Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, developed by DON’T NOD, is a third-person action role-playing game that puts players in control of ghost hunters Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith. The game offers a unique blend of combat and narrative elements, allowing players to explore the haunted community of New Eden and make choices that impact the story.

Story

In the eerie realms of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, we embark on a haunting journey as spectral investigators Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith. The game, set in colonial New England in 1695, follows the duo as they confront a formidable curse that has plunged the town of New Eden into an eternal winter, claiming many lives, including that of their friend Charles Davenport.

Repeating themes and atmosphere

From the outset, the game delivers a foreboding atmosphere. One of the beginning scenes particularly struck me as it was foreshadowing what’s to come. Red carrying Antea in a kayak, alluding to the mythical river Styx—an eerie symbol of the afterlife. It gave me chills, especially knowing what the story entails. This Styx reference reappears later, reinforcing the haunting tone.

Author’s note: In Greek mythology, Styx is one of the five rivers of the Underworld. It is often portrayed as a boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. Here, Charon, the ferryman of the dead, is tasked with guiding souls across this mythical river.

The Banishers’ initial task of banishing their beloved friend in a cursed town sets the tone, positioning them not as warriors against ghosts but as companions to the afterlife. Their mission: protect the living and guide the departed to the realms beyond, much like Charon.

There is another scene in the mid to late game that includes crossing a river while going to Siridian’s Island, and again, the similarities to the river Styx were uncanny. Lost souls wandering around without a guide while we just cruise on the water with the Seeker as our guide. The game’s thematic consistency is definitely one of its strong suits.

Even though I wished the game’s trailers didn’t reveal Antea’s death, I understand the necessity for it to be highlighted, given its pivotal role in the overall narrative. Let me tell you, even knowing what was going to happen didn’t diminish the impact when it actually occurred. Her death felt as it was supposed to—impactful.

Complex characters

Red embodies compassion and caution, contrasting with Antea‘s unforgiving, blunt, and sometimes ruthless demeanor. This unexpected characterization adds layers to the narrative, creating a dynamic interplay between the protagonists and their respective traits.

Banishers also excels in bringing secondary characters to life, skillfully revealing aspects of their lives and personalities beyond the main characters. This intentional approach fosters a strong emotional connection, especially considering the pivotal role these characters play in the game’s conclusion—a point I’ll elaborate on shortly.

The strength of the story shines even brighter with its well-written dialogues, which never lose their impressiveness in the story scenes, even if they occasionally fall into repetition during the combat.

Choices, choices, choices

Now, let’s elaborate on the complex side characters and how their complexity adds to the end game and the whole story overall. Our banishers have one mission and one mission only after Antea‘s demise: get revenge against the Nightmare and retrieve Antea‘s body so she can ascend properly. 

But there is a second, more sinister option players can choose to explore as I did. Bring back Antea. Seemingly possible, but a bloody path involving a forbidden ritual, entailing grim human sacrifices, a lot of them.

The game throws you into a web of haunting mysteries in New Eden, and it’s not just about vanquishing ghosts. It’s about peeling back the layers, uncovering the stories behind the hauntings, and figuring out how to untangle the supernatural mess set by the Nightmare. And you would think with so many haunting cases and side missions, it would get repetitive. Nope, every haunting, every ghost had its own quirks. Of course, it has a routine of finding the binding object and doing a ritual, but I never felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again.

While untangling these Haunting Cases, tough decisions are inevitable. Ghosts tend to haunt specific individuals for specific reasons. Although uncovering the truth is more of a gameplay element, after each case, a crucial decision awaits. You must choose whether to banish the ghost violently (a fitting choice for particularly malicious spirits like abusers) or opt for a more peaceful farewell, convincing the ghosts to depart on their own terms.

There’s also the option to blame the living for the ghostly disturbances, leading to a blood sacrifice for Antea‘s revival. However, I rarely found myself doing this because of the complex nature of these characters. Blaming them felt outright wrong.

Banishers doesn’t hold back with its emotional rollercoaster. From the heartbreaking farewell to Charles to the epic struggle against the Nightmare, the game slams you into a narrative full of tragedy, revenge, and all things supernatural.

