Welcome to the supernatural world of Ghostwire Tokyo

Developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks, Ghostwire Tokyo is a first-person experience, which blurs the boundaries between horror and the supernatural genre.

 Ghostwire Tokyo was released worldwide on March 25^th 2022 and available as a one year timed exclusive for both Microsoft Windows and PS5. The game allows us to use a variation of both psychic and paranormal abilities, to defeat the enemy and ghosts antagonising Tokyo. We can also weave and craft magic spells to our advantage and utilise different hand movements.

Akito is our main protagonist who is possessed and saved by a spirit detective called ‘KK’, just shortly after having a motorbike accident. Together, they must unveil the mystery of the Yokai (visitors), who have invaded the city and stop an occult group known as ‘Hannya’, who have kidnapped Akito’s sister Mari.

Some of the cooler aspects of the game, showcases the incredible vivid colour brought to life onscreen in Tokyo. Aesthetically, it works really well and when casting magic spells it feels fantastic to look at. It just goes to show that not all horror games have to be dull, dark and bland.

Another cool feature of the game is encountering a dog companion who can sense souls who haven’t quite crossed over onto the other side. This is an advantage when collecting the souls, as you can trade them for MP points and XP experience. Bearing in mind that after you have collected the souls, your next trip will be to find a telephone booth and collect your points (think along the lines of Bill and Ted’s Excellent of Adventure, but instead of travelling through history, you’re dialling to help the good of mankind!).

Ghostwire Tokyo is around 10 hours long, that’s if you’re just focusing on the main campaign. The side quests are okay but nothing too great. The gameplay cutscenes are engaging, interesting and when cleansing gates and areas, it makes the game feel that extra bit special. The map itself is fairly straight forward and you can pinpoint areas of interest aswell as plotting a marker. Both Japanese and English audio is available from the menu settings.

The player can also utilise the points that they have acquired to build up their skill tree, which allows Akito to home in his unique abilities and power, so that he can defeat harder and stronger opponents.

The combat is straight forward and here at 1st11, we didn’t feel like we were left struggling on how to cast spells either. It’s very enjoyable, and after taking the enemy head on in first-person perspective is rather satisfying knowing that they’re going straight back to wherever they came from! 

There are two layers to the enemy, one of which is the outer layer, break that down and you’re left with the core. We played this on Xbox One, so when we pressed LT to trigger as to what can only be described as a ‘Cowboy Lasso’ with a whip, bringing our enemy in closer tearing them apart from the inside out. It’s awesome seeing the graphic design come into play as the enemy vanishes into thin air!

Ghostwire Tokyo showcases a vast open world environment, and at times it can feel a little overwhelming especially when you get hurt by the ever-damaging red fog.

Is Ghostwire Tokyo worth buying? Well…here at 1st11 we felt as though the game took a rather unusual path from what Tango Gameworks have produced in the past, but that’s not to say that we didn’t enjoy the more fun elements like building up abilities and using them to take down the enemy. We also enjoyed the more haunting elements of the game too!