Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

The game starts off strong, with a solid mix of great ideas and engaging gameplay. The main story is compelling, and the side quests are just as well-crafted. However, as the game progresses, several design decisions begin to wear down the experience and ultimately make it frustrating to play for extended periods. One of the biggest issues is how time-consuming and repetitive travel becomes. The following problems stand out: * Fast travel is only available from campfires, meaning you often have to backtrack just to initiate fast travel—adding unnecessary tedium. * Side quests are reintroduced in old areas. For instance, after completing all quests in a village and moving to the next chapter, new quests appear in that same village, forcing you to revisit the same areas and locations repeatedly. * Enemy encounters can't be avoided while traveling. The map is segmented into short areas blocked by obstacles—like fallen trees, fences, or gaps—that you can’t pass during combat. This forces you to fight through the same enemies multiple times. * Enemies respawn after every fast travel, turning repeated trips into grind-heavy chores rather than interesting exploration. * Quest structure is overly repetitive. Most quests involve multiple steps requiring constant back-and-forth with the quest giver. For example, you’re sent to investigate a locked cabin in the woods. You go there, find it locked, return to the quest giver for the key, and then travel all the way back. This cycle repeats often, sometimes requiring you to retrace the same path 10 times and fight the same enemies each time. And just when you think you’re done, a new chapter brings yet another quest to that same cabin. What begins as an enjoyable adventure eventually turns into a repetitive grind, not because of the content itself, but because of how it's structured and delivered.

Banishers is an absolute sleeper and if I knew how vast, well-written and moving it was, I wouldn't have waited for a sale. At first, I thought this would be a very linear, story-based light-action game. It's revealed itself to be much more than that. The swapping technique is well-implemented. Combat is solid and while it's not altogether wildly deep such as some other 100 hour ARPGs in that aspect, it is fun and feels good. Finding the right powers, character and moves work best against the various specters. What most took me by surprise was the writing. There's no black or white. It's all morally grey and who you decide to be and do from the binary choices are up to your personal beliefs. The writing and detective work is such an experience I appreciate. It makes me actually want to listen to the voiceovers instead of power-reading subtitles and skipping along like busywork. It feels meaningful and you want to know these people's stories. It doesn't hurt that the atmosphere is top-notch. While you will see a lot of rocky surfaces, they are the finest detailed rocks you will see in a game. Also, once you get into the Dark Woods. Hats off to the level designers. The swooping, puzzle-like maps feels like a Elden Ring/Metroid-baby. Where new powers unlock old places and shortcuts aplenty can be unlocked. It all comes together so nicely that I'm taking my sweet time with it and plan to soak it all in. This is a stunning vision that shouldn't have been so overlooked but when the game market is as saturated as it is, it's hard to find footing. I hope this franchise gets cult-status and blows up. I would buy a Banishers 2 in Salem. Or Banishers 3 in Japan. Love this game.

After seven hours of playing, I can say that this game truly deserves more recognition. For me, the character design, setting, and voice acting are exceptionally well-crafted and polished. As for the gameplay, it's not too difficult and is quite accessible for newcomers. I'm really excited to finish the rest of the game! Hopefully, in the future, DON'T NOD will continue to create more games with fresh and unique themes like this one. 😚

A mix of "Life is Strange" and "Witcher 3" An absolutly beautiful game full of story-driven gameplay and combat you can design to suit your playstyle.

