Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Reviews
I adore the story of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. The characters have such distinct, realized personalities that made me love or hate them. While I’ll always cherish the goofy-serious writing of Life Is Strange, it’s hard to deny this is DON’T NOD’s strongest writing exhibit yet. Combat is dull and had me rolling my eyes every time I came across another forced encounter, with only a few of the fights being interesting. No matter how many features and mechanics were introduced, it still felt clunky and frustrating due to the camera controls, repetitive animations, and almost no enemy variety. Thankfully, the compelling narrative shines through, carrying the game along and making me a little more tolerable of the combat. Due to this, I’m awarding Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden, the Silver Thumb Culture Award. For fans of story games, this is absolutely a must-play if you can overlook its gameplay shortcomings.
Banishers is a game I’m going to be thinking about for a long time, for better or worse. You’ll likely not find a better story than it any time soon, but there are plenty other better ways you could be spending your time.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden falls short of its potential. Its central protagonists lack the chemistry and development to make meaningful choices feel impactful. Its combat and exploration feel like they've been lifted from better games, barely iterating on established formulas and, in some cases, making them worse. While there are some enjoyable side quests and the occasional glimmer of hope in the main subplot, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden never reaches the heights it should.
In the end, we see that it's a game that has a lot of good ideas, but didn't know how to execute them all in the right way.
Review in French | Read full review
Though the length of Ghosts of New Eden’s campaign is useful in establishing the intimate relationship between Red and Antea, it makes the rest of the game feel padded, especially if you’re doing the enjoyable, story-rich sidequests. There just aren’t enough enemy types or Manifestation skills to keep combat feeling fresh, and what you learn within the game’s first 10 hours is more or less what you’ll be doing for the subsequent 20 to 30.
Some gripping ghost stories justify gathering around Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's campfire, but an open world full of routine skirmishes and mindless repetition might just scare you off again. As Dontnod's longest game yet, Banishers underlines the value of a tighter focus.
Banishers: Ghost of Eden is a unique title that just stumbles along the way. It has some severe pacing issues and clunky combat that really drag down the overall experience. I wanted to love it a lot more than I did. It feels like Dontnod’s usual unique take on a genre that feels just a bit undercooked. Still once it drops in price and perhaps receives a few updates, I think this could easily graduate to the status of hidden gem. There are a lot of cool concepts here that I really enjoyed. I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long to get to them.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden explores profound themes through the well-written and acted story of Antei and Red. The game presents morally complex choices without clear-cut good or evil. While the combat becomes repetitive and the music and graphics are unremarkable, the story stands out as original and entertaining in today's gaming landscape.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Banishers is a long and content-rich game, with an excellent combat system, over-the-top love melodrama, and an open world that’s exciting but arduous to explore.
Banishers is not quite the unqualified win I wanted it to be, but it’s easy to appreciate on its merits. While the combat overstays its welcome and the exploration leaves a lot to be desired, there’s enough here to like for those who like strong narratives with great characters.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden tells a wonderfully written and emotionally gripping story that is hampered by repetitive enemy encounters and stale combat.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden continues Don’t Nod’s recent success with a gripping new experience. While its combat isn’t anything groundbreaking, the world that it transports players to and the story that it tells within it are well worth checking out.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden was able to distinguished itself with the way it achieved things and presented a good story, and it would have been excellent had it not been for the overlapping of all the stories with each other, in addition to interesting characters. It failed to provide a good visual level and a stable technical performance with frustrating repetition in the enemies and in the design of some areas, making the game in a lower position than Was expected of her.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Perhaps the optimal approach to grasping Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is to view it as a high-investment endeavor. Initially, progress may feel sluggish, and the narrative might seem disjointed. However, with increased time and effort, the experience undergoes a marked improvement. Admittedly, transitioning from a lackluster encounter to a satisfactory expertise may not represent the most favorable exchange. Nevertheless, enthusiasts of ghosts, the occult, or dialogue-rich adventures are likely to discover it worthwhile.
When it comes down to that final eulogy, I have way more fond memories of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden than I do regrets.
Banishers: Ghost of New Eden's excellent characters and storytelling are diminished by its mundane world structure and repetitive combat.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is in the spirit of high-quality AA games that should not go unnoticed. Banishers does not necessarily break any new ground with its systems but it keenly focuses on a single vision with its narrative and ensures that everything else is working in rhythm with it and working well. In the end, love is the driving force of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, and anyone who thinks that they might be interested in Red and Antea’s story is undoubtedly in for a good time.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a love story about loss and sacrifice, propelling its choice-driven narrative forward amidst middling combat.
A sprawling action RPG with a poignant love affair at its heart, whose enjoyable combat and supernatural detective work is all in pursuit of a morally ambiguous goal of your own choosing.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’s memorable story and inspired investigative cases help carry it across its rougher patches.