Developer: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda
ReleaseDate: 25th March 2022
Platforms: PlayStation 5 & PC
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Ghostwire Tokyo has been a long time coming. First announced back at E3 2019 by then Creative Director Ikumi Nakamura, it felt like every time we saw more footage from the game we were left with more questions than answers. It really seemed like one of those games you’d have to get your hands on to fully understand. Well after spending around 30 hours with the game, I can honestly say it is just as crazy as what you saw in pre-release footage and then some!
Our adventure begins right in the heart of Tokyo during a catastrophic event. A mysterious fog has enveloped the surrounding area taking all the residents as spirits and leaving only piles of their clothes behind. All residents apart from you that is. Enter Akito, our protagonist and presumably the only one left after this bizarre tragedy. He has survived thanks to KK, a spirit who possesses you and grants you supernatural powers.
KK does not control you though. Instead, he helps the player with all manner of useful stuff from how best to use your powers to bridging the story together throughout your journey. Remember Clippy? He’s Ghostwire Tokyo’s Clippy. By default, the narration is in Japanese, with English subtitles. There is an option to switch to an English dub, but I honestly felt like it took away from the experience and atmosphere. At times it can be hard to manage what is going on in the world while reading the subtitles, but I still found this the optimal choice.
The story is decent without being something to necessarily write home about. The emptiness of the world is both a positive in terms of atmosphere and a negative when it comes to delivering a story that really gripped me. It does pick up more towards the end, but by that time your level of investment may vary. Side quests are similarly hit and miss. Some feel like they rival the quality of the main plot while others are most definitely an afterthought. However, I do enjoy some of the more off the wall tasks, such as an NPC that requires toilet paper.
Graphically the game can be a mixed bag at times. The Tokyo setting looks great, with lots of neon contrasting so well against the dark, empty city. These colours also reflect beautifully off the puddles littered throughout the streets, creating an amazing aesthetic. The interior of buildings can be a little more hit or miss, with great detail one minute and rough edges the next.
Enemies have cool designs, although I would have liked to have seen more variation throughout. The game definitely suffers in terms of the character’s facial animation though, especially compared to some recent standout titles. This is disappointing given it is a current-gen only title and in theory, concessions didn’t need to be made for last-gen hardware.
One of the absolute best features in Ghostwire is the use of the DualSense controller. This may well be the best implementation we have seen since Astro’s Playroom, with the haptic feedback being a particular highlight. Even simply scrolling through the menus is a joy and the level of effort Tango Gameworks has gone to here is appreciated, especially given they are now a Microsoft owned studio.
By default, the game starts on quality mode, which offers ray tracing but caps the framerate at 30fps. Initially, I switched to performance as I much prefer a 60fps experience even if it takes a graphical hit. However, in performance mode I experience very noticeable (and frequent) screen tearing which quickly became distracting. Eventually, I settled on High Framerate Performance (VSync) which offered a solid 60fps, great visuals and no graphical glitches of note. I did appreciate Tango Gameworks going to the effort of including so many variations and would like to see others do the same.
Where you stand on Ghostwire Tokyo’s gameplay will vary from player to player. Combat director Shinichiro Hara described it as karate meeting magic. You definitely have a range of weapons at your disposal, allowing you to decide whether you prefer varying ranged attacks or closer melee combat. For example, wind attacks can be performed from a safe distance but they only inflict small amounts of damage.
Close range slashes with water can be savage and that was my preferred method of attack, but it certainly led to a risk/reward scenario as you leave yourself exposed. These Ethereal Weaving attacks use up SP, which is replenished by killing enemies and destroying colourful inanimate objects throughout the world. The colour of the drop determines the ‘elemental’ type of SP that it’ll restore. At first, it was cool seeing all these crazy glowing objects like cars and smashing them to get SP, but it did become a bit of a pain during boss fights.
Trophy wise Ghostwire Tokyo is more lengthy than hard. I rolled credits on the campaign after roughly 12 hours, but in order to get the platinum you will need to triple that time. Completing all side missions, rounding up the bucket load of collectables and performing many other misc objectives takes time, but for the most part, it remains engaging and entertaining. Everything can be done on easy mode, and thanks to a post-story free roam nothing is missable.
Ghostwire Tokyo started off more linear than I expected, funnelling you through corridors and streets while introducing you to its insane world and creative ideas. The story could have been more memorable for sure, but this is a game that will be remembered for its setting. Tango Gameworks had a lot of ideas in mind when creating this game. Some worked, and some fell a little short. But overall, I really enjoyed my time with it and expect it to grow a cult following over time.
-Terry 🦊
