There are no ghosts in the GrandDeveloped by the Independent Friday Sunday studio, it is a narrative -based adventure, which is part of the renovation, and partly the ghostly mystery of horror, everything carefully packed in the picturesque British coastal town. Oh, and also a musical.
When I saw the presentation of Xbox games Reverse the trailer At the beginning of June, I knew I had to keep an eye There are no ghosts in the Grand. Grandfather sings and dances through a large hotel, the player shoots from the walls, feeling the village, ready for a metamorphosis, a terrifying crawling, talking cat – if it does not intrigue you, I do not know what will happen.
In Gamescom I had the opportunity to talk to the original director Angil Glendinning There are no ghosts in the Grand.
Starting the game in the Grand Hotel, I handed something that looked like a set of advanced Super Soaker Water pistols. Instead of spraying water, these things splash the paint, move furniture, an explosion of sand and vacuum the floor. They too to talkWhich was useful because I could employ their genial tips on how to improve the hotel lobby.
Restoring the elderly hotel to their former glory seemed comical, but definitely an unpunished task, which meant that I was wondering how developers decided to turn it into a story about mystery. As Glendinning tells me, it was the other way around.
“The first thing we wanted to create was the story of ghosts. It all began from there,” says Glendinning. “The story of the ghosts consists in the renovation of a probably haunted hotel in a ruined seaside town in Great Britain. From there, the idea of renovating the tools seemed natural.”
“What was unexpected was the way in which he also became a musical, because it was only because of the music we listened to at the time,” explains Glendinning. “We listened to many ghostly scale, reggae, punk … a lot of music from the British scene in the late 1980s, in the early 90s. And the game is played at the beginning of 2000, so it seemed a natural match when everything combined.”
However, more than just the soundtrack in the background There are no ghosts in the Grand It allows her to sing, and from time to time the player joins. As chilly as it sounds, I wondered if such an unusual and initially unplanned gameplay can be contrary to the rest of the game, but Glendinning assures me: “Everything we did in the game is supported by history, including musical elements.”
“Many songs are inspired by protest songs, from bands such as selection, madness and clash,” he says. “This choice of music has a lot to do with what it is like to live in such a place. Some of these coastal towns have many shops with deck, and not terribly a lot for people, and the music adds this atmosphere.”
As Glendinning explains, There are no ghosts in the Grand It is mainly a narrative -based adventure. “It is embedded in the open world, so players can discover the hotel, choose rooms that want to decorate, and spend so much time decorating them as they want. And you can also decorate the village,” he says. “But from time to time history will take them away from that they can start discovering the basic secret.”
Glendinning will not spoil history, but he knows that supernatural power will affect both the hotel and the city, and if you want to learn more, you will have to solve hard puzzles and talk to eccentric residents. Or maybe … hunt for ghosts?
When I ask him about the ghostly side of the game, Glendinning everything, but confirms that there are in fact ghosts. But a real horror It is not. “The game has a terrible atmosphere, sometimes a terrifying atmosphere,” says Glendinning – “But this is not a game of horror in this traditional sense. First of all, we want to tell a story about heroes.
“There are not many scale terror, few monsters, and there is certainly no bleeding or anything like that. It’s about the atmosphere and it is suitable for everyone.”
After the first renovation works, I left the Grand to score a little and find a boat. At first glance, this British coastal city looks too cozy to haunt them, but Glendinning assures me that such a place with a lot of history is an ideal place for the history of ghosts. “Ghost stories very often relate to decay, about the past,” he says. “So a lot about this game takes place to the past in this British city.” Apparently I will have to wait at obscure …
There are no ghosts in the Grand I will not be my first renovation game; POWRAsh simulator Earlier I cheated me to strangely satisfying virtual cleaning duties and I had a few hours of fun decorating at home Flipper House also. However, no game maintained my interest for a long time, because the game always began after some time.
Although there are still early days, I think my experience There are no ghosts in the Grand It may be completely different. Not only does he put the story in the foreground, but also does not make me work on anonymous fixer starters-the war decorate the living, breathable place full of character and mystery, and maybe even a spirit or two. In addition, I will have the opportunity to go to the city as soon as I get bored, solve puzzles and from time to time I join the singing. What could I have asked for?
There are no ghosts in the Grand In 2026, Windows PC and Xbox Series X will come (where it will be available via Game Pass).
