This indie mashup of Zelda and Studio Ghibli is gorgeous, though its creator didn’t want to “mimic” the iconic animation studio, but to “find out what makes it special, and recreate those watercolor movies in a game”

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.