Campaign Ends: March 7th
Platform: Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows
It’s time to embark on a magical sea voyage! Spanish developer Chibig, makers of the charming tropical adventure Summer in Mara, bring you Bel’s Fanfare, a spooky yet adorable game inspired by Majora’s Mask and Spirited Away.
Prepare to board the Witch of the Sea, a once-glorious luxury liner complete with a theatre, bathhouse, and a plethora of strange and miserable passengers suffering from more than just a sub-par buffet. The air is contaminated with aura, an ethereal substance borne from corruption in the soul and emitted by those in trauma or distress. This calls for a spiritual janitor! Thankfully, Captain Popplar knows just who to annoy: the family of aura-immune demons locked up in the ship’s boiler room, led by Belceboo, the gentle demon dad responsible for running the ship’s engine. Belceboo sends his tiny and adorable daughter Bel up to help, and she’s more than eager to save the passengers from their misery… but in the meantime, can she also rescue her family from their imprisonment?
As Bel, you’ll explore the mysterious Witch of the Sea with all its decadent halls and secret places. It’s a gloomy yet cozy vessel, with elegant ship décor and beautiful atmospheric background music. Make friends (or enemies) with all the unusual passengers, peek into forgotten passageways, and discover the ship’s lore and history… not all of which is pleasant! You can forget about using a mop and bucket to achieve your cleaning goals, though. Instead, your father has blessed you with the mighty Ukobach-Gong shield, a multi-purpose heirloom used for combat, puzzles, and absorbing aura; you can even use it to catch fish! Cleanse the passengers’ cabins of foul aura in fast-paced bullet hell arenas, and help them with their problems to reach different resolutions based on your decisions. Boss battles will even take place within passengers souls; this is definitely more exciting (and more dangerous) than cleaning bathrooms!
I love the game’s cute and colorful concept art. The influence of Zelda and Studio Ghibli is strong, yet Bel’s Fanfare retains its own unique tropical charm. I’m particularly drawn to all the oceanic character designs (such as Queen Rovella and her daughters), though they still take second place to the five-star cuteness of Bel herself. I would love to see the developers create a Bel plushie in the future!
The campaign for Bel’s Fanfare has already sailed past its initial funding target and many of the stretch goals, including extra secret bosses, additional language support, a guest appearance by a character from another upcoming Chibig game, Elusive, and “Yes, a Fishing Minigame.” The Witch of the Sea sure is attracting a plethora of enthusiastic passengers! Backers can expect some fun rewards at higher pledge levels, including figures of Bel on her own and curled up in Belceboo’s hand. Meanwhile, remaining stretch goals include additional NPCs and a secret ending.
Bel’s Fanfare is expected to arrive in late 2027, giving us plenty of time to explore the Chibig universe through the developer’s other adventures (and meet some of the unusual characters and creatures that may or may not show up in this game). Personally, real-life cruises are not on my “must try” list, but I’m definitely up for a Ghibli-inspired sea voyage through the magic of video games. Cleaning adventures await! That reminds me, I’d better organize my stack of unread books before they, too, start emitting aura (and/or dust). Yikes!
Disclaimer: While it’s possible some of us at RPGFan may be backers of the games mentioned in these articles, this does not influence our coverage or our featured game choices. We make our selections simply based on the active campaigns we feel our readers might find interesting, and we are not given special access or perks by the developers.
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