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In recent times, the surge in popularity of action RPGs has been so significant that nearly every new release falls within this genre. Consequently, the originality of these games often diminishes, as they tend to resemble clones of their predecessors. This especially goes true for Souls-like games, which, rather than introducing innovative elements, often come across as mere copy-pastes of their forerunners in this subgenre.
Upon getting the opportunity to play Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, I found myself immediately jumping to a familiar conclusion, pondering, "Here we go again, another action RPG we've seen countless times before." Questions flooded my mind: Would the developers endeavour to introduce something fresh and innovative?
At first, the game's deliberate pace reinforced my initial impression that it might be another familiar experience. However, I quickly had to eat my words because Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden surprised me with an exceptional experience, reminiscent of rare hits like Sony's recent God of War titles. Its meticulous craftsmanship, well-balanced gameplay, and compelling narrative kept me engaged for hours as I joyfully delved into the mysterious, ghost-infested city of New Eden and its surroundings.
Story: CSI New Eden
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden stands out as a truly fantastic game, and its most potent asset is undeniably its fantastic story. When referring to the narrative, it's more accurate to say "stories" because the game is comprised of numerous mini-stories presented through so-called Haunting Cases, akin to a high-quality TV series. Each of these cases could serve as the central theme for an entire game due to their exceptional quality. As they all come together, a cohesive thread weaves through the main story, forming an intricate network of events that provides answers to the mysteries unfolding in New Eden.
The narrative unfolds around the adventures of two ghost banishers who share both a business and romantic partnership. They receive a distress call from their close friend, a priest in New Eden, a town located in colonised America suffering under a curse. The priest seeks the expertise of these banishers to address the ominous situation. However, upon Red and Ante's (the protagonists) arrival in New Eden, they discover that their friend Charles has already met his demise.
The evil they meet in New Eden is like nothing they ever dealt with earlier, and during their first encounter with it, Antea loses her life. Soon, she returns in the form of a ghost, and your mission will be to either bring her back to life or give her ascent from her spiritual form.
This simplified storyline overview serves as a non-spoiler introduction since all events occur early in the game, providing only a basic understanding of the plot without revealing any additional details.
What truly sets this story apart and makes it fantastic are several key elements. Foremost is the compelling relationship between Red and Ante, whose deep affection is palpable. The portrayal of their love is remarkably well executed in the game, evoking a genuine sense of connection. This authenticity is attributed to the outstanding voice acting of the main characters, coupled with impressive facial animations, cut scenes, and highly detailed models.
As mentioned earlier, the game presents the option to either resurrect Antea through an almost forbidden ritual or release her from the spirit world to grant her final rest. However, the situation is not as straightforward, adding intriguing complexity. To make the ritual successful, Antea requires the essence of living individuals to sustain her and prevent her from becoming a mindless spectre. This dilemma confronts players with nuanced decisions as they grapple with the desire to save their beloved, driven by the deeply felt love portrayed in the game, while also facing moral principles that question the ethical implications of such actions.
I can confidently state that, in my entire gaming career, no other game has confronted me with such challenging decisions. The protagonists themselves grapple with the moral implications of their actions, questioning the rightness of their choices at various points in the game, regardless of whether you opt for one direction or another. It's worth noting that there is also a third neutral ending that refrains from presenting either option, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers, we won't delve further into that.
Another aspect that distinguishes this story and makes it truly worthwhile is the inclusion of haunting cases, akin to genuine mini-series. Players engage in solving these cases by investigating the peculiar occurrences affecting the residents of New Eden. The objective is to uncover and resolve situations where the living are pursued by ghosts with unresolved matters.
All 23 of these haunting cases, some integrated into the main story, are narrated with such excellence that you'll find it hard to believe the captivating events and intriguing occurrences that unfold among the residents of this haunted town.
The only drawback to these cases is that the methods for solving them may become repetitive. Engaging in rituals multiple times or traversing between specific points to gather information can become a bit monotonous. However, the interesting narrative of each case is so enthralling that this minor repetition tends to fade into the background.
Although not all cases are obligatory, and technically you can complete the game by finishing just five or six of them, my suggestion is to delve into each and every case to obtain a comprehensive understanding and uncover the genuine events behind the curse that has plagued New Eden.
Another aspect related to the story that slightly disrupted my immersion in the game is the abundance of haunting cases and, consequently, the number of ghosts tormenting the living. To clarify, if you opt to blame the living to revive Antea, you end up eliminating almost all the inhabitants in the game, leaving the city and settlements nearly deserted. While I understand the extreme nature of this choice, it seems improbable that almost every resident is entangled with ghosts and that within such a brief period and confined space, there would be such an extensive occurrence of cases, which, to be frank, should be quite rare.
