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Ghostwire: Tokyo - Early Access Impressions - Tango Asia Extreme

fart town usa

Gold Member
Got the 'Deluxe' Early Access version on PS5, played for roughly 2 hours 15 minutes this morning before work.

This game is awesome so far. I'm definitely geared towards the higher scoring reviews and not the lower ones.

Some thoughts concerning things said about the game.

  • Story seems great so far, big sense of mystery and the banter between the two protagonists works well.

  • Controls feel effing fantastic. Lots of reviews mention that they're stiff, no. If anything they're buttery smooth. You just don't move insanely fast like a COD game or DOOM. It's more deliberate but it's not slow by any means. You can tweak the controls too and I generally do in every first-person game I play. With this though, the default controls are honestly what I would have sought out.

  • Combat is great so far and it's not as mindless as videos make it seem. It can get hectic at times and on Normal you take a great bit of damage. Been close to death a few times but managed to survive. It feels great on Normal and Hard/Very Hard probably provide a good challenge. It's kind of a balancing act. Also, there is a lock on, like aim-assist on steroids, works well too and the lock can break off, it's not like z-targeting. The game definitely feels more Adventure than it does Shooter.

  • Exploring the city is lots of fun so far. Really atmospheric, lots of alley ways to explore and things to find. The city itself isn't very interactive but there are dumpsters, lockers, etc. to open. Music is great, lots of it is just sounds of the city and music playing from businesses. There is the actual game OST and it's great so far.

  • Petting the dogs and feeding them is as cute as you'd think it is.

  • I've done one side mission and it was cool, nothing special but the end part involved an arena type scenario where you need to kill all the enemies. Combat really shined there.

  • Graphics are great, nothing mind blowing but the art style is gorgeous and the game just looks great overall. Playing on standard Performance Mode because my TV only does 1080p (Panasonic Plasma). The framerate has been stable. I know there are dips but I haven't experienced anything like that yet.

  • Lots of files and stuff to read. Items all have a description that focuses on its significance within Japanese culture.

  • Dual Sense implementation is great.
Can't say 100% that I'll always love the game but right now I am and I'd be surprised if I start to feel negative about it. It's just fun, somewhat leisurely to play and just feels really fresh.

Regarding the somewhat 'negative' reviews, so far it just seems like a case of, "this isn't what I expected, or wanted, and I'm going to judge it within that lens..." I hate shit like that. Judge a game for what it is, not what some other series is doing.

It's definitely the most polished game that Tango has made so far and the Director and team should be proud with what they came up with. It's nothing that is going to blow you away but it's damn fun so far and plays great.

It's like the polar opposite of ER's open world. It's great that we as gamers got ER last month, something that is truly amazing in how it approaches its open world design, and now we have Ghostwire, something much more linear but still open, it encourages exploration and loves to dump story and descriptive things on the player.

If you like exploration/adventure over constant combat and enjoy Asian Horror/Japanese Culture, definitely check this game out if you get the chance. I'm really glad I'm able to play it.

edit: 4.5 hours in, it honestly feels like 'baby's first shooter/stealth/platformer/open world game', but I don't mean that as a negative. The game is insanely chill so far and might ramp up at some point but it's damn fun to play all the same. I'd hold off if you're looking for an action focused game. But if you just want to chill out and explore a haunted Tokyo, go for it. It's a total gem to me and I'd be surprised if my feelings change. I just love the way it controls and feels, the gameplay loop is great. Relaxing almost.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
Does the game has a lateral slide or any evading move during combat?
No slide or evading but movement felt good in the few encounters I had. Just kinda run around and avoid enemies basically. Hard to describe in great detail cause the time I spent with it, it didn't feel sloppy or amazing. Just felt fine and was fun so nothing really stood out in a overly positive or negative way, ha. Sorry, can't really describe it better than that. I'm also real early and only have the wind element, haven't unlocked the other two yet.
 
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ManaByte

Member
I agree with Karak Karak , the game is just boring.

