Support NeoGAF

[cormack12]

Source: https://archive.is/j4ZXo



If you’re a big fan of Studio Ghibli, or find yourself wishing you could dive into its worlds as you watch the films, you might want to check out the upcoming game Towers of Aghasba.

In Towers of Aghasba, players take on the role of junior architect for the fictional Shimu people, who had to flee their homeland after a mysterious force ravaged it. Now, the player must nurture the land back to life, restoring its flora and fauna, and rebuild the villages. Once that’s done, multiplayer is unlocked — with players able to explore, trade, hunt, and battle with up to three friends.

The original idea for Towers came in 2009, taking inspiration from Minecraft as a sandbox experience where players utilize resources to build, as well as Shadow of the Colossus for visual inspiration. But the biggest influence, Dreamlit CEO and director Khang Le said in the recorded preview, was the Ghibli film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. “It feels like a place I want to explore and live in,” Le said, after pointing out the film’s big creatures, strange forest, and teenage princess Nausicaä harvesting spores.

“Being a huge fan of Ghibli Studio and all their films, it’s such an honor to be able to have a bunch of these textures where […] when you look down at your feet or stare at a rock or certain walls, you can see the hand-painted texture on them and it’s quite beautiful.”

 

[Kupfer]

Ghibli-inspired?

Are you maybe confusing that with Europa?

 

[Davevil]

Op have you ever see a Ghibli movie?

 

[Hrk69]

I loved this Ghibli-inspired game too

 

[MujkicHaris]

Dragon Quest VIII, Rogue Galaxy and especially Ni no Kuni are Ghibli-inspired.

This ain't it.

Looks more like the game is inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

[cormack12]

Op have you ever see a Ghibli movie?

 

[SaintALia]

Man I got excited there for a second, actually expecting Ghibli artstyle or at least amazing animation, but instead I got this.

Still though, I am definitely seeing the Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind influences for sure. It does look very intriguing though. I'm interested to see how it blends together those elements.

 

[elbourreau]

Go home OP, you're drunk.

 

[Danjin44]

Ni no Kuni only one does this and mostly because artists behind Ghibli worked on the game.

 

[Kurotri]

You bitch, don't ever do that ever again

 

[Danjin44]

I loved this Ghibli-inspired game too

I would say Metaphor takes much inspiration from Attack of Titan instead of Ghibli.

Especially their colour pallet and city designs.

 

[Bombolone]

I loved this Ghibli-inspired game too

$93 Canadian
fml

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I think it was inspired by the Unreal prefab store.

 

[bender]

It's too bad the inspiration was from Earwig and the Witch and not any other Ghibli movie.

 

[Danjin44]

$93 Canadian
fml

For me worth…..every….penny.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

$93 Canadian
fml

I think you can get a cheaper key from sites like Fanatical or GMG.

Metaphor: ReFantazio

isthereanydeal.com

 

[EruditeHobo]

OP literally called it Ghibli-inspired, then included a quote from the creator about Nausicaa... no one said it has the same artstyle as a Ghibli movie.

Sorry OP. You did a fine job here. Ignore these uncouth jackals.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Op right know

 

[Fbh]

I really like the look of the game. I do get where you are seeing some Ghibli similarities, specially with stuff like Nausica.
But it seems to have lots of elements of survival crafting which is an instant turnoff. If a big part of the gameplay consists of gathering and farming materials I'm out.

 

[Bombolone]

For me worth…..every….penny.

I’m sure I would love it.
BLOPS 6 has me this month though…

For full priced games (Japanese) I always need/want a physical disc.

 

[March Climber]

Same devs of this game were ex-devs of this btw:

 

[Spukc]

On friday studio ghibli zombie mode
Can’t wait

 

[Danjin44]

OP literally called it Ghibli-inspired, then included a quote from the creator about Nausicaa... no one said it has the same artstyle as a Ghibli movie.

Sorry OP. You did a fine job here. Ignore these uncouth jackals.

But I’m not seeing much Nausicaa from trailer to be honest.

 

[MujkicHaris]

OP literally called it Ghibli-inspired, then included a quote from the creator about Nausicaa... no one said it has the same artstyle as a Ghibli movie.

Sorry OP. You did a fine job here. Ignore these uncouth jackals.

Words have to have meaning.

OP is wrong.
The title includes Ghibli-inspired but it doesn't look like Ghibli in the slightest. General picture in our mind's eye when someone mentions Ghibli includes beautiful hand-painted backgrounds with bold, broad brush strokes, flat cel-shaded characters, big, fluffy and heavy clouds, also hand-painted, saturated yet balanced coloring and none of that was in the trailer.

The author in the quote is also wrong.
He specifically mentions:
“Being a huge fan of Ghibli Studio and all their films, it’s such an honor to be able to have a bunch of these textures where […] when you look down at your feet or stare at a rock or certain walls, you can see the hand-painted texture on them and it’s quite beautiful.”

I've watched the gameplay trailer and also early access gameplay showcase video and none of it looks like it's hand-painted work reminiscent of Studio Ghibli. The game is using PBR, realistic lighting, super heavy instancing.
Looks more like everything is made out of clay with a thin layer of dust.

I don't have anything against the game but in order for someone to claim something looks Ghibli-inspired, they have to earn it. And let me tell you, earning it requires a lot of manual, hard work, like painting the actual textures without modern hacks and tricks. When it's successful, it shows.

 

[ap_puff]

But I’m not seeing much Nausicaa from trailer to be honest.

I don't see it either. Maybe there will be a lot of environmentalist messaging.

 

[Danjin44]

I don't see it either. Maybe there will be a lot of environmentalist messaging.

