If last month we offered the impressions of the first demo of Ghostwire: Tokyo, now, a few weeks before its launch, we have had the opportunity to play the first two full chapters of the final game. Two chapters, the truth, more extensive than it may sound a priori. Even though the first is a kind of introduction of plot and characters from which we can not reveal a lot so as not to spoil the surprise, the second lets us move relatively free by the Tokyo of the game, giving it a good look at his combat, Structure of missions, exploration and other elements. With all this, it has cost us around ten hours – and discover a remarkable amount of the map – reach the end of the agreed content for this advance.
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Basic information
- Developer: Gameworks Tango
- Editor: Bethesda
- Platforms: PS5, PC
- Proven version: PS5
- Availability: 03/25/2022
As if you knew exactly the audience you want to go, when starting Ghostwire: Tokyo we find the game configured with voices in Japanese and subtitles in the language in which we have configured the console. Even though the dubbing in English and even in Spanish there are, and without being me, personally, particularly an integratory of the original version, I do believe that on this occasion the dubbing in Japanese favors a lot of immersion. After the introductions, we will have to follow a simple list of missions that will put us even more in context about what has happened in Tokyo and who is K.K., the spirit that now shares a body with Akito, our protagonist.
The plot of personal goals and Apocalypse does not differ much from the plot of any other title, the truth, but the details do have a fundamentally Japanese texture. The recreation of the Tokyo itself is meticulous and knows how to take advantage of the iconicity of certain elements of its urbanism to remind us that we are there, and not in any fictitious world. The interior of the – at the moment, not many – we visited buildings is quite traditionally decorated, and both interactable and collectible objects, food and certain elements of the gameplay are named by name in Japanese. There are times when it gives the feeling that an equivalent could have been sought – “yakitori” by “skewers”, or “konpeito” by “star candy” or something like that – but the location makes an active effort to keep everything as it is, For not diluting the nuances that the original words offer. And the names of the enemies, who are usually translated, continue showing the name in Hiragana or Kanji next to the text in Spanish.
Although I understand that this commented, immersion in Japanese culture, will be a strong and attractive point of the title for many players, I can also understand that many others will be a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information. It is true that every time we unlock an enemy, object or location we obtain an entry in the database that we can consult in the menu, and that explains what is everything in detail; But it is also true that, if my instinct does not fail me, most players are not very dice to spend hours reading menus. Because of this, I would recommend approaching Ghostwire Tokyo with awareness of the game that we are going to find: one that is very, very Japanese, from the premise to the execution.
Even if we are not very showers with the culture of Japan, however, not everything will be so strange: the combat system is explained very well to itself and what we want to realize we find combos and blockages. Perhaps the element that it costs the most to get used is to the fact that the camera is in the first person, but soon we will realize that it is one of the keys. Virtually all the special movements that our character can make, such as ether shots – of different types: water, fire and wind, for example – are performed at a distance, and weapons – such as arc with arrows – work similarly. To end the enemies we have two options: or exhaust your life completely, or beat them enough to be able to perform a final attack, the striking animation in which we extract its core through magic threads. The enemies, the Yokais, do not have a life bar in itself, but as they are weaker, their nucleus is exposing more and more. But it is never totally clear how many blows we are left to defeat a Yokai, which gives it a very curious element to combat. For the rest, most of them are designed so that we have to move a lot on the map, either seeking ammunition, whether it is fleeing from the range of their attacks. There is a blocking option – with perfect blockage – that has been one of the most pleasant parts of the combat system. As enemies are usually quite fast, covering ourselves is very fundamental to make the guard go down and can manage enough shots. In fact, towards the end of Chapter 2, several Yokais specifically designed to be noticed so that we play with the blockage when facing them.
Overall, and outside the very clear Japanese flavor, I think what most emphasizes Ghostwire Tokyo is that it is a very agile game. It is true that there are some long kinematics, especially in the introduction, but when we are exploring the open world we are constantly discovering new locations, spirits that absorb to gain experience, secondary missions with which to level up and unlock the skill tree, Collectibles and new information about the content of the game… It is one of these titles that caught you so much in your open world style that you end up, ultimately forgetting to continue with the main mission. At first, most of the map is covered by a fog that prevents us from moving forward, and that we will have to dissipate releasing certain sanctuaries. It is not that mechanics is very original, but it feels the game pretty well, because it prevents us from upgrading with the amount of things we can do in every small area. When we discovered a new area we can explore it quietly before moving on to the next, and what we want to realize have passed several hours of secondary content. Personally, I am sure that researching a little more could have elongated even a little more what the second chapter had to offer.
In the technical, the truth is that there is not much noteworthy: we have a performance mode that sacrifices the ray-traction to offer us equally quite remarkable visual effects, and a quality mode that focuses on the graphic, at the cost of something of the Frame- Rate. In general I have not had a problem with frame rates even in quality mode, with perhaps the exception of the very populated areas of the city when it rains, in which the ratio does harm a little. Perhaps my greatest stick comes with the use of PlayStation’s DualSense that there are monsters, or the use of the speaker of the command to transmit the voice of KK and that sounds a little bit more spectral, there are two loose aspects: the sound of bells, an excessive tag, when we aimed the camera to some object of interest for our current objective, and the use of the tactile panel, which at least in the version Present does not finish working. In certain moments of the plot we will have to purify spirits by drawing a seal on the touchpad, but beyond the tutorial, I have not managed to work properly in any other scene, even testing with different dualsense. On the other hand, we can use the panel to switch between the elements of our ether shots, which generate different effects, but I have also found the detection of the very limited command on these occasions.
Even so, what we have ahead seems, good lights, a game more than remarkable. Maybe a bit of niche in some of his conceptions, and maybe not exactly revolutionary for gender, but one who has all the elements to function perfectly: an interesting story, a balance between know-how and crazy ideas, Some designs of great characters and a combat and a world that does not seem to go tire at any time.