Ghostwire Tokyo Critique: The Open World Game 2022 Forgot

[@Whitelight]

www.squarespace.com/whitelight with code "whitelight" for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So yeah, this game just came out, but thanks to a code there was a little more time to work with. I missed the days of covering games that came out in the last millennia and I figured this would help tide the gap till Far Cry 4: 8 Years Later and everything else I've been working on. Hope you're all doing well. See you again soon!

[@the_bruh4321]

Ok bri’ish “person”

[@inyrui]

I know you probably get requests like this all the time, but I'd love to see you cover the PS3 game Singularity. Idk if you've ever heard of it but that game has always stuck with me; it's a FPS with time travel elements akin to that one level in Dishonored 2. It was labeled as kind of a Bioshock clone at the time. Anyway I love your videos man it's nice to see a new upload! Keep up the great work 👍

[@SkyTied]

Cool cool

[@AMT_AllMyThoughts]

So sad how u see FarCry 6 tho. Everything u can do in this game is so damn satisfying and hell as fun. The game has deep systems in every aspect of the world Sidenote: Also deeper than every other FarCry (wich isnt that hard tbh). And the world is filled with only unique new missions and stories fitting to the wild FarCry style

[@ryanevans6870]

Add another k and that ghosts racist

[@ianhowe7378]

The rain is not hazy. If you pause the game and zoom in on the raindrops itself, you'll see that each raindrop is the japanese kanji character for "rain"

[@GothamiteYT]

Noticing that made me go from disliking the rain effects to really liking it

[@rebeccalee2155]

Almost all of the partical effect has the Kanji relating to it from what I can tell. Then again, I'm very very rusty with Japanese.

[@Flat_Earth_Sophia]

lol So many reviewers complain about the rain are clearly stupid.

[@leolarose2099]

​@@Flat_Earth_Sophia still looks terrible whether it's kanji

[@Flat_Earth_Sophia]

@@leolarose2099 How so?

[@thats4thebirds]

Open world overload at this point has to factor in. It felt slightly too large for its scope. Neat tho and visually so cool.

[@PAXperMortem]

Game's pretty short actually

[@BlueisNotaWarmColour]

There should have been a small hub that evolves with the narrative, a completely different combat system, no side mission signposts, no maps or waypoints, and WAAAY more player agency. And also a different plot. So basically, same magic, setting, premise, and nothing else.

[@iaintmirin9936]

@@PAXperMortem thats notwhat he talked about

[@notaheretic6675]

At this point is open world overdose seems like every game nowdays is openworld

[@javierlandaverde4108]

That’s where games like Deus Ex the newer ones were soo good. The open world was small and engaging knowing that having a large open world game doesn’t make sense with the storyline

[@halcyon9783]

Someday I hope to be as good at speaking about a single topic as this dude. His clarity of concept, vocabulary used and flow of speech is just so good. Amazing video as always.

[@brynjolf3974]

Clarity of concept has been pretty bad in the last two videos tbh

[@rebelwithoutaclue9387]

@@brynjolf3974 nobody is perfect! And maybe you’re just incapable of grasping said concept 🤣

[@brynjolf3974]

@@rebelwithoutaclue9387 nah man. The Arkham city video is clogged with a lot of needless fluff that feels specifically designed to be pretty to listen to rather than informative or insightful. It’s at its worst when he’s analyzing mechanics.

[@jacktheripper4731]

@@brynjolf3974 well the video is 3 hours long and you have to make it interesting and fun to watch, I mean would you listen to a robot talk about math all day? Even if the some parts of the video was cut it would atleast be around two hours, also I like this style lol

[@saifali9853]

Unironically watching an excessive amount of Whitelight, Joseph Anderson, MatthewMatosis, SkillUp and other great writers/people with great scripts, improved my writing and analysis skills by a ton.

[@ricktophermenendez5983]

when i saw the game awards trailer i thought it would be a psychological horror game and then i never heard anything about it again until i saw it on steam a couple days ago

[@King-bp6gu]

Same, I was excited at that time until they revealed it to basically be an FPS

[@BlueisNotaWarmColour]

It was so obvious the gameplay was broken just from the gameplay trailers that dropped right before launch

[@Dpiiiius]

@@BlueisNotaWarmColour yeah I agree. Unfortunately

[@franjaff6919]

Weird, because it never appeared at The Game Awards and the (at the time) director stated clearly that it was an action-adventure game.

[@purvdragon-sensei]

@@franjaff6919 Bro lyin lmfao

[@ThatBoyAqua]

The most depressing part about Ghostwire is that at its core it has so much potential. Technically, it looks so good but it’s gameplay loop seems to be shallow and it’s excuses for engaging with that gameplay seem thin. Wasn’t a fan of the Candy Crush comparisons cause CC is flame

[@lukasremonvieira5782]

I like Ghostwire Tokyo gameplay and didn't get bored with his gameplay, probably depends on the person on how much time you can play without getting bored (I have 10 hours and am on the Rinko rescue part, I don't know how far I am in main story)

[@jasonalv7436]

@@lukasremonvieira5782 I'm guessing you've finished the game by now, so did you get tired of the combat? Because I did at the 11 hour mark

[@WayStedYou]

I thought it looked interesting and as soon as I saw gameplay I noped out.

[@darkhaven9119]

Just got this game and I love it! I love Tokyo and the atmosphere/story of this game is so good. I also love the poses, exploration and combat. This game is so underrated.

