Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden is an upcoming third-person and story-driven action RPG by studio Don't Nod Entertainment, developer of the first two Life is Strange games and The Adventures of Captain Spirit. The influence of Life is Strange's narrative and choice-driven gameplay seems clear in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, as players follow and shape the story of ghost-hunting Banishers and lovers Red mac Raith and Antea Duarte. In a twist, a tragic event sees Antea become a ghost herself. Players can switch between Red and Antea as they work together to solve haunting cases across 1695 North America while hoping to bring her back to life.

On one hand, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's premise of hunting down and vanquishing ghosts sounds relatively straightforward. However, its narrative and choice-driven gameplay sets the stage for some compelling storytelling, something Don't Nod is perhaps best known for, and is something totally different and unique to experience. Mixing player decision elements like a save or sacrifice choice system with action gameplay feels both promising and very different for the Life is Strange studio's new game. Recently, Game ZXC played a couple of hours of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden in a hands-on preview, including meeting some key characters and trekking through The Dark Woods to hunt down a mysterious creature known only as The Beast.

The preview begins in the early stages of a chapter called 'The Dark Woods' sometime after Antea becomes a ghost. The chapter starts in the shoes of Red mac Raith, a Scottish ghost-hunting character known as a Banisher who, like Antea, protects the living from vengeful specters and beyond. Deep in the woods, Red meets some significant characters, including the town chief called Thickskin, who sends him on a quest to banish the Beast that's terrorizing the townsfolk. After retrieving a rifle from Thickskin's resentful sister, Kate Newsmith, it was time to search the creepy woods for the monster.

Banishers' unique historical setting shines through in the level design of a North American wilderness and through its characterization. Small pockets of rural communities from a bygone era make up a terrain that seems to belong more to the wild landscape and the unknown, despite the beginnings of colonization being in motion. Meeting and chatting with various local NPCs with selectable dialogue options feels immersive when encountering their individual personalities and backstories, potentially setting up a promising level of world-building and character development ahead.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's map also feels pretty massive and mysterious, as all unexplored areas remained shrouded in fog. Although only a portion of it was seen, it felt like a sizeable place where it's easy to get lost, with many twists and turns, different pathways, and puzzle-like routes to traverse, giving an open-world game feel even though the core routes are primarily linear. While clues like yellow paint or rags lead the way, discovering where to go is also part of the game's mystery-solving elements, as players track clues like footprints and unveil new pathways or hidden spectral echoes using a combination of Red and Antea's unique character abilities.

Through the game's third-person perspective, Red can shoot hanging ropes that reveal new pathways or discoverable objects, sometimes even opening up a way for Antea to unveil the way forward with her unique spectral abilities. For instance, while searching for the Beast, players must use Red's weapon skills to reveal a pathway utilized by Antea to enable the pair escape the mines using her unique ghost teleportation ability. Antea also reveals ghost-like clues that Red can listen to as echoes to help string together the puzzle pieces. Terrain navigation and solving gameplay mysteries is very much about Red and Antea working together, and it extends to other gameplay areas in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden like combat, enforcing their deep bond.

Playing as Red, combat revolves around his sword-swinging abilities and skills with a rifle, including a chargeable sword-swipe attack. Red can also perform a special banishing move by pressing E if playing on PC, satisfyingly instant-killing some enemies into Spectral Dust. There are also different kinds of collectibles to discover, from chests to wild plants with healing properties, as well as equipment to upgrade Red's weapons and clothing, like leather and various minerals. In a multi-branching skill tree system, players gradually unlock different abilities for Red and Antea while deciding which ones they prefer, adding more personalized RPG elements to the combat system.

It's also quick and easy to switch characters to Antea at almost any time in and out of combat, except when Red's health is in trouble. Playing as Antea means playing as a ghost, which gives players powerful, punching-style attacks and charged-up manifestation abilities that can dish out a lot of damage within an AoE. Combat also flows like a dance between the two protagonists, with Antea sometimes dashing in to help when Red needs an extra hand, leaving Red to deal enemies the finishing blow. Changing direction and gaining speed in combat is sometimes tricky, but that's more about learning how the controls work and which movements work best, as learning to parry, dodge roll, or quickly side-step is crucial to survive, especially against stronger foes that can use a mixture of long-range and close-quarters attacks. For the most part, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's combat feels smooth and fluid, but shouldn't be taken lightly. Players restart at the last save-point if defeated, making it challenging but not overly punishing.

Just before encountering The Beast, a challenging three-stage boss battle, players come across the game's unique summoning system, as there are different ritual-like ways to summon ghosts, specters, echoes, and scourges, which is an immersive touch into the practices of a ghost hunter and a unique way of beginning an encounter. After summoning and defeating The Beast, players face another player-choice-driven system where they must choose to save or sacrifice. The system teases that the decision that directly impacts Antea's resurrection in a game where making meaningful choices matters.

Without going into spoiler territory, it remains to be seen how the tricky decision to save or sacrifice, show mercy, or deliver punishment influences the overall storyline and fate of the Banishers, but it does set up an intriguing foundation for the overall plot. It's also another way players can immerse themselves in the game's narrative in addition to the random dialogue choice encounters that occur between Antea and Red as players explore. There were also some curious, closed-off menu options called Haunting Cases, which seems like they could add even more mystery elements on top of Antea and Red's endearing and central video game love story.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's spotlight on action-RPG gameplay is likely to appeal to many fans, while the narrative can easily hook fans of the Life is Strange games. While this preview was played on normal difficulty, there are several difficulty modes players can choose from, including Story for those who want to focus more on unraveling the story-driven elements over combat, as well as more challenging difficulties. Ultimately, those with a fascination with ghosts and the supernatural could well be in for a treat, but anyone with a love for strong gameplay and strong storytelling are going to feel right at home too.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden releases November 7 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.