Review: Cat and Ghostly Road (Nintendo Switch)

Cat and the Ghostly Road is a point-and-click adventure/puzzle game in which you play as a pretty, white cat. While on the verge of giving up during a rough journey, you’re saved by a painter. The painter’s soul is later stolen by a demon, however, leaving the cat to journey on once again. Exploring different dimensions, talking to demons and spirits, and using your cat-like curiosity, it is up to you to find your master’s soul and save his life.

Cat and the Ghostly Road is a super fun game in which you get to explore and experience a lot. The first part of your journey involves you entering one of your master’s paintings and interacting with the characters inside. The whole game pretty much follows that format—talk with different creatures, use their hints to solve puzzles, and move on to the next setting. For example, one of the first creatures you come across is a spirit who tells you how to enter the spiritual dimension. He tells you of a secret door for which you need a key, but explains that it could be anything—not just a typical key. You have to talk to and trade with another spirit to acquire that key and then find the door.

In this game, however, you can only see and talk to spirits while in “spirit mode.” Because you are a cat, you have the ability to see what the human eye can’t. In order to access this mode, you just click the Y button. This is super helpful, as some puzzles cannot be solved from the human eye. Later in the game, you also gain the ability to change into a “human cat” which allows you to appear less vulnerable to certain spirits. You access this mode with ZL.

You also have an inventory, accessible with X, which allows you to hold items you may need for puzzles. Certain items can be combined to create a new item, which is simply done by holding one item and pressing A over another item. To use an item in the game, you double click A in your inventory, and then move it onto whatever you want it to interact with, and press A again.

The controls for this game are fairly simple, and are displayed at all times so you don’t forget. Move your character with the L stick, move your cursor with the R stick.

The graphics for this game are also very well done. The art is really nice to look at, as the scenery and animals are all super pretty and relaxing. Even the scary demons have great designs.

The music also helps add to this game’s relaxing but ominous vibe, allowing it to be fully appreciated as a creepy and mysterious, but also calm and touching, experience.

Cat and the Ghostly Road does a great job at taking a sweet story, one of a cat trying to save its owner, and making it thrilling, suspenseful, and hard to put down.