There Are No Ghosts at the Grand gets a new trailer

Easily one of the games I’m most anticipating this year, There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a weird mix of small-town UK weirdness with renovation-style gameplay. However, hidden underneath the veneer of Carsley (there is a reference to 12 people), there is a much darker and twisted tale going on that no one in the town is willing to acknowledge. I played the demo that was released some months ago, and though it is short, I wanted to see more. Apparently hosted last week on IGN’s YouTube, there was an ID@Xbox that no one bothered to advertise.

During it, we got a deeper look at the long-term gameplay for There Are No Ghosts at the Grand. Here is what the press release had to say yesterday: “Friday Sundae has released a brand new trailer for There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, following its reveal during the ID@Xbox Indie Showcase presented by IGN.” Again, lads, it would have been nice if that had been advertised in advance so we could all ignore it, but still know about it while everyone freaked out about Pirates, sexy Irish women, and a trans person.

“The trailer showcases new gameplay features from the studio’s upcoming musical, Lovecraftian renovation game, including open-world restoration, night-time supernatural investigations, and hidden ghost stories. It also reveals the 30 in-game days and nights players have to restore the Grand Hotel, explore the surrounding village, and uncover the truth behind its increasingly strange history.“

From there, the press release basically recounts, retells, and recaps everything that is made abundantly clear in the trailer. Redundant? I hardly got to work in the hotel, if you catch my drift. It is actually the bottom of the press release I am more interested in than repeating something you can experience yourself.

It continues: “The trailer features ‘Skeletons in the Closet,’ an original song performed by Marcia Richards of The Skints, who voices the character Lily in the game. The track is one of more than ten original songs featured in There Are No Ghosts at the Grand, where each key character has their own musical story waiting to be uncovered.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand is a narrative-rich exploration game with renovation gameplay, supernatural mystery, musical storytelling, and a small open world set in a fading English seaside town. Players will renovate by day, hunt ghosts by night, and discover why everyone keeps insisting that there are no ghosts at the Grand.“

I have to admit, I do love some ska, and thus far, that’s the soundtrack of There Are No Ghosts at the Grand. Which, as I have said, is one of the games I am most excited for in a year that, if we’re honest, is dominated by a bloated whale sat in November. Still no release date or more narrowed-down release window, but getting this closer look at There Are No Ghosts at the Grand might suggest we’re certainly getting closer to uncovering the mystery with our talking cat and Scottish paintbrush.