Ghostwire: Tokyo review: An enjoyable experience, marred by disappointing action sequences

Ghostwire: Tokyo is the latest horror/action title from Tango Gameworks and Bethesda. In the early trailers and teasers, it felt like it was going to be a horror game, like the developers’ previous work (The Evil Within), but it was more of an action-adventure than anything else.

It does feature some horror elements, but it certainly did not frighten or jumpscare me, even once. For fans expecting a deep psychological horror, they will be disappointed. That said, I still love playing the game, despite its flaws.

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Ghostwire: Tokyo combines extraordinary spirit powers and plenty of Japanese folklore

The city of Tokyo is all but abandoned. Most people are dead, floating around as lost spirits, unable to move on to the next life. The main character, Akito, is trapped between life and death, thanks to a motorcycle accident. Enter K.K., a mysterious spirit also trapped here, who inhabits his body.

This grants Akito some incredible supernatural powers and allows Akito to go on living. Akito’s goal has always been to see his sister in the hospital, but K.K. has his own goal in stopping a mysterious foe wearing a hannya mask. The two stories intertwine and are bound by a similar purpose.

I enjoyed this story, and it does spend a lot of time on the notion of “What happens after we die?” and I appreciate that. The side-missions are genuinely fascinating looks into what things can hold someone back and tie them to this world as lost souls. These souls have unfinished business in the physical world, from long-lost families to simply needing the bathroom.

The neon lights of Shibuya really stood out in GhostWire: Tokyo (Image via Tango Gameworks)

That’s what endeared me to the game: the attention to detail in the world and its people. There’s a lot of attention to detail in Japanese folklore, which stuck with me.

Another solid point is the character interaction. K.K. and Akito started as a bit antagonistic, which made sense. But they found common ground, and the interactions were pretty wholesome.

Combat is likable but flawed

This game is a first-person shooter, even if we’re occasionally flinging elemental magic at enemies and firing a bow. I’m convinced that this should have been or was going to be a third-person game at one point or another.

Quite a few of my attacks would fall short of the mark, and aim felt slightly off. I like the different elemental attacks and their uses (Wind, Fire, Water), and the bow and arrow gameplay were good.

Being able to refill some of my elemental charges by breaking stuff in the world helped offset the problems I had with aiming, but one part of the combat was awful - melee. Akito does this weak little palm thrust, and I can only think of a few times when it ever did a single helpful thing for me.

The big gimmick in combat reveals the cores of these enemies and uses L2 to latch onto them with a ghost wire to rip the core out and destroy them. Dealing a certain amount of damage to enemies will stun them so you can rip out their core.

It starts as a brief window, but the player can increase that window of opportunity with skill points invested. This allows for incredible moments like damaging all enemies and ripping out all of their cores at once.

I like the idea of combat, without a doubt. I’m glad enemy projectiles don’t come in hot and fast, but nice and slow. It gives the player time to prepare for a hail of orbs and perfectly parry them.

But the melee genuinely disappointed me. I was left hoping that Akito would pick up a blade, a stick, or spirit weapon somewhere along the line. That aside, combat is fun.

That's important because combat is a massive part of the game. Players can improve their power by collecting prayer beads and visiting Jinzo statues to improve how many of each elemental attack they can hold.

Some of the boss battles are genuinely unique too. Occasionally, K.K. and Akito get separated, and the player has to go without special powers. One boss battle, in particular, made this enjoyable by turning it into a stealth game. So while combat does have its flaws, it's kept fresh, and it's fast-paced and exciting.

The world is detailed, and there is a lot to do

A great deal of work was put into the area of Tokyo the player inhabits. So many little nooks, crannies, and things to explore. It reminded me of a spiritual version of the various Yakuza games.

There are collectibles to find, and adorable dogs and cats to pet, another plus for Ghostwire: Tokyo (Image via Tango Gameworks)

It felt very satisfying to explore and find the collectible items that Nekomata (cat spirits) were hungering for, unlocking new outfits, music tracks, and more. That’s another major thing that kept me coming back to Ghostwire: Tokyo, and that was the actual world itself.

Akito can hide behind cars or down in alleys to avoid detection by the many spirits hunting him and make awesome sneak attacks that way. It’s a lot of fun to use the grapple mechanic by lashing a ghost wire onto the Tengu and leaping to a rooftop.

I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate him taking zero fall damage. There are a lot of times when it’s just faster to jump down from a high spot, and I understand that. Players will virtually never run out of ways to pick up more consumables or money to purchase items with either.

The poisonous mist clears after purifying the various Torii gates in Shibuya (Image via Tango Gameworks)

Players open more of the city by visiting Torii gates and purifying them, dispelling the damaging mist that is consuming the city. This will also add more side quests and places to explore, just in general. The world itself is delightful. Completionists will have plenty of stuff to track down and animals to meet.

Is it really horror, though? It comes close

Creepy? Absolutely. Scary? That's up to you to decide (Image via Tango Gameworks)

There are some pretty creepy moments in GhostWire: Tokyo, but I hesitate to call it horror. Exploring dilapidated buildings is rather eerie, especially when objects start moving on their own and spirits start popping up out of nowhere.

It unsettled me a few times and caught me off guard, but no jump scares or terrifying moments for me personally. I love a good horror film, Japanese or otherwise, but this didn’t do it for me when it comes to being scary. That’s not a bad thing, though.

It could scare other people, but I found myself more fascinated than scared in Ghostwire: Tokyo. I did find myself immersed in the Shibuya district of Tokyo I found myself in, though, and could not get enough of the spooky, empty streets of the city.

In Conclusion

Ghostwire: Tokyo is a solid, enjoyable game, and that's totally fine (Image via Tango Gameworks)

While not a perfect game, I genuinely found myself enjoying Ghostwire: Tokyo. The flaws in melee combat aside, I loved tackling the more powerful spirits, finding creative ways to hold them back while firing bolt after glowy, magical bolts of magical power.

Ghostwire: Tokyo reminded me of Infamous or Watch Dogs if they were based on Japanese folklore instead. It’s certainly not a negative, but I didn’t feel like it innovated much in the horror/action genres. It’s an enjoyable playthrough and undoubtedly fun.