Setting aside these minor story flaws, which are more of a personal nitpick, the narrative of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden stands as a superb masterpiece that will astonish you with its challenging decisions and poignant romantic and emotional moments.
Gameplay: If The Witcher and God of War had a child
In the official game description you can find online, it is stated that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a story-driven action RPG, a description that is indeed fitting. I would go further to emphasise that it is a refined blend of the finest elements from various action RPGs, each contributing something exceptional. These components are skillfully combined into a high-quality whole, enriched further by the originality of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, resulting in an exceptionally satisfying gameplay experience.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden bears the closest resemblance to The Witcher series in terms of gameplay elements, as both revolve around a common theme of exorcism and involve various rituals performed by the main character. In the role of a banisher, you gain the ability to perceive the spiritual world, and your primary adversaries in the game are ghosts and deceased bodies possessed by spirits.
The central character in the game is Red mac Raith, a banisher capable of assuming both a corporeal and a spiritual form, allowing him to switch to the persona of Antea Duarte, his partner. These two forms possess distinct types of attacks, each proving effective against specific enemy types. This dual-form feature adds a layer of dynamism and an interesting design to the combat system.
In terms of weaponry, Red wields a sabre and firebane, specialised weapons effective against ghosts, while Antea relies on punches. As you advance in the game, additional options become available for both characters, such as a rifle for Red and various ranged attacks for Antea.
Beyond weapons, various equipment items, such as amulets, wristbands, brooches, bane rings, and different types of outfits, enhance your stats. All equipment is upgradeable, and you can discover iterations with distinct stats as you progress through the game.
Equipment upgrades can only be performed at camps, leading to another in-game comparison with Souls-like games this time. Yes, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden exhibits elements reminiscent of Souls-like games, particularly in its combat system. The combat mechanics closely mirror classic features such as light attacks, heavy attacks, charged heavy attacks, blocking, parrying, and dodging. Additionally, the use of decoctions as healing items is a commonality with the Souls-like genre.
Furthermore, you can take a rest in the camps, referred to as shelters in this game. Resting results in the resetting of enemies and the replenishment of your healing items, adding another mechanic akin to Souls-like games. However, what sets this game apart is its five difficulty levels, eliminating the extreme challenge associated with Souls-like games. In this regard, it bears a resemblance to the Star Wars: Jedi games.
Apart from equipment upgrades, you can enhance your stats by levelling up and uncovering new skills in the Evolution tab. Each level gained, with a cap at 25, awards one upgrade point for Red, and special cases grant one point for Antea. Skills are unlocked alternately for both characters, and they predominantly take the form of buffs, with some increasing while others decreasing specific statistics.
In terms of enemies, the game features a limited variety of them. As the game advances, these foes grow in strength, which leads us to boss battles. While the quantity of bosses is modest, each one offers a unique design and presents an intriguing challenge, albeit not excessively difficult. Playing on medium difficulty, I found the bosses didn't pose significant challenges. Though higher-difficulty settings may offer more intense experiences, I cannot say because I haven't personally explored them.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden could be best described as a semi-open world game featuring a conventional map, with quests and cases organised within it. However, it incorporates path blockers similar to those seen in the last two God of War titles, restricting the exploration early on.
These blocked paths become accessible later in the game through new skills in true Metroidvania fashion. While the spaces may appear expansive at times, the movement around the map remains predominantly linear.
Speaking of exploration, it is executed exceptionally well in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. The game is segmented into four areas, each containing unique collectables. The map unveils itself as you explore new regions, with points of interest indicated by question marks. However, finding items in the game is not a straightforward task. For instance, unlocking a chest that serves as a collectable requires locating the key without any hints about its specific location, despite the general knowledge that it's typically in close proximity.
For swift navigation across the map, the game offers fast travel, exclusively initiated from shelters. Thankfully, there are an ample number of shelters distributed throughout the map, ensuring that travelling across the terrain remains engaging.
I intentionally kept my discussion of combat brief as I wanted to highlight it as a minor drawback in the game. Not because it's inherently bad, but because it feels somewhat off, if you catch my drift. To elaborate, the combat is generally intricate and profound, particularly at higher difficulty levels where utilising all your resources is essential for survival. However, the character's movements during attacks, the sensation of impact, and the overall execution of the fight, especially with Red, come across as lukewarm and somewhat poorly executed.
Perhaps due to the nature of the enemies being ghosts, even though some are in corporeal form, the strikes have a sword-like effect and give the impression of beating a carpet with a dusting stick; the sensation of actually swinging the blade is lacking. In contrast, Antea's moves are significantly better. When you switch to her mode, particularly during her Outburst attack, her movements are truly something special.
