Ghostrunner is a really unique experience; it takes elements from many games I've played, but is somehow unlike any of them. The game took me about five hours to beat, probably less if you remove AFK time, but it was a great time. The platforming and action is super fun, you feel like such a legend flying wall to wall and plunging down to cut someone in half whilst reflecting a bullet off your sword. The game is very challenging, but you respawn really quickly so it doesn't feel that bad to die. Many platforming sections and combat scenarios feel like puzzles; you need to solve the approach, and then it's on you to properly execute. While some could be frustrating, I always felt very rewarded when I completed them. I also found that the game got easier as I went on, to a degree I think this was me adjusting to the game, but also once you have all upgrade slots unlocked you can become pretty powerful in ways that makes certain encounters pretty trivial.

In terms of critiques, there are puzzle sections before you unlock abilities that feel quite out of place and break up the pace in a way that I didn't enjoy. Teaching you how to use a new ability is fine, but there was quite a bit of filler content beyond that. In terms of the upgrade system, it functions like the Resident Evil 4 inventory, as you slot different abilities into a grid. Personally, I didn't vibe with this and would've preferred a more traditional system where I can invest into my favorite skills. Overall, I had a great time with Ghostrunner and would recommend it; getting better at the game and flowing through encounters feels amazing, and it's a very repayable experience.

Recommended

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Ghostrunner is a parkour/action ... puzzle(?!) game that gets the parkour part so so right and the rest so so wrong, and it is a bummer.

So I reinstalled Ghostrunner for, I think, the fourth time. Annoyed with myself for never finishing it, and thinking, "man, this is such a beautiful game, and the parkour is so fun, I'm terrible for never finishing it". Well I think I can finally say for certain, Ghostrunner, its not me, its you.

Ghostrunner is a beautiful game, the graphics are fantastic. Its a cool story that draws you right in, and the performances seems very good. The parkour is awesome, you are wall running, jumping, grappling, sliding and dashing with the greatest of ease and it feels great, it is super satisfying. Sadly, the other parts of the game just seem to get in the way, and suck all the satisfaction out of everything. The combat is very hit or miss, when everything goes perfect, it can seem as cool and fulfilling as the parkour, but most of the time it is very frustrating. My biggest gripe is the inconsistent enemy behavior. I can run through a part the exact same way as my last try, where I survived, but this time I die. I feel as if that is bad game design. My other issue is that some of the combat areas end up feeling way too puzzle-y. You have to take out a bunch of shield generators before you can even touch the enemies, and the action doesn't feel emergent at all (except for the aforementioned randomness) and instead feels like you have to figure out the exact right way to do it. Its not very fun, and very much feels like it gets in the way of the super fun parkour stuff.

There are also just straight up puzzles in the cyberspace section. I feel like including these is the worst kind of padding. I am here to play a parkour action game, not to work our mediocre brick spinning puzzles. Completely kills all sense of momentum, and the most puzzling thing about them, by far, is their inclusion.

The game has a terrible saving system, where the checkpoints that you experience when you are playing are not the same checkpoints as if you quit out of the game and when you reload you might be back 4 or 5 rooms, and one of them may be annoying to get through even though you already "solved" it, due to inconsistent enemy behavior.

This will be the last time I uninstall Ghostrunner, I have this review now to remind me of all the reasons I dislike it, in case I am ever tempted to re-install it.

4/10

The look is top-notch, but the character is slippy, checkpoints are random and the level design is subpar.