Ghost of a Tale

Do you remember when you were young, with not a care in the world, watching classic animated movies like The Secret of NIMH or The Last Unicorn? Do you remember the sense of wonder they instilled in you? This peculiar mix of optimistic adventure and melancholy? The way in which they weaved together thrills and humour, but also mystery, sadness and some genuinely scary bits?
Well, the truth is: You and I, we will never get those days back. But Ghost of a Tale might just remind you a bit of the stories we grew up with, when children’s entertainment was still willing to examine all the facets and complexities of life.
With his tragic backstory and desperate quest to find his kidnapped wife Merra, our main character Tilo is a great example of this, though he’s far from the only one. As you explore the stunningly beautiful environments of Dwindling Keep, you’ll come to know a number of unique characters, all with hidden depths that you may not have expected at first sight. Allegiances will be questioned and your opinions about these characters will shift – in some cases perhaps quite dramatically, as their (very believable) motivations become clear. The lore of the world is likewise deep and full of mystery. You may never even find out which of the many songs sung about the past are true, which ones are embellished and which ones are straight-up propaganda.
A word of warning: Ghost of a Tale does tell a self-contained narrative of the occurrences at Dwindling Keep, but it doesn’t conclude the wider narrative. I can’t tell you more than that without going into heavy spoilers, I just wanted you to be aware of this before you try the game. But I also want you to understand that this story has resonated so deeply with me that I’ve found myself scouring the web for information about a possible sequel every single year since I first played the game in 2018. As of late 2022, it looks like that sequel may be coming, though it’s probably years off still. But I’m gonna be honest: Even if the sequel never materialises, I’ll still be glad to have experienced this story, incomplete or not. I’ll just occasionally be reminded of this wonderful little game, look to the sky and wonder what became of Tilo, Merra and the others…

if you read the redwall books when you were a kid then youre going to love this game

This is truly a hidden gem, albeit a rather unpolished one. Ghost of a Tale is a narrative driven adventure game set in a quirky castle populated with talking anthropomorphic rodents sprung from a grim yet heroic fairytale, visualizing a clan of Skavens in a Redwall setting gets you pretty much spot on. In this fabulous fable you play as Tilo, a minstrel mouse of the highest order with a sneaky nature and an uncanny ability to hide in cupboards. After a rather unsuccessful performance due to his Wife Merra refusing to perform for a local Rat-baron, Tilo is knocked unconscious and thrown into the dungeons of a nearby keep. It is up to Tilo to find out what happened to his wife and save the day!
Overall I truly enjoyed this game, the atmosphere is spot on, the setting and storytelling sublime and overall the gameplay is decent enough. At its core this is a stealthy adventure game with a bunch of side quests tied on mostly circling around fetching this or that for the local retainers at the castle. Overall the gameplay and inventory management is fine even though the stealth parts might feel a bit unintuitive to followers of the Thief-style of stealth action. The fetching of items for quests is slightly obtuse at times but that's not the biggest problem. Sometimes quests that you think about completing might be softlocked until you progress far enough in the main storyline, a bit of a nitpick but quite annoying after you searched every nook and cranny the 5th time looking for the last piece of a puzzle you can't complete.
Considering this is a project with a few dedicated souls behind it I can see past a few of the more glaring design decisions and overall I really enjoyed this cute and charming tale of a mouse desperately searching for his loved one. The story is by far the most endearing part and for that alone it gets a stamp of approval. Ghost of a Tale is just the kind of fairytale this bleak regressive society needs, hope burns bright in the smallest of things.

This will be difficult. Despite giving this game a recommendation i have to admit that there is a major flaw within, that might make your whole expirience with the game into an exhausting one.
Let's start with the good things - the game is adorable. And I mean it. Finding a protagonist more cute than Tilo is not an easy task. Also the devs managed to create a truly fairy tale-like world, full of charm, lore and amusing characters (Gusto and Fatale <3 ). Playing Ghost of a Tale feels like being whispered away into a world of a childrens's books - soft light, colourful palette and cartoonish architecture. Very, very nice.
There are a few insignificant technical hiccups, like the sunlight shining through a solid rock sometimes, but that's about it. I did not encounter any other bugs (aside from stucking in a tight place once) and the framerate has been very stable, so i'd say that there are no serious issues with the technical side of the game.
The thing that weights down this game, is the main gameplay loop, which consists of a constant running inside of a complex and intertwining, but at the same time rather small location (since there are no loading screens, i count the whole game as a single map). Go fetch some flowers/mushrooms/hoods/documents/obols/keys/costumes, etc. etc. - this is the thing that you will do about 90% of your total game time in this game. You will run in circles constantly revisiting and revisiting the same rooms, corridors, characters and places in the neverending "fetch me something" megaquest.
If only devs could have thought of some other activities, or at least minimise the amount of time player spends runnig in circles - this would have been a truly wonderful game, but with the things being as is - i got quite tired and exausted by the end of the game. If not for the story and charming characters - chanses are high that i would have abandoned it half way through.
So when you will decide if you want to get this game or not you will have to decide for yourself if the game's aesthetics are compelling enough for you to plow through the outright exhausting fetch-gameplay. As for me - I can only hope that the sequel will be more diverse gameplay-wise, because i want to know what will become of Tilo and Merra and will Aragorn Silas become a king?

This game was awesome! The art style was very sweet, the side quests were well thought out and the story was excellent. The game doesn't hold your hand, which gives a real rewarding sense when you solve the puzzles the game throws at you. Couldn't recommend it more highly - great fun and good value :)

absolutely loved being a mouse
seriously, amazing game, one of the best i've played so far????
(but still i wanna be a mouse forever)

The Ghost of a Tale is a game of stealth, using your wits and puzzle solving skills to progress through the game. Its an indie game that comes off as a AAA video game which is a great perk in itself. You will create bonds with characters along the way and their interactions are as witty as the main character.
If you're an achievement hunter, there are some that you need to pay close attention to or else you'll progress too far and won't be able to go back and complete them unless you start over with another playthrough.