I believe that there is a deliberate corporate strategy of drip-feeding tutorials between long slow-paced cutscenes and meaningless dialogue trees in order to keep you from getting the game refunded when you realize you do not like the gameplay

movement mechanics suck, dodge? no, heavy attack? wait a second for charge, before it, you'll lose half HP.... because you can't dodge during heavy attack, game tells you to look for attack indicators... yes they really exist... but they alert you too late

Amazing game, story and art direction are sooo beautifully done

I really enjoyed Vampyr and reading about this game I was hoping I would enjoy it as well. Vampyr is the tighter and more enjoyable of the two games. This game drags and many cheap tricks are used to waste your time and keep you playing it well beyond the game's ability to captivate your interest. Pros: - The idea behind the game is great. A ghost of your lover stays at your side to help you and enhance combat. - The setting is cool. Exploring early America in the late 1600s. - Red is a great character. - Combat is pretty fun and leveling up has meaningful benefits. - Exploring the side missions where you solve hauntings is interesting and sending off ghosts is pretty cool. Cons: - Where Red is great, Antea can be insufferable. Red is always kind to her, but she can be very condescending and critical to Red. She blames him for her death. You play as Red, yet she is front and center. - The game is loading with "the message". Woman are strong, mean are weak, colonialism is bad, and a lesbian in every camp. There are two sisters. One is a lesbian and the other is so badass, she should be the main character. She is the most masculine character in the whole game. She even has a badass name. Thickskin. - There are a ton of side tasks and puzzles that are way too frequent and cut and paste. One of the most annoying puzzles that they use way too often are these vine puzzles. At first they were fun, but they stopped being from 50 times later and they are later needed to proceed with the main mission. - Although it was interesting to send off ghosts, the insane amount of ghosts gets to be a bit much. The game takes place at several small camps and pretty much every person is haunted. Half the camp dies and haunts the remaining half. - In the end, you have so many useless items in your inventory, I have no idea what the purpose of them are. Linen, leather, etc. You use very little for crafting and they are worth practically nothing when you sell them. Yet you end up with hundreds of each item, because the game world is littered with useless crap everywhere. You will go through some trouble to get to an area only to find these useless items. How much of my time was spent chasing after linen and leather? A lot. - The world is broken up into smaller areas with these cheap tricks like crevices, ledges, crawl spaces, and climbing walls. How the settlers got around is beyond me because there are no connected roads or paths. Every area is laid out like a maze to simply make moving around more tedious and time consuming. It really got annoying after about 20 hours of it, with 20 more hours to go. I see no reason why the game could not have been more open world and easier to get around. Fast travel locations were mostly frequent enough, but you should have been able to quick travel from anywhere to those points and not need to go to those points to only travel to other points. Overall, the bad, cringe, and annoying outweighed the good. I was drawn to the game and did enjoy the ending, but it was also a chore half the time and there are just too many things that could have been better. I doubt I will buy any other games from the developer since they are obsessed with preaching the message and I just want to enjoy a game without being preached to.

everything is amazing about the game except maybe the fighting and game mechanics. really cool idea but defnitely needs some more depth. Once again the story the voice acting everything is beyond good its a geniune masterpiece but the game elements are bit lacking.

Much better then i expected,a solid adventure game with some hard moral choices.

The review is very slightly positive. Banishers ain't a bad game, but it's plagued by some pretty annoying problems. The story is good enough. It starts pretty nice, but it becomes a little boring and bloated. It slows down quite a bit and it hurts the experience. Antea from likable enough character at the start, becomes pretty much insufferable by the end of it. Red is a cool lead. That's a plus. The gameplay is fun enough, but the enemy variety is pretty bad and the encounters become boring quickly. The biggest issue with the game is that it overstays it's welcome. If it was 12ish hours it would have been perfect. 6/10

This game is making me experience apocalyptic amounts of guilt and sadness. 10/10 Art does imitate life