[@lukasremonvieira5782]

@@jasonalv7436 Sorry, I forgot to answer, I finished it, the main story+secondary quests (not including all the collecting) and never got bored with the gameplay, it depends a lot on people

[@nesphra1094]

About the combat: They've made some updates. I quit the game and re-started playing it recently, they've made quite a lot of great changes since then. When perfect blocking, you can now send a shockwave that sends enemy flying back. Blocking makes much more sense and satisfaction now. They've added three more weapons : one for each element (when charged up, pressing Q will make you use that weapon) - for wind: an SMG type weapon - for water: a freezing circle that freezes enemies inside of it (they will take more damage when unfrozen by an attack) - for fire: a flamethrower that gives the enemies the enflamed status (they take damage over time) These weapons make the combat much, much more interesting and with many more options. You now have crowd control with water, passive damage with fire and spraying with wind, which makes combat overall really cool You also have new assassin's creed style abilities: - when above a visitor, you can quick purge (assassinate) them and chain this assassination to other visitors (although this mechanic is very buggy as of now) - when in the air, you can punch down and create a shockwave similar to the perfect parry's shockwave All these changes give more depth to the combat and makes it much more interesting in that aspect. I truly loved the game, so I hope this convinces someone to get it :)

[@Densiozo]

I've been playing the game for the first time and I thought these things were here since the beginning since they feel so natural

[@AnnihiIator]

Good points, still got bored of the game at about 6 hours and even though these may help game is still a slog.

[@Thats-What-We-Dewwwww]

I’ll check it out!

[@jiggykramer]

the tragedy is that there's a shell of a great game here. in evil within 2 every part of the open world was dangerous because boss monsters that could 2 shot you were everywhere. if the spirit parades where the norm, i.e giant high level boss monsters that could easily kill you roamed the streets so you had to use the rooftops and stealth to survive the game's mechanics would make sense. you could sneak your way through but if you wanted to level up for a boss or just enjoy the challenged you could go head up with the boss monster for more upgrades, or conserve ammo for the boss. failing at stealth with the small enemies would alert the bigger enemies again like in evil within 2. i want that game not this one

[@emulation2369]

The evil within 2 was made by different devs... Only the first one was made by tango games

[@bandoneon_ar]

@@emulation2369 Can you list the source TEW2 was made by different devs? Pretty sure it was made by Tango Gameworks...

[@emulation2369]

​@@bandoneon_ar it was made by american team, and Shinji Mikami was just a consultant on the project, that is why original fans hated this game(me included) it was dumbed down, and wasn't as interesting as the original game

[@jiggykramer]

@@emulation2369 John Johannes was handpicked to direct EW2 by mikami because of his work on the 2 Kidman DLCs and both america and japan worked on it. you can dislike it all you want its not a perfect game but dont pretend it was some how a betrayal of mikami's vision or that his studio didnt make it(lol).

[@iAmPimmiCue]

@@emulation2369 EW2 is great, better than EW1

[@Toastrz]

"From the moon's perspective, there is a perfect visual metaphor: A blue ball." S-tier writing.

[@STOKERMATHALLAN]

Hope they get the formula for a game like this right, because the magic does look pretty damn cool

[@k23180]

I was super hyped for the game cuz of the magic but I wish it had more variety

[@officialbenkenobi6618]

@@k23180 same here bro it was fine for the first few hours but after a while it seemed too repetitive using the same three spells over and over again

[@munithekid3496]

formula for this genre has been fleshed out years ago, it didn´t try to innovate at all which is a shame

[@lakshaykochhar6799]

Same.

[@reakefit7304]

Woops

[@ebug64]

I feel so bad for this game honestly. When I first saw it I was so excited for it because I loved how it looked and especially the settings. It's really a shame to hear it's not what it could've been :(

[@Mandraw2012]

Some games really should get a "director's cut" version :/

[@thuranz2773]

Yeah, it sounds like a lot of the issues were caused by corporate politics, and executive meddling; which was ultimately what led to Ikumi Nakamura departing.

[@OperatorMax1993]

i actually remember seeing the trailer and i was hyped and then i forgot about it until this video popped up in my recommended :(

[@darkhaven9119]

Just got this game and I love it! I love Tokyo and the atmosphere/story of this game is so good. I also love the poses, exploration and combat. This game is so underrated.

[@Ads_Snaps]

All this talk of Elden Ring makes me want a 2 hour+ in-depth analysis of it from you

[@Whitelight]

I don't know if I could bring myself to spend months writing about literally the second worst game every made tho.

[@DominantDodo]

@@Whitelight lmao I really like your humor

[@ikitclaw8969]

@@Whitelight I still can't tell if this is a joke or serious, and it's THE worst horizon is second, clearly

[@user-mn7dk2mt8j]

It is

[@BlueisNotaWarmColour]

@@Whitelight you really should make a Horizon video. Mostly because I think it looks mediocre and you have a way of dissecting those kinds of games in really interesting ways.

[@darko1295]

i keep imagining using the excellent map they built for this game, but populating it with NPCs and basically building a Yakuza style game in it. Maybe still have the supernatural, japanese folklore element to it, but having you interact with spirits as enemies less often. Maybe have the MC get isekai'd into the spiritworld or something, where everything still laregely functions as in the real world,. but with a ghost twist... I dunno, just anything more entertaining than what we got

[@Texelion]

Yeah they could go the Secret World route and have secret societies fighting demon/ghost invasions and paranormal activities.

