Now, I dismissed this game as another Vore Game that at best, has decent gameplay, but the meat (heh heh) of the Vore is you failing, and at worst, has piss poor gameplay, designed with one hand. Those be them horny furries that want a glorified version of a gallery where "the hero fails", but instead of making a competent game where you are the villain or some monsters that eat the heroes, or provide a in game reason to be eaten so it's not a fail state, or just make an animation, or just lock the fails behind actually winning, or frickin ANYTHING ELSE that's creative, they put out slop that is meaningless or at the very least, has gameplay that dosn't flow. At all.

This game, truth be told, had that kinda gameplay. LifeIsWeird might have such sub-par gameplay, rather than a loop that encourages Vore, the best way being giving the heroes Pred Powers (those with these maestros making that game, it'd really just be going 5% more than incompetence on their end.)

However, with Ghosts & Japes 2.0, that totally changes. I'm wondering why they didn't come out with a banger like this in the beginning. They didn't change much about the gameplay loop, especially, so maybe they were trying to figure out the main loop......? In any case, THIS is what I want in a vore game. It's the next Tribal Hunter to me, but significantly better in the Gameplay department due to it's arcade structure, rather than Metroidvania gameplay. I'm giving it the CAG Review Treatment~

Story: (N/A)

You don the robes of Japes, a (illiterate) magical slime Goat/Lion-like beast known as a Dweller, who is visiting his home world with Cammy, a once brainwashed bioengineered replacement clone for a evil dictator snowbunny with cryokinesis magic. Eventually, a storm appears, and they get separated, Cammy seemingly being pulled away, and Japes seeking shelter, finding his way to the main setting-a mansion. But this isn't any ordinary mansion; it's the domain of the insatiable dead, with seemingly infinite floors, and after having some Vorish Shenanigans with three ghosts, goes....downstairs..? Into the basement to find a way out. It's not complete, but there's some tidbits that imply a overarching antagonist and some truly horrific things, but overall, it's currently light on the plot.

Graphics: SSS

Aside from Japes' front sprite, the game looks overall cute, with it being capable of being scary when it needs to. There's 10 zones, and they all have their own charm to them, with one being a mysterious dark version of the starting biome.

Music: SS

The music has a supernatural, melancholy, eerie feel to it. Not sure what the filter's about aside from an old radio feel, but it definitely has dark undertones to it. There's four versions for the songs, one when in cleared rooms, one for when it is haunted, one for when the floor blacks out, and one where you activate a ghost beacon. Naturally, the songs range from calm but spooky, to hurried and desperate, in that order.

Gameplay: SSS

Oh yes, this may be the greatest vore game of all time (which really isn't impressive, sadly), all due in part to it's Arcady design. I'm giving it the CAG review and it might just be one in spirit. Whoever made this game clearly loves their cabinets, because it plays in virtually the exact same way. It's a rougelike where you go through one of two sets of rooms to find a key, moving on to the next room. In order to defend yourself against the ghosts, you have to flash them with a lamp, then siphon them with a wand or eat them, or blast them with a gun. Every part of this game is woven into itself. The Guns have their own stats, with the revolver having low damage, but plentiful ammo, and machine gun letting you whittle down enemies, and the shotgun annihilating everything in it's path. But the resource is limited, and getting another gun at the shop isn't always guaranteed, so you have to be careful when you lose it. On the other hand, you CAN sometimes find them in biomes, so you have to balance using your other tools, because siphoning ghosts is the only way to restore health, and on Hardcore mode, you have to eat ghosts because you will slowly starve if you don't. This creates a system where you have to use everything to win. This is especially true in the environment, where you can sometimes get a spacious room to herd enemies in, and sometimes, it will be so cramped you will struggle to avoid being dinner, and other times, you can pick ghosts off by voring them. Not to mention, I suppose Japes isn't a fan of their own stomach acid and saliva, because if you regurgitate a ghost willingly or not, they are not able to be reconsumed without an item that removes your wand's siphoning. There's also I-frames, which the game takes VERY seriously. You know these people knew what they were doing, because only a few things in the game (being regurgitated, certain projectiles, and bumping into ghosts triggers I-frames, allowing you to pass through them (but not projectiles) and herd them for a royal straight flush.

Weapons: SS

The only reason why I didn't give it a SSS is because the weapon select won't allow you to pick a gun and magic weapon. You have your wand and lamp, but also the ability to pick either a drill or one of three guns. I think having a button to switch to a gun and a button to switch to a magic weapon (weapon that can harm ghosts independent to their shape) would be pretty badass. 

Nevertheless, the Lamp is pretty interesting, as again, it serves both a crowd control role by freezing opponents, a defensive one by allowing you to get past them, and an offensive role, leading you to siphon, blast, or devour them.

Now, the pistol is a bit of an allrounder, plentiful ammo, one projectile. The machinegun is capable to whitling down the health of a small crowd, and the double barrel sawn-off just annihilates everything in it's path. It's tempting to use them, but you shouldn't do so frivolously, because they cost money, or in rare cases, can be found. But this also means wasting precious potential, so you have to balance siphoning, consuming, and blasting.

Enemy Design: SSS

The ghosts in this game are relatively memorable and varied, with both willing and unwilling prey, some being happy with Japes' dark temptations, and some being (understandably) weirded out by Japes (optionally) being a creepy pervert in regard to their voraphillia (especially when hypnotized). In any case, they all are dangerous in that they have Utensils designed to make it easier to eat Japes.  This involves honey traps, slow moving projectiles that leaves Japes susceptible to consumption. These projectiles are slow, and persistent, meaning that you have to move away from them until they disappear, or get inside of a ghost. The Fewmi's in particular are some right bastards, as being nauseated prevents Japes from eating, which can turn simple buffets into pointless distractions spent regaining the satiation that you just spend avoiding the ghosts or flame in the first place. Because of their different stats and abilities to help or hinder you, you have to determine which ghosts to prioritize, and which ghosts to deal with later.

Overall Score: SS

Like I said, this game is probably the best Vore game made by a furry, and I'm eager to see it's full, complete version, with all the goodies and plot so I can see how Japes leads into LifeIsWeird.

Down With I-Frame Dodges & Parries!