Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Reviews
An emotional adventure wrapped in supernatural mysteries that offers a world not always depicted in video games, yet it falls short due to its reliance on a combat system that never becomes deep enough to be truly challenging.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden surprised me with its combat and gameplay but kept me interested throughout with its compelling narrative of love, loss, and sacrifice.
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.
While possessing an intriguing story and appealing main protagonists with a great dynamic, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden suffers a bit with its world presentation and somewhat lackluster skill tree that can't quite match up to its narrative.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is impressive for its longevity, excellent narrative delivery and setting but alas I did find combat cumbersome with the difficulty spikes being annoying.
With Banishers, Don’t Nod have elevated their craft to a new level. They combine elements from numerous previous games, but always with a new spin on them. They have combined them into a gripping story of life, death, guilt, and responsibility in a novel fantasy setting. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a notably accomplished action game that should not be overlooked.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden will hook you with its emotionally charged story where tough choices and their lasting consequences take centre stage. While the combat might not be its strongest aspect, the game still delivers a memorable experience with top-notch voice acting, stunning visuals, and deep character development.
As a medieval epic, although it can be inserted in the category of ghost hunters, where there is room for the Souls saga and vampire games, the most salient trait that many will identify when playing is how these influences also pour into an adventure that is also a beautiful love story, a romance in the sense that it seems to command the fate of the characters. It is clear that the developers wanted to make a different game here, to attribute a broader purpose to Antea and Red's relationship, far from retaining the gaze on their occupations and in giving more depth to the narrative, surprising the player and leading him to experience more emotions.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is easy to recommend as a compelling action-RPG with well-written protagonists and rewarding systems, though the second half of the game loses the plot - both literally and figuratively.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a solid action RPG with a beautiful story, enjoyable gameplay, and gripping atmosphere. There's plenty of issues, though, which drag the game down a bit and the overall experience is just good, not great.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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.
Don’t Nod has released 2024’s first truly surprising video game release with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. The 17th-century setting, ghost hunting and ethereal switching combat are all highlights, but building off what they do best, the characters, their relationships, and their story make this game unique.
Banishers Ghosts of New Eden takes the best of Vampyr, limiting its flaws and accentuating its merits, giving us a work of extraordinary quality.
Review in Italian | Read full review
“Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden” thus stands out due to the storytelling prowess of Don’t Nod, offering a rich, emotionally charged journey that melds action, adventure, and narrative depth into a memorable experience. While not without its flaws, the game marks a significant step forward for the studio, hinting at the untapped potential for future titles in this vein. It’s a journey worth taking, not just for the thrills and challenges, but for the questions it poses about love, sacrifice, and the afterlife.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has one of the best-written, captivating, immersive, and dramatic stories in a video game I’ve ever played, followed by incredible combat mechanics, abilities, weapons, and animations. Albeit, it needs a little more polishing to get a more playable fighting experience. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a game that’ll grab and maintain your interest, and I would recommend yet another fine project from Focus Entertainment to anyone. Yes, including God of War fans.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is yet another masterpiece from Don't Nod, with a captivating story, stunning visuals, and even voice acting to help drive the nail home. This game is definitely worthy of the title, and even though it has that one slight issue during the initial start, it's nothing when you compare it to the experience you're in for as you take on the role of a Banisher in a land plagued by ghosts. Another thing to note is the replayability when you consider the two paths at the start and how they affect the entire story as you progress, possibly making Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden a game that might build a fun little cult-style fandom.
Continuing their mission to create immersive and memorable experiences, Don’t Nod Entertainment will certainly leave a mark in the hearts of players who journey through their new game. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden already is one of the best titles of 2024, no doubt.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The narrative, crafted through repeated moral dilemmas, allows players to immerse themselves deeply in the story. While the depth in combat may be somewhat lacking, the captivating world of New Eden undoubtedly provides the thrill of an adventure.
Review in Korean | Read full review