I've been obsessed with this open-world take on Ghibli and Zelda for months, but its indie inspirations are just as exciting
May. 8, 2024Europa was inspired by some of the indie space’s all-time greats
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The developer behind Europa, an open-world adventure gameI’ve long lauded for its lovely marriage of Ghibli-esque visuals and Zelda gameplay, has revealed its indie inspirations, and now I’m more excited for it than ever.
Zelda meets Ghibli is already an incredibly easy sell, but Europa is an even more compellingupcoming indie gamenow that we know it was inspired by genre greats including Journey, Gris, and ABZU. The official Europa Twitter account revealed as much when it took part in a recent social media trend in which small projects share the indie games they were inspired by. When it comes to indie inspirations, it’s hard to top a lineup like this:
Honestly, learning these are some of Europa’s main inspirations makes me feel silly for not spotting them sooner and clears up some confusion I initially had about the game’s direction. It’s undoubtedly Zelda and Ghibli inspired, but there’s a more pointedly therapeutic atmosphere to it that originally I mistook for emptiness.
In the meantime, here are thebest Switch indie gamesyou can play right now.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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