Highlights

  • Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden puts love and loss at the forefront of its action RPG gameplay, impacting every tough decision players make.
  • The pivotal decision at the start of the game sets the tone for Banishers, reshaping the narrative based on players' oath to either duty or love.
  • By investigating hauntings and making life-or-death choices, players must navigate the themes of love, death, and relationships in Don't Nod's new title.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is the newest title from developers Don’t Nod and tells the story of two lovers separated by death. Don’t Nod is best known for the Life is Strange series, which saw fans navigate a branching time-travel narrative while trying to reverse the death of the protagonist's best friend. Banishers’ central plot is quite similar, tasking fans with making life-or-death decisions to determine the fate of Red and Antea’s relationship. However, unlike most interactive stories, the biggest choices in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden occur long before the ending.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden adapts Don't Nod's interactive-narrative formula to a sprawling action RPG, adding various new mechanics that give a new edge to decisions. Protagonists Red and Antea are Banishers, individuals specialized in combat against undead creatures. The two are tasked with investigating a series of hauntings across the settlement of New Eden. As each haunting explores the themes of love, death, and relationships, Red and Antea are forced to analyze the reason for the haunting and determine the applicable punishment. It is these decisions that form the crux of Banishers’ narrative. However, one early decision stands far and above as the title’s most significant.

How Banishers- Ghosts of New Eden Puts Life is Strange’s Hardest Choice Front and Center
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How Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Puts Life is Strange’s Hardest Choice Front and Center

Banishers continues Don't Nod's legacy of rich, choice-driven games, and its core mechanic sees fans reintroduced to Life is Strange's hardest choice.

Banishers' Most Pivotal Decision Occurs Right at the Start

When players begin Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, they meet Red and Antea as they arrive at New Eden. The two are there to investigate a malevolent force called The Nightmare, which leads them to​​​​​ investigate the haunting of one of their dear friends, who died before their arrival. Their efforts lead them to discover the location of the Nightmare, but, before they can formulate a plan, the two are lured into a confrontation overnight. In a devastating turn of events, Antea is killed by The Nightmare, and Red is cast from a clifftop into the sea. Soon after he awakes near the Dark Woods, players are forced to make a decision that will impact the entirety of Banishers’ narrative.

A Banisher’s duty is to ensure that the undead move on, rather than living off of the life essence of those they haunt. They can accomplish this by forcefully banishing the ghost, or granting it ascension, a peaceful alternative. Soon after awakening from his brush with death, Red’s grief summons the ghost of Antea, throwing his entire worldview into chaos. It is here that players make the title's most significant decision, as they must swear an oath to either abandon their duty and sacrifice living settlers for Antea's resurrection, or reclaim her body and grant her spirit ascension. Whichever players choose, it reshapes each future choice. The title features many endings, and promising one thing, but doing another, can lead to highly unfortunate consequences.

Banishers' Hauntings Task Players with Staying on the Path

As players navigate New Eden and its surrounding environments, they come upon settlers being haunted by their loved ones. Red and Antea investigate each case, finding clues and interviewing the parties involved to determine why the haunting is taking place, and who is to blame. Upon reaching the closure phase of each haunting, Red and Antea are faced with either blaming the living victim in Banishers, banishing the ghost, or granting it ascension. These decisions make up the remainder of Banishers’ major choices, as they offer players the chance to adhere to their oath or diverge from the path.

Regardless of players' oaths, Banishers allows them to make their own decisions at every turn, which impacts gameplay just as much as the story. If they blame the victim, the living settler is sacrificed, and their essence strengthens Antea. If the ghost is ascended, Antea receives very little essence, hindering her from gaining the strength to remain in the corporeal realm. It's up to players to make the tough decisions, despite their potential disadvantages, and the title makes strict adherence to either oath rather difficult. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a title filled with life-or-death decisions. While its biggest choice occurs right at the start, the title's approach to love, loss, and grief ensures that each subsequent decision feels just as powerful, and difficult, to make as the first.