Studio behind arguably the best walking sim ever has the perfect pitch for its next game: a mix of Ico, Studio Ghibli, and David Attenborough

Giant Sparrow, the studio behind the critically acclaimed 'What Remains of Edith Finch', is developing a new game that explores the wonders and horrors of biology through a collection of short stories, drawing inspiration from Studio Ghibli, Walt Disney, David Attenborough, and Fumito Ueda's 'Ico'.

Giant Sparrow has been largely silent since they put out maybe the best walking sim of all time and definitely one of the best games of its year with 2017's What Remains of Edith Finch. And after seven years, the studio is finally ready to talk about its next long-awaited project.

Giant Sparrow hasn't named or even shown its next adventure, but a post from its website says the early-in-development game is focused "on exploring the wonders and horrors of biology" where "you play as a field biologist studying both mundane and fantastical urban wildlife." The blog post also namedrops arguably the perfect mix of inspirations for the project, too, ranging from Studio Ghibli and early Walt Disney animations that "felt weirdly alive" to David Attenborough nature documentaries and Fumito Ueda's hugely influential first game, Ico.

The three-person studio's founder and creative director Ian Dallas, who first got started on The Unfinished Swan, shed more light on the unnamed game in an interview with The New York Times, where he revealed it would be yet another collection of short stories that tie together in some way. 

What Remains of Edith Finch jumped between the perspectives of several family members on their very last minutes alive as they all dealt with a hereditary curse that may or may not have literally existed. What connects their next game is instead a theme of "trying to call out just how weird biology is" - including all the gross processes that we've convinced ourselves are beautiful, actually. Dallas is aware of that odd dichotomy, though. "Hopefully, this game is going to be one of the stranger games that people have experienced," he says. "I'm doing everything I can to make it that way." And I'm so, so looking forward to being both grossed out and in awe of whatever surreal sights come out of Giant Sparrow in the future.

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