Ebenezer and the Invisible World Review

As a massive fan of Halloween and a beginning-to-love-Christmas person, A Christmas Carol speaks to me — a story about overcoming of greed and the spirit of giving with freaky ghosts? It's definitely up my alley and possibly one of the movies that is most burnt into my mind. Obviously, that means I was all set to go as soon as I saw Ebenezer and The Invisible World: a game where we play as the man who turned a new leaf thanks to the spirits of Christmas, and now, he's on a mission to help others do the same.

In Ebenezer and the Invisible World, we play as the titular protagonist while he's on a journey to try to save Caspar — a young man who has lost his way and is only sinking deeper into his cruelty and greed, which is plummeting London into misery, particularly the working class. Although the story isn't very prominent — you'll spend most of your time running around killing stuff and going from A to B — I found whatever narrative I uncovered to be very interesting; I love the nuanced idea of having the ghosts be your allies and tools as a seasoned Scrooge. 

Whilst I don't remember the ghosts from the movies, nor did I have a very cemented view of them, I quite appreciated the way the ghosts are portrayed. The characters speak to each other in a way that feels like there's a lot of history, and they make a point to mention how far Ebenezer has come from his old days; I was especially fond of the way he was written, as it feels like he carries the heavy burden from his past but can still be the grumpy old man we all know and (sometimes) love.

As you play through the game and complete missions, ghosts will join you and help you open up new areas — something expected from a metroidvania! Sadly, although I did love that, sometimes the missions were a bit vague, so if I stopped playing abruptly for a day or two and came back, I'd end up completely lost and wasting time running around trying to find what I was supposed to do. This wasn't helped by my terrible memory, though, so it might just be a forgetful-people problem.

That being said, the ghosts you can collect are varied and offer a change of pace and options depending on your playstyle, which was nice. There are some that work as activatable abilities that you can use during combat, while others are a bit more on the passive side, such as the ones that help traverse the world and unlock new areas. My favourite type, however, are the ones that follow you around and do something every once in a while, like the one who occasionally shoots an arrow at enemies. 

Unfortunately, I had a rough journey with the gameplay at first. This was, in large part, due to a misunderstanding and a handful of bugs I encountered (which got me lost a lot or just undid my progress). Aside from that, I did spend a lot of time dying and being poor; this happened because I didn't want to break any of the items around due to being smitten by the gorgeous backdrops and graphics and not wanting to ruin the view, so I was never stocked enough on health items. In hindsight, I should have realised I was supposed to smash everything around me for currency and food. Additionally, for a few hours, I also missed the area where you can buff your Health and Spirit (which is kind of like the mana you use to call forth ghost abilities), so I was pretty under-levelled for a good chunk of my journey, which made using the ghosts a bit anxiety-inducing as I'd find myself needing them in more pivotal fights. Thankfully, the more I played and the more weapons I unlocked, the more flexible and fun the combat felt.

For those who aren't very adept at playing 2D fighting titles (like me), Ebenezer might feel a bit clunky, especially at first. The dodge mechanic isn't as polished as I've experienced in other games, as when you hit B, Scrooge jumps to wherever his back is facing. This made me constantly dodge into the enemies and get hit because you can't touch them or you lose your health, and I found that a bit disappointing. Personally, I like it when games let me ebb and flow with the battle, and having to be careful and dodge their bodies was more stressful than fun. Although combat gets a bit better as you unlock new abilities and get used to the game, it never felt quite like what I wanted it to be, but it might just be a metroidvania aspect; after all, my main exposure has been Ori and the Blind Forest and Hollow Knight.

Last but not least, I'd like to touch on the world and its traversal. While I don't know how up to standards the parkour is in comparison to the usual metroidvania titles, I didn't think it was too bad, especially the more ghosts I unlocked. That being said, however, I did feel a bit frustrated with how far apart the checkpoints were, especially in the early game when I was under-levelled and under-fed — one wrong move and you'll lose minutes of traversal; this was only worsened by Ebenezer’s old man walking speed. Thankfully, the gorgeous world will surely keep you entertained for at least the first few deaths.

All in all, I enjoyed my time with Ebenezer and the Invisible World. The game has enough variety to keep you entertained, both in backdrops and abilities and weapons you can acquire throughout the playthrough, and I really did enjoy the interesting new take on the story.