We tested “Ghostwire Tokyo”, the ghost hunting video game in the Japanese capital

Le Karakasa-Kozo est a supernatural being from Japanese folklore whose appearance is unforgettable. This spirit, which belongs to the family of yokai, looks like an umbrella with a big eye, a hanging tongue and a single leg with which it leaps forward. This creature, which we meet in Ghostwire Tokyo, is like this ghost hunting game, available since March 22 on Playstation 5 and PC: more fun than scary, it has a memorable quirk but is above all flawed.

As its title suggests, Ghostwire Tokyo takes place in the Japanese capital. It could even legitimately be called “Ghostwire Shibuya”, because a good part of the adventure takes place in this trendy district: its crowded crossroads – one of the iconic places of modern Japan – serves as the starting point for the adventure. During the opening cinematic, the area is engulfed by a mysterious fog in contact with which the inhabitants vanish, leaving only their clothes on the ground. Akiko owes her salvation to the spirit of a man nicknamed KK, who takes over her body. This parasite eventually turns into a powerful companion, which endows the young man with supernatural powers.

A unique atmosphere

Once at the controls of Akiko, we share his vision in the first person and hear the voice of KK which launches us on the heels of the one who orchestrated the disaster. Our first joys lie in strolling through a Tokyo that is nothing like a postcard: the explored district turns out to be labyrinthine and strewn with garbage cans, bloodstains or abandoned clothes, and the few buildings that we can to visit are just as inhospitable, lit by the dim light of neon lights.

Stationary cars, suitcases on the ground, abandoned strollers… Walking through this horrific Tokyo turns out to be a unique experience.

The overcrowded city feels even more oppressive now that it is deserted. From the shelving of the stores to the signage of the construction sites, the attention paid to the smallest details reinforces the immersion in this contemporary, haunted and devilishly photogenic Tokyo. We delight in discovering a sordid “love hotel” hidden between two buildings, praying in front of the statue of a Jizo, a Buddha who accompanies the dead, to increase our abilities, or collecting a unique object in a narrow alley .

Skillful storytelling is also evident in several side quests, some of which draw on the land’s tales and legends. Others are closer to the story and tell of the gray areas of contemporary Japan, like a mission featuring an old woman tormented by a greedy owner.

A side quest offers us an incursion into the house of a man who lives in the middle of his waste.

repetitive fights

However, such yokai one-legged umbrella, the game of Tango Gameworks is in perpetual imbalance. Exploration suffers from an interface that arrows us the course as if we had engaged a GPS. The game also fears so much that we get lost that blue clouds representing souls to appease are scattered everywhere to ensure that any potential detour is rewarded.

The experience suffers more generally from its combat system. The hero’s magical powers, which require pretty gestures from the character, are overall fun. But the range of skills is quickly limited. As for the clashes, they quickly become unsurprising: the monsters identify themselves first by activating the character’s sixth sense, which highlights them from a distance, then their artificial intelligence is as weak as their life bar.

This message about which button to press to purify a portal or collect souls appears hundreds of times on the screen. The interface is sometimes very intrusive.

Add to that ammunition that rarely fails and consumables that allow you to restore your life scattered everywhere, and the routine quickly sets in over the hours of play. The monsters that have invaded the city are less and less frightening to us, because they almost never kill us.

In the end, we’ve often wondered why the studio founded by the creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, treats us so gently this time around. Atypical finds and a keen sense of morbid detail are penalized by an omnipresent assistance and the use of hackneyed action game formulas. What leave the funny impression that Ghostwire Tokyo only hops on.

The player has magic attacks linked to wind, fire and water. He also has a bow and talismans in his pouch.

Pixel’s review:

We liked:

the nocturnal, rainy and foggy atmosphere of a Tokyo whose inhabitants have evaporated;
bizarre and surprising paranormal stories;
the Japanese studio that skilfully draws on Japanese folklore and Tokyo urban legends.

We liked less:

the abundant ammunition, the food to recover life placed everywhere and the very predictable enemies;
the actions that tend to be repeated over the course of the adventure;
the screen saturated with directions that constantly tell us what to do and where to go.

It’s more for you if: