TheDiablo-inspired action RPG,Ghostlore,recently released on Steam and came to Xbox Game Pass, presenting gamers with a Southeast Asian-inspired demon slaying campaign. In the wake of the launch, the Singaporean developer behind theindietitle, Andrew Teo, is exhausted but also encouraged by the game’s early reception, which currently enjoys “Very Positive” reviews on Steam.
Game Rant recently spoke with Teo about all thingsGhostlore, including the game’s inspirations, aspirations, and mechanical development.The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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Q: Please introduce yourself and share your favorite monster from Southeast Asian folklore.
A: My name is Andrew Teo. I am the creator ofGhostlore,and I don’t really have afavorite monster.
Q:Ghostlorerecently released on Steam and became free to play on Game Pass. How do you feel about the game’s reception so far? And how would you describeGhostloreto people who are completely unfamiliar with the title?
A:Ghostloreis an action RPG where you fight monsters from southeast Asian folklore. It takes place in a world inspired by Singaporean culture. It just released on the Steam platform andXbox Game Pass, and I am very encouraged by the reviews and reception so far from players so far.
Q:Ghostloredescribes itself as “Eastpunk,” and it is one of the relatively few games that take place in a Southeast Asian-inspired fantasy world. Why do you think this setting is so underutilized compared to other parts of Asia and the world as a whole?
A: I’m not really sure why. I think that’s just how it is, but that doesn’t mean you need to stick to that status quo. I think I would say it is my duty as a game developer to show people things that are new and interesting, things we don’t usually see.
My game went through a couple of early prototypes, with my friends playing and testing for me. This was a really early version of the game, with stock assets and things, but a lot of them asked me this question before the “eastpunk” idea or “Ghostlore” concept came about. It’s a question that has stuck with me to this day: “Why would I play this game when I can already playDiablo?” and it made me think “Why, indeed?” That one question changed the whole trajectory of the project. I wanted to do something unique.
Q: What sort of themes and symbolism are unique to Southeast Asian folklore and horror stories?
A: The thing I would say is unique about Southeast Asian culture is it’s not really “Eastern” in the sense that Japanese, Korean, or Chinese is. It’s very East meets West due to colonialism. It’s a unique culture, you get this mashup of Eastern, Western, and even Middle-Eastern influences. I would say Singaporean culture is a mashup between Chinese, Muslim, and Western cultures.
I don’t think this is necessarily unique to Southeast Asian folklore, but every monster or creature of their kind has its own rules, things that govern their unique behavior. Those rules are portrayed in game through the ways the enemies interact with the player.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. So thosefolklore rulesintroduced interesting challenges and mechanics into the game.
Q: How did you go about researching and building the game’s catalog of enemies?
A: I mostly did online research and asked my friends who are into this sort of thing. Sometimes they have suggestions about how thefolklore mechanicscould work too. For instance, an enemy said to have poison breath degrade your armor. We tried to have as many enemies that follow those folklore rules as possible. There is a magical boar demon named Babi Ngepet. In mythology and folklore, it can steal your wealth or valuables. So in the game, when they hit you, you lose money.
This is one monster that almost didn’t make it in, the Orang Minyak. It isn’t really a monster, but a sorcerer or user of black magic. According to the lore, he is a serial harasser. He is basically a naked guy who can cover himself with magical oil. So in the game, he has two forms. The first form is the oiled-up form. If you hit him, you will likely miss, but if you can get rid of his oil, he will revert to his naked guy form where he can run very quickly, but if you hit him, you will likely do good damage.
There are also Jiang-shi, the Chinese hopping vampire which is very popular in folklore, and they can drain your health. There are also Hungry Ghosts. The lore behind them states that anything they eat bursts into flame, so Hungry Ghost enemies can breathe fire at the player.
Q: Did you draw on any personal experiences when designingGhostlore? Did you draw from other games and media?
A: Well, I don’t have any personal experience with the supernatural. I don’t believe in it. I’m not superstitious. I think if I had a supernatural experience the game would turn out very differently! I looked through lots of other media though. I am a lifelong gamer. Aside fromDiablo,which is the obvious influence, the aesthetic ofGhostlorewas inspired by games from the early PS1 Era and the 90s.
Q: Were there are any creatures that were too dark or simply too out of place to include?
A: Yes, there is. There’s a monster called a Hantu Tetek. The name basically translates to “breast ghost.” She is just described as a woman with really large breasts who uses them to suffocate men. And I just decided I didn’t want to… include that. People asked me all the time if I was going to include that monster. Some people are just down bad, I guess!
Q:Ghostlorealso presents players with a variety of ways to fight the supernatural, from martial arts to psychic, holy, elemental, and animalistic powers. What different traditions for ghost fighting are these archetypes based on?
A: Not really anything in particular. The Feral class, which canshapeshiftinto a weretiger, was based on a suggestion from a friend that is based on folklore, but I can’t remember it right now.
Q: Do you have any favorites among the different classes?
A: I think the Exorcist class is pretty cool. You see the paper talismans a lot in anime. One thing you won’t see a lot in other ARPG is the exorcist’s Sixth Sense ability, which allows you to approach friendly spirits for health. I think that provides some really good flavor, and I don’t think another ARPG has that mechanic. It’s kind of a nice twist.
