Ghostwire: Tokyo is a first-person action game set in a Tokyo emptied of its population by mysterious visitors, where a young man shares his body with the spirit detective KK to fight them. The game was 100% completed across five sessions in just over thirty hours.
The ethereal-weaving combat is basic but very fun, with wind, water and fire beads scaling up to a sixty per cent damage bonus and a charge attack worth four normal hits. The animations are excellent, and stealth kills let enemies be dispatched from behind repeatedly.
The collectible-dense open world is overwhelming in the best way, with Tori gates, 240,000 spirits to save, offering boxes, tanuki hunts, kodama, capsule machines, graffiti and relics. The spirit bracelet that tracks nearby souls keeps the hunt moving.
The side quests are very good and make up the majority of the game, with the Hanako-san school quest, the Fear for them all follow-up and the dragon’s-den seal quest standing out. The photorealistic Tokyo, the eerie silence and the yakuyoke parades create a tense atmosphere.
The music is awesome, the Tangu warp is very handy despite being temperamental, and the Spider’s Thread update effectively doubles the game’s length. The nekomata shopkeepers and the tanuki that break cover give the world charm.
The boss fights become underwhelming late game because the protagonist grows so strong, and the perfect-block timing is awkward. The yo-kai hunts are formulaic, the glide refuses to trigger from normal jumps, and the sanguine dancer is an annoying fight.
Overall, the elemental combat, the collectible-dense city and the distinct side quests make Ghostwire: Tokyo very, very fun. The underwhelming bosses, the awkward blocking and the short main story are the caveats.