Burggeist is one of this year’s best surprises, an action RTS with tower-defense elements, amazing world-building, and innovative mechanics. Burggeist looks like a lost Japanese PS2 game, a combination of the reflective open-world of Shadow of the Colossus with the disturbing characters of Drakengard.

The main character is Ignace, a magician working for a mysterious society. His wife was petrified by a mysterious illness, but when all hopes seemed lost, his daughter found a solution. Or better, Axiom, the demon communicating only through letters with Ignace’s daughter, found a solution. Only by building a tower to heaven, Ignace will save his wife. Finding a place to build the tower is easy enough, but protecting it from the hordes of Abhorers is another topic. Luckily for Ignace, the demon Burggeist, a titan bringing around an assault platform, will help him in the task.

Aliscans is a peculiar land, a mix of dark fantasy and medieval Europe. There are some hints of the real world, such as the Black Plague or some tribes. On top of that, Aliscans is a world of magic, hidden relics, and mysterious demons, with a lot of dark and deep lore. For example, demons can only be seen between the fingers of a kid’s hand. For this reason, several magicians implant a kid’s arm on their bodies. In Aliscans, building something too high is impossible, and will cause a horde of monsters, the angelic-looking beings called Abhorer, to appear to destroy it. Outside the common world, the Onion Universe exists, divided in Spheres which are possible to reach and influence each other, still based on the Solar System.

The world has several places to build a tower, and even if you need only a 5000m towers to move toward the end-game, building different towers will expand the game. In fact, when a tower is high enough, a character could come to visit it, starting a secondary quest with usually incredible rewards. And of course, all the characters are peculiar, bizarre, and in some cases disturbing individuals, reminding me of Yoko Taro’s games such as Drakengard or the first Nier.

In the following article, I will analyse some of the most peculiar and disturbing characters associated with secondary quests.

Marius

Marius is a mite and peaceful man, a farmer looking for a good place to live in this harsh world. He found the perfect house in a hidden spot, with even a field ready outside. However, he is worried that could be a trap and is here in the tower to ask for your help. Just to quickly check the house to see if it is a safe place. Sounds like the most common quest in an RPG, right? 

Well, after reaching the house, you find the inside filled with growing tumors of flesh, swallowing the walls. If this could be just an encounter with a random monster inside the NPC house, the far terrifying truth is revealed inside a hidden note. Marius is not human, but a disturbing, powerful, and sinister entity. A proper Slenderman or Boogeyman hidden in sheep’s clothes.

Do not run from him, You must match his conversation, Do not mention what you know: these are only some of the pieces of advice hidden inside the note. Moreover, Marius is an entity that enjoys transforming humans into grotesque lumps of flesh with a simple touch. This explains the flesh growing inside the house. Marius is known as the Walking Cataclysm from Mars, an entity coming from the external spheres of the Onion Universe, a being only looking for destruction.

However, till the victim follows its plan, without giving signs of knowing the truth, Marius will not show its real face. Only metaphorically speaking, because Marius’ real face is a hole of meat. Luckily Marius has a weakness: flies. The entity dislikes flesh flies, creatures swarming dead meat and flesh, an anathema for this disturbing NPC. Flies can scare Marius away, but the Walking Cataclysm will bring its act somewhere else, since it is impossible to kill.

Iron Egan

A knight in full armor, Egan escaped the war and the Black Plague. However, while death and disease surrounded him, these are not Egan’s main concerns. Right now, he is terrified of his armor, since he is unable to remove it. However, the truth is even more terrifying, because the armor is not simply stuck on Egan’s body, but it is completely hollow inside. What happened to Egan’s body?

Well, the body disappeared because the cursed armor fed on it, and now the cold metal is the only body hosting Egan’s personality. However, in this condition, Egan is practically immortal, unable to die, and willing to change the world. When he will get tired of being alive, a Tempest of Mercury is the only natural phenomenon that could finally kill him.

Herzeleide

The Abhorers take different bizarre shapes, from sort of flower artilleries to flying balls with hands. They relentlessly attack any tall construction till it is destroyed to the ground. They especially enjoy targeting the colossal towers built by the protagonist, stopping only after being annihilated.

What the protagonist never expected to see was a humanoid Abhorer. Herzeleide looks like a doll, gorgeous, with pale skin, and good manners. Her only problem? Well, during the first meeting, she misses parts of her head. Other than being quite creepy in this state, she is not dangerous.

After recovering her missing fragments, Herzeleide will be complete again. She wanders around the land looking for her family, the purpose she needs to fulfill as Abhorer. Herzeleide doesn’t wish to destroy tall buildings, but only to look for her brother. Avoiding spoilers, her mission is crucial to the game.

Man in the Hole

The 26 Reciprocities is a mysterious blank book holding huge power. It is a sort of spell book based on palindromes, and to use it, people need to flip through two different copies of the book in opposite directions. If done correctly, a hole appears inside the book, connected to a peculiar pocket dimension. From inside the darkness, a young man with gigantic eyes stares back at the readers.

Simply called the Man in the Hole, this weird being is a relic of an ancient time, somehow connected to a previous humanoid civilization. The Man in the Hole is a being associated with wisdom, able to provide, twist, or deny knowledge. In fact, when the Man stares at the readers, several formulae and equations flash in front of it, highlighting its role as keeper of hidden and secluded knowledge. The Man doesn’t speak, only stares back. However, its power is so intimidating that even Ignace refuses to deal with it, offering the book to his master.

Aunty Halja

The world of Burggeist retains similarities with Dark Ages Europe, including the Black Plague and Witch Hunt. Usqiss is one of the last witches, the only survivor of witch-hunting. She is able to ride two flying brooms at the same time, but other than that, she doesn’t have huge powers. However, she always carries around a very disturbing souvenir of her past life. The head of her grandmother, Halja, who once was a great sorceress, now hanging from her granddaughter’s belt.

Halja was a very powerful witch, with huge black powers. While Usqiss brings around the head as a sort of charm in her quest for revenge, Halja still retains a fraction of her powers. In fact, when Usqiss is asleep, the head regains her conscience and can even speak. Halja provides real powers to Usqiss, even if she doesn’t realise it. Usqiss is obsessed with her revenge against the inquisitors, but the grandmother knows that she is only risking her life, thus, she is trying to stop her. This quest is full of contradictions and, while Usqiss will ask Ignace to find the inquisitors, Halja will ask him to stop her.

You can also have a look at all the cutscenes involving these peculiar characters in the following video from the Surreal and Creepy Games channel: