I absolutely enjoyed this VN that I stayed up past midnight to finish it. I bought ghostpia Season One solely based on my gut and its art style. I didn't even read any reviews, but my instinct was totally spot-on. Nevertheless, I can't deny it has some flaws and some aspects of the story prevent me from simply recommending it to everyone who regularly play VN or story-driven games.

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Warning: Text inside spoiler tags contain major spoilers. Do NOT hover/open before you've completed the game.

Both the art style and animation are simply charming. For a VN title, amount of the animations is surprisingly high and giving a mild feeling of watching an anime. Both CRT screen and glitches-and-noises effects also do a good job invoking melancholic and nostalgic vibes. However, the CRT screen effect may be too strong for some people, so it's a shame the game only provide on/off toggle rather than on/half on/off toggle.

The soundtrack is also a solid aspect of the game. It fits well with story's vibe and atmosphere and I think it's good enough to match the developer's description "A movie you can read on PC". It's also one of few game soundtracks that I bought immediately after finishing the game.

Strong dynamic among the main casts. I really enjoyed their interactions, even when they antagonize Clara more than needed. You may enjoy it even more if you also enjoy subtle or pseudo romantic friendship. But most side characters only appears briefly, including head priest, elderly women and others who were either killed or harmed by Sayako. This makes some parts of the story feel unnatural, so I hope it'll be addressed in next season.

The world-building is really captivating. The way it's presented with how Sayako relearn and discover more about ghost town feels natural, given Sayako apparently had little social interaction for a long time. There are also some odd, yet alluring details such as connection between limited possession and dumpsite.

Pay attention to the mature content description. In case you missed it, there's a fair amount of violent scenes where a few of them may be difficult to stomach. It also contains a few scenes with textual depiction of sexual assault that may feel like they come out of nowhere. I don't have any issue with such content, but the developer should consider mentioning it in advance on store page.

It runs out of the box (OOTB) on my linux device. Unsurprising, given it's a VN title that uses Unity engine. The game only offers HD, Full HD and 4K resolution options. So if you happen to use a screen with a different resolution (mine is 2K), just select an option higher than your screen resolution (I chose 4K) to avoid blurry text.

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ghostpia Season One will be one of few titles that stay in my mind for ages. I'm looking forward to Season 2 and hopefully someday it'll be properly adapted into anime with decent budget and passionate staff.

There are some aspects that I can't explain properly or primarily about spoiler content. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this game if you're looking for an unconventional story-driven game with a melancholic ambiance, even at full price.

The good:
+ Amazing story with some heartwarming and emotional moments. While all 7 chapters are amazing in different way, IMO chapter V is the best one.
+ Some decent characters with great development.
+ Fine world building. While there are some unanswered question about it, i don't mind it since the MC isn't the hero of the story.
+ Very beautiful artstyle. I also appreciate 16:9 aspect ratio and usage of blurred environment rather than black color as background.
+ Neat soundtrack which emphasize the story/atmosphere.
+ LOTS of choices. Each choice has different degree of impact or when you could see the outcome.

The bad:
- There's no option to run/dash. It's big bummer considering there's decent amount of exploration and really hurt replayability value.

The ugly:
* Lack of integer scaling, which is a shame since this game has very beautiful artstyle.

If you're fan of story-rich game (especially To The Moon or Rakuen), you definitely should buy and play this game. I really wish this game is more popular.