This demo was a lot of fun! The nostalgic is wonderful, as it reminded me of a fun combination of games I've loved since I was a kid. Though I like some of the mechanics that improved upon the experience: Such as being able to banish or appease the ghosts (the appeasing makes it feel more wholesome so I appreciate that option ♥). I like that the ghosts heal as you walk around, so I don't have to constantly backtrack (only had to use
campfire thingy once), it makes exploring/leveling up so much more enjoyable. For the same reasons, I like that there's no PP/MP, so we're not limited to the amount of times we can use a move. Not being able to use the same move more than twice in a row is a fair tradeoff. The collectables and little hidden surprises were fun to discover, too and made me want to explore.

Overall the combat felt really nicely balanced. The only part I felt was a little annoying for me personally was the battle against Roderick. My geists were about 10 levels under his. Idk if that was supposed to be a fight we couldn't win, or if I was supposed to have leveled up my team more beforehand. Regardless, the battle felt a little long as he slowly took me down. His geist kept trying to 'copy' mine even when it had already 'copied' them. Though I'm relieved it didn't punish me for being under-leveled even though I lost.

The characters and story were interesting enough. I enjoyed the mystery aspects, searching for clues, and taking photos was a lot of fun. But for me, it was the gameplay elements that really shined through and captivated my interests. I love monster collecting games, they're so addicting and this handled the mechanics quite well.

In the way of constructive criticism, I think what this game could benefit from most is a detailed map of the area along with a compass or some sort of indicator of which direction we're facing. A local map for sure, and maybe also a world map if more areas are added to it. While I was able to manage well enough during the demo, I can see this being an issue going forward in the future if more areas are added. Also maybe some sort of quest list? I did have to go back and talk to Elise a couple times to remind myself of what I was supposed to be doing. I did read everything, but my memory isn't that great and it's easy to get distracted by all the cute ghost buddies ~ :3

Overall I loved the creepycute vibes and that it was kept relatively wholesome despite the slightly dark undertones. This is just the sort of game I love to play this time of year! Thanks for taking the time to read my review and I hope to see more of this in the future ~ ♥