Der Geisterturm / The Ghost Tower

Der Geisterturm / The Ghost Tower
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Price
$14.99
Release date
23 January 2020

Der Geisterturm is a futuristic turn-based dungeon crawler with survival horror elements where you fight your way to the top floor of a mysterious tower while piloting your own Robotic Combat Suit. Will you reach it alive or die trying?

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Der Geisterturm / The Ghost Tower system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Intel Core i3-380M
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Dedicated GPU with OpenGL 3.2 Support
  • Storage: 300 MB available space
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some tips about what matters to a player:

first and foremost: QoL and usability

I do not care how "good" a game is if I can't interact with it.

I played for a few minutes and the game tripped several of my immediate uninstall flags:

-forcing the use of arrow keys
-no mouse input
-unbelievably cumbersome and complex control scheme for a very simple game with very few things to even do
-a sense of disrespect that the dev never checked out games who were set up like this and how they managed to be wildly successful because there made interacting with the game so easy you never even had to check the control scheme. reinventing the wheel for no reason and doing things differently and way worse at the same time would instantly qualify for a downvote in any other situation. since you're a small one man team, whatever.

this game feels like a windows vista simulator, not like a game. everything is hidden below layers of clicks and nothing makes any sense control-wise.

I own almost 700 games and I play a lot of small titles. the number one issue why they fail is that those are the games with the worst control scheme.

I play games since the 80s. one of my favorite games on my Amiga (I think this was) was in fact was "Eye of the Beholder"...

especially older players who like this sort of game play with a hand position they're used to. nobody uses arrow keys. everyone uses mouse input. forcing someone to go against decades of finding a comfortable position for your hands is just silly.

I don't want to give your game a downvote, but you can't do this and assume you get anywhere.
people play the weirdest shit, I certainly do. but as soon as you ask people to learn a control scheme, they quit.

95% of games I play are made in such a way I never have to check the manual or anything. they just work as I expected.

the 5% that don't are never touched again. because once they do the simple stuff wrong, there's always more failure and frustration later on. and I would feel like I wasted my time. this game has wasted 10m and the time it took to write you this review.

LinuxHoni
LinuxHoni

I like this game. It was a little bit difficult to get used to the controls at first, but once you get the hang of it it's fine. I actually enjoy the fact, that it can be all controlled with one hand using the numpad (free hand for coffee/snacks lol).
It's turn based, which allows you to really think about what you're doing and enjoy the spooky spacey atmosphere, without getting in a rush. The story also sounds cool and I am looking forward to explore it all.
Big thumbs up for a first day Linux support. It runs great!

Agent Cooper
Agent Cooper

This minimalistic dungeon crawler's appeal is conciously limited - it feels almost like some lost niche PSX or Saturn title that was never officially released outside Japan. Much like its direct predecessor, it is tightly focused and devoid of anything not essential.
One might've reasonably expected some changes from the previous game to result in lower difficulty - mainly, that one can now freely save the game as many times as one desires - but these changes rather gave the freedom to the dev to increase the difficulty and depth.

The game itself might appear simplistic at the begining, especially to those not familiar with its predecessor - single 'character', no customisation or control over the improvement of your abilities - it is, however, anything but. Rather, once again, this means that what the game is actually focused on - mainly, the combat - is extremely well thought out and balanced with almost surgical precision. All that is placed before you must be mastered. Be mindful of the layout, know which weapon is best for what enemy, which firing mode and combat stance to select and, perhaps most importantly, when to run away. One is always outnumbered, and the enemies keep coming. There is only so much ammo around, and each repair lowers your mech's overall durability which can be restored only through sparse pickups. On top of that, there is even the health of the mech's pilot to take care of, which is restored thru separate item. Further, while your pilot's abilities will improve thru combat, improvements are ever so minor and the price of each engagement potentially so high that grind is by no stretch of imagination feasible. So there are no crutches, no easy way out. Every single shot counts, every single failure hurts. This means that even the exploration involves balancing between risk and potential reward. Maybe, just maybe, one will discover some precious ammo, or even an upgrade for one of one's weapons, but even then the cost might be too high so it might be wiser to focus on getting thru the current floor as speedily as possible with minimal losses.
So play slowly, save often and be prepared to restart each floor if you feel you spent too much getting trough it.

Agesilaus
Agesilaus

Der Geisterturm is a unique and enjoyable sci-fi dungeon crawler. It vaguely reminds me of Legend of Grimrock, but crossed with Moraff's Dungeon and System Shock. If you like first person, turn based crawlers, and you like science fiction, then this game should be up your alley.

Pink Eye
Pink Eye

This game is amazing! Ever wondered what System Shock would be like if it was a Turn Based game?! Then look no further! This is it. Kick ass music, boy does this game feature some awesome music, the battle themes are quite amazing! I ended up buying the OST because of how much I loved it!

Hardcore survival elements - meaning you have to conserve your supplies and pay attention to resources. As ammunition is quite hard to come by; so is health drops. Encounters can be brutal if you're not careful, for each fight can exhaust your supplies, leaving you unprepared for the next one. This ends up making the gameplay super intense and fun!

Cyberpunk elements. Just like System Shock, if you explore, you can pick up documents that fill you in on the lore of the world. The jest of the story is that the world as we know it is a scorched wasteland. Corporations battle over territory and resources. You're a soldier that was employed in the services of one of these Corporations. During your time, a terrorist attack occurred while you were in service, resulting in your death. However, not even death is sacred in this setting. For you are brought back to continue your services to the Corporation.

Overall, I enjoyed my time. I highly recommend this game to anyone who has a passing interest in the setting, or loves System Shock. It's quite short as well - about ten hours; including back tracking.

meteodrive®
meteodrive®

Der Geisterturm occupies a very specific place for me, as a wonderfully fresh and fascinating take on a type of game that you don't see much any more. Honestly it's worth playing for the art direction alone but it is so, so much more than that. Highly recommended.

Daniel da Silva
Daniel da Silva

After playing Der Geisterturm and Das Geisterschiff I want to say that Der Geisterturm is a step up over the first game and feels very polished! The soundtrack is great, gameplay very solid and I liked the pacing.