[i]Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden[/i] is a game best described as a seesaw of both good and bad moments. In certain ways it reminds me of Dontnod's past title [i]Vampyr[/i], but unlike that game [i]Banishers[/i] manages to mostly avoid the biggest lows and more frustrating elements present there. [h3]What's Good:[/h3] Colonial America is a rare setting for a videogame, an inspired choice that makes it stand out among its peers. I imagine a lot of research went into crafting a portrait of the puritan life of the 17th century, and Dontnod definitely have a knack for creating environments that feel authentic in the context of their time and place. Close scrutiny might have you point out a few inconsistencies here and there, but only a handful of videogame settings can survive that amount of dissection. The narrative and characters were enjoyable. with ghost hunters Red and Antea's relationship at the forefront and the driving motivation for your adventures; I think their dynamic works well and they play off each other in the ways you'd imagine a couple would, with small digs and warm moments mixed in equal measure. Other important story beats concern the land and its inhabitants, haunted in more ways than one by their misdeeds or tragedies of the past. A major selling point of [i]Banishers[/i] is the freedom in which you can bring closure to these people's personal dramas, be it motivated by your own goal or a desire to play judge, jury and executioner in their lives. As for the acting, I generally found it much improved this time around, with convincing performances from its voice actors and solid facial animations; even the framing for the dialogues has been rectified from the rigid [i]Vampyr[/i] ones. [h3]What's Not:[/h3] Despite these positives Dontnod couldn't grasp having a gameplay loop that doesn't involve too much running, and exploration that doesn't feel tacked on and unrewarding. Most detours are overall pointless, it's filler content of the bad kind that would feel right at home in the worst Ubisoft open worlds. Another issue is the pacing; the first few hours are focused and more linear, but once the game opens up and you're trekking across the land you will soon start to dread the next climb, the next cave, the next wide open area set up for a ghostly ambush. The developers were clearly inspired by the recent [i]God of War[/i] duology, but didn't quite understand what made it tick. In those games it feels cathartic to have a scrap after a session of exploration, solving puzzles, or cinematics. You're a beast finally released and let loose upon your enemies in viscerally satisfying ways. In [i]Banishers[/i] the next encounter feel like a stop sign, homework you have to do to get to the better parts of the game. Combat isn't engaging for the majority of its runtime, it takes too long to get new powers and the enemy variety is mediocre in both design and the ways to handle them. All of these points make the actual fighting a chore, something you'd rather avoid. [h3]Wrap Up:[/h3] To summarise, this would be a much better game if they slashed about 10 hours of busywork and light RPG elements. Sometimes less is more. I wouldn't blame you either if you started to skip haunting cases to get straight to the end, which is a shame because a bunch of those are genuinely engaging. Should you still subject yourself to that many more hours of pedestrian gameplay to get to the good bits? It depends on your level of tolerance. Recommended, but with the caveats from above.

The open world is great. The DEI is all over this but at a toleratable level. Next game get ride of it, it kills the story line.

I didn’t expect this game to be so captivating, especially from a story perspective. The combat mechanics are great, and I really enjoy switching between the two characters. One downside, though, is that enemies respawn and you often have to revisit certain locations, which can feel a bit repetitive and tiring.

Story and character are the strongest aspect here. All of the Haunting cases are all well written, they are comparable to The Witcher 3 detective missions. The characters of Red and Antea work very well together and the voice acting is fantastic. Gameplay started off a bit poor, but once I unlocked a few abilities, the game became much more fun. My biggest complaint is that the game does not respect your time. You spend far too much time just running between locations. The fast travel mechanic is very limited and there is no auto run key. Prepare yourself for a lot of running around. That said, I would happily play a sequel. 8/10.

The graphics are beautiful! I don't know how it would have any negative reviews! The story line is eerie and fun! Its like watching a psychological horror but the game play isn't necessarily scary. There are two different sides to play and will probably play again

so far good story and gameplay.will update when i complete the game

What a fantastic game! There are so many positives to this game: the writing, acting, art direction, world building, score, combat, puzzles, world traversal, all outstanding. The bond between Red and Antea is what got me hooked into this game, their relationship and the choices you have to make really kept me engaged. The haunting cases were slightly simple but overall very fun to investigate. It's a shame this game wasn't marketed well, if it had been I think it would have been quite successful. I would love a sequel!

Amazing game. Incredible writing. When I finished it I sat there for a few minutes on the loading screen which is always a great sign.

Story is pretty dope, and combat is pretty good. The environment is vibrant and always feels different.

nice and relaxing. the story and voice acting are very good. though I was hoping for shorter and more linear experience, similar to the Plague tale.

