Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review

Ghostly Friendship At Its Best

Game Info:

  • System: PS4
  • Publisher: Zoink
  • Developer: Zoink
  • Release Date: April 16, 2019

Who it Caters to

Ghost-Giant-game-300x374 Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review
As kids, we can usually find ourselves enjoying the simpler times of life if we live in certain environments. There are some though who live in rougher situations and find that being a kid can be almost like being an adult, frustrating and demanding. It’s during these times you can easily find yourself wishing above to have a giant friend to help you out with either chores or keeping those who wish to harm you in check. That’s where Ghost Giant comes in. Ghost Giant gives players the feeling of being the protector for a young boy and giving them a helping hand from the strangest places. As a concept, Ghost Giant hits all the right notes to be perfect, but does the game itself hit perfection or falter? We here at Honey’s Anime will answer that question below in our full review of Ghost Giant. All we need from you is to scroll down and enjoy the review in its entirety.

What to Expect

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Ghost Giant is a PSVR exclusive from developer Zoink. Players assume the role of a silent ghost giant that must help a young boy out during a very trying time. You will need to help the boy by moving items and solving simple puzzles as well as protect them from the world they currently face. Aimed at narration over gameplay, Ghost Giant is all about its story. Can you be the ghost giant this boy needs or will you fail to deliver them happiness?


Story

Ghost-Giant-game-300x374 Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review
One afternoon, a young boy named Louis find himself crying at the lake due to overwhelming sorrow. From his tears, Louis manifests a giant ghost that at first terrifies him but then shows him it means no harm. With his new giant ghost companion, Louis will now tackle the world of drama he faces but not alone like before. Can Louis become the man he needs to be for his mom? Find out in Ghost Giant where you will help guide Louis to keep him safe and to show him a friendship he’s never had before.

Gameplay

Ghost-Giant-game-300x374 Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review
Ghost Giant has players taking the role of an entity that appears after a young animal-boy named Louis cries. As a giant ghost, your task is pretty simple. Help protect Louis not from monsters or other beasts but from his day to day life which has been strained due to his mother’s illness. The majority of Ghost Giant can be described by one word…simple. What do we mean by that though? We’ll tell you more as we dive further into this review of Ghost Giant for the PSVR.

As a ghost giant, you can do quite a bit to help poor Louis out. Louis is tiny and frail but with your strong arms—guided by the PlayStation Move controllers—you can lift up boulders, cars, open doors and push items to help Louis as he interacts with the world around him. Ghost Giant at its core is more of a narrative experience but to keep players immersed it typically gives the player tasks to perform. Help Louis move his car, remove a bed of sunflowers from the farm, and the list goes on. These puzzles will never involve much from you other than a few seconds of thought but it helps the player feel more connected with Louis on a personal level. Seeing Louis jump when he can’t find an item only to have you give it to him makes you feel like he’s truly your ward that needs help. This alone is what makes Ghost Giant so much fun and truly enjoyable.

Visually and sound wise, Ghost Giant also helps with the immersion by having some truly cute and endearing graphics. Towns feel like they were ripped from a fantasy-based children’s book and make everything in Ghost Giant feel whimsical. The immersion is also heightened thanks to the wonderful OST and vocal performances that make every character feel individualized and important. Ghost Giant isn’t going to push the bill on VR game engines, but it does just enough to look better than some of the other titles we’ve played on the PSVR.

If Ghost Giant had one weakness—and it’s a big one—it’s the technical issues plaguing it. Ghost Giant runs well enough, but it has a strange set up for a PSVR title. While most PSVR games allow players to at least move around a bit without causing too much of an issue—though a lot of them lose tracking when this occurs—Ghost Giant makes the player choose from either sitting perfectly still or standing in place while playing. If you try to move around to examine the environment—which is usually common for most—you’ll find yourself often seeing a black screen pop up saying to reset your position or you’ll notice your arms going all over the place. We tried multiple positions while playing to see if this was coming from our end, but we noticed our gripe with its technical problems wasn’t limited to just us. Many other players online have said they had some issue and needed to play Ghost Giant as still as they could relying on the in-game movement system to keep the immersion in check. Does this make Ghost Giant unplayable? Far from it. Just don’t expect to move your head all around looking for items and other little things…the PSVR won’t allow it.


Honey's Gameplay Consensus:

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Ghost Giant is proof that while the PSVR can be a bit limiting still, it also can deliver experiences that truly tug at the internal heart strings. Watching Louis cry when he’s bullied by townsfolk or dealing with his sickly mother becomes more personal when you’re watching it unfold right in front of your eyes. Helping Louis by moving boxes around and looking for gears or items might not be the best use of the PlayStation Move controllers, but for those who just want a nice, simple and short heartwarming story, we have good news. Ghost Giant hits all the right notes to make it a fun one-time experience and ultimately makes it a PSVR game worth investing your time into. We’ve played better VR games before here at Honey’s Anime, but in terms of story and theme, Ghost Giant does a great job toppling over the other titles.

Honey's Pros:

  • Louis’ story is heartwarming and tearful which makes the whole game feel similar to an animated film
  • Simple puzzles to solve help the story flow quickly and without getting stuck in annoyingly tough areas
  • Gorgeous environments that while simple, still pack enough of a color and sense of uniqueness to make them stand out
  • Solid voice work and OST

Honey's Cons:

  • Can be very simple due to its almost mind numbingly obvious puzzles
  • A lot of tracking issues make Ghost Giant a pretty limited VR experience

Honey's Final Verdict:

Ghost-Giant-game-300x374 Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review
Ghost Giant might not be the best PSVR game in terms of controls, use of software and visuals, but that won’t matter to you when you play it. Following Louis around acting as his guardian and protecting him when he needs it can almost feel relatable to some players. Ghost Giant is immersive not in the sense of pin point accurate gameplay or design but in its story, which trumps over every other negative element. We think fans of the PSVR need to buy Ghost Giant to experience a lovely story that truly is one of a kind. Have you already picked up Ghost Giant or plan to? Comment below to sound off as we always love hearing from our wonderful readers. For more game reviews and gaming related articles, be sure to keep stuck to our hive here at Honey’s Anime.

Ghost-Giant-game-300x374 Ghost Giant - PlayStation VR Review

Writer

Author: Aaron

Hey everyone I’m Aaron Curbelo or Blade as I’m called by my YouTube Subscribers. I’ve been an anime/manga fan since I was a young kid. In terms of anime I have watched nearly a thousand shows and have read hundreds of manga series. I love writing and honestly was so happy to join Honey’s Anime to get a shot to write articles for such a wonderful site. I’m a firm believer in respect in the anime community being the most important embodiment we should all have. We all love anime and we have varying opinions of series but we should respect one another for those differences! Life is too precious to spend it making needless arguments in a community that should be the shining example of loving an amazing medium. I hope as a writer for Honey’s Anime I can bring you folks some amazing articles to read and enjoy!

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