Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)

Hot off the success of The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2, Shinji Mikami and Ikumi Nakamura from Tango Gameworks would announce the studio’s next project, an action-adventure with horror elements called Ghostwire: Tokyo, at E3 2019. This project would later receive a generally positive reception following its official release in 2022, though it would notably depart in some ways from the survival horror gameplay of Tango’s first two games (before releasing something completely out of left field the next year with the acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush). Personally, E3 memes related to Nakamura aside, the original reveal had me interested in playing Ghostwire: Tokyo, to the point that I have the steelbook for it, although I would only get around to it after finally obtaining a physical copy of Hi-Fi Rush and after realizing that I owned every console Tango game physically. Though the wait felt worth it, I would agree on the repetitive nature of the gameplay, which had my initial enthusiasm for exploring every possible corner of the game gradually wane.

 

Before I get to the main game, however, I should first talk about The Corrupted Casefile, a short prelude (developed with assistance from Psyop Productions and Akupara games) released in anticipation of Ghostwire: Tokyo’s release. This prelude, is only available digitally on PlayStation and Steam, as those were the original SKUs for the main game, so I downloaded it for the latter at the time.

In The Corrupted Casefile, players are introduced to KK, who investigates supernatural activity, as he helps a boy named Ryota find his friend Sosuke, who went missing near a sewer. During his investigation, KK consults with his partners, Rinko, Ed and Erika, who wonder if a certain individual (revealed in the main game as the masked man nicknamed Hannya) may have anything to do with it.

There isn’t too much meat to this prelude, partly due to playing like a visual novel with limited interactivity. That said, there is some value in playing this before the main game, as it does introduce you to the setting, core characters and concepts. An enemy encounter in the sewer, for instance, has the closest thing to traditional gameplay by featuring a preview of the combat system, complete with attacking blocking and tracing a seal. Since the main game also doesn’t really do much to prime you on KK or his partners, the few choices you can make, specifically who KK will speak to during conversations, helps you understand their relationships and dynamics with each other, setting the foundation for why they would trust or care about each other despite their differences. Of course, you’ll get the same ending no matter what you do.

The illusion of choice (kind of).

Although there’s no voice acting or real options apart from adjusting the text speed, I did enjoy the visual flair of the chosen art style and how well it captures what players can expect in the main game. Since this is a visual novel, a genre I actually don’t really mind, I know how important the art is, so it’s good that this part was a slam dunk.

Overall, I would advise checking this out if you can. It’s only about an hour long and it does help with providing some context for the background of the main game. Whether or not you end up doing so, it’s worth mentioning that this story is actually referenced in the main game through a collectible Investigation Note that you can actually read called “The Sewer Kid”, written entirely from KK’s perspective (you can’t miss it).

In the main game, a floating spirit, revealed early on as KK, needs a physical body and possesses that of Akito Izuki, who was rendered unconscious in a traffic collision. Soon after, a fog rolls in throughout all of Shibuya, turning everyone except Akito into a spirit. This fog, as it turns out, is the work of Hannya, who summons evil entities known as Visitors to seal away the spirits of Shibuya’s civilians. In a panic, Akito races to the hospital to check on his comatose sister Mari, but arrives too late as Hannya takes her away to complete a certain ritual. In light of this, Akito agrees to help KK stop Hannya and KK agrees to help Akito save Mari.

Akito and KK must work together to accomplish their goals.

If there’s one thing Ghostwire: Tokyo excels at, it’s the atmosphere. The supernaturally empty Shibuya captures a unique feeling of isolation by making the entire city a liminal space, something that not many AAA games can accomplish as well. While the smooth framerate (in Performance Mode), lighting and water effects do impress, finding random clothing and items scattered about stands out for the chilling thought of people going about their daily lives before randomly losing their physical bodies. These sightings also provide good opportunities for visual storytelling, as you can sometimes tell what they must have been doing up until the fog rolled in. Occasional rainfall adds a nice change of scenery that can feel calming, though the early association with some rain-themed Visitors can also add a subtle suggestion of nearby enemies, even when you know for certain that none are present. The numerous Visitors themselves are also well-designed, with enough detail that you can tell the difference between certain variants at a glance while representing various yokai that many western audiences may not be familiar with. Good sound design, including vibrations and sounds from the controller, alongside a distinctly “Japanese” score also greatly aid the immersion.