[@TheMorbidAsshole]

Bring in the yokais in nioh 2

[@hawalari200]

Hey, do you have discord? I make indie games and would love to talk to you about that idea.

[@jackmclean4120]

@@TheMorbidAsshole Nioh 2 has the Demon Realm, they could expand on that. Maybe there's the regular open world where you talk, do substories, and play minigames. But, when you enter the Demon Realm, you're in a hellish recreation of Tokyo, or at least areas of.it like skyscrapers.

[@thefruitman3200]

So... Persona and shin megami tensei crossover

[@PAXperMortem]

As someone who's been to Tokyo quite a few times already, the amount of detail in this version of Shibuya has blown me away! There is so many little things that didn't have to be there, yet the devs went out of their way to painstakingly model in order to make the city feel as real as possible. Definitely one of the best open worlds I've ever seen, shame about the lackluster (and surprisingly short) story.

[@mariak5472]

Finally, a review I can relate to! ❤

[@jensenraylight8011]

i think the game is Great, but, most people can't enjoy the game, because lose the ability to enjoy game, just move as fast as possible, kill enemies as fast as possible, the Environment became Background noise to them. people treat this game as if they're playing COD or Battlefield. no matter how good the Environment are, for them it's just a distraction, then they blame the game for being not "Adrenaline pumping enough" when in reality you should play while sightseeing, enjoy the environment, the different color and light, the atmostphere, the building, find out stuff, explore every alley, the environment design is very comprehensive, it had way more details and Denser than other Open world game. This game have a lot of very Iconic moment and boss fight. and i think they want people to immerse to the Side quest too, because the side quest in this game tell us about the lore more deeply, and not just a meaningless Fetch task The environment in this game is one of the highest quality i've ever seen in a game. they clearly took a lot of time creating all of the details, i really don't like herd mentality

[@bsquared89]

Despite its flaws, I really loved this game. I hope it gets a sequel at some point. It was such an interesting world to me.

[@joedkat]

I just beat it yesterday. I loved my entire time with it. Really got immersed in the world and I hope there'll be more in the future

[@hanamakura]

@@joedkat Same here! Just finished it up with 100% achievements today and it was great. It's a shame to see so many people have so many complaints about the game when it was really enjoyable to me.

[@lakshaykochhar6799]

Same here.

[@parmesheen727]

With the demon parade, I'm not sure if I missed a line of dialogue, but for the majority of the game I avoided it whenever it came up, assuming it would be an instant death to get close. Even though it ended up derailing me from my current goal in an area, it made the world feel more dynamic, and like there were other forces than me at play in the world. When I later found out it was just a mini enemy encounter to get more souls, a lot of the magic was lost.

[@mrmeme4203]

Yeah the same thing happened to me. At the start of the game the way KK speaks about them makes it seem like you want to avoid them, so I did assuming death or just a bunch of strong enemies would spawn. But it wasm't until I was missing like around 10% of the spritis and every area was already 100% I had to google it and found it out.

[@StuieHunter]

I just want you to know, out of all the KZbinrs that rekindled my deep love of games over the course of the pandemic, your channel is by far my favorite. You have a talent, thanks for sharing it with us.

[@LeaveMeAloneFBI]

It's a fucking shame we never got the psychological horror Japanese mythology and folklore centered game ghostwire tokyo was supposed to be. The quests "fear for the childen" and "Fear for them all" clearly show they could've. Even as someone who loves the horror genre this quest had be scared, creeped out, and was up there with one of the best horror sequences ive played. If only ikumi nakamura didn't leave mid development...

[@SolFireYT]

The line “The open world you’re stuck in” is a good way to describe lots of games

[@tobysealz3574]

with the setting and the visual design I really hope Ghostwire invest more into the combat mechanic and the enemies, just imagined if every enemy has their own unique attack based on the their tales and you get to actually use more weapons like a "real exorcist" would instead of the mediocre fps we got.

[@tobysealz3574]

God I love traditional Japanese urban legends so much, I just wish we get more game that tackles on this kind of topic...

[@fandral92]

I always get so excited when you upload something new

[@kymerahYT]

Would be weird if he uploaded something old. :0

[@fandral92]

@@kymerahYT I wouldn't be surprised if white light controlled the flow of time

[@Mikey-vy3og]

Same here

[@SamuraiMotoko]

What is to wonder is if the game had this direction before well... The director was out of the project years ago. So we could think her version was better, or this was always the plan

[@thuranz2773]

I'd say her version would have been better

[@idrissb9742]

When i see a game like this, all i honestly think is; why is this open world?????

[@PAXperMortem]

Because they went out of their way to model this amazing recreation of Shibuya, so why wouldn't they let people explore it?

[@a.garcha199]

@@PAXperMortem you're looking at that wrong, they went out of their way to model a detailed version of shibuya BECAUSE it's open world. If it wasn't open world they could have made a much tighter game and detailed gameplay.

[@mrhoapro1]

The arguing here sound like the egg and the chicken

[@idrissb9742]

@@PAXperMortem thats such a dumb take in my opinion. the open world is super detailed yes, but my point is that a more linear game could free the team up with valuable time to work on the gameplay mechanics, flesh out the story and its characters, and all and all create a more worthwhile experience. imagine this amount of detail in a linear game with A BETTER story and BETTER gameplay. simple as that imo

[@JustSkram]

Because casual focus groups and trends.

