Not a fan of the lack of research

[Falcolmreynolds]

This game's audio mechanic is pretty cool - definitely the best thing about it, re proximity of in-game voice chat and the radio communication. It's a super fun and innovative mechanic. Ghost hunting is a blast, and it's really fun to watch your friends get spooked. I really enjoy these parts of the game, but I'm really not a fan of how the names of some of the spirits and some of the items are, uh, not well-researched, to say the least. I'm not sure why non-Christian-aligned spirits would respond to a crucifix at all? Why can't the banshee scream? That's the entire point of the banshee mythology; it wails outside the house if someone in a household is going to die. I feel like a lot of the names for the spirits - oni, yurei - were just pulled off a list of paranormal entities with little to no regard for what those entities actually are and if it's appropriate to use them.

My main beef, though, is with the 'smudge sticks.' Smudging is a Native American practice that is NOT open to just anybody and is NOT just about waving some sage in the air to get ghosts to go away, and every single time I see or hear anybody mention 'smudge sticks' while playing this game it makes me cringe. We can't just take the names of practices and strip them completely of context and legitimacy, then use them for our own purposes; that's called cultural appropriation. We can't be doing that, and I cannot bring myself to recommend this game or speak highly of it because of this oversight.

I get that a single google search for smudging doesn't turn up mentions of cultural appropriation, because it's been that overlooked in the past. But that's why we have to research things when we make games, so we don't make mistakes like this. We cannot just grab a name without checking what that's the name of.

In the past, there's been many, many instances of video games misusing different mythologies. This is a known and well-recorded problem. This is just one instance of an industry-wide trend that most people don't even really know exists because it's taken as standard behaviour, when it really probably shouldn't be. Game devs across the industry should make it a normal practice to do some research on whatever paranormal or mythological entity or practice they're pulling actually is, beyond just a name.

This would be super easy to fix; just rename some assets. You could probably just make up some names for different spirits if you wanted, I don't think anybody would have any problems with that! But as it stands I DO have problems with the names as they are now, and I know a lot of other folks do too. If you want to keep the names of the spirits as they are, I'd suggest making their actions and behaviour more unique, with more unique courses of action required to deal with them. IMO that would make the game more tricky and interesting.

It's obvious that this wasn't done maliciously. I can tell that! It's an easy mistake to make. But it was careless, and it needs remedied.

Tl;dr: please rename 'smudge sticks' and some of the spirits so the game isn't actively appropriating random cultures.

Edited for clarity.

[Throngler]

Nah

[Welfare Warrior]

meh

[just keep vibing]

All of this. We need to hold games and devs accountable

[Dorano]

Yeah I'm with you here. It's obviously just a screwup in the research, but the lack of effort put into the ghost types is just... so boring. Each type just feels like a reskin of the basic spirit, which is lame. I know it's early access but COME ON.

quick edit because i had some more thoughts - it's not a bad game. There are some really cool mechanics, but they feel wasted because the world they're in feels lazily-built.

[Gobbington]

lost me at "cultural appropriation"

[Z]

the care put into the game mechanics and voice is amazing, but i agree it would be nice if the same care went into researching the cultures these spirits take inspiration from. currently, there is cultural appropriation issues re: smudging and non-christian based spirits being harmed by christian based tools is immersion breaking

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by Falcolmreynolds:

This game's audio mechanic is pretty cool but I'm really not a fan of how the names of some of the spirits and some of the items are, uh, not well-researched, to say the least. I'm not sure why non-Christian-aligned spirits would respond to a crucifix at all? Why can't the banshee scream? That's the entire point of the banshee mythology; it wails outside the house if someone in a household is going to die. I feel like a lot of the names for the spirits - oni, yurei - were just pulled off a list of paranormal entities with little to no regard for what those entities actually are and if it's appropriate to use them.

