confident to judge what I've seen so far. As I progress further, I will adjust this review if needed.[/quote] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37072886][quote]If you're looking for more quality reviews like this, follow our curator page, [b]Devils in the Detail[/b].