Have you ever wanted to play a Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki-inspired game? Well, the most recent one is by a French indie development studio called Bloomylight Studio, and it’s working under the name of Lynn And The Spirits Of Inao. Currently running on Kickstarter as of this writing, the 2D platformer pays homage to films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
I haven’t been keeping track of a lot of Kickstarter projects since some of them result in scams, pulling the plug or never reaching their goals. Often times, some projects are worth backing, but they never see the light due to developers abandoning ships for no rhyme or reason.
One game that I thought was very interesting, which was done by a one man army, was Doko Roko. The single dev under the name Okobu, made a Dark Souls-like game that was in 2D, and looked like Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter. Although the game seemed like it was almost abandoned, the Kickstarter page was updated on April 4th, letting backers and others interested in the idea know that it’s still being developed.
With that said, delays, scams and abandoned ideas aren’t always the case with Kickstarter projects. And Bloomylight Studio seems to be trying quite hard to make a potential hit while avoiding ending up in the Kickstarter pit.
From the trailer below, the game features music that one would find in a Miyazaki animated film, usually composed by Joe Hisaishi, which is pretty cool. Something worth noting though, the game does need some work here and there with the animations and with the fighting, but besides the basic polishing, the game still looks pretty interesting, as seen below.
The game follows the basic Avatar theme of bringing balance to the spiritual and humanoid world, which happens through Lynn and her spirit side-kick Aku. In addition to this, players will have to journey across the island of Inao, and find elements to bring back a balance to both worlds.
The 2D platformer will include just that… 2D platforming. Except, there are a few more unique elements tucked in there. Folks will be able to lightly bend time, causing the day to turn night and vice versa, making certain paths accessible.
Before wrapping the whole thing up, those who want to see more can view some screenshots of the game that are posted on the its Kickstarter.
The game is slated for PC, and will gain other ports to consoles like PS4, Xbox One and Wii U if it reaches its stretch goals. As of this writing, Lynn and the Spirits Of Inao has 104 backers, and earned $2,363 out of its goal of $60,774, with 29 days left.
If you think that this game is worth some hard-earned cash or you want to learn more, you can head on over to kickstarter.com.