Still semi early on but this game is incredible. To start it's UE5 and is smooth as can be. Not one traversal or shader stutter and I'm hours in so they of reared their head by now if it was gonna be an issue. The writing and voice acting are just pream. Combat is also a huge step up from Vampyr and is a lot of fun. Overall this game is just way beyond worth the price. I hope it develops a cult following cause it did not get the attention it deserves and I wish I'd supported it at launch.

I love fantasy, but am not much into horror. That's as far as I can go with specters, witches, nightmares and demons and the anxiety was real although the game gave me plenty of opporunity to overpower Red and Antea so that encounters were manageable. The game is utterly beautiful, dark, grim and heartwarming - while unveiling and unraveling what brought you to New Eden in the first place. No other adventure had me constantly check whether my rifle was loaded. Beautiful story with alternate strings, diverse characters, deep, dark mines, many perpetrators, some victims and lots, but lots of injustice driving revenge, fury, retribution and wrath. All that said, let me check whether my rifle is loaded...

So far the story is engaging and the it is flowing nicely. The retrace your steps aspect of the game could use some polish to make going back to get everything, collect them all, more enticing but it is not a deal breaker. I got it 50% off and at 25 bucks I feel the game is worth that value.

The game is clearly inspired by the newer God Of War. Unfortunately, it also tries to imitate God Of War in terms of time and somewhat in scope - but the actual content and gameplay mechanics just can't keep up. As a result, you get a beautiful game with an interesting story and characters - but it feels at least 40% longer than it should be.

Enjoyed the story. Some customization options with your build were nice but still felt a tad limited. Combat was fun but felt clunky sometimes.

If you like action games with a rich and compelling story, this is for you.

Gameplay is excitingly fun, I love the different combination of moves you can execute to dispatch your enemies. Story is also rich and has depth to it I 100% would recommend this amazing game.

Beautiful, mature story about death and closure with great visuals, fantastic acting and good combat.

Great game and story, but I really wish there was a 'jump' feature. It is always so annoying when you cannot jump.

