The Outbound Ghost is one game that looks exceptionally charming at first, but once you get to know them better, they become less enticing to play. There’s so much potential, but the overbearing combat and strange story concept just don’t make The Outbound Ghost appealing in the long run.
Title: The Outbound Ghost
Platform: PC and Switch
Developer: Conradical Games
Publisher: Digerati
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Price: $19.99
The Outbound Ghost’s Wonderful Art Style
Overall, The Outbound Ghost’s best asset is the art style. Each creature design, from the ghostly spirits of each village to the spooktacular enemies, thanks to the fantastic cel-shaded look. The Outbound Ghost looks unique, matching this 2D hand-drawn art style with a 3D background. It draws some inspiration from the Paper Mario series, but the way the eyes are drawn and the overall characters look within the game is a courageous style that stands out.
Although it gets repetitive at points, the music is well made as it perfectly establishes the mood The Outbound Ghost is going for. It’s a little bit zany but also atmospheric. The composer nailed that feel, even though the battle themes left a little to be desired.
The Repetitive Combat of The Outbound Ghost
Unfortunately, the combat system doesn’t live up to the game’s incredible art style. Each regular battle feels too long to finish, and the moves at each character’s disposal leave a little to be desired. Most of the attacks feel like something we’ve seen before, and the animation isn’t as zany as you’d like it to be. In each area, you’ll find two to three different enemy varieties, and once you figure out their battle style, it does get boring to take down their health slowly.
In the Paper Mario series, the timing of your attacks is essential to get as much damage as possible. In The Outbound Ghost, it takes that mechanic but fails to uplift it. The game’s combat feels hollow without some pizazz to the overall animations, especially when you get a perfect hit.
What doesn’t help is that the subtle battle user interface caused me to attack myself or heal the wrong teammate at points. We don’t recommend using a keyboard and mouse, by the way.
There is some semblance of strategy, as you can buff and debuff your allies or enemies. You can increase their defense and offensive stats and power up your teammates with the Aether Up ability. If they Aether Up, their next attack will be stronger. You’ll also have to consider the stun bar beneath each foe. Once that meter is filled, the foe becomes inactive, and you can attack them for damage while their guard’s down.
Despite some positives to the combat, it falls flat due to how long each common battle takes and the lack of enemies to fight. There are only so many bats we can defeat before it gets dull.
During each battle, there’s another issue that pops up: the sound design. More often than not, the sound effects are too loud for their own good, distracting you from the match. It’s a slight critique, but with battles being such a main focus of The Outbound Ghost, it should be mentioned. Maybe the developer Conradical Games can fix this in a future update.
The Strangely Dark Story
The Outbound Ghost is a strange mixed bag when it revolves around its tone. You see a cute child-like art style, and then you hear about a serial killer that turned the whole village into ghosts. It’s pretty messed up and becomes somewhat of a turn-off, especially for those who would think their kids would appreciate this RPG.
Nevertheless, it is an intriguing concept that brings to mind the likes of Undertale and Doki Doki Literature Club. Unfortunately, the script isn’t as intriguing as both of those games. The charm falls flat with a lack of humor in the game, and the characters aren’t memorable. The protagonist is also accused as the killer, placing an unwelcome thought of dread while playing this cute as heck RPG. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me, and these two game elements didn’t mesh well. The tone felt way off and was like the taste of grape juice; it’s sweet, comes with an unpleasant flavor, and then had an even worse aftertaste.
Overall, The Outbound Ghost feels like a slight disappointment. The art style is absolutely gorgeous, but it is put down by its surprisingly depressing story elements and repetitive combat. It’s a shame because I really wanted to like it due to that amazing first impression.
Review code provided by the publisher.
Summary
The Outbound Ghost feels like a mixed bag; it doesn’t know whether or not it wants to be charming or have a darker storyline. It fails at both.
Pros
- An absolutely gorgeous art style.
- Music is pleasant.
- There is some strategy to be had with the battle system.
Cons
- An overly dark storyline.
- Repetitive combat with the same enemies over and over again.
- Some bad sound design within battles
