New Narrative Adventure Ghost Hunting Journal Trailer and Demo Out Now
The anime horror narrative adventure game Ghost Hunting Journal was recently announced last month through a demo, which was released on Steam. The demo gained a lot of traction at release for its cute and well-drawn animations and the interesting notion of incorporating Japanese urban myths in the game. The game has gained a lot of attention in the past month, and developer 麻辣工作室 Spicy Games released a new official trailer for the game several days ago. Here are some of the new developments for Ghost Hunting Journal, and what we can expect going forward.
New Trailer and Extended Demo Available on Steam
Ghost Hunting Journal official trailer, courtesy of GameTrailers official YouTube channel
A new trailer for the anime horror narrative game Ghost Hunting Journal dropped last week, showcasing a lot of gameplay and in-game scenes. The trailer is set to funky upbeat music, which tells us this isn’t your average anime horror game. The first scene that is showcased is located in an office, where your typical Japanese ghost lady appears out of nowhere and attacks the office patrons trapped in said office.
The trailer goes on to introduce our two main characters: Joe, the couch potato mystic, and Jolin, the pocket streamer exorcist (super odd; however, hilariously interesting descriptions of both our main characters). It looks like gameplay is a mix of RPG-style and world exploration, a really interesting combination; however, it seems to fit the game perfectly as a narrative horror game.
You’re able to travel freely around the fictional Chinese city of Riverrun, and play as both Joe and Jolin, switching between perspectives. It also looks as if each character has their own unique powers and skill set, and switching between both Joe and Jolin seems like there’s some strategy built into the combat system of Ghost Hunting Journal, which is where we get that RPG feel to the game. In my opinion, one of the more interesting points of Ghost Hunting Journal is its incorporation of real-life urban myths and how the devs weave these stories into the overall narrative of Ghost Hunting Journal.
A Horror Narrative With a Twist
So what is Ghost Hunting Journal about? This narrative horror game is set in the fictional city of Riverrun and follows Joe and Jolin, self-proclaimed spirit agents, who team up to take down urban supernatural myths that have been haunting the entire city. As spirit agents, Joe and Jolin accept commissions to solve different cases of the supernatural. Here’s the full story background from the Ghost Hunting Journal Steam page:
Death is not a period, but a semicolon.
When mortals pass, their souls could ascend to heaven for reincarnation. Yet some refuse to do so. They choose to linger in the living’s world, bound by their earthly obsessions.
These wayward are labeled as “Spirit Permanent Resident (SPR)” by heaven’s official registry, or colloquially called “Soul Squatters”. As Heaven prioritizes massive soul’s recovery and recycling, these unregistered spirits exist in jurisdictional limbo—most fade into obscurity, but a mischievous few hone their spiritual powers to meddle with the living, spawning ghost stories and urban legends.
Thus stands an ancient profession modernized:
Spirit Agent.
Since the game was announced last month, there has yet to be a release date, or even an expected release date, for Ghost Hunting Journal. However, an extended demo was also released with the new trailer that dropped, so players who are interested in exploring the game can do so by downloading the demo on the game’s Steam page. Ghost Hunting Journal is an interesting combination of an RPG-style game and a unique story narrative, and I’m excited to see when the game drops and what else we can explore in the full game release.