Whichever level designer who thought going through 300 meters of same crevices, same climbing walls, jumping over the same logs, looking at the same stone wall textures, fighting the same enemies over the same uninteresting woods for 8 hours should be fired. Out of the 9 hours I played the game only 1 hour of that was novel or interesting and maybe 30 minutes of it I enjoyed. Walking and travelling through crevices with animations number 1 and number 2, which by the way aren't even there for loading screens, is the most boring game design there can ever be. Over those 9 hours, I made only 1 interesting and game impacting choice. If these 9 hours of gameplay were to be a book, it would only be one page.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden – A Haunting Miss Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden sets out with ambition, but stumbles hard under the weight of its own aspirations. While the premise—a ghost-hunting duo navigating a supernatural 1600s New England—sounds like fertile ground for a gripping narrative, the execution leaves much to be desired. Story & Characters The game’s strongest asset is its story, but even that can’t carry the experience. The emotional core between the two protagonists is well-intentioned, yet the pacing drags and the dialogue often feels overwrought. The world is rich in lore, but the delivery is so heavy-handed and slow that it becomes a chore to engage with. Without spoilers, let’s just say the central conflict loses its impact when the journey to get there feels padded and repetitive. Gameplay & Combat Combat is where Banishers truly falters. The dual-character mechanic—switching between a living and spectral protagonist—sounds innovative, but in practice it’s clunky and underdeveloped. Enemy encounters quickly devolve into button-mashing slogs, with little variation or tactical depth. The upgrade system is shallow, and the RPG elements feel tacked on rather than thoughtfully integrated. Exploration fares no better. The game leans heavily on the “crevice crawler” formula—slow walks, narrow passageways, and endless environmental bottlenecks that artificially stretch playtime. The open world is filled with repetitive side content and uninspired fetch quests that rarely feel meaningful. Visuals & Performance Visually, the game is inconsistent. Some environments are atmospheric, but character animations and facial expressions often break immersion. Lighting effects can be striking, but they’re undermined by stiff movement and awkward transitions. Performance-wise, frame drops and long load times plague the experience, especially during combat or cutscenes. Sound & Music The voice acting is competent, but the emotional delivery is hit-or-miss. The soundtrack, while serviceable, lacks memorable themes and often fades into the background. Sound design in combat is particularly underwhelming, with repetitive audio cues that make already dull encounters feel even more lifeless. Verdict Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden tries to blend narrative depth with action-RPG mechanics, but ends up doing neither particularly well. It’s a game that feels like it’s constantly at odds with itself—torn between telling a heartfelt story and delivering engaging gameplay, but failing to commit fully to either. For players seeking a polished, emotionally resonant experience, this ghost story might be better left untold. Score: 3/10 – A promising concept buried beneath repetitive gameplay, technical hiccups, and a lack of mechanical polish.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 93: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆ (7/10) [i] Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden [/i] is a game filled with emotional resonance, moral weight, and strong worldbuilding, but it’s also one that’s constantly tripping over its own feet, thanks to sluggish traversal, repetitive design, and frustrating performance issues. [i] Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden [/i] is a slow burn, and when it hits, it really hits. Its central narrative is gut-wrenching, with mature writing and believable emotional beats. But its moment-to-moment gameplay can be outright frustrating. The tedious traversal, underwhelming combat, and underutilized RPG systems can make you feel like you’re slogging through mud just to reach the good parts. If you love DONT NOD’s style of interactive storytelling and have the patience for its clunky mechanics, there’s a brilliant ghost story waiting here. But if you’re expecting smooth gameplay to match the narrative quality, prepare for disappointment. ❤️[b] Pros: [/b] [list] [*] Emotional storytelling and relationship at the core. The bond between Red and Antea is beautifully written and performed. Their dynamic feels lived-in, full of grief, tenderness, and conflict. This isn’t just a tragic love story; it’s a story about what you do with that love after loss. The central question—do you banish, ascend, or sacrifice?—hangs over every interaction, making even minor hauntings feel thematically rich. [*] Thoughtful, well-written side quests. The haunting cases scattered throughout New Eden aren’t just filler—they're mini-ethics dramas. Each haunting comes with a moral conundrum, and the choices are rarely black and white. Do you trust the grieving widow? Is the vengeful ghost justified? These stories stick with you and speak to *DONT NOD’s* narrative strength. [*] Consequential choices that actually matter. Your decisions throughout the game shape the ending, character fates, and how Red and Antea relate to each other. It’s not just cosmetic—your guilt, doubts, and resolve are all tested. The game rewards introspection and careful thought over pure pragmatism. [*] Excellent voice acting. Red and Antea are brilliantly cast, and the emotional scenes hit because of the nuanced performances. Supporting characters also do a solid job, giving even small haunting quests a real sense of gravitas. [*] Unique mechanic: switching between the living and the dead. You alternate between Red (the living banisher) and Antea (his ghost companion). Each has unique traversal and combat abilities. While the mechanic could’ve gone further, it adds a layer of strategy and character flavor that stands out from other RPGs. [/list] 🥾[b] Cons: [/b] [list] [*] Traversal is miserable. This is the game’s biggest flaw by far. Backtracking is constant, and the world is filled with shallow obstacles designed only to slow you down—logs you have to hop over, ledges to climb, narrow cracks to shimmy through. There’s no mount, sprint is limited, and fast travel is rare and restrictive. By mid-game, returning to an old location for a side quest becomes an exhausting chore. I just ... don't see the point of having a linear world with such constant backtracking. [*] Large world design with nothing to say. The map is big but not dense. Exploration often feels like padding, with areas that exist solely to hold collectibles, crafting items, or minor upgrade shrines. There’s a mismatch between the rich narrative and the shallow environmental storytelling. Unlike something like [i] The Witcher 3 [/i] or [i] Prey, [/i] exploring doesn’t feel rewarding, just time-consuming. [*] Performance issues, especially on Steam Deck. It struggles to hit a consistent framerate even on lower settings, especially during busy scenes or rain effects. Texture pop-in and occasional stutters are common. It’s playable, but never truly smooth, and the long load times compound the traversal frustration. [*] Combat is fine—but unremarkable. The system of swapping between Red’s melee/guns and Antea’s spectral powers adds variety, but the enemy types and animations wear thin quickly. There’s very little challenge, and boss fights are mostly HP sponges with AoE attacks. Combat isn’t broken, but it feels like something that has to be done to get back to the story—not something you’ll look forward to. Enemies also respawn, making the backtracking worse. [*] Crusading for collectibles and upgrades isn't worth it. You’ll find shrines, lore notes, and materials scattered around the world, but there’s very little incentive to go out of your way. The gear system is shallow, crafting upgrades feel minor, and most collectibles don’t meaningfully enrich the experience. [*] RPG systems feel undercooked. Dialogue options exist, but they rarely affect interactions. Builds and gear progression are extremely limited. While the game markets itself as an action-RPG, most of its systems are either barebones or shallowly implemented. You’re here for the story, not the mechanics—and it shows. [/list]

