Want to see Raider King content first? Add us as a preferred source.
“Hark the Ghoul” Has One of the More Pleasing Promotional Images I’ve Seen out of an Indie release in Recent Years.
Set to release some time in 2025, ‘Hark the Ghoul‘ is an FPS Adventure RPG Dungeon-Crawler with a style of art and graphics highly reminiscent of PS1 Games and games that emulate them, developed by First-Time Studio “Deep Denizens” On Steam.
Taking a step into the Game’s Spectacular Demo, I’ve gathered some thoughts on the game and why I think it’s a good one to keep your eyes on.
‘Hark The Ghoul‘ proclaims itself as a “Meticulously Handcrafted” Indie Souls-Like which takes inspiration, in its words, from Kingsfield, Hollow Knight, Bloodborne and Dark Souls.
It wears its inspirations on its sleeve, and boy does it show.
Combining elements of Horror, Action, and Mystery, you play as one of the titular Ghouls.
They are creatures which, if I’m inferring from the Lore, seem to be born from deceased inhabitants of the local City who have been converted into insectoid creatures.
Thrust into this downright slimy and gritty looking (but also very aesthetically pleasing) city which possibly borrows architecture inspiration from London, you wander around taking in the sights and characters over the course of an all too short Two Hours or so worth of gameplay, fighting and physics-platforming your way through a majestically interconnected map that I find deeply intriguing.
I aim to convey my experience in this Article to convince you, dear reader, to give it the same chance I plan to when it releases.
“Hark the Ghoul” Is A Jaunt through Jolly Ol’ London.
Or at least, my best approximation of what this place might be inspired by.
We’re never given a real answer to what the surrounding area is called, but the city is large, winding, and all too enveloping.
Looking out across the mist and courtyards, watching the Airship in the Distance or the Clocktower glowing in the rain, is a truly stunning sight that is, in my opinion, enhanced by the gigantic and beguiling nature of the city.
With a Victorian aesthetic, period-accurate technology sprinkled with Magic, and an underlying sense of grime and grit to every detail in the painstakingly crafted city, every turn seemed like I was burrowing myself deeper into the environment like a tick.
Sucking the blood – or sap – out of my fellow insectoid horrors, the experience was fixating; I’d be so enamored in my attempts to analyze my surroundings I’d forget to attend to other things like my health or resources; which the game is thankfully plentiful in.
But after explaining the general setting; now let’s get into the details.
I’ll start at the beginning.
Rebirth by Regurgitation.
“Who were you before Rebirth?“
The Game asks as you are gestating in your Cocoon; a long-dead misfortunate now being reformatted into a brand-new being complete with exoskeleton and mandibles.
Just as soon as you boot up the game; you’re already being given choice – something the game promises in spades.
Your background, as it touts, will decide how certain characters will react to you and how certain storylines will flow or change – much like in Fromsoft Games you can influence the outcome of certain NPC storylines by your Actions.
In my playthrough; I decided to play a Bourgeois, this charming little fellow.
I was curious – does your Status in this world affect your treatment? and it does seem to, quite a bit.
By picking this lad or lass, it seemed every Merchant was very happy to see me as we met. To them, it was assured my coffers, and soon theirs, would be full.
I didn’t get any discounts on shops (which would actually have been a very cool reason to choose this Background) to encourage more massive expenditure; nor any increase to how much money was dropped, but I did get more than enough praise from those I bought from.
Apparently, having even known one of the NPCs, a charming merchant named Emil, whom we will meet later in this Review.
After Choosing my Origin I hatched into the world – splatted into a pool of Amber Goo right out of the Cocoon.
Home Sweet Slime Pit.
Putting the “Ghoul” in “Hark the Ghoul”.
Next we learn just why the game is called what it is.
We are born a Ghoul: re-animated dead with some of our mind intact, reformatted into an Insectile form, and then plopped into an Amber ooze-coated cavern filled with more of our less fortunate brethren.
They come in two varieties: the crawly wiggly grub kind, and the more evolved humanoid bug men. Both disgust me.
They infest the Underground Lab where we first wander, and as we learn later, have also begun venturing into the city at large – far above us.
One of the first things I have to say about this is: gross.
The second is how much I adore these designs.
They’re ugly in all the best ways, covered in festering lumps of the Amber substance called “His Blood” – of Whom I do not know – an ungodly mixture of human parts and distended Bug Bodies.
The ONLY criticism here I can say is I almost feel disappointed we didn’t get more of these kinds of creatures in this time frame. Once you venture into the city, while still present, the creatures die down a bit to ease you into the world at large.
Which leads me to hope that in the future we see much more of this unfettered Buggy Horror take center stage as the game develops, among whatever other monstrosities roam the world they’re creating.
“Hark The Ghoul” has a Rich, Interconnected World.
As mentioned, you awake in a Lab with a circular and interconnected design VERY familiar to the opening segments of Dark Souls, reminiscent of the Undead Asylum, but sadly lacking a grotesque boss to block your way out.
Wandering around, you learn the game’s central mechanics and make your way out.
You crawl ever closer to the world above, discovering the Alchemist Lepidor’s attempts to create you, finally ready to meet them face to face once you reach the top.
The First Area, the Lab, is an eerie cave that gave me a good sense of the vibe the game was trying to convey right away and was excellent at portraying how the physics engine and puzzle solving of the game could best be utilized.
The game seems to incorporate in its exploration the concept of using your ability to kick boxes and crates to create platforms, rocks at enemies, and dislodge objects or vault a little bit higher on ledges, when considering how to design it’s platforming and environments.
In fact, the problem-solving solutions available to you are rich and numerous.
Use spells to create objects to launch at foes with a well placed boot, to give yourself extra jump height, or use weapons for various purposes like pulling boxes with whips.
