After spending over fifteen hours ripping ethereal hearts out of Mephistophelean spirits, sliding across the sodden rooftops of Shibuya, and hand-nurturing countless Shiba Inus, I am completely in love with Ghostwire: Tokyo.
The latest title from developer Tango Gameworks may be as simple to comprehend as a wall of hastily scrawled hieroglyphics, but it's fundamentally an open planet FPS with carefully choreographed linear sections that help speed up the game's most disturbing moments of psychological horror.
Ghostwire never reaches the gruesome levels of The Evil Within two, which some may consider a blessing, but that doesn't make you feel comfortable either. There's an eerie feeling that keeps you alarmed as you explore Shibuya's desolate and surprisingly accurate recreation of the game.
Out of limits
And yet, like Deathloop before it, Ghostwire: Tokyo is another PS5 timed exclusive that Xbox Series X players won't be able to play until after March XNUMX.
That's all the expectation given that Arkane Studios and Tango Gameworks are now owned by Microsoft, and it's an annoyance considering the current state of Xbox's lack of first-party releases.
Xbox's own release schedule has been barren this year, a stark contrast to PS5, which saw the release of Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Horizon Forbidden West, and Gran Turismo 3 in just the first XNUMX months. The next big release on the cards for Xbox Series X is Starfield, which is scheduled for November XNUMX.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer acknowledged the company's mini-drought, telling the Xbox Era podcast: "We don't have a huge game this quarter. We want to get to that point where we have a huge on-ramp to our platform and our games that people can be moved on a regular basis.
"We have a lot of great games in development... We want to get to that point where there's a continual stream of great games that our service customers can predict," Spencer said.
Support
You'll be excused for thinking we've heard it all before. Xbox enthusiasts are still waiting to hear more about Forza Motorsport, Fable, Perfect Dark, Everwild, Hellbalde 2: Senua's Saga, Redfall, State of Decay XNUMX, Avowed, The Elder Scrolls XNUMX, The Outer Worlds XNUMX, and Contraband than is yet to come. we know. pretty much nothing outside of the odd trailer or the brief CGI trailer. The games are coming up, but what's there to play in the meantime?
Microsoft has recruited dozens of developers and studios in recent times, including Tango Gameworks, but Xbox still lags behind Sony when it comes to the number of high-profile games released on PS5, especially those developed by Japanese studios. .
Given Sony's heritage in the Japanese market, that may never change, but there's no doubt that Ghostwire: Tokyo would have been a terrific addition to the Xbox lineup. Instead, it's quickly become one of my favorite PS5 games, partly because I feel like it was developed with Sony's console in mind only - the development team was truly instrumental in making the DualSense controller thrive after the "strong comments" from the creator and legendary Tango Gameworks. designer, Shinji Mikami.
It's hard enough not to feel like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo's PS5 exclusivity deals took a chunk out of Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda, at least in the short term. The two games would not only have praised Xbox Series X, but rather a vast plurality of game types on the console: Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo are stupendously unique.
citizen
So what makes Ghostwire: Tokyo so unique? Though it has familiar underpinnings from countless other open world titles, Ghostwire: Tokyo manages to sidestep any fatigue I've grown accustomed to from the genre. Yes, the game's map quickly becomes riddled with more icons and side quests than it needed to be, but I found myself running for hours at a time, ticking things off as I went.
This is due in no small part to how lively Ghostwire: Tokyo feels, despite having a living human population of just one. Cheerful jingles rattle through convenience stores stocked with all manner of identifiable Japanese jelly beans, and chiptune music rattles through empty arcades once filled with service customers.
Abandoned cars litter the streets and discarded clothing littering the sidewalks are exciting reminders that the city's population has waxed and waned. On his site, there are twisted creatures known as "The Visitors", one of the most engaging classes of opponents I've come across in a video game in a long time, and they're incredibly satisfying to fight. .
Faceless employees of all shapes and sizes; headless high school students; Shuffle the Grannies: You're going to have to send these visitors packing using a combination of brightly colored elemental attacks, all fired from their hands, and then literally shooting the hearts of evil spirits until they're gone gradually out of existence.
Ghostwire: Tokyo combat starts out pretty slow and can even feel pretty rough at times. But as you improve your skills and face new and terrifying opponents, each encounter is surprisingly awesome.
big in japan
It's worth noting that if you have even the slightest affinity for Japanese country and Japanese culture, Ghostwire: Tokyo offers a stunning recreation of one of the city's most popular districts. You'll come across recognizable landmarks like Shibuya Scramble Crossing, albeit utterly devoid of people.
The game is also filled with countless references to the country's amazing mythology and folklore. From Tsukumogami (household items that took revenge on people) to the more well-known Tanuki, a sassy, shape-shifting raccoon, Ghostwire: Tokyo cleverly draws its inspiration from the supernatural beings of Japan.
And yet all of that, at least for now, is out of reach for Xbox owners. Ghostwire: Tokyo is only going to make a lot of players even more uneasy.
Ghostwire: Tokyo will be released on PS5 and PC on March XNUMX.