3.5/5 ★ – Smabbott's review of Ghost Song.

Hollow Knight in Space I gave up on Ghost Song about 5 minutes in, as the structure to me from the menu and the way it handled death; felt like a rogue-like. And I hate rogue-likes. But after watching someone play for more than 2 minutes, it was obvious that this was a full on metroidvania. So I thought: what the hell, I'll give it a go. Ghost Song is so atmospheric. If there was one word I would describe the game, it would be that. Matt White has spent a decade crafting a canvas of melancholy through an absolutely beautiful environment which stretches across a dying world. The lore and story for the game gives so much weight for your actions and the world as a whole. In terms of the gameplay, exploring each region was a joy. Although the world is shown to be fantastical, through the neon foliage everywhere, the mechanics aren't that innovative whatsoever. Literally every ability in your typical metroidvania is used in this game. Nothing wrong with that, but I would have loved to have seen more interesting abilities on this rock which is so alien. Rather than: double jump, wall climb and dash. The unique mechanic for the game is the gun overheating. The more you shoot, the slower the rapid fire comes out which overheats the gun. However, it does create a fantastic use of melee combat. As the more you overheat, the more damage you do with your primary weapon. This made combat at the start really cool. As it went on, enemies become damage sponges and don't really benefit you that much. But it does look cool. The character of the deadsuit was really endearing with her naïve ability about life to how she finds understanding with everything throughout the play time. Like Hollow Knight, the deadsuit has modules instead of charms. These are equipped by powering down the suit and equipping different modules which effect your suit power with damaging dashes and new bullets for your gun. Nothing incredible, but visually great which never took me out of the experience. I loved all of the melee weapons I found, I didn't find them all. My favourite being the lance. Was great for damage and speed. All the characters are interesting and have unique personalities which make the whole experience feel that much better. But the bosses are probably the worst part of the game. The gun doesn't allow that much change for each encounter. So all kind of have the same move set and have way too much health. Although there is one module which you can add to your gun which makes each boss a complete joke to fight, it ends up being the only viable option to enjoy the fights. With a gorgeous soundtrack which feels like if you placed the Last of Us score in a sci-fi setting, great exploration and really interesting dialogue with good voice acting, Ghost Song excels in allowing the player to be immersed in this world. With a leveling system which incorporates stats usually used in games like Dark Souls or Elden Ring, the game straddles the line of a straight forward metroidvania and a souls-like. I loved my time with this game and the experience isn't one I will soon forget.