Ghostwire: Tokyo

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action-adventure game played from a first-person perspective. The player can use various psychic and paranormal abilities to defeat the ghosts and spirits haunting Tokyo.[3] Combat director Shinichiro Hara described the combat as "karate meets magic", as the player character utilizes hand movements inspired by Kuji-kiri hand gestures to cast spells. When an enemy loses most of their health, its core is exposed and the player can use takedown moves to destroy it. By defeating these spirits and collecting Yokai, the character will collect spirit points and resources used to upgrade their abilities.[4]

Nearly all of Tokyo's citizens have gone mysteriously, and ghostly spirits (known as Visitors) have invaded the city. Akito, the game's protagonist, is possessed and saved by a spirit detective named KK after a motorcycle accident, who, while having his own agenda, grants him supernatural powers. As Akito combats the visitors haunting the city, and catching yokai to grow stronger, he encounters a group wearing Hannya masks who may unveil the mystery behind the strange events in Tokyo, one of which is the kidnapping of Akito's sister to host a ritual to give birth to a new world full of ghosts and ghouls.

In June 2019, during Bethesda Softworks's press conference at E3 2019, Shinji Mikami and creative director Ikumi Nakamura announced Ghostwire: Tokyo, an action-adventure game with horror elements.[5] Nakamura later resigned from Tango Gameworks in September 2019, leaving the studio after nine years.[6] Unlike The Evil Within series of video games, Ghostwire is primarily an action-adventure game instead of a survival horror game, though the game still retains some horror themes and elements. Shinichirō Hara, who worked on the combat of 2016's Doom, joined Tango to help the team craft the game's action-oriented combat. According to him, the game's combat, which was largely inspired by Kuji-kiri and martial arts, enabled the team to "put a lot more movement and personality into the player action as the player's hands are organic extensions of the character".[4] The game uses Unreal Engine 4.[7]

On September 21, 2020, Bethesda Softworks' parent company, ZeniMax Media and Microsoft announced Microsoft's intent to buy ZeniMax and its studios, including Tango Gameworks, for US$7.5 billion, incorporating the studios as part of Xbox Game Studios, with the sale finalized on March 9, 2021.[8][9] Xbox Game Studios head Phil Spencer said that this deal would not affect the pre-existing plan to release Ghostwire: Tokyo as a console-exclusive on the PlayStation 5, and the game would eventually arrive on Xbox consoles at least one year after the initial release.[10] Those who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition via PlayStation Store were granted early access to the game on March 22, 2022.[11] The game released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 5 on March 25, 2022.[12][13]

Ghostwire: Tokyo received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[14][15]

Reviewers likened the lack of polish and antiquated nature of the game's action elements to a "different era of action game design",[22][25] while others, though reviewing the title positively, acknowledged the narrow target audience due to said elements.[18][19][22]

Combat was criticized for lacking depth through its lack of combos, rudimentary skill tree, and slow and imprecise movement, but was praised for its engaging presentation, kinetic feel, and its use of the DualSense controller. Movement was also criticized for being slow and imprecise during combat.[18][19][22][24] Several review outlets felt that the Ghostwire: Tokyo's premise was largely compelling, and that its story and characters were tightly written, but that none of these elements were fully realized.[22][25][28][30]

Many outlets also claimed that the game felt particularly uninspired and repetitive after a while, and that it failed to do anything new or interesting with its premise in terms of its gameplay. They also felt that the game's structure of cleansing gates was largely repetitive and criticized the underutilized potential of the linearly designed open world. The visual style and theming, atmosphere, dense design, and compact scale of the world was largely praised.[16][18][19][22][24][28]

Some commended side quests for their weirder tones, engaging design, and short length,[18][22] while others criticized them for being unmemorable and repetitive.[24][25][28][30] Enemies were heavily praised for their haunting designs, but were criticized for the lack of variety and unchallenging design. Bosses in particular were deemed underwhelming in nature.[16][19][22][24][28]

Prior to release, a number of outlets noted technical issues with the PC version of the game, citing stuttering as an issue.[25][30][34]

The PlayStation 5 version of Ghostwire: Tokyo was the sixth bestselling retail game during its first week on sale in Japan, with 10,144 physical copies being sold.[35]

• Official website