[@fwenny]

really glad i gave up on this after the first hour, felt like it would get repetitive and boring real fast, on top of the irritating bug of constant black screens after each cutscene, requiring fiddling with resolution. thank you for this video

[@bandoneon_ar]

That "bug" is either you're missing VP9, or you don't have Windows Media Player/ Feature Pack

[@MemorableMedia]

It's testament to your skill how thoroughly I enjoy your critical analysis of videogames I never really intended to play. I come away from each video feeling more knowledgeable about different aspects of game design. It's especially helpful that you've been able to point out not only where games I loved fell short but also where games I disliked had great success. Love your content, can't wait to see more!

[@Kobanyai_enjoyer]

Its not that I forgot about this game, I didn't even know it existed.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

First trailer for it is sort of amazing, I recommend to watch it.

[@Kobanyai_enjoyer]

@@hiddenshadow2105 game looks good but the gameplay seems a little boring. Even if I wanted to play it I wouldn't be able to. Too poor to buy a gaming PC or ps5.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

@@Kobanyai_enjoyer Oh, sorry, I miscommunicated. I didn't mean to say 'Go and play the game', I meant to say 'The first trailer was amazing, it is (the first trailer) worth to watch for the inspiration, mood, intrigue, atsmosphere alone'. Apologies again.

[@AshXXMayftw]

Sorry to say, but I'm actually glad I cancelled my pre-order. The game looks great visually and the premise is very interesting, the lacking combat and small enemy pool, along with easy progression just make it a pass. Maybe when it's down to $39.99 or $19.99 I'll grab it, but not now. Glad I got Kirby instead.

[@catsaretasty]

"Glad I got kirby"=you little child😅

[@AshXXMayftw]

@@catsaretasty 29 years old, actually. ^^

[@St-si8cd]

@@catsaretasty kirby seems to be a lot better than this

[@shira_yone]

I was about to -kink- shame you for pre-ordering anything in general but you got Kirby so you're good

[@darkhaven9119]

Should of got it. The game is fun asf and the combat is great. Not shallow at all

[@samrandoms2159]

My thoughts playing through this game: This could have been an okay anime. Every time there's a story beat, I think of how that part could have been expanded more if it were a show instead of a videogame.

[@AlpineShenanigans]

Great video as usual. It's definitely a game that I remember the trailer really standing out and then just kind of forgot about, very accurate title Saw on reddit that some of the rain is the japanese character for rain which is why it looks hazy

[@Whitelight]

Ahhhh thanks for pointing that out.

[@FightOstinFight]

Sadly not many people realized this and went right to “bad textures” just like this guy. After 3 weeks of Elden Ring i need a break and this game is it. Elden Ring was great but im tired of it.

[@Whitelight]

@@FightOstinFight The reason doesn't change the effect. The rain looks bad.

[@FightOstinFight]

@@Whitelight lol ok. It’s def kanji and if you’re such a graphics snob you really have no room to take about anything. It’s not meant to look like water and is actually really creative and artistic but what would you know about that?

[@FightOstinFight]

@@VoltOnYT_ again it doesn’t so perhaps you need a better tv or glasses. I’m done with this argument and you.

[@hamidofwinterfell8002]

Elden ring is so big I feel like I’m done with open worlds for a while

[@jamesgratz4771]

Same

[@themandals7273]

That's such a dumb argument.

[@WayoftheFerret]

Elden Ring is so empty I feel like I'm done with open worlds for a while

[@jackmclean4120]

You kind of have to wonder if they ever considered making a game about KK. Running around an actually populated Shibuya as a kickass wizard detective, talking to people and then exorcising demons.

[@typhonviserys8288]

This description just made me want a current gen Yu Yu Hakisho game!

[@CuulG]

I don't know why but I thought the title was called "ghostwire: open world fuckery"

[@DV-ou1yu]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@kalemuncher9425]

Great video as always, but I'll be real, I had no idea you had uploaded a video because when I saw this thumbnail in my subscription feed, I thought it was from a completely different channel that... cared less about their content, to put it in softer words. This is actually the first thumbnail from you that I would actually argue is bad, which is unfortunate because all of your other ones are so identifiable and have an aesthetic that really help seperate them from other channels. I'm not gonna pretend like I know what goes on behind the scenes, but I'll critique what I can. Outside of that though, you've done well, and I look forward to what you cover next :)

[@AlexLeacey]

This is honestly one of the best reviews for a videogame I have EVER seen. You go into detail on absolutely everything I want to know and you totally nailed down what’s wrong with every design aspect of the game in crazy detail! Explaining how the gameplay loop inevitably breaks down and becomes monotonous and the tactics us gamers will no doubt fall on. Masterful video! Honestly fantastic. I hope you get involved in designing games if your not already!

[@insertusername6292]

I wish u would do a sleeping dogs vid that game is so underrated

[@garranto]

The potential this game carries is staggering. Should this game ever get a sequel, it needs more character action flair. Keep the first person perspective but give us better mobility options. Wall running/jumping. A dead eye system or bullet time I guess. Could you image wall running over a crowd of demons, you hit the time button and charge your spell, move your cursor over the demons and quickly flail your hand and load up multiple shots and once time has resumed, they all fire a find their marks. Ooh man. Here's hoping it does well enough to warrant a sequel and they get the chance to innovate!

[@lakshaykochhar6799]

It's like a Ubisoft game, but wayy better; if they actually bulit on top of this game like the Arkham-style, it could become something really beautiful.

