Review: Ghostwire: Tokyo – Destructoid

A complicated ghost

For a long time, I didn’t know what to think about Ghostwire: Tokyo. Marketing makes it look like it lacks personality and until I really have to play it for myself that I began to see its potential and its purpose.

After finishing it, I’m still a bit torn, but I think a lot of people will dig it: especially if you can get past some of the traditional open-world design and peel back the inner layers.

Ghostwire: Tokyo (computer, PS5) [timed exclusive for one year]
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda
Released: March 25, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

Lead to Ghostwiremost marketing is focused on the “mystery” angle, but much of that is quickly dismissed: in a good way.

Our hero Akito (partially possessed by a spirit named KK) displays a wide range of emotions as soon as he exits the gate, and has a purpose beyond the generic macro story “what’s going on” . While the simple fact is that nearly everyone in Tokyo is missing due to some apparently supernatural cataclysm is kind of important, we will also embark on a personal journey. Akito and KK’s antagonistic relationship reminds me of War and The Watcher from Darksiders, and sometimes actually get catty. Great.

Tango Gameworks developer recommends playing Ghostwire with Japanese audio, and I have to agree. While the English dub is good (and available day one into the game), the Japanese voice cast is clearly the focal point and it helps add to the unique feel of the game. Ghostwire. Like Yakuza , it’s refreshing to watch a game about Japan made by a Japanese game studio. While having Tengus to grapple and hurl himself into the air (and other fantasy elements), GhostwireThe architecture and foundation of the work is well-founded.

However, it has limits. There are so many places you simply can’t go (and very few in the way Yakuzawacky minigame balance moves), and lots of fun with the movement system that involves jumping around rooftops with a gliding mechanic. Ghostwire there are plenty of open-world staples to boot, which can be a boon or a burden depending on how you look at it. “Clearing the gate” (to unlock more worlds and create more favorite point icons on your map) is a clever way to deal with radio towers, since no climbing is required (with a few exception). There’s plenty of pegs to sift through, but not a cynical amount, and the side quests mostly provide a unique angle or theme rather than a bunch of dull repetitive concepts.

The whole “everybody’s gone” corner is a great way to avoid having to display loads of open-world models to the outside, and creates a weird effect rarely seen in many other open-world games. But like some other elements of Ghostwire, that is give and take. While there are NPCs (mostly in the form of spirits and cat-sellers), they are few and far between, and the enemies are the main body you’ll encounter most often. Which leads me to some of the more polarizing elements of Ghostwire: Various enemies. It started in a low position and never really escalated from there with much urgency.

Early game enemies mostly look the same, with two core variations: the umbrella-standing Slender Man and the headless schoolgirl creature. As you progress you’ll see more and more variations (small raincoat patrols summoning more enemies, giant scissor demons right out of a classic Capcom horror game), but The core enemy on the ground can almost be defeated in the same way. Sometimes you will meet a yokai (according to Japanese tradition) or a fight with the boss; makes me daydream about a version of Ghostwire where each enemy is a completely different yokai. There’s a universe where this game is crazier with the same basic mechanics and I want to be there.

The elemental combat system mirrors traditional weapons, but with a spiritual “throw the magic out of your hands” perspective. Your core tools involve ranged attacks, starting with a variety of winds and eventually more traditional elements with different functions. Akito also received a bow and arrow early, on top of which are some items such as amulets; and he can melee (whose primary function is ranged), sneak in and use stealth kills, and block with an energy barrier. Standard stuff, but looks flashy, even on PS5, where particle effects look great. I’m grateful that the ability to swap between picture and performance modes (including some) is essentially the norm these days.

The more you level up and progress with the story, the more tools you’ll gain, including weird things like soul bushes that you can throw down to create a temporary wall of invisibility. This whole system performs the worst, but I wish the team leaned more towards weird angles rather than the elemental system that essentially duplicates different weapons (like the shotgun [water]a rocket launcher [fire]or rifle [wind]). In other words, more dust, less bows.

Again, all of these are usable at worst, and the upgrade system is smooth, helping to lift me out of the habit as I progress. When consumed, food also increases your max HP by a very small amount, which is hard to get used to (usually I like to save on consumables), but did a good job of making me a Actively engage in more combat, even sliding the difficulty up.

Whenever I falter, where Ghostwire keeps me coming back is thanks to its visual style and general theme. When The evil in me supposed to be a more uneven game, you can see a lot of its influence in Ghostwire. There are plenty of moments of disorientation in shock, where the entire state of the game is crumbling around you like you’re playing Eternal Darkness on the GameCube. But now Tango benefits from their insight, the additional eight years of design experience under them, and the power of state-of-the-art equipment.

Ghostwire repeatedly throws very compelling-looking Lynchian horror split-reality scenes at you, usually during tense moments involving a timer or a story moment when someone is yelling at you. The game includes many peaks and valleys, with cold open-world exploration followed by lots of tense moments. A lot of people will find the pacing to be jarring, and rightfully so!

Sometimes Ghostwire going to be goofy, whether it’s through side quest storylines, animations of lazy floating cat sellers, or costume unlocking/selfie poses. However, a lot of that is simmering beneath the surface, clashing with the more dramatic rhythm of the story and straight-played horror elements. In the end what you get is a project where you have to try somewhat to see a lot of the quirks beneath the sometimes standard open-world exterior.

In another world, Tango Gameworks might have discontinued the game; But with a brand new start under the umbrella of Xbox Game Studios, I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us. Ghostwire: Tokyo It’s not for everyone, but it does give us a glimpse of what Tango is capable of and I hope they push the style a bit harder next time.