A Paper Tale Unfolds

Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open is a visually stunning masterpiece set in the early 2000s about a young Chinese-Malaysian girl named Ting as she goes through life, while also being the only one that can see her ghost friend Xiu. You get to play Ting as she grows up being the weird kid who can see ghosts and has imaginary friends. You must help guide her through life and many different situations like school, making friends, and helping to unite her family. This game is staked deep in culture, tradition, and folklore giving a somewhat educational aspect that I really enjoyed when I played the demo.

From a folklore aspect, I enjoyed hearing a story about the woods where Ting and her family were camping and how they should not call out loud each other’s name or else a spirit might follow them home. Also, you should not shine a flashlight into the trees lest a spirit’s eye stares back. From a more educational standpoint, the dialog of the game is in a different version of English as the developers, Cellar Vault Games, want it to be like their own dialect. This is because the developers are from Malaysia, where English is spoken differently. It also teaches how people in Malaysia speak along with some of their words. In some of the dialog, characters will say words in their native tongue and the game will have a bit at the bottom of the dialog box saying what the word means and how it is used.

A Style Unlike Any Other

The art style of this game is wonderful and the only way to describe it is Paper Mario, but a million times better and better utilized. Except for water, the world actually looks like it was made of paper and all of the textures had a comic book look to them that I have never come across in a game before now. Also, how the flashlight interacts with the terrain is something truly special. It cast shadows in just the right ways to immerse you into the world of Paper Ghost Stories.

After only playing the demo, I have been given high expectations, but they aren’t without fault. Now before I go nitpicking about the very small complaints of the demo, you must understand that this game has only been in development for 14 months. The publisher, Chorus Worldwide Games, has told me that all of my complaints are known about and the devs are actively fixing them. That being said, I felt the camera snapping between scenes is a little harsh, and the terrain has some holes that you can accidentally walk into thinking it is a path, along with the fact that if you walk too slowly up stairs, the collision gets a little wonky and you can’t get up the next step. Other than that, Cellar Vault Games, along with Chorus Worldwide Games, have quite a solid title on their hands. I am waiting patiently for it to come out some time next year.