At times, Ghostwire: Tokyo is unlike anything I’ve ever played. My jaw drops as I run through a hallway that wildly morphs around me as if it’s a space truly possessed by evil spirits. Other times, I’m wading through another map filled with busy work, anxiously waiting for that next scripted “wow” sequence. Developed by Tango Gameworks, the studio that brought us The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a first-person action game that’s most notable for (likely) being the final Bethesda game on PlayStation. It fuses horror and fantasy to imagine an eerie version of the Shibuya section of Tokyo that’s haunted by spirits — both the helpful and hurtful kind. Tango borrows familiar tropes from your typical open-world shooter, but masks the more generic design touchstones in a layer of atmospheric weirdness. Ghostwire: Tokyo is at its best when it’s reimagining Japanese folklore in visually astonishing ways and delivering moving visualizations of what it’s like to pass on. It’s less compelling ...
Creative use of folklore; Excellent atmosphere; Some stunning set pieces; Standout sub-stories;
Thin combat; Repetitive world activities; Lacking in enemy variety;