A friend recommended Ghost Of A Tale to me so I decided to pick it up and try it out. Right from the start I fell in love with the charming character of the little bard mouse Tilo who wakes up in a jail cell. Tilo is set free by a mysterious stranger called S and needs to find out where his wife was taken and how to escape the island outpost he's on. This gives a good introduction into the gameplay and information about the garrison run by rats and a council known as Redpaw. Mice are treated as second class citizens and rats have all the power. This is the medieval fantasy setting for Ghost Of A Tale as you learn about Tilo and the world he lives in.
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| Tilo the bard. |
The way for Tilo to get around the prison is to not be seen. The game is all stealth which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there were points of frustration for me if I mistimed Tilo's movements and he got seen by one of the rat guards. The only choice Tilo has if he's seen is to run away and hide because all the enemies have a line of sight mechanic so when Tilo would hide in a basket or a closet, they could no longer see him and would walk away. I learned to count how many seconds I had before a guard saw me and when to dash into a hiding spot. The game does give Tilo some tools to help in his journey such as wine bottles which can be used to knock a guard out to steal his keys or sticks that Tilo can throw into the distance making a guard investigate the noise so he can dash quickly behind them. There were moments where I wished Tilo could at least have a sword to fight, but as I played more and more of the game, I realized that this is not who Tilo is and that this was the reason for all the stealth.
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| Tilo hiding in a basket. Stealth achieved! |
As the story progressed I learned more about Tilo, his life, and the lore for Ghost Of A Tale. I enjoyed that part a lot because it had some interesting insights about the history of that world and gave explanations about how Tilo became a bard. There are even moments where Tilo has to choose a song to sing for certain characters he meets. Exploring the different areas was enjoyable because the environments are beautifully done. My favorite area to explore was the nearby woods because it was so pretty and peaceful. The transition from day to night in the game is impressive because when it is nighttime, it is so dark that you definitely need a lantern so you can see.
There were a lot of fetch quests in the game, but sometimes there's a lack of clarity as the game would tell me to just get a key for a door, but not really tell me which person had the key so I would have to backtrack all over and try to figure out which NPC had the key. These kind of quests could feel like a chore and detracted from the fun of the game for me. I found myself hoarding items because I never knew if they were going to be needed for a quest, so I figured it was better to just keep everything and be prepared.
One thing I loved was the costume disguises. Once I was able to steal some Redpaw armor, it made it so much easier for Tilo to get around. Sure he looked silly and adorable as the smallest Redpaw guard, but no one chased him and the guards even called him by his fake name. It was amusing to me how they had no clue the little bard was in front of them and I was able to go places I couldn't before.
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| Tilo is a Redpaw guard now. |
There are some quests that require different disguises and in order for Tilo to have the complete set, I had to explore the island and look in different spots to find each piece. One thing that helped with this was the blacksmith who for a certain amount of florins would mark the items on Tilo's map. There were a variety of characters that Tilo interacted with that were funny, serious, and all of them had really good back stories. There were notes that helped with the outfits too, telling you what was needed for each set. My favorite costume by far was the Captain Otto Powderkeg pirate outfit because I had a good time with that quest and Tilo as a pirate mouse was the cutest thing ever.
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| Tilo as Captain Otto Powderkeg. |
I never got tired of playing Ghost Of A Tale in spite of a couple of the issues I had with the tedium of some quests and not always knowing where to go on the map. A big part of it for me was the great writing. Each character always had something different to say and it added a new layer to the story. I wanted to know more about characters like the blacksmith Rolo and the two mice who were thieves just hanging out in their jail cell after they picked the lock waiting for something. I especially loved Tilo. The more I learned about his story and how he came to be on that island, the more I wanted to keep playing the game and see where his journey took him. That's what made Ghost Of A Tale a good game for me, the incredible amount of charm it had with the characters and the story itself. I hope we get to see more of Tilo, because I had a great time experiencing his adventure.
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| Tilo says see you at the next adventure! |
*Ghost Of A Tale is available to play on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
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