Although you can interact with some human spirits who are bound to certain locations until KK and Akito help them take care of unfinished business, the noticeable dearth of living human NPCs is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can make Shibuya feel pretty empty outside of enemy encounters or the occasional friendly yokai or stray animal. On the other hand, this did create a vibe that I ended up enjoying more than I thought, with a quiet, contemplative isolation that comes close to the one I liked in Death Stranding and its sequel, though I did enjoy KK’s presence as a more of a companion and not just a sidekick. Hearing him comment on some of Akito’s actions helps the world feel less lonely, as does him imparting knowledge onto Akito or having entire short, well-paced conversations that reveal more about both of them. I wouldn’t mind seeing more liminal atmospheres like Ghostwire: Tokyo’s in the future, though I don’t know how well they could match it.

The atmosphere continues even late into the game.

As for the gameplay itself, while it does have an interesting blend of adventure, open world and immersive sim elements, it’s not too novel in its progression. The fog swallowing the city will drain your health if you step inside, eventually killing you if you stay too long, physically halting your exploration of Shibuya until you cleanse one of the many Torii Gates sprinkled throughout, diagetically marked with a swarm of crows circling above (open world players may recognize this as the equivalent of the “Ubisoft Towers” still haunting the genre decades after Assassin’s Creed). Clearing some of the fog may also require cleansing multiple Torii Gates to collectively cleanse a Shrine, which comes with its own benefits like additional fast travel points or spending Meika (the game’s currency) on offerings in exchange for certain rewards or drawing an Omikuji (paper fortune) for a random temporary effect (only one can be active at a time regardless of other passive effects). Removing the fog also reveals more collectibles (including graffiti, capsule machines and KK’s Investigation Notes), side missions, spirits, Jizo Statues and friendly Nekomata with requests to find certain objects for additional rewards (you’ll be alerted with a meow once you’re on top of it), as well as allow access to Prayer Beads that can buff Akito’s abilities.

When not fighting Visitors, Akito can help restore Shibuya by absorbing wayward spirits into Katashiro (paper dolls) and transfer them to safety via phone booths. Absorbing spirits can quickly fill up your supply of Katashiro, so it helps if you can obtain more through Shrines or buying them at convenience stores, where you can also spend Meika on useful items and safely shelter away from Visitors. KK’s Spectral Vision also let Akito talk to pettable stray dogs and cats, the former of which can also alert you to nearby spirits or reward you for feeding them dog food, as well as follow trails or uncover the heart of a corruption to free trapped Spirits. Freeing Spirits may also involve bypassing barriers, which involves tracing a shape with either the analog stick or touch pad, which I thought was a neat touch (you can also ask KK to do it for you, if you’d like). Some collectables or Spirits are also on rooftops, accessible by either grappling Tengu or gliding short distances.

A good amount of time, however, will be spent fighting Visitors with a combat system designed by Shinichiro Hara, who worked on Doom (2016) and took influence from both martial arts the ritualistic mantras of Kuji-kiri. This means that rather than fight with traditional melee weapons or firearms, Akito can instead use KK’s Ethereal Weaving, harnessing the elemental powers of Wind, Water or Fire for different effects. Perhaps due to Hara’s experience with Doom, each element is analogous to a different gun, with an associated costly Charge Rush attack that brings out more of the element’s power as a secondary weapon. In this case, Wind Weaving acts like a pistol or machine gun, Water Weaving acts like a shotgun or freeze ray and Fire Weaving behaves like a rocket launcher or flamethrower. Instead of ammo, Weavings consume Ether, tracked as SP, which you can procure by defeating Visitors or breaking crystalized Ether within the environment (Red Ether Crystals will also explode like a bomb when struck). Ambient Earth Ether isn’t tracked, but fuels the all-important Block, which can reduce damage taken. Blocking at just the right time, however, results in a Perfect Block that will negate the damage and initiate a parry. Be careful, however, as attacks with a purple glow can drain your Guard until you enter a Guard Break that lasts until you leave combat or wait long enough (Perfect Blocks are still possible under this status).

Visitors grow more powerful as the game progresses.

There are, of course, other tools at Akito’s disposal. Sneaking up on enemies, for example, lets you instantly vanquish them with a Quick Purge. If you’re conserving SP or run out of it, you can close-up melee in Strike Attacks, as well as a ranged Bow with limited arrow capacity. Various Talismans can also help give Akito an advantage, either by affecting enemies or himself on some way, like stuns, decoys or Ether replenishment. Extracting Inner Cores from Visitors via Quick Purges or after exposing them during combat will also build up Akito’s Resonance Gauge, which eventually lets him Wire In and unleash the full capability of his synergy with KK, sending out a wave that boosts their power and makes Core extraction much easier.