My main beef, though, is with the 'smudge sticks.' Smudging is a Native American practice that is NOT open to just anybody and is NOT just about waving some sage in the air to get ghosts to go away, and every single time I see or hear anybody mention 'smudge sticks' while playing this game it makes me cringe. We can't just take the names of practices and strip them completely of context and legitimacy, then use them for our own purposes; that's called cultural appropriation. We can't be doing that, and I cannot bring myself to recommend this game or speak highly of it because of this oversight.

I get that a single google search for smudging doesn't turn up mentions of cultural appropriation, because it's been that overlooked in the past. But that's why we have to research things when we make games, so we don't make mistakes like this. We cannot just grab a name without checking what that's the name of.

This would be super easy to fix; just call them sage bundles or sage sticks or something and you're fine to move along. Same with some of the spirits; just rename them. You could probably just make up some names if you wanted, I don't think anybody would have any problems with that! But as it stands I DO have problems with the names, and I know a lot of other folks do too.

It's obvious that this wasn't done maliciously. I can tell that! But it was careless, and it needs remedied.

Tl;dr: please rename 'smudge sticks' and some of the spirits so the game isn't actively appropriating random cultures.

1. often in modern supernatural horror, it's not really the holy item that affects the evil spirit, it's the True Faith the wielder has in it.

2. banshee screams are a misinterpretation made popular with D&D. in actual mythology, a banshee is a fairy woman singing a death lament called a "keening." in mythology, this keening is not the cause of death, but predicts the death of a family member.

3. it's not the game's fault the "paranormal community" has appropriated smudging. hell, half the time they just burn any random variety of sage instead of the white sage used by native tribes. speaking as a member of one of the cherokee nations, i dont mind that smudging is in the game. at least it's still being used in a way that somewhat aligns with the actual tradition, unlike, say, tobacco smoking. are you native? not just by blood but also a member of an actual tribe? if not, please, stop being offended on behalf of my people. we got this, fam.

[ShinboBidness]

bruh its a 1 month trend game

[Nicostromo]

I don't think the devs expected this game to become as popular as it is now, and even so, we need to give the game time to develop more depth and character and go through many rounds of bug fixes - in the meantime why don't you go spray paint your hair purple and complain about how there aren't obese women of color on the super smash bros character roster.

[Anca]

This would take like 2 hours to fix by the developers..just change the names of the smudge sticks and some of the ghosts. Like seriously why would a crucifix work on a japanese spirit? Kind of a no brainer

[Anca]

Also gotta love how a simple statement as 'do some research for your ghosts in your ghost game' makes some nasty lil gremlins come out of the woodwork with 2000's neckbeard jokes. Stay classy, steam.

[Cursed Hawkins]

Originally posted by Dr Gori:

3. it's not the game's fault the "paranormal community" has appropriated smudging. hell, half the time they just burn any random variety of sage instead of the white sage used by native tribes. speaking as a member of one of the cherokee nations, i dont mind that smudging is in the game. at least it's still being used in a way that somewhat aligns with the actual tradition, unlike, say, tobacco smoking. are you native? not just by blood but also a member of an actual tribe? if not, please, stop being offended on behalf of my people. we got this, fam.

Ok I can't help but feel OP having some kind of smirk when they typed that thinking they were "protecting" someone's traditions only to have someone who knows those traditions not being as offended as they expected.

[Die Monster]

As far as I know, only 1 dev made this game and is working on it. Have to admit, the first launch was incredibly successful and homey needs some time to add to it.

[Throngler]

Originally posted by Nicostromo:

I don't think the devs expected this game to become as popular as it is now, and even so, we need to give the game time to develop more depth and character and go through many rounds of bug fixes - in the meantime why don't you go spray paint your hair purple and complain about how there aren't obese women of color on the super smash bros character roster.

This is the (objectively) correct take.

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by Anca:

Also gotta love how a simple statement as 'do some research for your ghosts in your ghost game' makes some nasty lil gremlins come out of the woodwork with 2000's neckbeard jokes. Stay classy, steam.

one could say the game is staying true to the subject matter, as real-world "ghost hunters" appropriate and mislabel constantly.