I can't recommend this game, this game is so extremely boring, invisible walls everywhere, additionally it forces you to constantly go back to already visited locations because something is unlocked there, totally frustrating character development system, boring and slow. This is one of the few games that made me fall asleep in an armchair. I have no idea if I will ever finish it, but I can say that I will definitely have a good sleep at this time.

Игра - внебрачное дитя Tomb Rider и Witcher 3. В игре много повестки, что конечно не есть хорошо. Однако все равно игруля качественная и за свои деньги топчик. Сделано с вниманием к деталям. Выйди этот проект году так в 2020 был бы конечно эффект побольше. Диалогов дофига, побочные квесты проходить интересно. Боевка ну это вам не соулслайк конечно. Сложность здесь детская. Система прокачки не продуманная и скорее больше она для красоты ну и дает все таки какую никакую вариативность. Главное достоинство игры - это сюжет. Он есть и дополняется побочными квестами кои интересно проходить т. к. они раскрывают и сюжет игры. В игре конечно есть довольно таки спорные решения, недоработки я бы сказал. Так, например, после прохождения основной сюжетки вам отказано в продолжении игры. Таким образом, если хотите 100% прохождение игры придется это делать до финальной главы. Сделать экипировку объектом гринда тоже спорное решение. По мне так надо было дать игроку возможность покупать всю экипировку у торговцев. Ибо не у всех есть желанием открыть 88 предметов исследуя 100 % карты просто ради самого факта наличия предмета. Большинство предметов экипировки шлак ибо уже после нескольких часов игры понимаешь что у статов на предмете приоритет перед абилкой которую он дает. Но это все мелочи. Общее впечатление от игры очень положительное.

Interesting story crippled by man hating writer and idiotically convoluted travel mechanics and artificially elevated time of play, hunting for useless items. Not much of a story spoiler, premise Red (BF) wakes to find GF not with him (in a dangerous area/situation), goes to where he thinks she is in danger, finds big bad evil. GF finds them gets killed. then BF gets thrown out of building. GF spends entire game angry with him for being reckless and stupid. Even though he has told her he only left because she wasnt there and he thought she wa in danger. This isnt a modern day game where hey woman can fend for themselves things..this is a combat situation where partners stick together regardless of sex. So she berates and belittles him the entire game because what he was concerned and doing his darn job? Idiotic premise and of course the man is the idiot even though he did nothing wrong. But the woman doesnt even acknowledge that he was tricked and has a leg to stand on.. She literally BLAMES him and says she hates him minutes after saying she loves him until the end.... HORRIBLE WRITING for the 2 of them sometimes. And the travel mechanics? And the HORRIBLE gear upgrading system and the back and forth.... sighh. Its a good things the voice acting and music and story overall were so good. I thought the combat was also good though most others did not.

