Ghostlore
Last updated: 2025-08-05
- Enjoyable ARPG with fluid, responsive combat
- Fresh take on genre, unique Southeast Asian setting
- Charming pixel art and meaningful loot
- Robust, engaging endgame content
- Unpolished and buggy gameplay experience
- Limited content and bland story
Emotions
Players are highly satisfied with the game's deep and flexible character customization, particularly the build and skill systems, which allow for extensive experimentation and powerful outcomes. The unique setting, art style, and overall adherence to classic ARPG elements, combined with a rewarding gameplay loop and responsive combat, contribute significantly to a positive experience.
Frustration stems primarily from technical issues such as bugs, unpolished combat, and poor UI/UX, especially concerning the glyph and inventory systems. Players also express annoyance with difficulty spikes, specific enemy types, and a perceived lack of quality-of-life features and modern ARPG conveniences.
Disappointment arises from the game's perceived lack of polish, depth, and content, leading to a feeling of wasted potential. Issues like balance problems, uninspired story, and a lack of meaningful progression or variety in the endgame contribute to players feeling the game doesn't live up to expectations.
Players are excited by the game's unique take on the ARPG genre, particularly its innovative build systems and the freedom to create powerful, even 'broken,' character combinations. The addictive gameplay, unique Asian-themed elements, and the potential for future development and mod support also generate significant enthusiasm.
Joy is derived from the sheer fun of playing the game, especially when experimenting with and building powerful characters. The nostalgic hack-and-slash gameplay, combined with satisfying combat and a charming art style, contributes to a delightful and enjoyable experience.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 72% · Negative 28%. Score: 28 / 100
Positives:
- Players consistently praise the game as a highly enjoyable, unique, and well-crafted ARPG. It's seen as a hidden gem that offers a fresh take on the genre, providing a satisfying experience for both casual players and hardcore fans of hack-and-slash games.
- Combat is frequently described as fast, fluid, and responsive, contributing significantly to the game's overall fun factor. The moment-to-moment gameplay feels well-crafted and engaging.
- The game successfully differentiates itself from other ARPGs while still appealing to fans of classic titles like Diablo 2 and Grim Dawn. It offers a fresh experience that avoids common genre pitfalls.
- The unique Southeast Asian folklore setting is a significant highlight, offering a refreshing change from the usual Western fantasy themes. This distinct world and lore are a strong selling point.
- The game's pixel art style, vibrant colors, and overall visual design are consistently praised. They contribute to a charming and unique atmosphere that stands out from typical grimdark ARPGs.
Negatives:
- Players frequently report that the game feels unpolished, janky, and buggy, with many quality-of-life features missing. This contributes to a perception that the game is incomplete or abandoned by developers, impacting its overall playability and value.
- The game is criticized for its severe lack of content, including a short, bland, and unengaging story, limited enemy and boss variety, and repetitive environments. This leads to a feeling of boredom and a lack of depth after only a few hours of gameplay.
- Summon-based builds are negatively impacted by frequent nerfs, high mana costs, and poor summon AI. Additionally, the game experiences significant lag and frame rate drops when too many summons or enemies are on screen.
- Inventory management is a significant issue due to limited space and an abundance of item types, leading to constant clutter and slowing down gameplay. This makes storing and organizing runes, equipment, and materials a frustrating chore.
- Co-op mode has several significant drawbacks compared to solo play, including fewer skill slots, tougher enemies, and various UI and control interferences. This makes the co-op experience less enjoyable and less functional.
Gameplay:
- The game offers extensive character customization through a multi-class system, allowing players to combine up to three classes from a selection of six. This system, along with a unique skill grid and rune/glyph mechanics, enables diverse and complex build possibilities, reminiscent of games like Path of Exile.
- The game is a Diablo-like ARPG with strong influences from classic titles like Diablo 2, Titan Quest, and Path of Exile. Its endgame content, including 'Hell Gates' and 'Institute of Paranormal Studies missions,' mirrors the 'Rift' and 'Map' systems found in Diablo 3 and Path of Exile, offering an infinitely scaling challenge.
- A unique 'food system' allows players to gather ingredients and cook dishes to gain permanent passive stat buffs. These buffs can be swapped, adding another layer of min-maxing and customization to character progression.
- The main story campaign is relatively short, typically taking between 7 to 15 hours to complete. This suggests a focus on the endgame content rather than a lengthy narrative experience.
- The game offers six distinct weapon types, each influencing playstyle through variations in speed, range, and movement. This allows for diverse combat approaches based on weapon choice.
Performance:
- Players report that the game is well-optimized for various hardware configurations, including low-end PCs and the SteamDeck. This indicates good accessibility for a wide range of players.
- Despite general good performance, some players experience frequent and noticeable drops in frame rate. This suggests potential optimization issues in specific areas or scenarios that need addressing.
Recommendations:
- Many players recommend the game, often highlighting its value for its price or for fans of the ARPG genre. While some acknowledge flaws, they still find it enjoyable and worth playing.
- The game is frequently recommended to fans of classic ARPGs like Diablo II, Torchlight II, and Grim Dawn. Its isometric 2D graphics and loot-focused gameplay appeal to this niche.
- Players are optimistic about the game's future, recognizing it as a work in progress. They express excitement for upcoming content and hope for continued improvements and development.
- While many recommend the game, there's a strong consensus that purchasing it on sale offers the best value. Some feel the full price is justified, but a discount makes it an undeniable deal.
- Players desire more variety and depth in skills and runes. They hope for more skill forms, better balancing for melee skills, and more flexible, impactful rune affixes.
Miscellaneous:
- Many players are impressed that the game was developed by a small, two-person team, often highlighting its origin from a Singapore studio and its creation in Unity.
- While the game supports modding, the current modding scene is limited, with most available mods focusing on fixing base game issues rather than adding new content.
- One reviewer expressed a preference for the game's current state, finding that typical hack-and-slash elements like endless leveling and repetitive content are the genre's 'worst parts'.
- A specific feature mentioned is the ability to summon the player's alter ego, which is noted as a unique gameplay mechanic.
- Players noted a lack of comprehensive guides for the game, which necessitates more self-exploration to understand mechanics and progression.
