East ward
One look at Eastward, and you can
immediately tell what made the pixel art
aficionados at Chucklefish fall in love
with it. From colourful environments
filled with detail to the unique characters softly
bouncing with each breath, Eastward feels alive,
even though it’s set in a world that’s anything but.
With Eastward, developer Pixpil has
decided to go all out – the first project for
the Shanghai-based team is looking to
Japanese RPGs from the late ’80s and
early ’90s for inspiration, a genre that
originated enduring videogame
characters and approaches to adventure
gameplay. You take control of John
and Sam, a taciturn miner and a
small girl with a magnificent mane of
white hair. Together they travel a
post-apocalyptic world. Pixpil is
The Japanese flair of the city I saw in
staying as tight-lipped as John about any
plot details, but they did let slip that the
fact that Sam uses magic makes her
someone really special.
SunShine StateS
The warm feel to Pixpil’s version of the
apocalypse is a deliberate choice, as Pixpil
co-founder and lead artist Hong Moran
explains, “People, including us, tend to
romanticise old worlds as something in
which myths can be found and unfolded.
This feeling is a major reason we chose to
create a post-apocalyptic world and also
why it doesn’t feel too downtrodden.”
What I saw of the game was a mix of
straight-forward puzzling with combat
action RPGs such as Fable. To
take on the monsters freely roaming the
world, I can switch between both
characters at any time – John wields a
shotgun and is also very handy with a
frying pan. Sam’s magic is useful at long
range. To navigate a forest full of
flesh-eating plants and wild animals, I also
need to solve the occasional puzzle. John
can clear away obstacles like debris using
bombs, certain plants react only to being
zapped with Sam’s magic. Using a
combination of my new bestie, the frying
pan, and Sam’s magic, I navigate a raft
past obstacles and into a cave, where a
boss waits for me. Pixpil’s narrative
designer Pan Chen tells me that players
will be able to find more weapons in the
finished game that will allow them to
progress to previously inaccessible
locations. According to Tommo Zhou,
Pixpil founder and Eastward’s producer,
the goal is ultimately to keep things
simple, “Players get limited upgrades and
new items throughout the game, but we
want to ensure everything stays fun and
intuitive. Rather than bog you down with
stuff, we want to incorporate how you can
switch between John and Sam into a
variety of puzzles.”
aSian PerSuaSion
The Japanese flair of the city I saw in
the demo is so strong I asked if Pixpil has
brought more of their native Shanghai to
the game. According to Zhou and Moran,
this particular in-game town with its trams
and wooden sliding doors is inspired by
Showa and Taisho-era Japan, and you’ll
also be able to visit areas reminiscent of
Hong Kong and Shanghai and find
architecture inspired by South Korea and
India. As much as I love the Japanese
architecture I’ve seen in the demo, it’s
always interesting to find locations in
games inspired by the fantastical.
Apart from JRPGs, Pixpil also definitely
know their anime and has been inspired
by an eclectic list of titles, including Akira,
Macross, and works by Studio Ghibli.
Pixpil has a grand vision – even with how
little it’s revealed, particularly in terms of
narrative, it sounds like a tall order. I’m all
for more developers from different
countries reaching westwards and curious
to see how it’ll all come together.