Does look nice, but it's basically a first person UbiSoft open world game.

Kill enemies, purify Shine POIs, absorb spirit POIs, repeat until the map is all checked off.
 

CGiRanger

Banned
I agree with Karak Karak , the game is just boring.

Does look nice, but it's basically a first person UbiSoft open world game.

Kill enemies, purify Shine POIs, absorb spirit POIs, repeat until the map is all checked off.
This is what worried me when I saw the reveal gameplay. It just felt like this game was going to be too obviously repetitive from the gameplay presented, and the open-world is usually a red flag in that case.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
I agree with Karak Karak , the game is just boring.

Does look nice, but it's basically a first person UbiSoft open world game.

Kill enemies, purify Shine POIs, absorb spirit POIs, repeat until the map is all checked off.
Hard to say, I've never enjoyed a Ubisoft open world game (outside of Zombi U) and generally don't like anything Ubisoft puts out but I haven't played their games in years so I'm out of the loop.

I can totally see why some people might not like Ghostwire, and maybe I'll end up agreeing with the complaints at some point. Mostly just wanted to get my initial impressions out there. I think a huge factor for enjoyment is the player's awareness/appreciation of J-Horror.

For instance, the first area you go to, the hospital. Seeing the hallways lit up with green lights. Just made me think of the movie 'Infection'. I can't remember the significance with the color green and how it correlates to Japanese folklore but the game is just bringing me back to when I was all about J-Horror and was reading film analysis books on the themes in those movies, etc.

infection.jpg


Even something like the spirits being trapped in cubes. This isn't a Japanese horror movie but I just love Asian horror and it's cool to see these things in a game.

iu
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
How is the ratio combat\walking simulator?
Too early to say for me, first two hours were definitely more walking than combat but it was also still in tutorial mode so to speak. :messenger_grinning_sweat:

It definitely didn't start off guns blazing but it kept me engaged with other elements. The game might get crazy with it's combat as I get further in, I just can't tell at this point. I definitely plan on putting some hours into it tonight and will post more thoughts.

So far it seems like Action/Adventure.
 
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GymWolf

Member
Too early to say for me, first two hours were definitely more walking than combat but it was also still in tutorial mode so to speak. :messenger_grinning_sweat:

It definitely didn't start off guns blazing but it kept me engaged with other elements. The game might get crazy with it's combat as I get further in, I just can't tell at this point. I definitely plan on putting some hours into it tonight and will post more thoughts.

So far it seems like Action/Adventure.
Let me know when you are like 10 hours in please.

I don't care for walking simulators.
 

Yellerstone

Banned
I'm a few hours and chapters in myself.

This is great so far. If all you care about is combat, then don't bother. Its incredibly simple. It is fun and I cant wait to unlock more and more abilities, but this isn't Elden Ring.

The story, weirdness, and fucking awesome version of Tokyo are the meat of the game.

I'm having much more fun with this so far than I did a game like Horizon, which was complete utter shit besides the combat.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Let me know when you are like 10 hours in please.

I don't care for walking simulators.
4.5 hours into the game but figured I'd let you know that the game probably isn't for you.

I've been exploring the accessible area of the city for the last two hours and it's involved petting dogs and feeding them, collecting spirits, climbing up things to access rooftops and then gliding over to other roof tops collect more spirits.

I've exhausted the side missions available so far and am still exploring a bit before I go and do the next story mission.

So in 4.5 hours of gameplay, there's probably been a grand total of 4-5 minutes in combat, lol.

It's honestly like "baby's first stealth/platformer/shooter/open world game." it's damn fun though and insanely charming. So if the above sounds appealing, I say go for it. Otherwise just skip it or wait for a sale.

I can 100% understand the 10/10 and also the 6/10. It's not a bad game by any means but it's not for everyone.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Wondering how long to beat Ghostwire Tokyo is? Ghostwire: Tokyo has a haunted, open-world Shibuya to discover, but just how long is the game? Here we'll let you know exactly how many hours it took different members of the IGN team to finish Ghostwire Tokyo, and which Ghostwire Tokyo quests they prioritised doing with that time.
 