Once again, in terms of gameplay, comparing Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden with other games in the genre reveals echoes of various titles. For instance, the activation handle of elevators strikingly resembles that of God of War, and the presence of shortcuts in the form of climbable ropes is another familiar element. However, this isn't a detriment, as these resemblances seamlessly integrate into the overall atmosphere of the game, and the gameplay harmoniously aligns with such mechanics.
Graphics, Sounds, and Performance
Graphically, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden can look both stunning and underwhelming, depending on the area you're exploring. Overall, the graphical fidelity is more than commendable but nothing that we haven't seen so far in other next-gen games. The environmental design of forests, swamps, haunted settlements, and snowy meadows is great but the character design and animations is where Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden truly shines, thanks to the occasionally lifelike quality of models.
When you observe the character designs, the incredible level of detail in their creation, their animations, facial expressions, and overall quality, it becomes evident that even with a significant number of characters in the game, given its RPG nature, each character is distinctively designed. Each one seems crafted with motion capture technology. It's not a case where only the main characters are meticulously crafted while the supporting characters are merely supplemental. Instead, every character is brought to mere perfection.
Still, it's somewhat disappointing that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden didn't leverage contemporary graphics technologies such as ray-tracing and enhanced lighting seen in some other modern titles. In addition, some other visual aspects like water textures and the movement of vegetation in the wind can look very outdated, which may be an immersion-breaking issue for some players.
Furthermore, subtle details become game-changers in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. For instance, if you remain idle without touching the controller for a while, Red will start stretching. In a swamp environment, Red will actively chase away flies buzzing around his head. An intriguing detail emerges in the snowy and rainy parts of the map: during a snowstorm, snow accumulates on Red, and if he stands in the rain, you can visibly observe that he becomes wet, conveying a sense of discomfort. While not reaching the level of detail seen in Red Dead Redemption 2, these nuanced features contribute significantly to the game's natural feel.
The overall animations in the game are truly stunning and reflect the considerable effort invested by the developers. A noteworthy example is when Red chooses to rest in the shelter, where Antea, being a ghost unable to sleep, stays by his side throughout. Instead of opting for a simple reset with a black screen during rest, the developers went the extra mile to create a more immersive experience, showcasing their dedication and attention to detail that deserves acknowledgement.
It's important to highlight the remarkable design of the spiritual world, which, much like other aspects of the game, is truly fantastic. The depiction of ghosts is noteworthy; while unmistakably spectral, each ghost retains its own unique personality, mirroring how they appeared in life. The subtle distinctions are particularly evident with characters known during their living days, emphasising attention to detail in portraying their transition to the spiritual realm.
Having played Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden on the PlayStation 5, I can provide insights into its performance on this platform. From a technical standpoint, it's important to note that the game faces challenges and falls short of being the most polished experience.
On the PlayStation 5, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden offers two modes: performance and quality. The performance mode prioritises smoother gameplay at a slightly reduced resolution, while the quality mode delivers maximum resolution at a frame rate of 30 FPS. However, in practice, the actual performance may deviate somewhat from this theoretical framework.
While I can't report any instances of the game crashing or experiencing similar issues, there is a noticeable drop in FPS, particularly in areas requiring more processing power. Additionally, entering a map or inventory frequently results in the game freezing for a few seconds, and there are instances where prolonged gameplay leads to noticeable hiccups in performance.
Of course, these issues will probably be taken care of once the game is out, but my duty as an honest reviewer is to say what I experienced during my playthrough.
The sound design is also executed admirably. While I can't pinpoint any specific track from the special soundtrack that left a lasting impression, the background music at certain levels is remarkably impactful. Given the game's inclusion of ghosts and a spooky atmosphere, a top-notch soundtrack is crucial to evoke the right emotions, and I must say that the execution in this aspect is exceptionally well done.
The in-game sounds are generally well-crafted, with the exception of the previously mentioned weapon hit sounds, which come across as somewhat dull and inauthentic. However, all other sounds, ranging from the cries of ghosts to environmental noises, are executed at a satisfactory level, leaving me with no substantial complaints in this regard.
Conclusion
For fans of action RPG adventures, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden undoubtedly stands out as one of the finest offerings in recent times. Boasting an exceptionally high-quality narrative revolving around themes of love, sacrifice, difficult choices, and loyalty, coupled with a visually stunning portrayal of characters, the game cements its place as one of the premier titles in this genre.
If you're willing to overlook a few minor drawbacks, you can expect a guaranteed 20–50 hours of enjoyment, depending on how deeply you want to immerse yourself in the details. Ultimately, if you're a fan of games like The Witcher and God of War, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is an absolute must-play.
The Good
Fantastic main story- Haunting cases featuring exceptional stories
- Detailed character models
- Variety of gameplay elements
The Bad
Some combat mechanics feel off- Minor technical difficulties
- Visuals are hit-and-miss
