This is a tough one to write, but I was so mad at this game I turned on my desktop just to write this out.
I liked Evil Within despite its flaws. I gave Ghostwire: Tokyo every benefit of the doubt, and put faith in it despite reviews saying it was a bit simple and generic for an open world game.
This is not a bad video game to be sure. Combat is competent, virtual tourism stuff is really impressive (until you realize the open world is small and has little diversity to speak of), and the idea of a spooky Japanese ghost action game is such a cool premise.
I'll even say that the combat, despite being one-dimensional, does feel different than any game I've played. There's a vibe/style here that is unlike any game that has come before (other than SMT, but that's a little different). It looks excellent, and it feels fresh in the style department.
Unfortunately, that style is paired with a borderline pathetic open world, slow movement, combat that never evolves, gameplay that barely extends beyond "shoot ghosts with wind and then fire when you can." And the mind-effery? You see that in 2-3 scenes in the game.
And don't get me started on the story. There's an interesting tale to be told here, but it is told almost entirely in its first hour and last hour. Everything in-between is side-missions and cookie-cutter "clear the icons on the map." In addition, I don't like that all of the important character moments happen during boss fights. I may be subs over dubs (so the default Japanese voice track was welcome), but if I'm fighting a boss I can't read what's going on.
I have no idea what happened during development, but I wouldn't be surprised if this game restarted development in 2019/2020. There are so many cool ideas here, but the final product feels rushed, shallow, and hollow. It's not bad and there are things I enjoyed, but I don't think this game deserves your time.
I liked Evil Within despite its flaws. I gave Ghostwire: Tokyo every benefit of the doubt, and put faith in it despite reviews saying it was a bit simple and generic for an open world game.
This is not a bad video game to be sure. Combat is competent, virtual tourism stuff is really impressive (until you realize the open world is small and has little diversity to speak of), and the idea of a spooky Japanese ghost action game is such a cool premise.
I'll even say that the combat, despite being one-dimensional, does feel different than any game I've played. There's a vibe/style here that is unlike any game that has come before (other than SMT, but that's a little different). It looks excellent, and it feels fresh in the style department.
Unfortunately, that style is paired with a borderline pathetic open world, slow movement, combat that never evolves, gameplay that barely extends beyond "shoot ghosts with wind and then fire when you can." And the mind-effery? You see that in 2-3 scenes in the game.
And don't get me started on the story. There's an interesting tale to be told here, but it is told almost entirely in its first hour and last hour. Everything in-between is side-missions and cookie-cutter "clear the icons on the map." In addition, I don't like that all of the important character moments happen during boss fights. I may be subs over dubs (so the default Japanese voice track was welcome), but if I'm fighting a boss I can't read what's going on.
I have no idea what happened during development, but I wouldn't be surprised if this game restarted development in 2019/2020. There are so many cool ideas here, but the final product feels rushed, shallow, and hollow. It's not bad and there are things I enjoyed, but I don't think this game deserves your time.
chandler
1 year ago