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ManaByte

Member
Still think the game is boring. But the side quests are actually really good and break up the boredom as they throw some variety into it.
 

Arthimura

Member
I started playing the game last night. Despite getting the game on release, I was busy with Elden Ring and GT7 and didn't even booted the game before.

Now that I could check the first hours, I definitely agree with the general impressions from fart town usa. It's not just another horror game, it's more an arcadey and chill exploration game that makes you feel heroic, which happens to have a spooky theme. Feeling some vibes from Dreamcast era games.

Don't know if my impressions are going to change as I progress in the game, but right now I'm enjoying it.

About the controls, the default are indeed bad. But you can change on configurations, I'm playing in performance mode, motion blur disabled, sensibility on axis x and y to 100, camera desacceleration to the max and camera acceleration to the minimum.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
I started playing the game last night. Despite getting the game on release, I was busy with Elden Ring and GT7 and didn't even booted the game before.

Now that I could check the first hours, I definitely agree with the general impressions from fart town usa. It's not just another horror game, it's more an arcadey and chill exploration game that makes you feel heroic, which happens to have a spooky theme. Feeling some vibes from Dreamcast era games.

Don't know if my impressions are going to change as I progress in the game, but right now I'm enjoying it.

About the controls, the default are indeed bad. But you can change on configurations, I'm playing in performance mode, motion blur disabled, sensibility on axis x and y to 100, camera desacceleration to the max and camera acceleration to the minimum.
Nice.

I'm still at it too, 42 hours in, I'm on Chapter 4, just taking my time with it and having fun. I didn't play it for a few days, and I was kind of nervous when I booted it up the other night that I might be 'over it'...Nope, after 5 minutes I was just back to chilling and enjoying the hell out of it. Something about this game just hits all the right boxes for me.

Funny about the default controls because I honestly haven't changed them at all. I love the way they feel. I don't play many twitch style shooters though so that might be why. It just feels like ZombiU to me in terms of movement but I think that game was criticized too for feeling sluggish.

I recently changed to HFR Quality Mode w/ V-Sync and that seems to be comparable to Performance Mode. Frame rate probably isn't as high but it's definitely over 30 and the visuals get a nice boost. It plays infinitely better than standard Quality Mode.

I still think it's a shame that this game was written off so insanely fast. Maybe when it releases on Gamepass it will find it's audience. There are so many cool details about this game that just went completely unnoticed/unmentioned in reviews. Lots of nit picking and dog piling in my opinion.

Such is life, I enjoy it and I guess that's the only thing that matters.

Don't sleep on the songs that you can buy from certain vendors. I like the ambience for when I'm doing a mission or taking in a new environment but when I'm just exploring, I listen to the vendor songs, the change in tone really drives home the arcade nature of the game. Learn the parry system too, timing is tricky for certain enemies but it'll definitely benefit you in the long run, especially if you're playing on hard.



Hope you enjoy it as much as I am and don't get burnt out like so many others.
 

Arthimura

Member
Nice.

I'm still at it too, 42 hours in, I'm on Chapter 4, just taking my time with it and having fun. I didn't play it for a few days, and I was kind of nervous when I booted it up the other night that I might be 'over it'...Nope, after 5 minutes I was just back to chilling and enjoying the hell out of it. Something about this game just hits all the right boxes for me.

Funny about the default controls because I honestly haven't changed them at all. I love the way they feel. I don't play many twitch style shooters though so that might be why. It just feels like ZombiU to me in terms of movement but I think that game was criticized too for feeling sluggish.

I recently changed to HFR Quality Mode w/ V-Sync and that seems to be comparable to Performance Mode. Frame rate probably isn't as high but it's definitely over 30 and the visuals get a nice boost. It plays infinitely better than standard Quality Mode.

