[H1]The only thing Ghostlords shares with Pokemon is the turn-based battles and monster collection. Otherwise, the more mature themes and story scenarios, roguelike elements, and procedurally generated encounters sets it apart from other games that draw inspiration from the popular series.[/h1]
It's been 20 years since the Rending, a cataclysmic event that left most of the world's population dead, their souls lingering behind as ghosts. You are a Ghostlord, an individual capable of harnessing the power of those wayward spirits.
https://youtu.be/OIwZZkLChJk
If you looked at the Store Page for Ghostlords and were immediately caught by the urge to catch’ em all, you won't be disappointed: there are dozens of different types of ghosts to collect along your journey. As an added bonus, you have a choice of journeys; rather than being a kid on a quest to be the very best, you are a Ghostlord--one capable of summoning ghosts to fight for you--by chance and that title is secondary to the life you already live.
Ghostlords offers five unique campaigns, each of which has an achievement for playing a certain way; i.e. not healing for a period of time, battling x amount of times in one playthrough, etc . The campaigns are as follows:
[list][*]The Scientist and the Tower—Rescue Elsie's husband from the Metforce.
[*]Desperate Times—Help Amelia escape from her captors.
[*]Mage Hunt—You are detective Victor, hot on the trail of a murderer. Can you catch him?
[*]The Prisoner—Ghosts from the Hauntlands are pursuing Robyn. Find out why… and how.
[*]The Gauntlet—Play as Collin and try to get the highest possible score in an endless combat challenge.[/list]
*Every campaign has its own saved file, so you can move freely between them if you get trapped between a rock and a hard place.
I've played through each at least once (Mage Hunt three times, but I got my ass handed to me that first time) in the hour or so I spent in game. They're short, playable in one sitting, but the procedurally generated areas keep things fresh.
When you start your scenario, you're able to choose your starting ghost. Each ghost has its own element and they fit into the RPG archetypes of tank, attacker, mage, and support. Your first ghost is your most important one because it's the one you'll rely on until you recruit more, so choose wisely!
Each scenario requires you to go from a start point to an end point, but the journey there is different every time. While the names of the towns/cities are the same, the nodes found within them are scrambled every time you play. This means that you could find a bunch of ghosts to recruit one play and a series of tough fights another. Such is the nature of the RNG. There are a few types of zones to choose from: Enemies, Merchants, and Wild Ghosts. There's a concentration of the nodes that the zone is named after.
Ghostlords also has some roguelike elements. If one of your ghosts die, that's it--it's gone for good. You'll have to recruit another to replace it. If your team is wiped out, you can choose to start from the beginning of the zone. The game is difficult for sure, but it has never felt unnecessarily so.
There is a hardcore mode for those seeking a greater challenge. It makes it so that you can't start from checkpoints so make your one chance count.
Your human Ghostlord can't fight for his or herself, so if all of your ghosts are defeated, it's game over. Your ghosts HP can be regenerated at healer nodes, which costs you an amount that increases every time you make use of one. There are also merchant nodes where you can buy trinkets, which offer passive buffs to your team, and upgrades and skills for your ghosts. You can only have five trinkets equipped at a time. Wild Ghost nodes allow you to recruit a new ghost to your team. The final node type, Unknown, are random event that result in battles against other Ghostlords, quests, and hostile situations that, if resolved peacefully, can result in cash or a new ally. Quests require you to go to a specific node, denoted by an exclamation point.
To recruit ghosts, you simply have to defeat them in combat. You can have a maximum of three ghosts with you at a time and recruiting a new one will prompt you to replace one or to abandon the new one. Combat is turned base and the combatant with the most speed attacks first. You have four skills available to you and each requires energy to use, with the exception of some basic skills that are free of charge. The elemental advantages are obvious (water is string against fire, rock against electric, justice against dark, etc) and you'll need to match up types in order to be victorious. Because you can only heal sparingly, it's imperative that you take as little damage as possible.
Your ghosts gain experience after battle and when they level up, you can choose one of three stats (offered at random) OR to learn a new skill. I liked this mechanic because it forced me to balance the pros and cons of making my ghost stronger versus diversifying its elemental portfolio.
Recruiting ghosts allows you to choose them as your starting ghost. Each ghost has its own tasks--simple things like doing x amount of damage in one fight or getting to a certain level--and these are tied to the game's achievements. The list is pretty substantial, which will add to your game time.
The game is presented in a chunky sort of pixel art style. I don't mind it, but it's not exactly gorgeous by modern-day standards. Still, it's charming, and the futuristic dystopian world is properly gloomy. The majority of animations are strikes like punches and slashes with some bigger, flashy animations for higher level spells.
You can hear the music for the game in the trailer. It's on a loop and it's never too in your face that you start to hate it.
.Pros.
[List][*] Gotta catch ‘em all!
[*] Roguelike elements that are challenging, but not punishing.
[*] A couple hundred achievements that encourage you to try new ghost combinations.
[*] Five diverse campaigns, which are all interesting enough to play through a few times to see the end.
[*] Fast paced gameplay. You can start a campaign and finish it in one sitting. [/list]
.Cons.
[List][*]More ghosts would be nice since they don't evolve.
[*] There are no permanent upgrades (unless you count unlocking new ghosts) that carry over between campaigns.
[*] Most of the random events are battles. This was a missed opportunity to add in a mini game or a twist in the plot--just something to switch up battling and selecting nodes. [/list]
.Bottom line.
Ghostlords will scratch that monster collecting itch and also challenge you. Fans of the roguelike genre will have a blast--doubly so if you're a completionist--but more casual battlers may find this to be too difficult. There's a lot to do here, even with only three campaigns, and the procedurally generated areas keeps things fresh even when the core story remains the same.
Recommended for Pokè-fans, turn-based strategy fans, and those seeking a challenge.
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