Ghostwire: Tokyo Review – Ghouls just want to have fun

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre, or a really tall lady wielding oversized scissors with homicidal glee? If the answer is “yes” to any of these, then don’t wait another minute. Pick up some talismans, weave some signs that require finger gymnastics, and go bust some ghosts in the latest dark adventure from developer Tango Gameworks: Ghostwire: Tokyo!

Japan may be off-limits to outsiders lately, but if you’ve been itching to explore the country through alternative means, then Ghostwire: Tokyo might just be the best method for embracing another culture while exploring an unseen side of the mega-city. Taking place in the Shibuya district, supernatural shenanigans are afoot in the Japanese metropolis. A strange fog unrelated to John Carpenter has rolled into town, sucking up the souls of anyone caught in the deadly mist, and unleashing a horde of lethal Visitors from the other side who want to stake a claim on the land of the living.

That’s where you enter the scene as Akito, a lone survivor who is reluctantly paired with the ghostly form of paranormal exterminator KK. On their own, neither man is a match for the Hannya mask-wearing mastermind who unleashed the ghostly forces on Tokyo; but together, you stand a better chance of fighting back against the Visitors who now roam the desolate streets. With KK inhabiting his body, Akito is able to weave spells like a first-rate sorcerer supreme, and the partnership gives the duo the spiritual firepower needed to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Even if neither character is entirely relatable or likable, Akito and KK’s odd couple combination makes for some interesting banter along the way, as they chase the villain of the hour while wrapping up loose threads related to their own personal lives. It’s Lethal Weapon by way of The Exorcist, but not even a small army of Catholic priests can measure up to the devastating finger-focused firepower that Akito and KK wield.

As their journey continues, the duo begin to unlock a range of powers that can be used to drive back hostile headless juvenile delinquents and umbrella-wielding slender men. Akito starts out with rapid-fire wind magic that he can fire off in a burst, weakening the Visitors to a point where he can finish them off by ripping out their ghostly cores in a display of phantom ferocity. It’s not too long before you get water magic that acts as a close-range spiritual shotgun, and the ability to launch piercing lances of fire at enemies, while the rest of your arsenal is complemented by stun talismans and powerful archery.

As you battle, you’ll also be able to level up your ghostbusting toolkit by pouring skill points into the talents that you’ve acquired. You’ll go from rookie spirit-hunter to seasoned exterminator, ripping cores out at close range and unleashing devastating bolts of hand-powered pyrotechnics by the time that the endgame begins.

That core combat provides a more exhilarating tour of Tokyo, one that’s augmented by some of the best hand animations you’ve ever seen in a game, along with explosive exorcism. It’s not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t need to be either. Sometimes solid and competent action is more than enough, something which Ghostwire: Tokyo delivers by the bucket load as you start to encounter more dangerous spirits who require you to think fast and use supernatural sign language to tell them to get bent.

But that fun and familiar gameplay still plays second phantom fiddle to the real appeal of the game: its amazing atmosphere. Unlike its previous spooky work, the Evil Within series, Ghostwire: Tokyo trades pants-ruining terror for a more palatable sense of dread and general unease. The mostly-deserted streets hide all manner of danger, the creepy Visitor designs will keep you on your toes, and you’ll never feel complacent in Shibuya lest you stumble into some dangerous fog.

It’s the design and focus of this atmosphere that elevates it, especially when you enter areas where the barriers between the waking world and the realm of the dead have weakened. Reality becomes volatile, barely able to contain the other side as it begins to warp the fabric of existence around you into a twisted reflection of what it’s supposed to be. There’s plenty to do in Shibuya as well, as remnant spirits hand out side-quests, friendly yokai shopkeepers ask you to gather rare items for them, and some secrets will require you to use your spiritual sight to uncover them.

Exploration never elicits a feeling of jam-packed dread à la Assassin’s Creed as well, because Ghostwire: Tokyo cleverly cordons off sections of the map with its deadly fog, pushing you to clear the way by cleansing shrines dotted around the district. It’s an organic path towards a greater end goal, punctuated by optional quests which differ in quality. When those quests do shine though, they’re a fun combination of action and detective work.

On the PS5, DualSense controller integration is also top-notch. You’ll need to keep the charging cable on hand though, as Ghostwire: Tokyo makes full use of that peripheral’s features, to hammer home the feeling of annihilating ghosts, the gentle rainfall of Tokyo, and KK’s backseat non-corporeal driving through the controller speaker. Still, that haptic feedback further immerses you in the world of Ghostwire: Tokyo, and when you can genuinely feel the resistance of a Visitor as you remove their cores through the adaptive triggers, it helps sell the unique properties of the PS5.

Ghostwire: Tokyo isn’t an evolutionary next set in open-world design, its protagonists aren’t that engaging, and its combat is familiar once you look past the finger-flexing magic. And that’s still fine, because when the rest of the game is a beautifully detailed sandbox that you’ll explore for hours while using lethal sign language to send ghosts fleeing, the end result is an adventure that doesn’t make much of an effort to go beyond its comfort zone. It’s gaming junk food with a Japanese flavor; something you’ll be happy to gorge on for 15-20 hours.