Analysis of Ghostwire: Tokyo, an action-horror adventure inspired by Japanese mythology

All video game organizations seem to have set the same timing to launch their most ambitious new generation projects. This idea is probably supported by a worldwide audience that is already gradually starting to get the next-gen consoles and with it, the possibility of playing more technically demanding titles.

Bethesda owns well-known licenses such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, and more. With Shinji Mikami - creator of the Resident Evil saga - and Tango Gameworks joined forces to develop Ghostwire: Tokyo, a soft-horror and first-person action game set in Japan. From Infobae we accessed this new title before its release and experienced a large part of the content, including the completion of the main arc.

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an exclusive game for PS5 and PC, so you can play it from Steam or the Epic Games Store. We analyzed the PlayStation version as we were interested in whether the qualities of the console and DualSense were really used, as had been announced in the teasers of past events such as QuakeCon or State of Play.

As the name suggests, the story focuses on Tokyo. At the start of the new game, a tutorial of basics will be introduced while the main conflict arises: 99% of the population has disappeared unexpectedly and the spirits of Japanese folklore take control of the streets. The player will put himself in the shoes of Akito Izuki, a young man who awakens at the beginning of all this conflict - without having the opportunity to decide - ends up being possessed by a spectre -KK- that grants him supernatural abilities. The main character will aim to search for the only living relative he has left, his sister Mari.

In the midst of this stage immersed in darkness, a man dressed in dark garments and a Hannya mask appears, who claims to be the leader of this whole project whose motives are unknown and proclaims himself as a kind of messiah with the gift of purifying souls. The plot becomes even more dramatic when this being kidnaps Mari with the help of three other mask wearers. All of them prove to have powers similar to those of Akito's host.

While the objective is very clear from the start, the main story will take many turns between chapter and chapter. The primary path invites us to gather clues and discover paths that lead us to find the protagonist's sister. Progress will be made with the resolution of missions or by eliminating the ghouls. Of course there is also a rather strong RPG component reflected in Akito's statistics. As experience is gained, it will level up and thereby increase the maximum HP and new attacks or skills will become available.

Combat is not only important in Ghostwire: Tokyo. In fact, it is one of its strongest and most attractive pillars as an integral work. The entity that Akito possesses enables a series of spiritual powers that are linked to the elements of nature (wind, water and fire). Each of them will have their respective advantage against certain monsters and can be upgraded in the skill tree.

With the joystick, the feeling of friction with the demons is spectacular, since you can comfortably and quickly choose between all the aggression options on a very agile wheel, without the need to access a change menu that cuts off the immersion. Attacks can be quick damage, in area or to push opponents. Special Moves consume XP, which is recovered with the help of the abatement of opponents or by breaking certain floating objects from the stage. This section is very dynamic and fun, it cuts with the classic casteos schemes and tests the player's aim.

Continuing in the field of spiritual disputes, there are a very wide variety of enemies that players will encounter on their way. Some are stronger than others and will appear repeatedly in the adventure, as they are a resource that is used several times from end to end. Its artistic design is aligned with all the gloomy atmosphere that plagues Ghostwire: Tokyo. Also, from the weakest to the strongest of the bosses, it has adopted a very high creepy detail that goes hand in hand with Japanese culture or religion. Without going into spoilers, bosses have a series of hostile and defensive structures that invite the player to finely analyze the terrain and thus have a very challenging fight.

Ghostwire: Tokyo offers a giant open urban area - and full of darkness - where modern buildings, ancient temples and many shops are recreated. In addition to having a large number of royal monuments, there is a strong interior design work that also captures attention.

Exploration is not only a very present element in the game thanks to the recreation of the city: inspecting all the recesses of the map will be well rewarded. There are many temples to pray and raise statistics, thousands of collectibles to find (ideal for those successful players) and - last but not least - there are plenty of dogs and cats to pet or feed. Yes, they will collaborate to make the player's stay more pleasant, but they will also reward him with money or instructions to discover hidden valuable objects.

From the first moment - and even in the endgame - there will be a damaging fog that when it comes into contact will damage Akito's health. Even if he stays in it for a long time, he can kill the protagonist if he exhausts his health. This fog occurs in certain areas of the map and can only be cleared through the purification of the sanctuaries distributed on the map, which, in addition, will be used for rapid travel. Although there are no mounts or vehicles to transport, there are certain buildings that have a Tengu, a mythological animal that allows us to rise very easily to the terraces, further expanding the options for exploration.

It is a reality that the map is free of NPCs, except for some vendors; however, there are many souls to collect with a Katashiro, a paper figure. These will work as collectibles - since they don't affect the order of the main arc - but they will also serve to farm experience and level up faster.

On a graphic level, the game achieves a good result. The open spaces have a very eye-catching art direction, with a color palette that delicately blends between gothic and cyberpunk, thanks to the combination of neon colors with a nice applique of gray tones. The digital illustration of all the internal and external architecture of Tokyo is spectacular and the recreation of towers or churches, with all the necessary assets, is very realistic.

From the first chapter, Akito begins to have visions in the middle of the gameplay. Probably the recreation of these hallucinogenic scenarios is one of the most striking points of Ghostwire: Tokyo. The transitions - when you go from normal play to having these demonic images - are incredible. All the mutating particles and the animations used, in sync with an auditory section that squeezes the most out of advanced 3D qualities, really coexist to offer an excellent experience.

On a technical level, PlayStation 5 takes up 19 GB of storage and offers the following options:

-Quality Mode: Rendered with Ray Tracing. Limited to 30 FPS

-Performance Mode: High frame rate. Limited to 60 FPS.

-HFR: Unlimited FPS while maintaining quality or performance. You can also opt for Vsync on or off for monitors or TVs with higher refresh rates.

Without a doubt, DualSense plays a huge role in this experience. Tango Gameworks knew how to make the most of all the tools that this controller offers, since you will be able to feel the rain through the vibration and tension of the adaptive triggers with different abilities.

This title also offers good accessibility options in different aspects. For example, it has the option for gamers who suffer from color blindness. It also has several built-in languages and is even localized to Latin Spanish (voices and texts). With regard to difficulties, there are four levels to choose from: easy, normal, difficult and Tatari.

Regarding the duration, it took us 14 hours to finish the main arc on normal difficulty and interspersed with Tatari for some clashes with the bosses. However, there are hundreds of side missions that expand these numbers to a minimum of another 20 hours. The challenges or alternative quests are a point that surprised us positively, since they all have a new microstory to tell or a legend to tell based on the culture of the Yokai. All of them are very engaging and do not abuse repetitiveness at all.

Ghostwire: Tokyo comes to please the gamer audience that craves single-player games and is shaping up to be one of the important bets of 2022. With a good balance between Tokyo's modernity and elements of Japanese mythology, an interesting combat proposal and a story that manages to catch, it comes to join an early part of the year that never stopped surprising players.

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