I still think it's a shame that this game was written off so insanely fast. Maybe when it releases on Gamepass it will find it's audience. There are so many cool details about this game that just went completely unnoticed/unmentioned in reviews. Lots of nit picking and dog piling in my opinion.

Such is life, I enjoy it and I guess that's the only thing that matters.

Don't sleep on the songs that you can buy from certain vendors. I like the ambience for when I'm doing a mission or taking in a new environment but when I'm just exploring, I listen to the vendor songs, the change in tone really drives home the arcade nature of the game. Learn the parry system too, timing is tricky for certain enemies but it'll definitely benefit you in the long run, especially if you're playing on hard.



Hope you enjoy it as much as I am and don't get burnt out like so many others.

I finished the game today. Definitely enjoyed it way more than I expected, it never got boring.
The game is worthy for the ambience of rainy Shibuya at night and the combat alone. I always felt heroic during the fights.
Story was pretty decent too, and the dynamic between Akito and KK worked well.

Going for the platinum trophy now.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
I finished the game today. Definitely enjoyed it way more than I expected, it never got boring.
The game is worthy for the ambience of rainy Shibuya at night and the combat alone. I always felt heroic during the fights.
Story was pretty decent too, and the dynamic between Akito and KK worked well.

Going for the platinum trophy now.
Nice, right on dude.

I'm actually on the last Chapter right now, playing on Hard. Finished up a bunch of trophies last night, 100% souls, outfits, relics, jizo statues, tanukis, etc. Haven't used a guide for anything, have about 61 hours in. Gonna beat the game tonight and if I don't the platinum in this session, I'll get it this weekend, it'll be the first one I've ever got. I will use a guide for the voice recorders though, I have no idea which ones I'm missing and I don't think they appear on the map.

I absolutely love the game, it's honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had and I can 100% see myself playing it a 2nd time and putting another 60 hours into it. I'm thinking the 2nd time I play through I'll go with Quality Mode and allow my eyes to adjust to the 30fps.

I wish there was an endless mode in the game, just constant spawning souls and ghost parades/mini bosses. I'd put hundreds of hours into the game, lol. Or a marathon/endurance mode, just play as long as you can for high score and have a leaderboard.

This game will find it's audience someday.
 
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BaneIsPain

Member
It was fun and has the potential to be a good horror game if they don't diverge it to more action-packed.

Shibuya is so beautiful with the rainy scene (I need to go there again). The content is decent enough to get me hooked.

I have blast platinum this game. The only thing I don't like is the grinding spirit collection by hyakki yakko random spawn.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Pulling a Daikyo fortune is gonna be rough. That's the one trophy I need and it's completely random, tried it for like 20 minutes last night and no luck.

I really enjoyed the ending, thought it was touching. Story definitely could have been expanded upon in other aspects, the way the narrative is delivered is underwhelming but I think the story itself is really solid. I wish there had been flashback scenes between KK and his crew while they were investigating Hannyo. My favorite aspect of the story was KK and Akito growing as a team. Probably isn't as effective if you plow through but putting 60 hours into it, the comradery aspect really shined and lent itself great during the ending.

All in all I think it's a really solid game and Tango put a lot of thought and care into it. That's the most disappointing thing about the negative review comments towards the game, so many people act like this game was just thrown together and is a mess. Not at all. I can see why people might get bored with it but it's clear that Tango put their best into it. It's definitely one of the most thoughtful games I've ever played. Some of the side missions kinda of tugged at my heart strings and large elements of the plot are heavy in tone; dealing with death, loss, regret, etc.

I'd honestly have no problem with buying a XBS/X if they make a sequel and it's exclusive to that platform. Lack of haptic feedback/tension triggers would suck though.
 
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Arthimura

Member
I got the platinum trophy today. Overall, like I said I enjoyed it way more than I expected, and I believe my experience was enhanced because in this one week and half that I played the game, I also watched the movie Drive My Car, whose only similarities are both being japanese and both showing beatiful japanese city scenary, and maybe both having the theme of dealing with loss, but it contributed to put me into the right vibe.