No matter your approach, however, the game tests your skill at certain points when Akito and KK are separated from each other, either by the story or by a Severance attack from certain Visitors. In this case, Akito loses access to all of KK’s Ethereal Weaving or investigative abilities, though everything else is fair game, creating tension with managing more limited resources and avoiding combat wherever possible, even in a confined space. Another test of skill, while Akito and KK are united, is a random encounter with Hyakki Yako (Demon Parades) in the open streets. If caught up in the parade, Akito will have to fight his way through an arena battle against waves of Visitors, after which he can absorb some additional Spirits.

I’ll also mention that, as you might expect, there’s a multipage skill tree where you can spend Spirit Skill points, obtained by gaining enough synergy and leveling up or by finding KK’s Investigation Notes, on acquiring new skills and abilities. Some parts of the tree are locked behind Magatama, acquired by absorbing Yokai found throughout the world.

While I did find the gameplay systems engaging enough, the core gameplay loop did feel repetitive after several hours. As I mentioned, the progression system doesn’t feel too novel, especially if you’re already familiar with these types of games, even with a more distinctly Japanese coat of paint. I don’t know how it is on other difficulties, but on Easy, I had less trouble with obtaining resources the further I went, as you can find Meika everywhere and Nekomata will give you plenty of it just by stumbling on certain items for them. There’s credit for letting you more naturally buy healing items from vending machines and food stalls in addition to the convenience stores, but unique cultural touches only help so much.

As for the story, it’s not the best-written, but I did feel invested enough in the characters and their conflicts to keep going until the end. KK’s team is more interesting after first seeing them in The Corrupted Case File, though I personally liked the dynamic between KK and Akito the most. Since they share a body, not necessarily by choice, we get to see them understand each other better over time and work more effectively as a team. I also recognized a major story theme about moving on, as well as the refusal to do so, which drives KK, Akito and Hannya towards different ends, in Hannya’s case towards a monstrous extreme. How the game explores this theme helps at least give the ending some weight that nicely caps off Akito’s arc. I’m not sure that will go down as one of my favorite narratives, or even if I’ll remember too much of it down the line, but it works well enough while it lasts across its six chapters.

Around the release of the Xbox SKU, Ghostwire: Tokyo received an update that added more side missions, combat skills and enemies, as well as a new game mode called The Spider’s Thread. This mode, unlocked after completing Chapter 2 of the main game, sees Akito and KK trapped within a barrier by a Tsuchigumo, but now without any of the upgrades they might have had. To slay the yokai responsible, they must descend down 30 floors while powering back up and completing a variety of challenges.

In case you couldn’t already guess, this mode plays like a roguelite, as the player grows steadily more powerful between runs and the floors aren’t necessarily the exact same each time. While there is variety in what Visitors or objectives you’ll come across, the real decision making comes with the periodic visits to The Cat’s Paw, a shop run by Nekomata. Once you step inside, any items you’ve found or Spirits that you’ve rescued are converted into Nekomata Koban, which lets you purchase and upgrade Prayer Beads or obtain a mixture of old and new Skills from the Spirit Skill Tree exclusive to this mode; Skills persist between runs, so don’t worry about wasting Nekomata Koban. Increasing your Synergy level opens up new Spirit Skill paths and you can obtain additional rewards form either completing optional objectives within each floor or by completing jobs from a catalog at The Cat’s Paw. The only other wrinkles are the addition of Chaos Beads, which grant unique abilities but are lost upon death, and the ability to disassemble beads for Spirit Thread, as well as rescue lost cats on each floor and give them a home in The Cat’s Paw, which may help you down the line.

After playing this mode for a few floors, however, I didn’t feel compelled to complete my first run. Whatever variety offered here wasn’t enough to keep me as engaged as the main game and I wasn’t sure that I had the time or patience to grind out a roguelite (not many have maintained my interest the way something like Balatro can).

Overall, Ghostwire: Tokyo, in spite of its repetitive gameplay loop, does still have enough cultural charm to keep you entertained, even if you’re familiar with the genres that it blends together. Even if it’s not a horror game, it nails the eerie, isolative vibe so well that I would consider recommending this on that alone. Just know that it doesn’t really reinvent the wheel everywhere else.