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When there’s something strange in the Shibuya neighborhood, who you gonna call? They aren’t the guys. I’m talking about Akito and his supernatural sidekick KK, the superpowered ghostbusting buddies that share the same body like Eddie Brock and a considerably less hostile version of Venom. I recently had hands-on with the first four hours of Ghostwire: Tokyo, in which I got to step into Akito’s shoes and explore a large chunk of its Tokyo-inspired open world, sniff out several spooky side missions, and indulge in numerous showdowns with its malevolent mobs of spectral assailants. It was eerie and engaging and I was intrigued to see what else might be waiting for me in its rain-slicked streets.
If you can imagine a Yakuza game in which the pedestrians and perverts have been replaced by ghouls and ghosts then you’d have something close to Ghostwire: Tokyo’s highly detailed take on the Japanese capital. Most of the human population disappeared, leaving behind clothes and abandoned shopping bags. But dogs still remain, and you can pet them and feed them to encourage their secrets. Otherwise the only residents to be found are spirits that need to be absorbed using Akito’s paper doll, and the ‘Visitors’, faceless (and occasionally headless) paranormal predators that will pursue you relentlessly should you fail to take them out with a sneak attack first.
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Akito’s pal KK riding shotgun in psyche gives him access to a growing array of elemental powers that can put these poltergeists in their place. Pulling off Akito’s gesture-based attacks is a bit like performing sign language where every sign says, “Dodge this!” Yet although Akito’s fantastical finger guns may seem foreign to most first-person shooter fans, his attacks are not as far removed from your standard action game arsenal as they first appear. His rapid fire but weak powered wind gusts are your pistol, the wider spray of his water blades are your shotgun, the charged up fireball blasts are your grenade launcher, and his bow and arrow is your… Well actually that’s basically just a regular bow and arrow. Using a combination of Akito’s attacks you need to chip away at the outer shells of these haunted hordes, allowing you to finish them off quickly by ripping their prismic hearts out with a satisfying snap of elastic electricity. Ammo isn’t collected from fallen foes, but rather punched out of corrupted cars and vending machines found throughout the city.
Any spirits you absorb can be taken to special Egon Spengler-approved payphones and converted into cash and XP, the former for buying consumable health items from convenience stores and the latter used to unlock upgrades in Ghostwire: Tokyo’s skill tree. It’s a good thing too, because although Ghostwire: Tokyo’s combat certainly looks dazzling, it feels somewhat stiff at the outset. Thankfully over the course of the first two story chapters I had invested enough to speed up Akito’s moves and bring added flexibility to his attacks, and I started warming a bit more to Ghostwire: Tokyo’s finger-flung fireworks. But while this bustin’ makes me feel good – it’s yet to make me feel great.
On the other hand, I found Tokyo absolutely captivating. Ghostwire: Tokyo opens with most of the open-world map covered in fog. However, activating torii gates slowly reveals its vast expanse. I was surprised at its verticality. Akito can use his flying yokai spirits to lift himself to the tops of buildings and use a glide ability to fly around looking for secrets. But Ghostwire: Tokyo’s central mystery also leads you down into subterranean shopping arcades and subway tunnels deep below the streets, and with a number of treasure hunts to complete there certainly seems to be plenty of hidden sections in the city to scour.
Ghostwire: Tokyo’s main story features Akito (KK) and KK on the trail of a mysterious masked demonic demon. However, each Tokyo district also has a few side missions that are offered by spirits in limbo. These optional quests can lead to some very surprising situations. One quick detour through the murky hallways of a corrupted hotel led me to an uncharted otherworld, where I had my hands full of enemies. While other side missions were more sedate but equally as enthralling, such as using KK’s spectral vision to uncover a hidden room in a haunted apartment, or sneaking up on an enchanted umbrella to relieve it of its mischievous yokai spirit.
You will also find creepy demons in the streets to chase you, cute tanuki disguised to be inanimate objects to find, and spirits locked in containment cubes which must be freed from their Visitor captors. A glance at Ghostwire: Tokyo’s game map might make it seem like just another icon-strewn open world adventure, but its ominous atmosphere and unique paranormal encounters give it an allure unlike any other. I’m certainly curious to investigate the mysterious ritual teased at the end of my hands-on, not to mention finding out just how powerful the union between Akito and KK will become – as hinted at by the devastating shockwave blast unlocked at the end of the second story chapter.
IGN will be publishing a complete review of Ghostwire: Tokyo prior to its release on March 25, so you can expect IGN. Check out our 18 minute gameplay video.
Tristan Ogilvie works as a video producer in IGN’s Sydney office. He wishes that he could actually be haunting Shibuya now. Tweets about very rare occasions here.
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