I think the second half of this game made my opinion go from "above average game with amazing art direction" to "disappointingly frustrating game with amazing art direction", which is a sentiment echoed in a lot of reviews here. I'll keep it brief.
Genuinely the atmosphere is PERFECT. Having rain fall up, the blood moon being not blood red but a very slight tint of it, the streets completely quiet, the fog rolling in as uncanny creatures crawl their way down Shibuya was genuinely phenomenal. It felt amazing. The yokai introduction and the Spectre quests were fun and unique, the gameplay was fine for a while. Then everything falls apart around late chapter 3 - early chapter 4. Story dips from above average to below, gameplay loop stagnates HARD, enemy design becomes less unique, literally everything except the atmosphere and aesthetic design just dips so hard.
I would love to see Tango give this kind of game another shot in a sequel since I definitely smell some Bethesda corporate meddling, but as it is Ghostwire just feels frustratingly disappointing because I can see what this game COULD have been, clear as day. While it's still okay and definitely still playable, that disappointment really turned me away from the game.
I can't deny that this game actually made me feel strongly in terms of atmosphere in ways that only good horror and immersive sims have, however. It definitely gets bumped up a bit because of that, because as much as I was disappointed with the second half, the atmosphere is genuinely up there.
Also, the idea of items giving you a small max health increase that stacks up quick is a genius solution to item hoarding and I think more games should think about incorporating that.
Genuinely the atmosphere is PERFECT. Having rain fall up, the blood moon being not blood red but a very slight tint of it, the streets completely quiet, the fog rolling in as uncanny creatures crawl their way down Shibuya was genuinely phenomenal. It felt amazing. The yokai introduction and the Spectre quests were fun and unique, the gameplay was fine for a while. Then everything falls apart around late chapter 3 - early chapter 4. Story dips from above average to below, gameplay loop stagnates HARD, enemy design becomes less unique, literally everything except the atmosphere and aesthetic design just dips so hard.
I would love to see Tango give this kind of game another shot in a sequel since I definitely smell some Bethesda corporate meddling, but as it is Ghostwire just feels frustratingly disappointing because I can see what this game COULD have been, clear as day. While it's still okay and definitely still playable, that disappointment really turned me away from the game.
I can't deny that this game actually made me feel strongly in terms of atmosphere in ways that only good horror and immersive sims have, however. It definitely gets bumped up a bit because of that, because as much as I was disappointed with the second half, the atmosphere is genuinely up there.
Also, the idea of items giving you a small max health increase that stacks up quick is a genius solution to item hoarding and I think more games should think about incorporating that.