Despite coming from the mind of one of the survival horror genre's founding fathers, Ghostwire: Tokyo isn't actually all that scary. Sure, there are some pretty disturbing enemy designs based on Japanese folklore and the atmosphere can at times be quite disconcerting too. When all's said and done though, there are actually very few moments in which players will be genuinely scared by what they're seeing on-screen.
One of the things that might freak players out a little is the sight of the Hyakki Yako: a parade of evil spirits which can occasionally be found marching up and down the streets of Shibuya. When they first encounter it, players are instructed to hide rather than tackle it head-on, but completionists will actually need to find the Hyakki Yako multiple times throughout their Ghostwire: Tokyo playthrough.
What is the Hyakki Yako?
Like many of the themes and enemies found throughout Ghostwire: Tokyo, the Hyakki Yako is based on Japanese folklore. According to legend, the supernatural parade sees thousands of Oni and Yokai march through the streets of Japan harvesting souls. That's exactly what they can be found doing in Ghostwire: Tokyo too, which is why players will need to stop them.
Players will actually run into the Hyakki Yako during the first chapter of Ghostwire: Tokyo, with KK advising Akito to hide rather than take it on. From chapter two onwards though, players will be able to run into the parade during free-roam and will need to dispatch multiple waves of enemies in order to rescue the souls that the Visitors had been attempting to spirit away.
How to Find the Hyakki Yako in Ghostwire: Tokyo
The Hyakki Yako can spawn in multiple locations, but the most reliable spot to find it is Shibuya Scramble. With this in mind, players should fast travel to the map marker for the scramble crossing proper (or the nearby Morite Shrine if they haven't unlocked the ability that allows Akito and KK to fast travel to landmarks) and then look for a moving patch of fog somewhere around them.
In all likelihood, players probably won't be able to see it straight away, so should run between Shibuya 429 and Shibuya Scramble and check all of the major sideroads which intersect the main strip for signs of the Hyakki Yako (fog, and a boatload of Visitors marching in an orderly procession). If there aren't any, players should fast travel out of the area and then return and try again. They can also check out some of the other big roads on their map if they're really struggling (generally speaking, the thicker, the better).
What to Do After Finding the Hyakki Yako
Upon finding the Hyakki Yako spirit parade, players should allow themselves to be seen, which will lead to them being transported to an alternate realm. Once there, they'll need to defeat multiple waves of Visitors. For those who don't already have it, this is an excellent opportunity to unlock the "One Fell Swoop" trophy/achievement by pulling out five Visitor cores simultaneously.
After defeating the last visitor, players will be transported back to their original location, where they'll now find several clusters of Spirits. These are typically worth more than the regular Spirit clusters that players find while they're exploring, which bodes well, as players will need to rescue a grand total of 15,000 Spirits from the Hyakki Yako during their playthrough in order to unlock the game's true ending.
This means that players will probably need to find the parade around ten times in total. As it can be encountered once every twenty minutes or so though, this shouldn't take players too long to accomplish if they're lucky. They'll probably run into a lot of Containment Cubes while they're searching too, which will help them to reach their 10,000 quota for Containment Cube Spirits as well as get a few easy Quick Purge kills.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is available now on PC and PS5.
