Back when Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden was announced at The Game Awards, I remember thinking that it was the game that was most worth keeping an eye on. After playing it at Gamescom 2023, I’m glad to say that the expectations were not only met, but exceeded.
For those unaware, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is the latest game from French developers Dontnod, best known for the Life is Strange series and Vampyr, amongst others. During our chat with Karim Benfares, Executive Producer for the game, he actually namedropped Vampyr as a particular inspiration of sorts for the upcoming game, in the sense that as Vampyr has the dichotomous relationship between the vampire doctor trying to help and also kill people, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has the same base, with the two protagonists being opposites of the same coin. One dead, a ghost of her own making, the other alive, desperate to change events and be reunited with his now ghostly love.
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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is Shaping Up Real Nice
Throughout my hour or so with the game, it was this design idea that permeated every part of the game, both in mechanics and atmosphere, and it absolutely works for the better. Red, a Scottish former-mercenary is the gruff, stubborn and difficult-to-motivate protagonist, whilst Antea, whom for all-intents-and-purposes is now dead, is surprisingly chipper and relatively un-phased by her current predicament, or at least at the point of the story where we met her, she is.
Both characters are ghost hunters, with their aim being to wipe New Eden and its neighbouring areas clean of the supernatural goings on that now inhabit the islands since the mysterious curse arrived. Red is human, no extra powers other than being incredibly strong, with the stamina of an ox and the disposition to match, whilst Antea, having passed to the other side has become the very thing she swore to eradicate, but instead of being a pest, she uses her powers for good, helping Red during combat and much more besides.
With that said, the area known as New Eden in the game is a fictional construct, and the reasoning behind that was a simple, if obvious one; it allowed the developers to have full creative licensing instead of being beholden to landmarks and locations that would need to be accurate of the time period. This is of course something that the Assassin’s Creed universe does brilliantly, but it was refreshing not spending every few minutes of my playtime wondering if so and so was really there, as many of us do with the aforementioned franchise.
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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden – Take Heart
As well as being gloriously crafted, the gameplay as a whole feels very crisp and rewarding. Players have the choice as they explore and fight between the two protagonists. Want to use Red’s strength as he swings his weapons with ferocity, or shoots his musket with unerring accuracy? How about changing at the press of a button to the spectral Antea, using her ghostly fists to decimate the enemies in front of her, before exploding in a supernatural bomb of energy from herself? Sure, do both.
The game’s combat is fluid and fast-paced, and the quick-swapping between the two characters feels very intuitive, and it was a genuine pleasure to constantly be running into new enemies to fight, giving the opportunity to try out new combos between the characters, as well as newly acquired skills. Antea herself is certainly the stronger of the pair, and the developers anticipated such an occasion that players would favour her, and stopped that by limiting her usage in combat to that of a bar. Once that spectral bar empties you’ll return back to being Red, so swap and use the characters in a smart manner.
The witty banter between the two protagonists is the central part of the game, with Red regularly chastised for his less-than-enthusiastic outlook on life by Antea. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden does feature a rudimentary conversation tree, which does lack variety, but during that same conversation with Karim I was told that the choices during conversations and quests will affect the ending offered in some substantial ways.
There is a lot going on in New Eden, but thankfully the game does a great job of expanding and introducing the lore to you in a gentle drip feed that’ll have you fully immersed within minutes. Usually the bane of many games, I found myself searching every inch for any letters, journals etc, just so I could learn a little more about the in-game universe around me.
It is definitely one that has been painstakingly thought out, and again, during out conversation with Karim he said that before production even began, he and his team spent a year and half researching everything they could to do with the supernatural, the Salem Witch Trials and the time period as a whole, ensuring they’d be as faithful as they could.
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Some of the most harrowing moments during my time with the game came not during combat, but in fact during the discovery of several story beats, both optional and mandatory. Sent on a mission to rid the local area of ‘The Beast’, something some characters think is a myth, whereas others are terrified of the name alone, Red and Antea are traipsing through dense forest in the hope of finding the last group of settlers that dared venture too far from town.
Of course things go very wrong for them very quickly, and through diary entries and supernatural ‘Echoes’, we find out that not everything is as it seems with the people back at the town, specifically the quest giver ‘Thickskin’. Not to spoil anything, but after a frenetic battle with The Beast, after hunting it down and seeing the carnage it has left, you’ll be left with knowledge of hard decisions that ‘Thickskin’ had to undertake, and you’ll find yourself realising that a lot of the supporting characters aren’t good, they aren’t bad, they’re grey. They’re complex and they’re real.
The Beast itself is a wonderful example of the in-game lore, with a disgusting, corrupted, hunk of rotten meat on legs that’ll leave you both entranced and terrified in equal measure, and was certainly a great way to finish my playthrough. As with any good preview, I did find myself wanting to play more than I was able, and I’d have gladly given the whole thing another run-through had my hectic schedule of Gamescom allowed.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is shaping up incredibly nicely, and with a little more time for some polish from the developers it will be a unique experience for gamers around the world. Keep an eye out for our interview with Karim Benfares closer to launch, but are you excited for the upcoming game? Let us know in the comments!
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