Ghostwire Tokyo Review – An Addictive Open World Horror
Ghostwire Tokyo is the newest game published by Bethesda and and developed by Tango Gameworks. Tango Gameworks are best known for their work on The Evil Within series and that becomes very clear whilst playing GT. The games aren’t the same in any way shape or form but it is very evident that they were developed by the same company, which is fine, The Evil Within was a massive success and rightfully so.
Tokyo’s Ghosts
A young man named Akito is taken over by the spirit of a paranormal investigator named KK. He gives him the paranormal power to fight what they dub The Visitors who trap spirits of the dead and send them somewhere where they cannot be rescued. Both Akito and KK have their own missions but their fate intertwines and they’re forced to work together to bring down the shadowy characters in the Hannya masks.
That’s the basic gist without giving away any spoilers and whilst I’ve done the game no justice with a synopsis like that, please believe me when I say; this game is absolutely amazing! I’ll start with one thing: the fist person perspective isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, in fact it took me a while to get used to it myself because I’ve always disliked first person games. That all changed when I got a few minutes into the second act, suddenly without even realising it, I was hours in and it felt like minutes.
Gameplay
The gameplay is relatively simple, even after you get your bow. Using the powers KK gives you blast away at The Visitors and whilst doing so save as many souls as you can. My absolute favourite part of the gameplay though is that it’s open world without being open world. As you progress and visit shrines the fog that can’t be touched disperses in that general area. Meaning the game is relatively linear to begin with and only opens up as you make new discoveries. The shrines are easy to find but you don’t need to open up that new area if you don’t feel you’re ready, which is great, it allows for pacing without the tedium of an open world that isn’t bursting with life. Tango Gameworks have found a great middle ground here and I genuinely loved that.
Review
I’ll try and keep this review as brief as possible and get to the point. Ghostwire Tokyo is exactly what “open world” should mean. There’s no boredom or tedium, it encourages players to come back and return to where they need to go when they want but also encourages exploration in finding lost spirits. The combat is simple but effective and it’s never overly flashy or more than it needs to be. It is what it is, take it or leave it, which is an approach I can respect.
Overall this is one I’d suggest to anyone I knew was stuck looking for a good game to play.