Art design and voice acting

The character design and art of the game is simply gorgeous. I took so many screenshots, don’t even ask how many. Sometimes I couldn’t even leave photo mode. Mind you, I didn’t even play the game on ultra settings or anything.

The stellar voice acting stands as a pillar, elevating this immersive experience. From heartfelt moments to epic battles, the voices inject so much personality and emotion. It’s not just lines; it’s an audible journey that seriously hooks you into the spectral world. “Banishers” proves that great voice acting isn’t merely a bonus – it’s a necessity and certainly not a task for artificial intelligence.

Combat and Gameplay

In the spectral battlegrounds of New Eden, we step into a world of dynamic combat and immersive gameplay, guided by the ghost-hunting duo, Antea and Red. Inspired by acclaimed games like Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher, the game’s combat experience aims to appeal to both experienced RPG players and casual gamers alike. However, unlike these successful predecessors, you might find the combat mechanics a little strange, as it left me and many others a bit underwhelmed.

Imperfect but familiar combat

Combat is very satisfying at times, and the switch between Red and Antea does wonders. To be honest with you guys, I’m not the best when it comes to combat in RPG games; I just button-mash most of the time. And considering I figured I could block with Red, a good 15 hours into the game explains the severity of my situation. Even with these in consideration, combat seemed very easy, especially in the beginning. Later, it got a little more challenging, but I do play in hard mode, so maybe I’m just built different, lol.

But I do have one bone to pick with the difficulty. The random battles you go into while wandering around are more challenging than the main story fights. I don’t think I ever died during a main story mission in my playthrough. So, it would be better if those fights were more challenging.

Repeating dialogue during combat

Did I say that the dialogue repeats a lot during combat? Yes, I did, and I’m saying it again. Because after 30+ hours of playing, it gets quite annoying, especially when you’re trying to beat the same boss for the nth time. Antea’s constant remarks like “Leave me some!” or “When is my turn?” become especially bothersome, even when you’re already controlling her – it feels unintentional, almost like a bug at times.

Game design

One of my biggest problems with the gameplay was navigating the physical limits of the game. I know that the main story of the game is fairly linear, with slight deviations from the main missions with side quests, chests or hordes of ghosts that reappear after a while to lead you to where you need to be. But I feel that the game design feels very open world, there are a lot of places in the game that look like you can get to, but are actually out of bounds.

This wouldn’t be a problem for me if these boundaries were supported a bit more by the visual elements of the game. I encountered a lot of places that seemed just out of reach and made me yell at the screen, “Come on, one more step, Red!” It was just a bit annoying, but I’m nitpicking a bit.

However, I want to give a special shout-out to the game’s compass system—it was a lifesaver for my directionally challenged self. Seriously, without it, I’d be wandering in circles like a headless chicken. Kudos to the devs for looking out for us spatially challenged gamers!

On a positive and funny note: NPC following mechanic is just right; they walk at the right speed. This is usually a miss with a lot of game franchises, and I just wanted to point out this detail, lol.

Author’s note: The gameplay reminded me so much of the Tomb Raider series and at times, even the game’s design. Even my friend, who only caught a brief glimpse of me playing for about 5 minutes, pointed out the striking resemblance. I tried to check if any of the devs had their hands in both pies, but all I got was the DON’T NOD art team celebrating Tomb Raider’s anniversary with some cool art. So, maybe there’s a connection somewhere, but I’m not gonna dig into developer bios or anything.

Conclusion

In the spectral realm of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, our captivating duo, Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith, invites players into a dynamic world of combat and storytelling, echoing the vibes of acclaimed titles like Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher. A mix of exploration and combat, the game offers an immersive story with beautiful graphics as you play detective with ghosts.

While my occasional frustrations with the game’s physical limitations, flawed combat mechanics, and repetitive dialog detracted from the experience somewhat, these are minor flaws in an otherwise enjoyable adventure.

As the game progresses, a delicate difficulty balance emerges, shifting from early accessibility to heightened challenges. Though random encounters prove more formidable than main story fights, a rebalance could enhance overall engagement.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden offers a supernatural journey through a combination of practical combat and cinematic storytelling, and while it has its flaws, it left me satisfied and looking forward to more adventures in this haunted world.

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