It’s one of the best takes on a Kingsfield style game where you decide how you get past a problem that I’ve seen in some time.
Tackle enemies your own way, pick a playstyle that suits you.
It’s certainly a strength in the game’s development.
And that variety extends into the map.
The way that they presented being able to use these skills to traverse your surroundings was perhaps one of the most surprising and involving things about the Demo.
Being able to have total control over your method of going about problems – as limited as the starting options of ways to interact are – is incredibly satisfying.
Furthermore, with the combat being simplistic, while smooth, is also deeply interesting in the way it presents a binary of choice when it comes to how you fight.
Wagering, at any given moment, what weapon, item, or resource you’d rather leverage to deal with a given problem an enemy presents.
Ultimately, the same can be said for say, a ledge or gap between a problem you must traverse, whether you manually break a wall or a blockage of rocks as opposed to blowing them up.
Each puzzle or problem you are presented with, whether navigation or foe, is a problem you can face at your discretion and in your own way.
“Hark The Ghoul” Uses both Simplicity and Depth.
When it comes to talking about what makes Hark the Ghoul so interesting, one must talk about the design philosophy that goes into a game’s Scope and Interactivity.
Each and every piece of what goes into a game adds new, expanding options for how to play it; it’s the design idea behind learning new moves or gaining new Power Ups, they improve or change the way you play.
Bloodborne, of which there is clear influence here, centers much of how it changed playstyles based around the Trick Weapons you found – here the idea, while extremely simplified, is still present.
Take the Blunderbuss, Whip, and Gust Spell I had equipped a majority of the time in my Playthrough, and you see the principle at work.
The Blunderbuss can break your fall slightly or boost your jump a bit, but also allows – with less ammo than your normal gun – the quick dispatch of stronger targets.
The Whip pulls objects and boxes, allowing removal of obstacles or the ability to strafe enemies and make melee combat a bit safer.
While the Gust Spell makes traversing height so incredibly viable that it was almost like walls and ledges didn’t even exist or pose an issue in the slightest.
All of these, simple in their premise and how they function, add levels of depth and gameplay that make the experience that much more tactile.
With only a fraction of the game’s possible additions down the line being explored here, the possibilities are quite broad in terms of how new, simple additions to your pool of tools in the full release will interact, interconnect, and change how you strategize.
“Hark The Ghoul”, a Dreary but Comforting World.
As we leave the Pits and head into the City at large, another topic comes to mind to discuss: the Artistic direction.
The characters, the buildings, the enemies; all of them evoke a certain melancholy, one that is both eerie and unsettling – but at times comforting.
The Hub itself is a humble little square reminiscent of the Firelink Shrine of the aforementioned Dark Souls, where any fan of the franchise has spent countless hours.
Lepidor stands watch over the tree, providing a sense that you are not alone in this endeavor, and charming Merchants like Emil or the Blacksmith await in order to provide for your needs along your Journey – given you have the Silver to pay them.
Even brusque rivals such as the Knight Deneb and rescued Civilians stand around and speak with you, a feeling akin to Bloodborne’s own Church upon your arrival.
We can only hope these Characters meet better fates than most in the grim worlds of Fromsoft games.
But besides that, it’s easy to say that, despite how grimy and disconcerting the world at large is in this game, it also has these moments of solidarity and peace, emphasized by the pensive sound track soothing your ears.
Most of the people you meet don’t judge or ostracize you for your appearance – if they do comment on it – despite the fact you’re a bug monstrosity.
Even if all is lost, there’s a strange sense of peace in that; if anything you might be this world’s only hope.
This is part of why the artistic direction left an impression upon me, it’s clear to see that there’s a story at work here that has the chance to be emotionally invested, and I’m here to see where it goes.
“Hark the Ghoul” Promises a Grand Journey Ahead.
What else is there left to say? I’m impressed.
Hark the Ghoul has shown me there’s plenty to look forward to in the future following the efforts of Indie Developers, especially when it comes to the field of games stylized after older titles.
The past always has something to offer, and ideally, we’ll quickly remember why we liked such games to begin with, thanks to such strong offerings as this one.
Now, that being said, there’s a fair number of criticisms, such as recent items you’ve acquired causing notifications to not leave the screen or the lack of variety in the musical score.
Furthermore, while it was a decision made for ease of exploration in the Demo, turning off the loss of resources to death made the experience feel like I was never punished for my carelessness, a staple of the stakes and learning curve of the Souls-Like Genre.
Flaws aside, it’s easy to understand how massive of an undertaking Hark the Ghoul has to be as a game.
Some Suggestions
My advice? Expand on what you already have – should I be lucky enough that the developer reads this.
Provide more variety, lean into the body horror and bug themes, and give the backgrounds more meaning, perhaps even unique skill trees or passives to start with.
Having the Bourgeois Interact with shops in some way, The Militiaman interact with guns, or the amusingly named Deep Denizen not only being reviled but having strange powers could all provide interesting additions.
Continue to add to the complexity provided by the simple tools you’re given, experiment with boss mechanics, and perhaps spice up the music with some stellar boss tracks.
Do any number of those improvements, and I fully find myself believing this game will quickly become a classic – one I’m already on board for.
My Final Piece of Advice? To the Developers ‘Deep Denizens‘, please make a Website! This game and your efforts deserve to be seen.
In Closing
Hark the Ghoul impresses me and all around I believe it will appeal to many fans of the Genre.
With some Minor flaws that are to be expected from a New Studio and a First-Time Game, the Demo offers a juicy bite of content and should be appreciated.
I look forward to the Release, and Rate this Demo…
Four Sap Fruit out of Five.
Further Reading and Information
External References
A Link to Hark the Ghouls Demo, Free on Steam!
Check out the Game’s Twitter here!
Internal References
Check out my Previous Review and Guide here!
