In The Game: ‘Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’ is a Rare Stumble for Don’t Nod

There are few video game studios out there that really get the recognition they deserve. Don’t Nod is one of those studios that I think is constantly overlooked. They have constantly put out quality entertainment ever since their ironically named debut Remember Me in 2013. If there’s one inarguable fact about Don’t Nod, it’s that they are always trying something new and innovative. Life Is Strange showed how far point and click story-driven games can be pushed in terms of gravitas and emotion. Their severely under-appreciated Vampyr is far and away the best vampire game I’ve played (there aren’t enough vampire games!) So I figured that their next title would be a smash hit. Unfortunately, as the title of this review suggests, I was disappointed with the final product. For once – Don’t Nod slipped up.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is lead by our two protagonists with the absolutely wild names of Antea Duarte and Red Mac Raith. Lovers in their regular life, and banishers by trade. It is a banisher’s job to kill ghosts and spirits looking to harm the living. Antea very quickly meets her fate and it’s up to the both of you to return her spirit to the land of the living and to bring peace to the land. The story organically introduces a very major part of the gameplay. You are able to play as both characters. Red is playable in the living realm whereas Antea is played in the realm of the dead. I think the biggest compliment I can give to this game is how you go about making the decision to save Antea’s life. You gotta do what banishers do… you gotta kill some ghosts. The main missions are referred to as hauntings, and it’s up to you to use detective work and combat to complete these hauntings. Once you’re finished with the mission you are given a choice. You are able to let the ghost ascend to a higher eternal resting place, or you can banish them to oblivion. There is also a third option – you are able to blame the living victim of the haunting and kill them. Killing a living person adds to a ritual that can bring your lover Antea back to life. Resurrecting Antea will ultimately lead to an insane amount of blood on your very-much-alive hands. You can either follow the banisher’s oath and kill every ghost to bring peace to the land, or you can selfishly murder innocent people to bring the love of your life back. It’s a very compelling way to make you decide how the game ends.

Where Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden falls off for me is basically everywhere else. Maybe it’s just because I was so spoiled by the Life Is Strange series, but the writing and overall presentation of the story – outside of the main protagonists – really didn’t resonate with me at all. I struggle to name or provide much detail about any of the secondary or tertiary characters. I just didn’t find myself compelled to any of them. That’s a shame, because I can tell you all about side characters in Life Is Strange that left an impact on me. Not only was I let down by the characters in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, I also found the detective work to be a little boring. Lots of aimlessly roaming around rooms to find long blocks of text necessary to find the next clue or answer. I struggled to keep up with the story even after reading a great deal of the papers scattered around New Eden. I think the atmosphere does a better job telling the story than some of the characters do. That is usually a big positive, but in a game about interacting with people whose lives are under the constant threat of ghosts… the atmosphere should probably be the second biggest focus.

Combat in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is about as mediocre as it could be. The combat in Don’t Nod’s previous action adventure game, Vampyr, is often seen as the worst part of an otherwise pretty interesting and underappreciated game. I was hoping that Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden would be able to take the lessons learned from how that game played and apply those fixes to the combat here. Unfortunately it’s very simple light and heavy attack stuff we’re used to at this point. The heavy swings don’t feel quite as arduous as they should. Light attacks feel flimsy and the ranged weapons aren’t very satisfying to handle.

There is a pretty solid gear system in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Each character has four different sets of gear they can equip to bring up their defences or general power. The nice thing is that not only are they stat items, but they are also fully cosmetic. If you equip a new chest piece of Red, his clothes will change into what you equip. While this isn’t new or anything, I always appreciate when a video game allows a protagonist to wear whatever they want. It made me smile to see that! You can also equip gear that have passive abilities and you can stack them in any which way you want. It allows for some variation and expression in character builds and difficulty adjustments. Some builds make fighting a walk in the park, some builds focus on cooldown regeneration or magic strength. It’s a shame the combat itself doesn’t really feel satisfying to play because there is some good stuff hidden there. What is present just doesn’t really get a chance to shine when the gameplay itself feels so flat.

Look, I don’t think Banishers: Ghost of New Eden is a bad game – I just think it is painfully average. I’ve played almost every game the studio has released previously. I know the capabilities of Don’t Nod, and I feel like they’ve done better in almost every aspect in other games they have made. I was hoping that this would be a culmination of what the studio had been perfecting game after game, but it sort of feels like they took two steps forward and ten steps back. In a way Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden does harken back to the classic era of games like Fable and Kingdoms of Amalur. Lots of great ideas that can’t really keep up with the general speed of the game itself. The problem is, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a great game on paper, but struggles to do anything interesting outside of how great the atmosphere and story setup is. Ultimately, I think Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden can be worth it at a discounted price, but as it stands, I just cannot justify recommending this when so many other great games are already out there, and there’s even more on the horizon. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is an interesting game executed in the most uninteresting way.