Since its formation, Tango Gameworks has released two games in its Evil Within survival-horror franchise, but it's pursuing a new IP as its next project. The next game from Tango Gameworks is Ghostwire: Tokyo, which moves away from survival-horror territory to the first-person action-adventure space.
In Ghostwire: Tokyo, players take on the role of Akito, who has found himself fused with the spirit of a dead ghost hunter named KK. KK acts as Akito's guide through the spirit-ridden streets of Tokyo, teaching him how to fight back against the ghosts and the masked villain Hannya. Game ZXC recently attended a preview event where we were able to see the early stages of Akito's journey, as he liberates his first spirits, obtains a bow, and interacts with friendly yokai.
The Ghostwire: Tokyo gameplay that Tango showed off was a sample of various different gameplay scenarios that players will encounter, with Akito using stealth as well as direct combat with to liberate spirits. Combat in Ghostwire sees Akito unleash magical spells from his hands in a manner that doesn't look entirely unlike what's seen in the anime Yu Yu Hakusho. Eventually, Akito is able to wield a bow to allow for more precise ranged attacks. As Akito liberated spirits in the game, a counter popped up that claimed there were over 240,000 or so spirits to free, which is quite the sizable number to say the least.
As Akito liberates spirits around Tokyo, players will have a mini-map to help them navigate, as well as the freedom to choose where they go and what they interact with. It looks very similar to open world games, but Tango Gameworks is not describing Ghostwire: Tokyo as a true open world game. Regardless, it does have some open world elements, with players having a world map that they can look at with miscellaneous activities to complete and side quests.
A Ghostwire: Tokyo side quest example was shown during the preview, which started with Akito getting a request from a distressed ghostly woman and ended with him exorcising the spirit of an evil landlord. To exorcise the landlord, Akito had to draw a special symbol in the air, with players having the option to do this using the DualSense controller's touchpad. This mechanic was also used when Akito needed to remove a magical seal on a door, so it definitely seems as though Ghostwire: Tokyo is making sure to utilize the PS5 controller's unique features.
While watching Akito complete these tasks, the most striking thing about Ghostwire: Tokyo was its graphics. Ghostwire: Tokyo is an absolute stunner, with an incredible level of detail in the environment. It definitely appears to be taking great advantage of the PlayStation 5's added horsepower to deliver a graphically-impressive experience.
Combine the impressive graphics with a bold art style, and Ghostwire: Tokyo is already in the running as one of the best-looking games of the year. Tango Gameworks gets very creative with Ghostwire: Tokyo's visuals. Akito not only gets to explore a gorgeous recreation of Tokyo, but he is also thrust into mind-bending supernatural happenings that looked impressive in the footage we were shown. While trying to find the bow, Akito explores an apartment building that winds up getting turned on its side and hitting him with all kinds of other visual tricks, looking like something pulled straight out of Inception or Doctor Strange.
One second Akito is in modern Tokyo, and the next thing he knows he's in an unforgiving snow-covered landscape. And then in the next he's walking across floating umbrellas or seeing a giant version of one of his allies sitting in a chair. Ghostwire: Tokyo is not trying to be a horror game, but that doesn't stop it from having all sorts of bizarre imagery that can unnerve the player. Assuming these bizarre happenings are frequent enough, it seems Ghostwire: Tokyo will have no trouble keeping players on their toes.
Tango Gameworks isn't revealing too much about the supporting cast like Akito's aforementioned ally just yet, but rest assured there will be other characters for Akito to interact with in Ghostwire: Tokyo besides enemies. At one point in the footage, we saw Akito walk into a convenience store run by a floating cat, one of the many yokai that are inhabiting Tokyo. This particular yokai cat served as a merchant, with Akito able to purchase items from it, though there will be other yokai with different functions in the game.
Besides using money to purchase items from yokai, players will also be able to donate their hard-earned cash at shrines to get buffs and hints on what to do next. This was one of the last things that was shown off during the preview before Akito and KK decided to head to an observation deck. The preview ended before we were shown what they get up to there, but it likely involves more mind-bending exploration and hostile spirit encounters.
The preview only lasted about half an hour or so, but during that short amount of time Akito took out hostile spirits, explored a shape-shifting apartment building, cleansed Torii gates, leveled up his abilities in a skill tree, interacted with Yokai, and more. Clearly Ghostwire: Tokyo is going to have plenty of minute-to-minute gameplay variety. The preview ended with us wanting to see more of Akito's adventure in this supernatural version of Tokyo and what other sights and activities it had to offer.
We haven't actually been able to play the game for ourselves yet, but there is one concern based on the footage, and that is the combat. Ghostwire: Tokyo combat looks like the least appealing part of the game so far, as the enemies don't appear to put up much of a fight, and it seems like it could get repetitive in the long run with Akito mainly just using his bow and the spells from his hands (plus talismans on occasion). However, Tango only showed a small portion of the game, and so it's far too early to make any judgment calls on that end.
Luckily, the Ghostwire: Tokyo release date is right around the corner, so any concerns about the combat should be addressed soon. Setting the combat aside, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a visually-impressive game with a unique premise that looks like it could be a great deal of fun. Fans will find out if it lives up to the hype come March.
Ghostwire: Tokyo launches March 25 for PC and PS5.
