Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden – Review
Dontnod Entertainment became a household name when gamers talk about narrative-driven games thanks to their instant classic Life is Strange. Since then, the developers have taken on many different themes and genres, from war-torn point-and-click adventure games to vampire-filled action RPGs. Now Dontnod Entertainment tries to hit it out of the park again with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, throwing players into a cursed land where they will face evil spirits and decide the fate of those they meet along the way.
Story
The story of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden puts you in the shoes of a duo of banishers. These banishers are ghost hunters who are tasked with ridding haunted people and places of their curse. Antea and Red venture to the country of New Eden where the settlers have been struggling with constant nightmares and terrors, and they decide to look for the source. Once they confront the spirit that has been haunting the city, the duo realizes that they bit off more than they can chew resulting in Antea’s unfortunate demise. When Red recovers from his wounds he realizes that his lover is now haunting him, starting a journey to reclaim her body and decide the fate of Antea’s spirit.
This tale of love and salvation is the core of the narrative in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, but the real beauty of the story is told along the way. Players will encounter dozens of settlers who are tortured by their own spirits. Discovering their tale and having an influence on their outcome is where the game shines. Each of these haunting cases is well written and doesn’t paint the humans or ghosts in a clear good or evil picture. This makes the choices you make by helping the spirits move on or punishing the people who are connected to the case that much more engaging. This is further enhanced since they have a direct influence on the fate of Antea’s spirit. Will you do justice by the ghosts of New Eden or do anything that needs to be done to save the one you love?
Graphics
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden shows why it is only available on the newest generation of consoles, aside from PC of course, with its stellar visuals. The world of New Eden is a beautiful place, from its dark woods to the broken-down settlements. There is beauty to be found in the cursed and dark places you visit.
The same can be said for the characters you meet and the foes you face on your travels. Each of them is greatly designed and accompanied by fluent animations to bring the story-driven experience to life. There are, however, some frame drops during busy combat encounters and while opening menus. This is nothing that ruins the experience, but it can be noteworthy at times.
Sound
When you create a game with a dark and unsettling atmosphere, it is crucial to convey this feeling of dread through the sound of your game. This is where Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden hits the nail right on the head. The journey is accompanied by a great soundtrack that perfectly fits the world. From the gnarly sounds of evil spirits to the unsettling sounds of the dark woods, there’s always something to experience.
But Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is not just an atmospheric action RPG, it’s also a narrative-driven game, which means you’ll be spending a ton of time in conversations. It’s a great thing then that there is just as much care put into the voice-acting as the rest of the audio design. Each performance is well done and helps immerse players into the world of New Eden. Especially the main duo is a standout, which is nice since you’ll be spending so much time with them.
Gameplay
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is an action RPG with a big focus on narrative choices, influencing the outcome of the story. While players will do a lot of fighting and explore the dark world of New Eden, they will be spending just as much time in conversation with the inhabitants of this land, both living and dead.
While playing Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden you take control of both of the main characters, but not in a classical way where you just switch between them. Most of your time will be spent as Red since he is, well, alive and can interact with the people in the world. During combat, he wields a sword and gun that are effective against the evil spirits you will face. The combat consists of the classic collection of attacks, dodges, parries, and specials which expands throughout the game. During the first hour or two of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, the combat feels pretty barren but gets progressively better when new mechanics are introduced. This is especially true for the ethereal powers of Antea. During combat, a spirit gauge will fill up and give you access to Red’s late lover as a playable character. She comes with her own set of moves and deals greater damage to possessed enemies. Switching between characters becomes a crucial part of combat thanks to this, along with the fact that the game throws a bunch of different enemies at you. All of this works together beautifully to create a fun and challenging combat system that feels satisfying and keeps players on their toes. The bosses especially are standout encounters.
But not all battles in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden are fought with swords and fists, many of them are fought with spoken words. When you encounter a possessed person during your travels, this will start a haunting case. Here you will talk to characters, collect clues, and summon spirits to find out who is haunting the victim and what really happened. Once you have all this information, you get to decide the fate of the ghost or the haunted person. Will you banish a malevolent spirit or punish the living who caused others to perish? The great thing about these cases is the deep nuance of these short stories. All of them are situated in a very grey zone and don’t offer clear bad or good guys. Murderers may have had good reasons to take another’s life while spirits sometimes have good reasons to cling to this world. Another thing that influences your decision-making is the fact that their resolution has a direct influence on Antea’s return to this world since her resurrection needs sacrifices.
All of this takes place in the expansive world of New Eden, which isn’t a real open world but does offer regions with a lot of extra things to explore. From chests that offer new equipment to strong enemies that can permanently boost your stats, the game has a ton of rewarding activities to explore. There are even optional haunting cases that serve as side quests and unlockable powers that prompt players to revisit earlier inaccessible areas.
Conclusion
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden culminates all the narrative storytelling experience Dontnod Entertainment has gathered over the past decennia and combines it with great combat to deliver one of their best games yet. The story is compelling and features a great cast of characters. This makes the influential choices you make throughout the game more enticing. But the story is not the only thing Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has to offer, as it also has a fun-to-explore world with great mechanics and a beautiful presentation.
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