Newly released on Steam and part of Xbox Game Pass,Ghostloreis an ARPG with a fresh setting and unusual foes. Set in an alternate universe Singapore circa the early 90s, theindie game’s creator Andrew Two describesGhostloreas “Eastpunk” and the term is more than a buzzword for the game’s aesthetic. The title represents Southeast Asian folklore and culture in everything from enemy mechanics to the foods characters can eat.
Game Rant recently spoke with Teo about the game’s numerous influences, its relationship to real-world Singapore, and its extensive list of lore-driven enemies. Teo also touches on how his friends,early accessplayers, and some friendly strangers from the Singaporean subreddit helped him bring his Southeast Asian adventure to life.
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Singapore Lore
Teo stated that Southeast Asian folklore, like most superstitions and mythological pantheons, follows certain rules. He decided to bringGhostlore’s Singaporean rogues gallery to life by transforming thosefolklore rules into game mechanics.
“For example, there is a creature in the game called a Pontianak that hangs out in a banana tree. So in the game, those ghosts will chase after the player. But they are invulnerable and indestructible, so the only way to defeat the spirit is to destroy the possessed tree.”
Each enemy character has a hint of lore behind its move set. The Jiang-Shi, or Chinese hopping vampire, serves as a standard melee combatant, lunging or hopping at players more erratically than a typical zombie and restoring health with life steal. A boar demon associated with greed, Babi Ngepet, will partially empty players' wallets when it charges into them. And the local bogeymen known as Hungry Ghosts canbreathe fire, in accordance with the myth that everything a Hungry Ghost consumes will be immolated.
Teo was quick to point out that he is not superstitious and thinks “if I had a supernatural experience, the game would turn out very differently.” Most of the research for the game’s enemies came from speaking with friends and online research. In terms of ghost fighting traditions,Ghostlore’svaried classes and move sets were inspired by suggestions from friends, anime, and other video games.Ghostlorecontains references to everything fromFist of the Northstar(with the move Pressure Point)to the mangaFire Punch(represented by the move Immolate).
An Anachronistic Compromise
Late during early access, Teo was faced with a dilemma that most game developers will find familiar—players wanted more. They wanted more items, enemies, areas, and seemingly endless replay value. At a loss for what sort of environment to create, Teo decided to base the Institute of Paranormal Studies on Singapore’s Changi airport. The resemblance is unmistakable, even through the lens of Lo-Fi pixel graphics. While the area looks great in game, Teo admitted he had mixed feelings about the post-game area:
Honestly, it was kind of a compromise. It’s not the work I am most proud of. People wanted me to add more content to the game, and I had to think of something. This airport was very famous, so I thought, what if we adapted that to the game? But I have mixed feelings about it, because it kind of obscures the whole 90s aesthetic.
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In addition to representing Southeast Asian culture, Teo wanted to capture a specific timeframe: the first half of the 90s. He hopes thatGhostlorenot only represents that time period, but appears like aproduct of the 90sin and of itself. That was the primary reason he settled on pixel graphics reminiscent of late Super Nintendo and early PlayStation games. But the game’s Changi area, while visually very impressive, is a touch out of time, as the opulent area portrayed in the title wasn’t constructed until the early 2000s.
Ghostlore’s Community-Sourced Cuisine
While Teo was developingGhostlore, he frequently posted clips and pictures to the r/Singapore subreddit where he began to develop a following. One day, he solicited users to submit photos of food. He uploaded pictures of the local cuisine to a Google Drive, then pixilated them and imported them directly into the game for the game’s food buff system. “All the contributors are credited appropriately in the game’s credit section,” Teo said. And even if the results aren’t as visually impressive as some modern titles,Ghostlore’s offerings definitely deserve a spot amongthe tastiest-looking foods in video games.
Ghostloreis available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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