Besides affordability, an oft-cited downside of VR Gaming is that it doesn't have many killer apps. The kind of games that break into the mainstream news cycle and sell systems. Ghost Giant is that to some extent. Though it didn't garner the hype of a triple-A exclusive, this fascinating puzzle game generated some notable buzz upon release. So is this the must-have title for anyone looking to get VR?
Ghost Giant falls somewhere between being a puzzle game and an interactive narrative—the VR equivalent of a walking sim. The game kicks off when a little boy called Louis is crying all by himself in the middle of a lonely forest. Suddenly his tears turn to magic, creating a set of ghostly arms. Your arms, to be precise. Which you control through VR. Now that's real magic right there.
With these arms you can interact with both Louis and the environment around him. He is initially spooked when he first notices you, but manages to get over his fear pretty quickly. From that moment on the two of you become a team. In each of the game's dozen-or-so chapters you follow Louis around as he tries to achieve various goals. You then help him out by clearing obstacles, finding hidden items, and solving puzzles.
Through helping Louis you steadily discover more about what's been happening. He is an endearing protagonist and much effort was put into forming a connection between him and the player. He talks to you, asks for high fives and secret handshakes, and is always very excited when the two of you cooperate. But it's also clear that he isn't doing too well. He lives on a destitute farm and keeps transparently lying to anyone who asks after the well-being of him and his family. Something is weighing heavily on him, but he wants to keep it secret even to you.
Without wishing to spoil, this story develops in surprising directions over the course of the 4 hours it took to beat the game. It has plenty of emotional moments and did a great job making those land.
The game is cut up into various scenes that jump from locale to locale. In each of these scenes there's something Louis has to get done with your help. Like at the wharf, where a ship with goods that he needs for the farm are stuck because the crane is broken. So you and Louis have to scour around for the missing pieces, each of which requires some process to acquire them. Like making some stairs so that Louis can get to a higher place, where he can then crawl through a hole that your giant hands are too big to fit through.
I hesitate to call Ghost Giant a full-on puzzle title though, as the difficulty swerves all over the place. Some scenes were tricky to figure out. Requiring multiple steps to solve individual puzzles or interacting with objects in ways that were clever, but not immediately obvious. In other scenes the difficulty was trivial or entirely non-existent. Some are literally just cutscenes where you can kind of mess with the scenery or where you perform basic tasks that don't require any inventiveness on your part.
Another major appeal of the game is its presentation. Each scene puts you in the middle of an inventive stage, surrounded by scenery, buildings, and other objects. There's so much detail and that does wonders for drawing you into the world.
There's a theatrical touch to it all. In that the world feels like one big stage that you manipulate. You press buttons and turn cranks to open up building interiors or flip them around. Even the characters feel like a part of the aesthetic. Their voice performances are eccentric and come with elaborate gestures. And during cutscenes they dim all the other light sources so that a literal spotlight can be put on the important moment. Though even then you're free to look elsewhere and mess with the scenery instead.
Ghost Giant also offers plenty of interactivity to lend that world a tactile feel. You can't pick and mess with everything, but you can do enough to keep the immersion alive. Touching surfaces gives an appropriate response for example. Touching water gives a visual and auditory splash, whereas a floor or building will give a sturdier sound-effect. You can swat bushes, boop characters on the head, and play with all sorts of decorations. The game even has some excellent visual cues to hint at what you can interact with, so you rarely have to guess. If you enjoy messing around, then each scene also has a number of extras to find that are tracked for completion. Hidden hats and creatures, basketball hoops you can throw stuff through, or spinners you can blow on.
This all does come at the usual cost when it comes to VR. There's an undeniable jank to all the interactions. Objects are sometimes hard to pick up or get stuck, at which point they jitter around uncontrollably. Many items would get stuck in a loop where they kept respawning, only to immediately fall through the floor. And this jank also frustrates the puzzle-solving at times. Making it ambiguous if your intended solution is wrong or the game is just acting up.
With all that in mind, let's loop back to our original question: is Ghost Giant a system seller for VR?
No.
It's a fun game with ample creativity, a story that draws you in, and a solid fun factor. It's enjoyable just interacting with its worlds and admiring how beautiful it is. Despite those qualities though, it's a game you likely play through once and very quickly at that. It's low challenge makes it an ideal introductory puzzle game for children, but most seasoned gamers will find it unchallenging and short. If you have VR then I can absolutely recommend giving it a shot. I just wouldn't urge anyone to buy a Quest just to experience this game in particular.
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