The Outbound Ghost begins with a voiced narrator discussing how a simple village, Outbound, was once a happy place until tragedy struck. The game then opens with players, as a ghost, caught in a forest that seems to be on fire. They eventually come across some fellow newly formed ghosts who help the player to figure out their name, Mystic.
Mystic has amnesia and can’t speak aside from emoticons. The Outbound Ghost has players on a quest to find out who Mystic is and who has been causing chaos around Outbound. It’s not the most original RPG story but is one of the best things about The Outbound Ghost.
Best: A Plethora Of Assist Options
The Outbound Ghost is the type of RPG that is open to all types of players. There are four preset difficulty levels which is already a plus. There are also a plethora of assist features such as a sliding scale for several attributes.
For example, players can play around with experience points gained on a scale of 0-500%. Then, there are the special settings that can create unique experiences for every playthrough of the campaign like randomizing party members aka Figments.
Worst: Technical Aspects
RPGs fit at home the best on portable devices such as the Switch. Unfortunately for The Outbound Ghost, the Switch is the worst platform to play it on. The frame rate in the overworld chugs as if it were a demo.
The load times transitioning into battle may be the worst in years, lasting anywhere between 10-15 seconds. This is close to how long it takes to enter buildings too. Also, there are times when the screenshot functionality stops working for no reason other than players entering a glitched moment in time.
Best: The Good Aspects Of Combat
This game is not going to break the mold of turn-based RPGs. However, there are some satisfying bits about it such as AP, or Aether Points. Every character gets 1 AP on their turn, which allows them to act.
If players choose to defend via the ability Aether Up, they can gain extra AP to then attack twice in the next round. It is a similar mechanic to the Bravely Default games, and it’s about time someone started copying that gimmick. Getting healed after combat is also a big plus.
Worst: The Bad Aspects Of Combat
There are a lot of downsides to the battle system as well besides the long load times. The spells and abilities each character has are uninspired. Minor Defense and Minor Power are two examples to show the lack of creativity in names.
Like the Paper Mario games which The Outbound Ghost is trying to emulate, there is an active part of combat. A scale will appear after every move is made and hitting certain spots will affect the moves differently. It’s a fine homage, but the sliding scale isn’t necessary and the overall combat is just par for the course for an RPG.
Best: Catchy Music
The soundtrack can best be described as Pokemon-like. The music is bouncy while exploring or fighting in turn-based battles. There’s just enough there to keep players interested and a few tracks may even be worthy of belonging to a year-in-review list for 2022’s best video game songs.
The intro to the game is voiced, which sounds great. Unfortunately, the whole game isn’t voiced which is a bummer. However, this game is trying to be an homage to older RPGs like from the 90s, so the exclusion of voices in the latter parts of the game does at least make sense.
Worst: Pointless Mechanics
There are a lot of mechanics that feel out of place in the game. For example, one of the earliest puzzles will force players to find a certain amount of lockpicks before they can open a gate. Lockpick puzzles require players to move locks around so that they can guide their screwdriver into the lock. These puzzles feel needless and the cursor moves unbearably slowly.
Stealth is another one. Players can hide in bushes so as not to be seen by enemies. However, this is an RPG where enemies are scarce, meaning that players should fight everything they come across. Putting stealth in the game then feels silly.
Best: The Art Style
Perhaps the best thing about The Outbound Ghost is the art style. All of the characters are made up to look like stickers running around in a more realistic environment. Realistic should be in quotes, as the backgrounds don’t have jaw-dropping graphics no matter what console players check this game out on.
However, their variety is appreciated nonetheless, from caves lit up by glowing shrooms to sandy beaches. It’s also great that battle backgrounds change consistently with the environment which is a small touch most RPGs with turn-based combat don’t do.
Worst: Save Issues
Another disappointing thing about this game is its reliance on past mechanics like save points. Campfires will be dotted around the world but they are few and far between. Players can’t save wherever they want or even create suspended saves that delete themselves automatically.
There are only three save files as well, which is never good to see in an RPG no matter how big or small they are. Thankfully, consoles have internal ways to suspend the adventure but The Outbound Ghost should have still had a better system for dividing up gameplay sessions.
The Outbound Ghost was released on November 30, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.