Ghostwire: Tokyo is perfect for fans of supernatural anime like Jujutsu Kaisen. In this first-person action adventure, your character Akito fights paranormal foes like headless schoolgirls and umbrella-wielding salarymen. It looks pretty, and there are cool sequences that wouldn’t be out of place in an anime. The gameplay isn’t great, and the combat is especially dull.
There’s a pretty linear plot. Everyone except Akito has gone missing. He’s got paranormal powers from a spirit living inside him. A masked villain wants to open a link with the afterlife, and he has to save the city (and his sister). Infused with Japanese folklore and culture, exploration is similar to Ubisoft’s open world games like Far Cry 6. All the things in the game serve a purpose, from torii gates to yokai to katashiro. When you gather souls with a katashiro, you get experience points and game currency. In this genre, it’s normal. While the side quests are inspired by urban legends and ghost stories, they’re simple and repetitive.
The game’s biggest weakness is combat. This game is basically a first-person shooter, but with magical ranged attacks called Ethereal Weavings. You can use wind, water, or fire elemental attacks. You can charge your attacks for more damage, and if you do enough damage, you can finish the job. I like how you recharge your supernatural powers by striking ghostly objects around town. The combat is also spiced up with a bow and talismans. As you level up (and get items), you can upgrade your combat abilities, but the combat system doesn’t change. You can’t unlock any new moves. In particular, the boss fights are unimaginative and repetitive. In some fights, you’ll have to strip your paranormal powers, which gets old after a while.
Ghostwire: Tokyo makes great use of the DualSense controller on PS5. I love the audio, especially. Your spirit buddy (KK) talks to you through the controller. The controller makes an unsettling static-like noise when you’re close to an enemy. Furthermore, the haptics are good when you’re executing certain moves, like a finisher. While many in-game tasks require you to hold a trigger or button. There are so many of them that they soon get boring. It’s telling that you can skip a repetitive but crucial task after you finish the game.
With the PS5 controller, Ghostwire: Tokyo has cool visuals and immersive audio. There’s no combat and the gameplay is formulaic. Even when I played on Normal difficulty, I never felt challenged. It’s also pretty short. I finished most of the side missions and the main story in just under 20 hours. The Sony PlayStation 5 and Windows PC version of Ghostwire: Tokyo launches on March 25, but I’d wait for a sale. Also, since Bethesda is owned by Microsoft, the game will probably come to Xbox Game Pass. For a Japanese-themed game, try Ghost of Tsushima.
