The developers of Project Ghost allowed a few genre fans to play an early version of the MMORPG. YouTuber Josh Strife Hayes summarized his impressions in a long video – and drew an exciting comparison.
Who is Josh Strife Hayes? The well-known YouTuber (968,000+ subscribers on his main channel, via YouTube) is one of the largest content creators when it comes to MMORPGs. His video series “Worst MMO ever” is particularly popular, where Hayes humorously summarizes his personal impressions from various genre representatives.
The YouTuber also created a comparison in his recent video about “Project Ghost” from Fantastic Pixel Castle, which he and two other guests (CohhCarnage and JoCat) were allowed to play some time ago.
Due to the still very early developmental phase of the game, he could not delve as deeply as one might be used to from him in his analyses. For almost all intricacies of Ghost, it currently applies: If there’s still a placeholder, it’s in progress.
Blue Zones Played
What did Hayes and the others get to play? The world of the MMORPG is said to consist of blue and red zones:
- The hand-designed red zones are public and offer many contents familiar from theme park MMORPGs like WoW.
- The blue zones are procedurally (i.e., randomly) generated and are intended to invite exploration (sandbox). They are private for every player or a group and have an impact on the world.
In the stream, the guests were allowed to explore the blue zones, where they had to band together as a group. They then headed to a kind of summoning stone, where you currently select the zone you want to target. You reach the area via an airship.
The adventure in the blue zone always begins the same way: The team jumps from the floating airship into the depths. Thanks to the glide skill, the landing is feather-light. Then the exploration of the zone begins. You kill monsters, collect loot, find the local boss, defeat that one as well, and make your way out.
The player experience in the blue zones is influenced not only by procedural generation but also by modifiers that can influence the strength and loot of enemies or your stats. Additionally, you can trigger enhancement effects by, for example, defeating stronger enemies, which you benefit from until you leave the area.
Here you can watch the nearly 29-minute video by Josh Strife Hayes:
How does Hayes rate the blue zones? The YouTuber felt strongly reminded of Elden Ring Nightreign from FromSoftware during the playtest. A “bad version of Elden Ring Nightreign,” mind you.
- Small groups reach a zone that has been randomly assembled via the air – falling and gliding.
- The group first takes out weaker enemies to find equipment and gain experience.
- Then one takes on the first stronger enemy and defeats it to receive an enhancement effect that lasts for the rest of the mission.
- Meanwhile, optional events are completed when there’s time for them.
- In the end, one faces the final boss of the zone.
According to Hayes, the team at Fantastic Pixel Castle accidentally recreated the gameplay loot from Elden Ring Nightreign in the current version of the blue zones without realizing it.
Whether all blue zones in Ghost will play out this way in the end is unlikely. At least if one considers all that the developers have said about the game over time – for example, that players should be able to determine the rules of blue zones and that building bases or PvP should also play a role.
In the video, the YouTuber repeatedly emphasizes how unfinished much still seems. At the same time, he reports that some things already work well. The Dreamblade class is said to be quite fun to play already. You can find out more about it here: Former WoW developer designs first class for the MMORPG Ghost, taking inspiration from a villain from Elder Scrolls Online
