What a wonderful VN this turned out to be. It's hard to put into words the kinds of emotions this kind of narrative elicits but I think I'd describe it as joy. It was quite simply a joy to read, which is a bit strange because a good chunk of it is quite dark and violent. Though often times, those moments are almost immediately counteracted by exceedingly wholesome or comedic moments in the next scene, and I'd say it feels like I'm watching a very strange late night cartoon that I stumbled while browsing channels and I can't really look away from it. I'm not sure that's an accurate description but that's how I felt, at least.
Ghostpia begins in a ghost town inhabited by people, or rather "ghosts", who cannot die. Well, they can die but they revive after a while. Here we follow our protagonist, Sayoko, on her quite eccentric, silly, and sometimes violent adventures. Well, maybe not adventures but rather complicated situations she seems to get in, all too often escalating to rather violent confrontations. The fact that anyone who dies will simply revive just basically means it's a good outlet for some pretty sudden and abrupt killing of some characters as a form of dark humor, and just generally an outlet for the violence it presents, even if it ends up being for comedic purposes. It's not gratuitous killing or excessively graphic or anything, but it can come across abrupt at times. The artstyle is quite cute and charming and only serves to amplify the abrupt juxtaposition of the game's more violent moments so it might catch some people off guard. While all five episodes work to forward an overarching plot point and obvious mystery presented to us in the first episode, they each tell individual stories that feel almost like a "Monster of the week" kind of thing. Through these individual events, we come to learn more about the mysteries surrounding this ghost town and of our fairly complicated protagonist. It works wonders and makes reading each episode exciting as you wonder what sort of situation Sayoko will get involved in.
Unpacking Sayoko as a character is probably not something I am able to do properly but I'll give a few thoughts, as she is something of a Mary Sue kind of protagonist that's really good at fighting but with an unfortunate amount of self deprecation. Whilst Sayoko could be considered physically strong and adept at uh killing people specifically, much of her monologues and thoughts are plagued by extreme anxiety issues and lack of social skills, the kind of thoughts you'd expect from anyone constantly insecure about themselves and especially insecure of what other people might think of them, strangers and close friends alike. In that sense, she might be pretty relatable to some, as the fear of acceptance (or lack of) is something many are likely all too familiar with. I'm not sure I can say if these moments are portrayed well and sensibly, but the sections that focus primarily on Sayoko's mental state can be quite depressing when put together with some of the more extreme events that occur throughout the game, which is quite often. Thankfully, the game often follows up with a proper way for Sayoko to overcome some of her mental hurdles or for another character to be the pillar of support she needs. It never feels like the game is just emotionally beating her up for the sake of doing so. Seeing Sayoko overcome what is a huge mental obstacle to her, yet an incredibly simple task to some, is a joy and a huge driving factor that makes me want to read more. I simply want to see Sayoko succeed and reach the happiness she is looking for. Which is a little ironic, cause I actually was finding it a little hard to understand her in the first two episodes, and even leaning in on not liking her much as a character. Something that did a complete 180 at the end of episode two. Anyway, Sayoko is a fantastic character, and this is very much a story of her growth. And though I won't go into detail of the rest of the supporting cast, villains aside, they are all wonderful and charming and pair extremely well with Sayoko. Everyone's a little weird, and though not as extreme as Sayoko. they each have their own insecurities and help each other confront and overcome them.
The soundtrack is quite small but rather good. Each single track does an incredibly good job of supplementing the scene and events happening to the extent that you could say the music immediately spoils what's going to happen as you'll quickly associate every individual track with either comedy, comfort, or dread. Being presented with the prospect of something awful happening because the "bad" track is playing only to be followed up by the "goofy" or "comfort" track becomes quite a huge relief and eases the tension very well. It's not a bad thing and for a game that can have rather abrupt tonal shifts, it really helps ease you into the next scene or event.
Lastly, I want to give my thoughts on very specific moments of the game that stood out to me which will be spoilered.
The events surrounding the elderly man were ones I couldn't quite grasp the purpose of completely. As I said, Sayoko is basically a Mary Sue character in regards to strength and fighting skills (mostly). While the elderly man's intentions in their first encounter aren't completely obvious, they most certainly are in their second encounter, blatantly so even. While Sayoko was understandably going through some rough patches due to recent events, the second encounter just felt a bit too crude and and uncomfortable and maybe that's exactly what they were going for. It might just be me but I felt that particular scene could have been done a bit better. Secondly, I feel the game was a bit too mean to Clara. Over the course of the game it's clear she was always meant to be Kenny from South Park in that she just kinda gets (un)expectedly killed for the sake of comedy multiple times. And I'll admit, it's quite funny but I still felt pretty bad, especially in the 2nd episode. Though Clara is the reason bad things tend to happen to Sayoko and her friends, I think there is some truth behind her overtly cute naive personality and I hope she has some sort of redemption arc in season two. Maybe she doesn't want to believe the Priest she so obsessively reveres is bad. Either way, I won't say no to her dying in comedic ways, but I do hope she's able to join our current main cast of characters eventually.
Great VN, I really enjoyed it. I feel like I didn't really say much but I think it's also best to experience this kind of game for yourself. It's weird, it's fun, and it has a really great cast of characters. If anything I said sounds mildly interesting then I can't recommend it enough. This is one of the rare occasions where I wish this wasn't as short as it is but alas. I'm really looking forward to what season 2 might bring and I really hope it keeps its style of storytelling as it continues to unravel the mystery.