[@TheSilverShadow17]

This game's already pretty underrated as is, so I'm hoping for a Ghostwire 2 someday.

[@McSquiddington]

From my perspective, Ghostwire's main points are as follows: 1. the enemy design and KK's comments on them speaks to something deeper than just vidya baddies in need of being stomped on. These are yokai and bakemono rendered in exquisitely loving form, adapted to reflect the realities of modern-day Japan and its anxieties and insecurities. The core concept is rock-solid. 2. there's a spark of something good in the combat system, but it's barren. It's missing something - active traversal during combat maybe, like Doom Eternal's grappling shotgun, or an incentive to wrangle more than one spirit at a time. Nothing pushes us to take risks. 3. The enemies could be rooted in these anxieties I mentioned in even deeper means if they followed set routines or could be seen trying to ape common aspects of everyday life. If the Walker is every spiritually-drained paycheck-chaser, a few should've hung around side bars and ramen joints around Shibuya's backstreets, or they should've been seen taking shelter from the rain to grab a smoke or fiddle away on phones or handhelds - only to turn aggressive once they spot Akito, who is alive and still has hope for something better. The Relentless Walkers should've been mostly found in more luxurious parts of the city, lusting after material gains or human connections they'll never grasp. They could've been found in those same bars and ramen joints, guzzling spirit booze that doesn't sate their thirst or scarfing down food that doesn't sate them. Japanese Folklore is like Greek Myth, in the sense that its gods are extremely lively. Reducing these spirits to wandering goons doesn't help with the game's lack of tension. 4. It feels like the designers were at least slightly aware of that last point, which is why we have a few PT-esque interior segments. The problem is this doesn't set up tension properly. 5. Akito is sluggish. He's effectively Japanese Talion, now! Shouldn't I get access to more interesting means of traversal than "Clamber your way up on your lonesome and then slowly hover back down to skip a single street corner"? Ghostwire should've effectively been Supernatural Mirror's Edge! 6. I consider it as being far too menu-heavy. This isn't helped by the confusing metrics for skill point purchases, which aren't clearly measured in groups of two, five, ten or so on. Some incremental costs feel hard to justify, considering. 7. Katashiro are vital if you want XP, and you still have to detour in order to buy them. This feels like a half-hearted admission that the retrieval mechanic is weak. Ideally, our Katashiro should've been unlimited, but the spirits should've challenged our situational or traversal-related skills, in order to claim them. You're stuck farming Meika to buy Katashiro to get more skill points, all so you can... get Katashiro just that slight big faster than before. The cycle doesn't justify itself. 8. Show, don't tell. I don't need a codex, just make sure things are visually distinct enough so I'm inclined to go looking for your sources of inspiration on my own. And don't plop the one item that's effectively serving as the heart of your thesis (KK's "Kappa" book) as one of the very first items you can get info on; you're robbing your setup of any sort of ability to unpack itself! Either have confidence in your narrative, or don't show one at all. 9. Too many cutscenes. All for the same reason as the above problem. They all should've been interactive, or at least rendered in first person. Keep me implicated in the story at all times, or make it clear that I'm an outside observer. You can't have it both ways, Tango. 10. Useless stealth mechanics. Why use the bow if you've got more ammo for your finger-guns than you know what to do with, and especially if the game keeps throwing more in your general direction? It makes Akito and KK's eventual separation feel cheap.

[@lt_johnmcclane]

Why did Sony care to get exclusivity for this if they were going to launch it alongside Horizon and Elden Ring? I’m guessing that they saw this husk of a game and decided it was better to just release it and forget it ever existed

[@YoupiMatos2]

>2022 >we're in March 2022 I don't think it forgot yet

[@NiBearla]

This is why this guys my favorite youtuber and one of the few i can watch again and again and again. No other weaves words into such poetry all while having such a calming voice. Thank you for another masterpiece.

[@AlaiasAlias]

Expectation: Evil Within Neon Tokyo Edition Reality: Beat Saber without dope songs or VR or fun or anything.

[@legateelizabeth]

Today’s dystopian city is… Tokyo? I don’t know about that one, considering how much time went into rendering it either the Tokyo tourism board or the game’s art team might leave a kunai in my neck. I think this game didn’t really know who it was *for.* Is it a virtual tourism piece, akin to that one mode in AC Odyssey? Is it a spooky paranormal detective work? Is it playing ghost problem solver, by interaction or by blowing it up with particle effects? Is it just a graphics showpiece? The only thing I can think of is that it’s supposed to be a kind of intentional showcase of modern Japanese folklore through a snapshot of Tokyo. The items and snacks all have these long descriptions about their use, and the yokai… okay, so, I’m going to generalise a LOT and I’m obviously just some idiot foreigner but from what I understand, that ‘the supernatural is everywhere’ thing is kind of taken for granted. You leave the offering at the shrine because… that’s just the done thing. The supernatural isn’t really a mythology so much as a matter of fact, and urban legends rely on it. The closest comparison I can think of is how in the UK and Ireland we still have a lot of folklore and superstition that are taken for granted - to some of the Irish the fae *are* real, that’s just a fact of life, it’s as interwoven with modernity as anything else. So if ever you wanted to learn a little about how that gets squared away with modern life, maybe this is a snapshot? But then, the Japanese would surely already know, and Westerns without the context and at least a cursory understanding would get lost. So, again, who is this for? Oh, and I’m pretty sure the toilet paper thing is based on like a specific yokai urban legend thing, they can get real weird and there’s a few based around bathrooms. Don’t quote me on that, obviously I didn’t play the quest and don’t know Japanese urban folklore, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of the sidequests had roots in trying to tell or reference stories that might be understood by someone more well-read. So where does that leave us? With a lackluster combat system, an East Asian city rendered very well but largely lacking in style and substance, and little to do but wander and see the sights. If I wanted to wander around an East Asian city for a while I’d boot up Sleeping Dogs - better combat, better story, better style and focus, better sidequests, and maybe most importantly: I can actually ride the motorcycle.