Q: What specific cities and regions inspired the city of Seaport and the surrounding archipelago?
A: It’s definitely just Singapore. If you look at the world map in the game, the areas correspond to the main islands in Singapore. All the areas in the game correspond to Singaporean archipelago. But the game is set slightly in the past, inthe early 90s. Say the first half of the 90s, like 1994. It’s Singapore but a bit older.
Q: Was there a reason why you decided to go with the past rather than a contemporary setting?
A: Nostalgia was the main reason, but as I was working on the game, I thought that a contemporary version ofGhostlorewould have been pretty cool because of the internet and everything. TheGhostloreuniverse is a pre-internet world, so far, but it would befun to have smartphones. You could receive quests from your boss without having to go back to visit them. And that mechanic could facilitate a more sort of open-world exploration—but I’m getting ahead of myself.
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Q: Food plays an important role inGhostloreby providing your Ghost Hunter with buffs, but it also adds a lot to the cultural flavor of the game. How did you select which recipes to include?
A: I was posting about the game quite a bit on the Singapore subreddit, it got quite a number of people interested, so I asked users to submitpictures of food. Just things they had eaten recently to a Google Drive. I took all those pictures and plugged them into the game. All the contributors are credited appropriately in the game’s credit section. I pretty much included all the dishes that were favorites.
Q:Ghostlore’sgraphics seek to capture a specific time period as well as a geographic feel. What made you decide to go with a 90s-pixel aesthetic?
A: Pixel graphics came first, and the decision to make it90s themingcame later. It was fun to give players the impression that this was a game that could have been made in the 90s, but there is one exception. In one of the updates, we included an area called the Institute of Paranormal Studies. It looks like Changi Airport, and it’s a bit of anachronism because Changi was built in the 2000s. We were doing an early access launch, players kept asking for more content, and I was racking my brain for what I could include. So mentally, we think of it as a 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.
Q: One ofGhostlore’sgreatest mechanical strengths is its extremely flexible approach to character building. Do you have any specific tips or favorite builds you would like to share with readers?
A: I think the players will have more tips than I do! There’s a skill in the game called pressure point; it marks enemies with a debuff, and when you trigger the skill, it explodes. That skill is a reference to theFist of the North Staranime. So I would love to see somebody create a build based onFist of the North Star. There are a lot of shout-outs in the game.
Q: What are some other inside jokes or references that people might miss?
A: Before he createdChainsaw Man, Tatsuki Fujimoto created this manga calledFire Punch. It’s about a guy who is burning and regenerating constantly and the Immolate skill is a reference to that manga. You lose health as you burn, but you can ignite enemies around you.
Q: How did you go about developing and balancing the complex interactions between class skills, runes, and equipment? What was the game like in its earliest stages?
A: At first, I just wanted to add things that sounded cool.Ghostloreis not a competitive game, so I think the main priority shouldn’t be balance, but making the player feelas awesome as possible. If there is a single build to rule them all, then you have a problem. But as long as there are multiple builds, enough room for players to show off their cleverness, and people are having fun, balance isn’t that important.
Q: On Steam, you mention that you have drawn inspiration from classic ARPGs likeDiablo 2andTitan Quest. What specific elements from those titles were you hoping to capture inGhostlore?
A: It’s a bit difficult to describe, but I think the atmosphere and general feeling of those older games is important. Obviously, they share the same genre. Really, rather than older games, it’s the action RPG genre. In an ARPG, combat must feel satisfying. Good decision-making is the actual challenge of the game. If you make good decisions, combat is very simple. This is opposed to games inthe Souls-like genre. Moment-to-moment gameplay and paying attention is very important. This game is how you set up your skills and gear and in combat, your thoughts can be elsewhere, and this is something we tried to achieve with early access.
Initially, we were afraid of making things too complex, butcomplexity was what people wantedin early access. So we really went all out with the skill system. At first, the skill grid was a simpler system, but we added combo skills which added more build variety in the long run.
Q: Even thoughGhostlorepays homage to classical ARPGs, and features graphics reminiscent of the SNES era, the game feels like a contemporary experience. How do you stay true to classical influences while inventing something distinct and novel?
A: It’s funny that you say that! Players have complained that some quality-of-life improvements are missing—like a craft all button for gems. So it’s a bit of push and pull. Players will always wantmore quality-of-life improvements. Really, I think the reason the game feels modern is thanks to Adam, the programmer I worked with, and thanks to players’ feedback.
Q: Can you describe how player feedback helped shape the game in early access?
A: One thing that players said we nailed was thatcombat feels very good and punchy. The number one piece of feedback we received was a request for more content. Content that could keep people playing for many hundreds of hours. So during the early access period, we repeatedly had to expand our scope. The post-game area for example was something we hadn’t planned on.
Q: What’s next for AT-AT games?
A. We are planning on adding more items, but that’s only going to come later. Right now we are focused onmaintaining the quality of the gameand stomping any bugs that come up. We are also really tired because we just released the game and need to decompress!
Q: Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
A: I hope people will follow me onmy socials!
[End.]
Ghostloreis available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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