The Outbound Ghost

The Outbound Ghost (2022) is a narrative role-play about a ghost on a quest to find out why they died and help others ghosts come to terms with their own post-mortal existence. It's inspired by Paper Mario and Final Fantasy but offers many more battle options through the Figments character traits you recruit for your party. It's a beautiful homage that innovates with highly detailed team-building themed around the different emotions we deal with when life gets hard.

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You wake up on the outskirts of Outbound, a town in purgatory where unfulfilled ghosts go instead of ascending to the afterlife. With no memory of your past, you explore the world to piece together the events that led up to your death. Your plight is exacerbated by a murder that implicates you as the prime suspect.

Play involves running around the world to find secrets, hidden areas and bonus loot. As you do you stumble into turn-based battles where you call upon the Figments that you have collected. You take turns attacking and defending, which can be a bit of a grind. But as you craft abilities and put together different combinations of Figments this becomes more engaging.

The result is a game that offers a simple linear story and straightforward battles. These are particularly good for younger players who enjoy learning through repetition. What starts as slow progress is transformed, by the sheer number of Figment and ability combinations, into a detailed and creative system. This is paired with a light-touch story about how our positive and negative traits can help and hinder us, to offer a game that is visually striking and addresses themes of mental health.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked The Outbound Ghost 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ellen Robertson and updated 4 weeks ago.