The stunning Cat and Ghostly Road is where Spirited Away and Monkey Island meet.

I realized right away that I had to perform a quick study of Cat and Ghostly Road. The promise of spirits was the cherry on top, but the key art alone was enough to win me over.

You know, I love talking about ghosts and cats, just as a lot of you do. Reading ghost tales and mythology from all around the globe is one of my favorite things to do, so the inclusion of traditional East Asian folklore just made it better.

A small white cat's journey is told in the brief, charming, and straightforward narrative-driven point-and-click game Cat and Ghostly Road. One snowy night, the poor cat passes out. Fortunately, an elderly painter steps in to save the day and welcomes his new cat buddy into his house. The painter and the cat enjoy a short moment of blissful domestic happiness, but then the painter's soul is stolen by a weird, ghostly creature, leaving him critically sick. Now, it's up to the courageous little cat to return the favor and save the painter's life.

The story transports you on a perilous adventure into the realm of ghosts and devils, where you may see and interact with creatures beyond the veil thanks to the cat's unique spirit vision. This adorable little cat will do everything it takes to support his pal, from assisting a carp transform into a dragon to using an ocarina to subjugate a demon. Each stage of the trip is equally poignant and lovely as the previous.

With the left joystick directing your character and the right joystick managing the cursor, the gameplay is a fairly traditional point-and-click puzzle. To highlight every interactable point on the screen, use one of the shoulder buttons. To interact, speak with, or pick up objects, press the A button.

Beyond that, the main focus of the game is on you employing the right combination of things to solve puzzles and advance to the next region. A brief memory-based minigame and a few minor puzzle pattern variations are also included, such as the need to click on an ocarina's various finger holes in order to perform a melody later in the narrative.

The majority of answers are rather simple, but others need a bit more effort. Additionally, some goods are located relatively distant from their intended usage, which means you often have many objects hidden in your inventory for an extended period of time.

You probably won't get stuck, at least not for very long, particularly if you like playing puzzle games. Basically, you're set as long as you remember to employ the abilities at your disposal, which include spirit vision and, later on, the capacity to shapeshift into a human-like form.

Like any console point-and-click game, the controls are likewise quite simple and easy to use, however sometimes the cursor may be a bit sluggish and clumsy. Furthermore, some operations, such as using things, do need a certain amount of dexterity since you have to access your inventory, mix objects, and then drag them to the appropriate spot. But the gorgeous tale and breathtaking artwork take center stage as you get into the rhythm of the controls and action.

Speaking of exquisite graphics, Cat and Ghostly Road has a very striking visual aesthetic with layered images and vibrant colors that give each picture the appearance of having been taken from off the wall of a gallery. It almost has a "pop-up book" feel to it. It really is a work of art that exudes elegance and charm in every pixel, from the stunning settings to the fascinating ghost and demon forms.

Beautifully balanced between quiet, background noise, and evocative music that comes in at the perfect moment, the sound design is equally exquisite. Although voice acting isn't in the game, I don't think it's necessary.

Even if there are a few translation issues and some awkward subtitles, I think they are kind of amusing, particularly given the otherworldly atmosphere of the whole experience.

Though it took me a bit less time, Cat and Ghostly Road is rather short, clocking in at around three hours. But it's also reasonably priced, and for such a heartfelt and enduring little indie game, I believe it's well worth it. Additionally, it's now accessible to a larger audience than before because to its recent release on Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation, which follows its past success on Steam.

The fact that the title cat is based on the creators' own cat, Lune, is also really endearing, particularly considering that they saved him from under a bridge fifteen years before, which is similar to our brave friend's story. And it's obvious that Lune is a highly unique cat to have served as the inspiration for a production this beautiful.

Overall, Cat and Ghostly Road is a truly unique little gem that deserves a spot on our lists of the best cat games, the best ghost games, and the most relaxing games for the foreseeable future if you share the same fascination with folklore, cats, and ghosts as the rest of the PT team and I do. In any case, I'm going to locate my cat, give him a million kisses on the head, and pray he never has to go to the hereafter to save my life.