ghostpia Season One Gameplay Preview – Kinetic Visual Novel

ghostpia is a kinetic visual novel. I mistakenly thought this meant that the visual novel had animated sequences but the ‘kinetic’ actually just refers to a visual novel with no choices. You simply read the narrative and you can’t pick your own options.

I don’t really have a problem with this as I enjoy reading anyways. I don’t usually read a lot of visual novels to begin with but I have read a few that I thoroughly enjoyed such as Seventh Lair.

While I don’t consider visual novels technically a ‘game’, ghostpia is enjoyable for the most part. The art style is fantastic and the story is a nice blend of wholesome friendship, comic violence, and mystery. The main protagonist is what I would definitely call emo and this may be a hit or a miss depending on the reader. I personally lean towards more on valuing stoicism and practical problem solving so the main character was not as relatable to me.

It also made some of the dialogue feel a bit more contrived and ham-fisted but I also do realize that some people will actually find it very relatable. It all depends on the lens you view the world through I guess.

Main protagonist aside, the narrative feels like a slow thriller with some mystery due to most characters having selective amnesia. There seems to have been a major traumatic event that everybody has forgotten about. There are vague hints dropped here and there throughout each episode of the story. The pieces start falling into place, giving a partial glimpse into what happened but never the whole picture.

There’s also the interesting premise of whether or not past scenes shown are flashback sequences, visions of the future, or if this entire story is repeating endlessly. It definitely piqued my interest and kept me guessing throughout the entire story.

Mixed within the elements of mystery is a rather wholesome friendship between three friends. Juxtaposed against this is some rather comic violence. While the inhabitants of the story cannot die, being immortal and simply respawning in the neighborhood garbage dump, there is a lot of fighting and people being killed. This leads to the feeling that not all is as it seems.

There is also an undercurrent of unease when the main protagonist encounters a certain homeless person as well as glimpses into a possible past life during some scenes. Everything starts to tie together and make more sense as you get closer to the final episode.

Tying everything together is a pretty solid sound track. I found myself nodding along to some of the more jazzier tracks in the game.

Overall, ghostpia is a solid narrative experience. The art style is fantastic, the music is great, and the story manages to balance levity, a sense of humor and mischief, and some heavier themes in a nice seamless flow. The sprinkling of mystery and intrigue also keeps you invested in the story in order to figure out how everything ties together.

Additional Info

Steam Store Page : https://store.steampowered.com/app/2192620/ghostpia_Season_One/
Review Score: 95% positive with a total of 47 reviews as of this writing (09/12/23)
Developer: Chosuido, 超水道
Publisher: room6, yokaze
Release Date: Aug 22, 2023
MSRP: $19.99

I received a key from keymailer. Thanks to the radical person for approving my request!
Time spent: 4.8 hours
Achievement Score: 23/36 (currently on episode 4 out of 5)