[@Cavadoro333]

Big facts

[@NigerianWeeb]

Great comment. The first time I saw this game, my first thought was "Jujutsu Kaisen".

[@UberNoodle]

You absolutely nailed this critique, especially in terms of the movement and combat. And the frustrating thing is that reviewers nowadays just don't get into that kind of detail. They review the game like it's a movie half the time, and when you finally sit down to play it, you wonder if you're doing everything wrong because the reviewer never mentioned half of the really obvious issues the game has. And it's difficult to explain these kinds of issues, and that's probably why many reviewers avoid it. But it also means it's difficult to find help. And when you do ask for help, there's always a mix of responses from people who don't understand you and just brush you off, to people who are more than willing to, as you said, learn and memorise every response to every attack from every enemy. But that's not a fun way to play a game. So yes, absolutely agree in every way in terms of your critique.

[@jojojoemorelle]

Ghostwire Tokyo: 1 week later seriously though, kinda rare to review such a newly released video game, Whitelight. And I LOVE IT.

[@bm-ye1jj]

The disappearance not being a mystery just makes it feel like an excuse to not design npcs for the open world

[@jasongreen6826]

Huh?!🤨 if it was a mystery there’s still be no npc’s bud😂😂

[@bm-ye1jj]

@@jasongreen6826 I’m not ur bud. If it was mystery then there would be a story to uncover what happened and it would make it interesting. I guess your little stupid brain couldn’t grasp that

[@skdeathxlife]

@@jasongreen6826 what

[@jasongreen6826]

@@skdeathxlife he literally just said the disappearance not being a mystery feels like an excuse to not have npc’s… if the disappearance was a mystery there would still be no npc’s in the game, are you illiterate or something?

[@erickschusterdeoliveira2662]

On the topic of visuals: this game would probably be one of the prettiest games ever *if it were third person*. Being first person gets you too close to the textures and models that really don't seem like they were supposed to be looked at from up close. Combat feel: heavy disagree on it feeling good, it's *way* too floaty for my taste, and the enemies basically don't react. Hanya: absolutely agreed, pinning the mystery on him right away was a massive misstep and a puzzling one, seeing as the game's marketing banked so hard on how mysterious it felt. Climbing: yes lol, it's shit. They really should've tightened it up since it's so pervasive and there are already great examples of first-person climbing in Dying Light and Mirror's Edge. Also the gliding. Combat depth: indeed the game desperately needed more mechanical enemy variety and more movement options. At the very least a dash. And the water splash should deal way more damage up-close to encourage more agressiveness. Ammo regen as reward for perfect blocking would be good too, along with a 1s invulnerability or something. Camera: funny, the camera and walking speed actually reminded me of King's Field. Beads: yeah they forgot to add the "take extra damage" part of the +DMG beads (like in FromSoft games) to make them an actual choice. Open world: I remembered this now, but *DEAR LORD* everything but the city itself and the shaders in this game is *OBNOXIOUS*. The UI is hideous Ubisoft-tier stuff, the particle effects are overdone to hell and just ugly, especially the money ones look stupid. On the open world itself and its exploration rewards, this game is kind of the opposite of Breath of The Wild, because every reward is useful but the process of getting it is dreadfully boring. The cardinal sin: HAVE DEVS NOT PLAYED AT LEAST MGSV??? LET THE FUCKING AUDIO LOGS PLAY WHILE WE PLAY.

[@conflictsexplained9276]

It's always a joy to watch your videos. Truly one of the best video game content channels on all of KZbin.

[@bmbm1]

From the reveal trailer it looked like some sort of cosmic horror game with beings our mortal brains couldn't comprehend, but when I saw the gameplay I knew it was too good to be true

[@cameronmeade4200]

I feel like many devs could learn from Furi's example, its combat it pretty stripped down, just sword, gun, and block with basic and charged versions for both. But its so finely tuened that it feels excellent and the game rewards mastery of its mechanics

[@calithesloth5462]

"this is not fucking candy crush" is why I watch Whitelight

[@Texelion]

When they revealed the game with the disappearing people and when I knew it was from the Evil Within team I was excited. Then I saw the gameplay and all hype disappeared. I knew it would suck. I just hope Tango Gameworks won't be too much in trouble if this doesn't sell. They have potential.

[@darkhaven9119]

It doesn’t suck. How about you play the game before blindly assuming shit or judging it off of someone else’s opinion? This game is great and the story, atmosphere and combat are good asf

[@drippyog3935]

Yeah its terrible and the fans are brain dead

[@gbdeck200]

@@darkhaven9119 it's bad even if u enjoy it

[@darkhaven9119]

@@gbdeck200 it’s not bad at all lol. It’s a great game

[@LeaveMeAloneFBI]

​@@gbdeck200 I wouldn't say it's BAD. But it's definitely not amazing either. I'd say it's acceptable at most

[@Eterco]

I just saw an ad for this and was captivated! And as if on cue, this video shows up! Thank you Whitelight!

