Gorgeous open-zone adventure Europa is packed with Studio Ghibli vibes, but director Helder Pinto says it wasn’t the goal to simply “mimic” the iconic animation studio’s visuals with his indie game.
Ever since Europa’s reveal, comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Ghibli have been commonplace, and for good reason. Europa’s lush environments – which you can explore to your heart’s content while running and gliding around, solving mysteries and environmental puzzles – always evoked a feeling akin to the open-world Zelda games while looking like they could be from a new movie by the My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away studio.
Speaking at a panel during GDC, Pinto (who’s also world art director at ProbablyMonsters) discusses Ghibli’s influence on Europa’s gorgeous art style, but makes it clear that despite using the studio’s works as a reference, he ultimately wanted to capture what makes them “special,” not outright copy the visuals. “It’s very, very important to have a very solid foundation of moods and references, and whenever I didn’t really, sadly, know where to go with the style, I would reference back to the Ghibli movies and see how they did, even like the dungeon areas […], how they make nighttime, you know,” Pinto explains, acknowledging the “cold and blue” look that Ghibli movies have when the sun sets.
“It became very, very important and precious to me to have [those kinds] of references to work from, and again, really not try to mimic it, but find out what makes it special, and recreate those watercolor movies in a game.”
It’s safe to say that the devs definitely captured that charm while still creating something unique with their emotional story-driven adventure. Studio Ghibli wasn’t Europa’s only inspiration, however, as it was previously revealed that Gris, ABZÛ, and Journey also helped influence it.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our roundup of the best adventure games you can play right now.