Lot of games and anime have that message.

Does that mean Monster Hunter or FFVII also inspired by Nausicaa?

 

[ap_puff]

Lot of games and anime have that message.

Does that mean Monster Hunter or FFVII also inspired by Nausicaa?

I mean, if those devs said they were inspired by Nausicaa's message I wouldn't be too upset by it. It could be a defensible statement.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Wildermyth just came out and is by far my favorite Ghibli-inspired game.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Inspired by doesnt have to mean exact art and animation style. It could be world, story, characters, magic etc

 

[RagnarokIV]

Looks and feels nothing like it lol wtf

 

[semiconscious]

The original idea for Towers came in 2009, taking inspiration from Minecraft as a sandbox experience where players utilize resources to build, as well as Shadow of the Colossus for visual inspiration. But the biggest influence, Dreamlit CEO and director Khang Le said in the recorded preview, was the Ghibli film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. “It feels like a place I want to explore and live in,” Le said, after pointing out the film’s big creatures, strange forest, and teenage princess Nausicaä harvesting spores.

big creatures, strange forest, teenage princess. yep, won't be seeing the likes of those elements anywhere else. pure gibli. alright, then...

 

[Silver Wattle]

 

[EruditeHobo]

Words have to have meaning.

Words do have meaningS. Plural. Not one single meaning.

I don't have anything against the game but in order for someone to claim something looks Ghibli-inspired, they have to earn it.

No it doesn't. A short story I wrote is inspired by Studio Ghibli. A statement about how something is "inspired by" another work doesn't need to be proven or demonstrated, it is a factual statement. And what OP put in this title is correct, it is clearly a fact.

That's all that matters. Anything else you're writing about is not directly addressing the key point I'm making. Period.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Looks like utter shit to me. Nice visuals but the video clearly has 20 FPS or less. Also crafting open world, no thanks.

 

[Myths]

Inspired by doesnt have to mean exact art and animation style. It could be world, story, characters, magic etc

This. The comments in this thread are headache inducing.

 

[Exentryk]

Lol at thread title.

Seems interesting with Zelda and Xenoblade vibes, but I am not a fan of busy work (building, planting, fishing, resource gathering etc).

 

[MujkicHaris]

A statement about how something is "inspired by" another work doesn't need to be proven or demonstrated, it is a factual statement. And what OP put in this title is correct, it is clearly a fact.

In this case, yes it does. Because author has mentioned it in the quote. It's not abstract.

“Being a huge fan of Ghibli Studio and all their films, it’s such an honor to be able to have a bunch of these textures where […] when you look down at your feet or stare at a rock or certain walls, you can see the hand-painted texture on them and it’s quite beautiful.”

There is NOTHING in the trailers that looks even close to what Ghibli would have made, or even, God forbid, Hayao Miyazaki would've approved.

The quote mentions Ghibli and hand-painted textures. Well, the game in question doesn't look like something painted by Ghibli. I am a game developer, working solo on a game inspired by Ghibli's aesthetics (among many other works of art I admire). And there are guidelines you have to follow in order for something to be inspired by Ghibli, in visual terms. Or anime in general.

Your pointless reply reminded me of those groups of people who bash photographs and call it digital painting. Nope. You are going to have to paint it with your digital brush, each pixel and then you deserve the "digital painting" title.

 

[Killer8]

As soon as I saw the character designs:

 

[Mossybrew]

Well the devs specifically said it was partially inspired by Ghibli so OP is not wrong and you guys calling him out are just being pedantic nitpicks.

That being said, I would not have made the connection if they hadn't called it out as a specific influence.

And beyond that rather pointless digression, it looks promising to me, I may check it out. Only 30 bucks for early access.

 

[HJuggernaut]

I don't see Ghibli

 

[EruditeHobo]

Your pointless reply reminded me of those groups of people who bash photographs and call it digital painting. Nope. You are going to have to paint it with your digital brush, each pixel and then you deserve the "digital painting" title.

It was just kind of a small joke but you're the one that responded to 3 sentences with paragraphs of wank -- once again, the point remains that OP is essentially quoting a publication which directly quotes the creator.

Pretty fair game for a thread title! Take 'er easy dude.

 

[chokotoureiki]

Added this to my wishlist. I'm intrigued. It gives off that sense of wonder which I love.

 

[Alebrije]

I like more this Ghibil inspired Game

 

[Kokoloko85]

This. The comments in this thread are headache inducing.

Yep some strange mentality here.
Same type of people who hate on early development leaks of games and say “it looks horrible” “trash”. Not thinking and realising so did every game they’ve ever loved at that stage of developement lol

 

[Games of Today]

This game looks sick but it's not Ghibli.

 

[Arsic]

On friday studio ghibli zombie mode
Can’t wait

Came here to post this.

Carl on duty and the never moving always camping asshole.

 

[Kupfer]

Inspired by doesnt have to mean exact art and animation style. It could be world, story, characters, magic etc

"Inspired by" doesn't mean shit tbh

 

[ahtlas7]

Developer might have been inspired by Ghibli but I think the result is

 

[Comandr]

I see it, OP. A lot of the creatures and buildings follow a similar design language to Ghibli movies. There's a lot of Nausicaa and Mononoke in there. I've been interested in this game since the reveal last year. Hope it turns out.

 

[Toots]

Don't know about you guys, but I can't watch this stuff and find it interesting.
Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is or whatsoever.
I am utterly disgusted.
If you really want to play creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it.
I would never wish to incorporate this game into my game library at all.
I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.

Spoiler

But for real the world seems more Avatar inspired than Ghibli.

The chara design has a definite western style to it.

Overall the game looks impressive but pretty ugly.