[@atomiccat1904]

It’s a shame most games seem like this now

[@CapTheNPC2]

Just looking at the combat it feels like it would be a perfect fit for an on-rails arcade cabinet game.

[@babywithabooty5031]

Back on the artistic grind I see.

[@Kmaaq]

I’m glad you’re adding a bit more humor to your videos

[@SirSicCrusader]

I really liked the game, mostly cause I consumed it in short bursts so the city was always a joy to come back to, BUT it really did feel like a shallow launch title or a tech demo, showing off what kind of games are now possible with current hardware. Also fun fact, part of why the turning feels like shit is cause you are actually a step back from where your perspective should be, stand really close to a small floating object like a nether food pick up and turn and you'll see that you rotate around it instead of turning away, I have no Idea how they screwed that up so badly but yeah...

[@clementineshetheyfae8312]

WHY DOES THE CUTSCENE WITH HIS SISTER LOOK LIKE DEATH STRANDING LMAOOOOO

[@SolProxy]

The fact that the localizers once again inserted their own crap into it makes me not even think about it.

[@darko1295]

What are you referring to?

[@baroquechevalier8516]

Hmm? I'd like to know context

[@RedSeraph_]

Welp this seems typical nowadays

[@keepcoolgames5896]

What do you mean ?

[@skullsaintdead]

@@darko1295 Googled it, localiser seems to be a person(s) tasked with translating and adapting the game for each country/market. So, I'm guessing, some of the more Japanese elements were lost in favour of Western ideas for the English release of the game.

[@jassykat]

Got it for free, played it on the Hardest difficulty from the start, and I enjoyed the combat, every time I survived, it felt earned. And the animations are so cool!

[@Th3_HP]

I mean, yeah, there are plenty of points that were missed opportunities, but the game overall is a decent product i reckon. The standout side missions will stick in my mind (like the Piano one), and the ending did make me feel something, and i enjoyed how there wasn't a cliffhanger or nothing, it was just its own thing ya know, no sequal bait which is all too commen now.

[@Sweetstick]

Our hero has returned, Welcome back Whitelight.

[@michaelfigueiredo2741]

This game should have had more elements such as electricity, earth, lava It'd also be great if you could combine spells like in "spellbreak" if you could use water to make a puddle and than electricity to zap a bunch of enemies, or even use fire to create steam and make a temporary smoke screen, add things like I dunno summoning magic

[@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034]

Imagine this game but with Spellbreaks magic system... UUUUGGGGHHHH that would be the good shit

[@yorhanexus8139]

glad to see you back with another video, Ive been wanting to see an in-depth review of this game.

[@Fnargl99]

Well it is free today and i forgot it

[@nafriadn]

and this video weirdly recommended after I claimed it

[@Spukhau5]

Dude seeing the ghost parade in game is so scary

[@nightmarehunter8681]

Its such a shame this game didnt do well. the concept and the powers looked so cool

[@arrd]

I clicked the bell because I was not notified of the video release. I want to be notified of every one of your videos releasing

[@LylasFightclub]

I'm having a great time with Ghostwire, a hauntingly beautiful world that's absolutely dripping with atmosphere, the story is weak but it's a great vehicle for the exploration and the combat

[@ejaybugboythree]

With news of a sequel on the horizon, I really hope they clean up all the flaws and deliver an amazing open world game with it's second time around. The pieces of a great game are there. It just needs to get put together.

[@ishaanvyas5346]

i recently completed this game, and i agree with your slide showing "Masterpiece". I enjoyed every moment i was in the game. The mechanics, storytelling, visuals, and as a japanese culture enthusiast i really got excited to see the environment. 10/10 to this game. Lovedd it!!!

[@thesoberscot4068]

Nothing quite like a Whitelight video!

[@chillax319]

After playing in Elden Ring(still playing at first playthrough) and it's one of the reasons why Ghostwire open world feels horribly jarring to me despite me looking out for this game. It's too ubisoftish and it's pretty much your bog standard open world. I was really careful with this game since Nakamura left and it looks like I was right to be wary of the game. It's....dissapointment.

[@shinbakihanma2749]

This game wishes it were anything close to being Ubisoftish. It that were the case, I'd at least be interested in playing it. This game looks (and has always looked) boring. Watching Whitelight play this game, almost made me doze off.

[@nikolavideomaker]

Lmao, don't insult ubisoft games like that. They are actually good.

[@bongwatertoad]

i just got home from school and seeing a new whitelight video is sick

[@k.k.a]

The art direction for this game is amazing

[@09spidy]

That's Ikumi Nakamura's area of expertise, and probably the only thing that survived her leaving the project.

[@wtfronsson]

No it's not. There's a few cool details and the rest is generic, outdated, unimaginative and just weak. Especially the enemies. Are you kidding me?

[@k.k.a]

@@wtfronsson A bit harsh don't you think

[@wtfronsson]

@@k.k.a Harsh and accurate, maybe. This is the kind of game they should have canceled when they started to see things going wrong.

[@Darksiders2988]

@@wtfronsson Maybe you should touch some grass

[@LUA_GOD]

I was lucky enough to play ghost wire with the latest update, the extra skill trees, different charge animations make for what should have been the released product.

