Ghost Story: A Journey of Hope is a 2D action/platformer, in the style of "Metroidvania" style of games. It is open world and players are free to explore any area they can reach, with new powers granting access to new places. There are many hidden places to be discovered, some of which are hidden very well.
Combat
Rook has an arm gun, which he uses to defeat enemies scattered throughout the world. The gun is rapid-fire, but it has 250 base ammo. The ammo is depleted as he shoots, but when waiting while out of combat, the ammo will replenish itself.
Rook has a few special moves that allow him to do more than just run and gun. One is Ghost Dash, which makes him sprint forward extremely fast, avoiding damage from enemies along the way. He can also acquire the Empower ability, which makes him stronger and changes his ammo to armor-piercing if he dashes through an enemy.
Rook will encounter enemies of various strengths. Some enemies aren't hostile, but will hurt him if he attempts to walk by, so they must be killed. However, these enemies are typically weak. Other enemies attack Rook on sight. Occasionally Rook will encounter a boss-type enemy, who will be particularly powerful and may require a specific strategy to defeat.
Rook has a health bar in the top left and has a limited amount of armor, which will deplete as he takes damage. Once the armor is depleted, his health will be injured directly. Once his health is depleted, Rook will die. However, in certain places, Rook can have his armor restored.
Enhanced Pet System
Rook will encounter a droid early on in the game, named Dizzy, which he can use as a companion as he explores. The idea is to implement a system similar to MAGs in Phantasy Star Online, where the player can feed Dizzy items that will eventually allow it to evolve into new forms.
These forms will be split up into tiers, with each one offering a passive ability that Rook can utilize. In addition to that, some forms may even gain new abilities, some of which might relate to combat.
Exploration
A large part of Ghost Story's gameplay is platforming. Rook will have to precisely jump onto small floating platforms in order to navigate certain sections of the world. He progresses by exploring new areas and discovering parts of the story. Doors to new areas can be shot open with Rook's gun.
There are also soft secrets and hard secrets. Soft secrets are passages to special areas which Rook will have to shoot open. These are usually easily visible and have some sort of secret inside. Hard secrets are well-hidden and not easily noticeable, but may have better secrets inside.