Pros: -The story is very good if you are interested in a rich story. -The gameplay mechanic is a nice and skill-based system. - A variety of items to collect that can be useful based on your gameplay. -Semi-open world with some linear routes -Plenty of side quests to do and exploring. Cons: -Some midway gameplay (after 15–20 hours), lots of cliffs and tunnels can be repetitive. -Plenty of enemies to fight, but midway through gameplay (15–20 hours later), enemies become a bit repetitive. Conclusion: I really like the story in this game and the gameplay depends on what you play. If you are a hardcore gamer of game mechanics, maybe this game might be all right or kinda meh. This game will keep you busy for hours with side quests and the main game story. Highly recommended if you are going to play it at a discount.

I was very excited to play this game because I absolutely loved Vampyr and was hoping for more of that tight narrative, exploration, and compelling main characters, but unfortunately this game just isn't to my taste. My biggest problem is Antea. To put it bluntly, her VA's performance sucks. Too dry, too monotone, too lifeless. Red is fine enough, but I like Scottish accents and could listen to a Scottish person read me the phone book. I have absolutely no problem with the set-up being "Black woman wears the pants and is the driving force of the two" but why can't strong female leads have good voice work and dialogue? Why is it so difficult to get a female character with competent dialogue and a competent talent to make them come to life? And speaking of competent dialogue, as someone who loves to see devs take a crack at time periods hundreds of years in the past, I am also someone who expects due diligence paid to the language used in the dialogue. There's not enough of the flourishes one would expect of the characters to make me truly feel like I'm in 1695 New England. It's far too generic "vaguely old". The look of the game is passable, as are the costumes, but very quickly I found myself losing interest as it became clear to me that there wasn't that much depth to it. I'm not asking for Cotton Mather here.. or maybe I am. But something to make it feel like the writers truly sat down, read and researched, and wanted to capture the tone of a New England colony, rather than just make it sound 'kiiiiind of' old-timey. I'm very disappointed and I don't think I'm going to re-download this and muscle through because the sluggishness of the opening paired with Antea's voice work just filled me with utter apathy. Apparently she dies and I get to play as Red, but even then she's set to be an overwhelming fixture and that doesn't sound like something I want to subject myself to. By all means, I want to see women in games and taking on more dominant and prominent roles, but I need everything surrounding them--including them--to be good as well, and unfortunately it wasn't. Writing in video games is an art. Voice acting is an art. I'm expecting talent and skill when I buy these games. I need devs and publishers to step the hell up. Don't bother making a game set farther back than 1995 if you're not going to truly dig into that era and give me something that feels like someone on the dev team has a Bachelor's in History.

Игра хороша. Мне понравилась графика, приятные анимации, звуковое сопровождение (звуки природы, актёры озвучки, особенно ГГ), истории второстепенных персонажей с неоднозначными моральными выборами. Из минусов хочется отметить количество собирательства. Также мне не особо заходит метроидвании. Пускай механик тут штуки 3, но когда в самом начале видишь препятствие которое не можешь преодолеть и понимаешь что надо будет возвращаться... Не очень приятное ощущение. И, учитывая что количество собирательства так велико, я не думаю что игра многое потеряла бы от того что бы не делать из неё метроидванию. Немного странным кажется то что у каждого там какие-то проблемы с призраком и какая-то история, но... Ладно, условность игры, да и сами истории хороши. Понравилось также то как рассказывается про прошлое главных героев, не прямо в лоб, а мелкими фразочками на протяжении всей игры. В общем, хорошая игра, любителям побегать полутаться и понаблюдать за неплохими "тёмными историями" второстепенных персонажей рекомендую, а если ещё и по скидке... Видно что разработчики влили в игру свою душу.

