A few days ago, a trailer for The Outbound Ghost aired during the Future Games Show. I then had the opportunity to send a few questions to Conrad Grindheim, the founder of Conradical Games.
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Could you please introduce yourself and your position in the team?“
Conrad: „My name is Conrad Grindheim and I am the project lead of The Outbound Ghost. This means I do all of the programming, design, narrative, and team coordination! I’m also the Studio Head of Conradical Games, the small game studio I founded.“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Can you please describe shortly what The Outbound Ghost is about?“
Conrad: „The Outbound Ghost is an adventure RPG about helping ghosts ascend to the afterlife. The town of Outbound is, quite literally, a ghost town – a home to troubled ghosts with unresolved earthly issues, condemning them to an eternity haunting their old home. Battle the past, gain new abilities, solve puzzles, and uncover the mysteries of Outbound to help its unliving residents find peace, freeing them from the shackles of their ghostly limbo.“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „I saw a tweet where Ghosts are painting in the overworld and that this will reflect the area’s real look. How often will players find such a thing and will there be other things that are evolving in the game like that?“
Conrad: „These relaxing and “wholesome” moments will be very common in the game! For example, you can sit on essentially every single bench in the game, and there are many picturesque locations with whimsical sound design that suck you into the world.“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „How did you decide to use a turn-based combat system?“
Conrad: „As a huge fan of (J)RPGs, I always wanted to add a combat system to The Outbound Ghost but was unable to originally because of the costs that came with it. Every single enemy, boss, skill VFX, combat theme, etc. has to be made and it can be very expensive! However, after partnering up with Digerati, the game’s publisher, they supported the game in allowing its scope to increase in this way. On a more mechanical level, I decided to combine the reactive combat of Paper Mario games with the strategic decision-making of deep JRPGs. This is why the game has mechanics that could remind you of Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default.“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Will there be some optional secret partners, that the players could find for the team?“
Conrad: „Kind of! With the Kickstarter that was run for the game in August 2021, one of the tiers was to design a partner that can follow you around. These are optional and not integrated into the story, but they are cool rewards for exploration and they are designed by players!“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Will The Outbound Ghost will use the DualSense functions like haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers on the PS5 release?“
Conrad: „I finally managed to get a PS5 last October and the first thing I noticed was how incredible these new features on the DualSense were. I can’t confirm anything at the moment, but I have already done some experimenting with how it might work for The Outbound Ghost and I would love for these features to make it to the final game.“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Do you plan on releasing the soundtrack in digital or physical form?“
Conrad: „No plan for physical at the moment, and we are discussing how we will release it in digital form still!“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „How important is your community for you and your work?“
Conrad: „Extremely! I have a YouTube channel and TikTok account where I post videos to include the community more in the development of the game. YouTube is where I post summaries of what the game’s design philosophy is, why some features are as they are, and more. I use TikTok to showcase certain elements of the game and ask for feedback. For instance, the other day I showed off my favourite skill in the game and asked for watchers’ ideas for new skills! I think this way of developing games is extremely engaging and beneficial – not only do you get a lot of input but future players can first hand see how the game has evolved and how much work has been put into it!“
Tobias (Game-Releases): „Last but not least: Isn’t Bill just a nice guy? :D“
Conrad: „He’s not just a nice guy… He’s THE NICEST guy 😉“
Do you want to know, what we were talking about? You can find more about it, on the official Twitter Account of the Game or when the game is released on PS4/5, Xbox One/Series S/X, Switch and PC.