[@FastLawyer]

I'm liking the game so far (although I'm only 5 hours into it), but I do agree with several of your criticisms. However, I think you missed one of the best things about the game in your critique: the background on Tokyo through cultural items (it's one of the reason I enjoyed the early Assassin's Creed games). In Ghostwire Tokyo, you learn so much about the history, culture, food, etc. of Japan and it always made me interested in picking up & reading about each item.

[@lp.shakur]

this has to be the most idiotic answer ever, as if u need a mediocre open world game to learn about other cultures

[@FastLawyer]

@@lp.shakur I'm pretty sure your comment is the most idiotic one because I didn't say you need this game or any game to learn about Japan's culture. I'm saying you can learn about Japan and it's fun doing so in this game if you want. It's more fun than reading a wikipedia or watching a scripted YT video. Probably the only thing more fun would be actually going there IRL.

[@PsychoRavager]

Was and still am a big fan of The Evil Within, but I wouldn't want to see it continued if it's going to end up as shallow as Ghostwire Tokyo's design philosophy. I miss the days when not every mainstream game needed to be open world. However, what I can say is this, I'd rather buy Ghostwire Tokyo than anything Ubisoft's been putting out lately.

[@bludtinge]

The story was so unengaging. Also, what happened to the cutscenes? The Evil Within 2 direction was fantastic. Cutscenes in Ghostwire are very dry and for the lack of a better word - boring?

[@09spidy]

That last sequence in TEW2 was so good, with the (mostly) seamless transitions between Sebastian and Kidman, plus the corny dialogue just adds to the fun of it.

[@henrik1743]

Oh man it's a good day when whitelight uploads

[@slashthejackal8558]

...I can't tell whether or not that Elden Ring bit was a joke or not

[@Whitelight]

Elden Ring vs Ride to Hell Retribution? Tough choice.

[@slashthejackal8558]

@@Whitelight Honestly I'd take Ride to Hell-

[@jappy9264]

"anyway video games are for losers" - Whitelight 2022 perfect ending quote for a video game review 10/10

[@SIPATGaming]

Hey white light, what font do you use for your transitions? It's amazing

[@Whitelight]

"Ultra"

[@SIPATGaming]

@@Whitelight Thank you dearly, great vid btw

[@andreyleonel255]

The "blue ball" punchline is straight out just smart... I'm talking about the idea, the information it presents and the delivery. That's something I really like about this guy's videos.

[@09spidy]

Been playing this game for the past few days, and while I'm enjoying the unique setting and the interesting concept, it's all wasted on a very standard Ubisoft open-world formula, with a very cluttered map and tons of collectibles, I loved the Evil Within 2, and Tango Gameworks clearly have some very talented people working there, I hope they can bounce back with their next game.

[@N9251.]

I just realised this is before the DLC/update where they added the dash and new attacks and spiders thread.

[@everforward5561]

Hannya is one of the most generic, forgettable villains I've ever seen in a modern game. His motivations and justifications just come across as nonsense, and the more I learned of him, the less enjoyable it was. But yeah, once Nakamura left mid-development, I lost any hope of it being good.

[@MILOPETIT]

Thank god you're here, I needed to hear something interesting today

[@JohnLozo]

It's so sad that a game with such an astounding amount of attention to detail with visual design and art style is marred by some truly half-baked controls and combat

[@SqueebPlays]

Lemmino AND Whitelight uploads in the same week? Hell yeah.

[@sadpee7710]

this game would have been amazing if it were mysterious. even by just gutting the narrative completely and just making it a sandbox, tasking you piece together your own idea of what happened. the kind of abstract that has multiple viable and legitimate interpretations. that would have been so great. too bad it's just another action game with particle spam to show off new hardware.

[@vodkaboy]

no..

[@ben0uille767]

This game have so much potential, i really enjoyed it, but it need more. Like more combat variation, more enemy variation too, and a little more story. The rest was really cool ! I really hope some dlc or a sequel with more depth in the gameplay

[@Duffers]

I hope a sequel happens one day and they clean up the combat + add some more spell options

[@meddle333]

I got exactly half of one sentence in and I am so entirely confused I cant even move forward. That was maybe a bad choice.

[@sacb0y]

personally the bow and talismans i used a lot, but i plaayed on hard. The bow was critical for quick killing enemies i didn't like fighting. Mostly the laughing bastards and scizor chick. I'm pretty forgiving on the game though, new ip, has some good concepts, no dumb monetization. Sure it's not remarkable, but it's enjoyable enough.

[@bandoneon_ar]

Yeah, playing this game on Hard/Tatari is the way to go

[@error_idiot8329]

I really enjoyed Ghostwire myself. Every once in a while the combat still was fun (within cycles) and I especially enjoyed walking around Tokyo and the cool liminal feel to it and crazy sequences. But I also readily admit that I wouldn't really recommend it to most people and completely understand why people wouldn't like it. Also I'm a big bitch and the school section with the science man actually spooked me.

[@v0Xx60]

Ah yes, yet another example of open-world high-effort mediocrity.

[@yorshka6955]

I was hoping that this Game would be something like PREY or Deus Ex.

[@TheBigYC]

At not point on this well done video I was a little intrigue on the game. It looks polished but I find hard to understand how several people gave the OK to spend money on something that looks/feels so unengaging.

[@mackcool1000]

You need to pump Vig, those are rookie numbers. Your gonna get one shot by everything in the Giants Plateau.