I also played the Prelude visual novel that they released for free, it's nothing special and it's very short, but it's a option for those feeling the itch for some more content and wanting to see the investigation team (KK, Rinko, Erika and Ed) together before the events of the game.

About the platinum, I believe the map could be better, some collectibles are not shown on the map until after you already collected it and are not marked even if you sense it with the supernatural vision. I had some trouble with some last collectibles, but nothing too troublesome.

Definitely would play a sequel if Tango Gameworks decides to develop it some day.
 
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SenkiDala

Member
Finished it and got the plat trophy since it was easy, but was a shit show. Good thing is Shibuya seems pretty real (lived just right there for more than a year) graphics are ok. But characters have no personality, the story is... oh wait what story. Gameplay is basically Doom 2016 with a Shibuya skin (kill the horde of ennemies, remove the "core" of a big bad thing to clean the zone)... Bosses (played on normal) were ridiculously easy (beat the last boss within less than a minute and the boss before in... less than 30 seconds...).

Bio Hazard is my favorite gaming licence of all time (with FF, MGS and Silent Hill), but seriously... Mikami without his team is nothing. Evil Within was already pretty lame but this one... And I paid 60€ for this...
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
I ended up getting the platinum trophy.

They released a patch today that seems to address lots of complaints people had. Tengu volume slider, deadzone options, lots of PC related things. Performance improvements for PS5/PC.


This week, Japan celebrates Golden Week, one of its most popular holiday seasons. We’re also celebrating as the team at Tango Gameworks has launched an all-new update for Ghostwire: Tokyo!
This update features new gameplay and quality of life improvements; numerous bug fixes; and even a festive new cosmetic item and emotes to use in Photo Mode! Read on for the full details.

Update Highlights

  • Performance Improvements: This update addresses some performance issues for PS5 and PC.
  • Silence, Tengu: There’ve been some noise complaints about the Tengu, so Ed has developed some noise-cancelling headphones for Akito and KK. (Tengu volume can now be adjusted.)
  • Children’s Day Cosmetic and Emotes: Two new emotes and a new headwear piece inspired by Golden Week.

Children’s Day
Held annually on May 5 in Japan, Children’s Day is one of four national holidays observed during Golden Week, to celebrate the health and happiness of children—typically by decorating with fish-shaped kites and wearing paper samurai helmets! Now you can get in on the festivities in Ghostwire: Tokyo:

  • Koinobori Emote – Akito displays koi-shaped streamers
  • "They Grow Up So Fast" Emote – Akito proudly dons a folded paper “Kabuto” samurai helmet
  • Paper Kabuto – Wear the origami samurai helmet from the emote

Changes and Improvements
  • Added “Yokai Volume” slider, allowing players to adjust the screeching of the Tengu
  • Added “Mouse Smoothing” option (Allows players to enable/disable mouse smoothing)
  • Fast travel is now available earlier in the game

Bug Fixes
All Platforms

  • Improved overall performance
  • Overhauled starting values for player camera options
  • Adjusted gamepad analog stick deadzone, and added options to adjust deadzone
  • Fixed collision issues in some environments
  • Spirit Perception Prayer Beads will no longer guide you towards spirits you have already absorbed
  • Fixed text for some menu items in French and German
PC Fixes
  • Improved mouse/keyboard input when weaving
  • Added “Movie Display Mode” option
    • If you are experiencing sound desync issues in cutscenes, setting “Movie Display Mode” to “Performance” will correct the issue
  • Fixed progression issue with certain cutscenes
  • Added a warning display when using too much VRAM
  • Fixed issue with windowed mode on the title screen
  • Fixed 5K resolution issue on the title screen
  • Fixed Sharpness option when using FSR 1.0
  • Fixed issue when selecting difficulty
 
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