Developer: SeithCG
Publisher: SeithCG
Genre: Stealth, Adventure
Platforms: PC (reviewed), PS4, Xbox One
Rating: T for Teen
Price: $24.99
There is quite an interesting “tale” behind Ghost of a Tale. The lead developer Lionel Gallat has a unique resume of work as an animator before he decided to start a small company and begin making video games. I could list all of his work here, but go and check out his IMDB page. Though Despicable Me and The Lorax were his most recent work, once that work was done he decided to give game development a full-time commitment.
Ghost of a Tale was also successfully funded via IndieGoGo and received 108% of its $45,000 goal with a total of $55,131 by the end of the campaign. In the word of crowdfunding, there are only a handful of games that have seen such success. As a result, Ghost of a Tale launched on PC in March of 2018 and on console platforms almost a whole year later. Thanks to the support of their fans, the work of Lionel and his team at SeithCG has paid off.
Content Guide
Spiritual Content: Not only is this game set in a fantasy theme, but the world consists of anthropomorphic animals. These characters walk, talk, and act as humans would; players take control of a mouse named Tilo. The beginning of the game gives us some backstory on the world of the game. It tells us about a mysterious force called “The Green Flame” that destroyed many kingdoms by bringing their dead back to life. Reanimated skeletons are also a threat that the player will have to deal with in the game.
Violence: Ghost of a Tale contains stealth gameplay mechanics. The players cannot fight but have the option to knock out enemies by throwing objects at them. However, the enemies can use their weapons to attack and kill the player. There are plenty of places for the player to hide and evade to avoid being damaged. Blood is also present on various occasions within the game.
Crude Humor: instances of crude humor do occur. One example being that sleeping guards will fart while they are sleeping. The flatulence is accompanied by a large green cloud of gas as well.
Drug/Alcohol Use: One of the first objectives that players have is to acquire a bottle of alcohol for an imprisoned pirate. It is explained that the rats will drink it while they are on guard duty. This is not optional as players will acquire it in exchange for information.
Other: The stealth nature of this video game is that players will be stealing a variety of items from enemies, chests, cabinets, and other places.
Be very quiet.
Review
What got me interested in playing Ghost of a Tale is the aesthetic. It easily gets compared to Redwall the most, but I have not read any of those books. Other games before it have also taken the anthropomorphic animal fantasy setting such as Armello and Moss. While I’m sure those properties do well in building their worlds, the team at SeithCG did much more than making this a visual treat.
The story puts players in the role of Tilo, a small Minstrel mouse who was locked up in a Keep. With the help of a mysterious ally, Tilo is able to escape from his cell and search for his wife. Being a small mouse means that he can’t fight or do much to defend himself and must resort to sneaking around the Keep and getting any information he can. Ghost of a Tale is very much what I would call a stealth adventure.
“Have you seen my wife?”
Right from the start. We can see that the lead developer’s skills as an animator come into play, with dynamic lighting and texture work that make this fantasy world look very real, but what I find the most intriguing is that this just isn’t a visual tale. The developers want you to learn about this world that they will likely want to expand on one day. When speaking to other characters, the names of specific things are highlighted within the written dialogue and labeled as footnotes. These footnotes tell us what the item, place, etc. is that the character is referring to.
This footnote in particular explains that mice speak a different language.
I appreciate this because I can think of dozens of times where I played a video game, read a book, or watched something in which everything has a name and some lore attached to it but I don’t even know what it is yet. These footnotes provide great context for the world around the players and further connected me to this place I am stepping into for the very first time. The game does well in explaining its own lore and understands that players don’t know what any of this is yet—world-building at its finest.
Gameplay can be fairly simple to grasp. You start the game sneaking around Dwindling Heights Keep avoiding guards through the use of hiding spots. Tilo cannot attack enemies but can throw sticks to distract and throw bottles to knock them out. There are other tools that can assist in how you deal with them, such as the slime jar which is my personal favorite. I deliberately threw one in an enemy’s path as I was spotted, and in his pursuit, the slime had a banana peel-like effect that not only made him slip but knocked him out too. Thankfully, It is simple to run away from your pursuers to find a hiding spot in a bucket, chest, or cabinet if you have got yourself in a bind.
Hiding spots are the key to your survival.
Though I give high praise to the world of the game, it wasn’t very successful in pointing me in the right direction. It has an old school mentality in that you need to find maps of specific areas and then various keys just to get through many of the doors. As I got up to the courtyard area I hoped to get my bearings, but it’s tough to do that and look around for the right place to go when you’re in danger of getting spotted the whole time. In this regard, I didn’t find the onboarding of players to be very successful, though with some time it becomes enjoyable when you get comfortable with navigating through the world.
That old school feels is more evident as you deal with inventory management. It can feel like a Bethesda RPG in the fact that you can pick up just about anything. There is also a quest system in which you can help characters with specific tasks, though many are fetch quests and chore-like. For some of these quests, you’ll have to dress up in any costumes you find and the main reason you’ll want to search entire areas for clothing pieces. Honestly, dressing up Tilo as an armored guard or a pirate is half of the appeal of the game. There are also some RPG elements such as leveling up and learning skills from a few allies that do make life in Ghost of a Tale a bit easier. Increasing your run stamina with the skill called The Surge, or spotting items easier with one called Red Mist are a few examples of skills that can be very helpful along the journey.
Tilo isn’t usually well suited for guard duty.
Ghost of a Tale is a game I was hoping I could binge through, but I discovered that it demands attention and focus. The most memorable times I have experienced are when I took things slow. This is a world that begs to be explored, but not one that is always friendly to Tilo and his journey. My best advice is to tread lightly, but take in everything that this game has to offer along the way.
SeithCG has crafted a wondrous world that I’m sure we will see more of in the future. However, players should also take note that your hand will not be held in such a way that feels right out of a time capsule, but don’t let that discourage you. Ghost of a Tale is for those who love to explore interesting worlds with rich lore.
Review code generously provided by SeithCG.
The Bottom Line