There is something about cats that makes me think they are hiding some great secret from us. Have you stared into a cat’s eyes for more than a minute? It’s like the mysteries of the universe are hidden behind those pupils.
It’s those cats who have had a great time in games recently, seemingly the favoured star over the greatest of gaming dogs. With the success of Stray, the cat world will be basking in the glory.
Cat and Ghostly Road is a game where you play as a cat on a journey through different worlds and dimensions, taking on an epic quest. Get your nine lives ready and let’s explore.
Cat and Ghostly Road is a point-and-click adventure that takes you on a journey across a far eastern country, going from a realistic setting to a world of demons, ghosts, and talking fish. Did I mention you also play as a cat? Oh, and it is probably worth noting that the game has been made by just two people. Before I begin, I’d like to applaud that achievement, as well as the world they have created.
First of all, the story. In Cat and Ghostly Road you play as a beautiful white cat, struggling up a mountainside in rough weather. Things don’t look good for the feline and it collapses outside a house. An old man rescues the cat and they become lifelong companions. However, one night a demon appears, taking the old man’s soul. The cat, ever remorseful, goes on an epic journey to find the old man’s soul, ready to barter with the demon to get it back.
The gameplay is what you expect of any normal point-and-click adventure. You’ll have several things to interact with, able to find items to pick up and store in your inventory for when they might become handy. You can also combine items, pretty much over and over, all in order to make new items that you can then utilise. The controls feel a bit shaky to use at first, and every time a description bar pops up you have to close it before moving on. Personally, I found this to be an annoyance.
There are some extra abilities you get to help you on your travels and with a press of a button, you get to see the world differently. Here you can view the supernatural world of ghosts, of demons and of hidden objects. You can talk to these beings, hoping to uncover information for your quest. Failing that, you’ll just find tales of being undead. Another ability that pops up is that of turning into human form, something which is needed to get certain items or progress through specific levels.Â
Towards the latter parts of Cat and Ghostly Road new gameplay elements are introduced; musical puzzles and a constellation test, for instance. Sometimes working out what to do next can be tricky and as with pretty much all point-and-click adventures the answers seem so obscure at times, you’ll struggle to guess what to do. Thankfully we live in the age of the internet…Â
Cat and Ghostly Road looks delightful, even more amazing seeing as it has come from such a small development team. The world looks like it has been taken straight out of a storybook with its amazing East Asian influences on show. There are a couple of stand-out moments too, as the cat rides a dragon and briefly enters a monochrome environment. But seriously every frame of this game could well be sold as a poster for your wall. And that is helped by the soundtrack; it is beautiful, with a calming and atmospheric track throughout.
Cat and Ghostly Road is a four-hour long point-and-click adventure that comes at a very charming price. Perhaps the controls will feel strange initially, and they aren’t as intuitive as I would have liked, but the puzzles are good, even though they can be very tricky to get your head around.
It’s the journey from mountain to heaven itself that is the star of Cat and Ghostly Road though – highly original and deeply atmospheric to play.
