Ethereal – A Journey to Let Go and Find Peace

How much unfinished work do we leave behind when we die?

How much unfinished work do we leave behind when we die? How ready will we be when the time comes? These aren’t really questions anyone likes to think over, but considering the fragility of the lives we and our loved ones live, those questions will eventually force their way into our lives. Ethereal wants to explore some of those questions using a cute, but dark, puzzle platformer where overcoming its challenges symbolizes a spirit’s journey to let go of his past and embrace what awaits beyond. It’s an extremely personal story as well, crafted from Thomas Finch’s (developer) memories of his father’s death at an early age.

Letting go isn’t easy. Instead of standard platforming, the game has players switching gravity at will for their little ghost. Using that ability, you’ll have to dodge the weird, sphere-shaped hellhounds that patrol the paths. Contact with one will drag you to hell, so you’ll need to stay away. The game isn’t just about getting to the end of a path and avoiding some monsters, though, as there are various other powers to gain over the game’s seven chapters. You gain the ability to haunt people, turn into fog and pass through things, control animals, and lead other spirits, all of which will add new depth to the puzzles over the course of the game. These abilities will also be needed to gather the mementos that are hidden in each world, as the amount of these you manage to collect will dictate the ending you get.

I’m a little nervous about the fact that some mementos require players to solve more traditional puzzles like riddles and jigsaw puzzles to get them. Like those sliding block picture puzzles, otherwise known as ‘Joel is going to get a walkthrough so he doesn’t break the computer in half.’ Thomas Finch and Despawn (development company) are currently looking for your Greenlight voteand, if you’re so inclined, also some Kickstartersupport.

For those looking to know more about this touching project, and Finch’s personal story within, you can follow it on Twitter, the game’s site, and on IndieDB.