Do you enjoy good point and click adventure games? Do you like cats? Then, clearly, you should give Cat and Ghostly Road a try.
Plot Ahoy!
I’m honestly not sure what I anticipated when I saw the options for Cat and Ghostly Road, but I wasn’t prepared to play an oddly balanced mash-up between Myst and Spirited Away with a cat as the primary character. Yang, the eponymous cat, begins Cat and Ghostly Road desperately wandering in the cruel snow.
After a piteous meow, a painter, who is the occupant of the house closest to the collapsed cat, finds the snow-white kitty collapsed outside his door and takes him home, naming the cat Yang. Yang is generally pleased by this development, but unfortunately, the kind artist is plagued by spirits. Eventually, one of these spirits steals the painter’s soul. It’s up to Yang to protect the artist’s soul from the soul-stealer and to save him from death. To accomplish this task, Yang must negotiate with spirits, enter the spirit world, and solve ghostly puzzles in the way only cats can.
Review Notes
Cat and Ghostly Road is visually striking. The aesthetic chosen is Asian-inspired, and yes, you’ll be traveling through Eastern folklore as you play through it. The sound design mimics this minimalistic style while still providing lovely ambience, and the actual music trends toward the tranquil, easily fading into the background. I love the painted art style, and the animation is smooth though a little slow.
In fact, slow is one of the best ways you can describe this title. Look, I get that point-and-click puzzle games aren’t going to win any speed records, but Yang moves veeeeeerrrrrryyyyy slowly. Yang is just a dignified cat, especially when he’s landed himself in the spirit world. Fortunately, it does offer the option of pressing a button to reveal what elements of the environment allow for interaction. Now, that glint that you’ll see doesn’t indicate if the item is something you need for a puzzle or rather just something that bears some commentary, but at least you can narrow down your search.
As far as actual gameplay goes, Cat and Ghostly Road is pretty much what you expect from an old-school point-and-click. You find the problem, and you look for the solution. Is something locked? Find a key, although that key may not look like what you expect it to resemble. Is something wet that should not be? Find components of a bamboo umbrella and build one. You will spend a lot of time finding reagents and combining them in order to solve your puzzles, but sometimes figuring out where to go next or what you need won’t always be incredibly clear. That could lead to a lot of walking back and forth at that same dignified pace.
Admittedly, spending time in Cat and Ghostly Road’s world isn’t a hardship. Remember I mentioned folklore? One particular minigame stands out because you actually get to help a carp swim up the dragon gate. In East Asian myth, a carp could become a dragon if it swam upstream and then braved the falls of the Yellow River. It’s a nice touch to get to play through that in Cat and Ghostly Road.
TLDR
Overall, the puzzles are fun and thematically appropriate, and there are plenty of walkthroughs should you get stuck. The title is overall nicely atmospheric and relaxing to play, though you will find upon occasion that some of the searching can become tedious. Cat and Ghostly Road should take about four hours to complete, and definitely provides a lovely interlude from the general pace of day-to-day life.
Cat and Ghostly Road retails for $6.99 on Steam and $9.99 on the Nintendo store.
Stray Thoughts From Behind the Keyboard
- I have to admit that I do like the “spirit vision” kitty eyes.
- Cat god mode is a nice addition to get over the inherent difficulties of being stuck in a tiny cat body.
- Also, I have to admit, I really loved the appearance of the Peaches of Immortality.
- The winged head ghosts were unnerving, but this is a recurring motif in Chinese mythology.
- Play hint: the white clay is on the white sand. You’re welcome.