Great story, Great game

BANISHERS: GHOSTS OF NEW EDEN REVIEW TIME PLAYED: 39 HOURS GRADE: PLATINUM RECOMMENDED: Extremely, especially for fans of meaningful choice and rich takes on supernatural lore THE TL;DR BREAKDOWN +A rich narrative and difficult decision-making that is remarkably consistent in quality +Strong, complex protagonists with a unique relationship and compelling dynamic +Extremely smart writing with side quests that easily rival the main stories of other games +Ample customization of playstyle and abilities for both Antea and Red +Quite pretty, with a great art style that blends realistic and fantastical +Sticks the landing, staying strong up to and through the final act -Combat is pretty basic, especially early on, and takes about a third of the game to get going -Enemy variety is pretty weak and doesn't improve much over time -Some of the Metroidvania-style puzzle mechanics are overused and irritating In its first hour, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden demands the player choose their ending. I'm no stranger to 'choice and consequence' games; stories where I navigate moral quandaries and consider possible outcomes are possibly my favorite kind, and I typically make 'difficult' choices with ease due to knowing both myself and the kind of mechanics these narratives typically run on, but this caught me off-guard. Banishers had just started, and it already wanted me to choose how it would end? But this is the brilliance of Dontnod's dark colonial fantasy RPG: it wastes no time getting to the heart of its plot, then worming its way out from there. A little bit of scene-setting first. Taking place in the late 1600s, Ghosts of New Eden follows two protagonists: Antea and Red, who are professional Banishers -- Ghostbusters by way of Witchers, investigating and solving hauntings and other supernatural problems for their clientele. Antea - cool, professional, and calculating - is the mentor of the more gregarious and sensitive Red, but the two are also lovers, introduced in bed together in a tender scene that quickly establishes their bond. Called to a New England colony called New Eden to investigate a dangerous haunting, the pair are overwhelmed by the unexpectedly strong ghost. Faced with a Nightmare - a rare and vengeful spirit the likes of which even Antea has never seen in person - Antea is killed, and Red is cast into the sea. It's this tragic prologue that sets the stage for the entire game. Despite shrugging off her mortal coil, Antea is still very much playable and just as crucial a protagonist as her partner. After Red awakens and finds her restless spirit, the two resolve themselves towards the trek back towards New Eden, determined to find out how its haunting was so impossibly potent. It's a long way back to the scene of their failure, however, and along the way, the duo find plenty of work that proves to be more relevant to their original case than expected. It's an interesting enough premise, but where it really shines comes into play with what I said before: shortly after reuniting with the ghostly Antea, Red has to make a choice. Antea cannot leave this mortal plane until her corpse is retrieved and the haunting is resolved, but another option presents itself as well - she confesses knowledge of a forbidden ritual that could resurrect her at the cost of the lives of potentially dozens of people. At this point, the player must swear an Oath as Red: to resurrect Antea no matter the cost, or to help her move on to the afterlife, whatever it may be. Thinking little of it at the time, I promised I'd help Antea move on, not wanting to sacrifice innocent people to bring her back, even if she was the love of Red's life. The game wasted little time in correcting one of my assumptions, though: innocence is in rare supply in Banishers. At the end of the day, serviceable combat and exploration are secondary to what Banishers does best: tell a story, and let the player contribute to it. Every one of the twenty-plus hauntings I solved throughout the game were memorable, and some are going to stick with me for a long time. That's not even getting into the main plot, which is one of the best studies of grief that I've seen in any media, let alone gaming. All of this is bound together by Antea and Red's connection; when they bantered and bickered, I laughed. When they shared in affection, I cooed. When they got upset and fought, I flinched. Their relationship, like those of the strangers whose problems they solve, is nuanced and intense. And when Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden ended, I cried, even though - perhaps even because - I got exactly what I'd asked for.

Great story, satisfying combat, amazing vibe

Great game, rich story!

Too much fake mazes, overall decent game.

Great story. Decent gameplay.

5/10 - Mediocre (bland/unremarkable)

Very good Game, shame it sold so bad!

game good

I love it