Ghostwire: Tokyo is a 2022 horror action-adventure game created by Tango Gameworks and released by Bethesda Softworks. The game was directed by Kenji Kimura, who also helped write the story with Syoji Ishimine and Seiji Ebihara. The story takes place in an imaginary version of Tokyo, Japan, where supernatural beings have taken over the city after being released by an occultist. The main character is a boy named Akito, who died in a car crash. He is found and taken over by a spirit, which gives him special powers to fight supernatural enemies, search for missing people in Tokyo, and rescue his family.
Players control Akito from a first-person view, moving through environments in Tokyo that follow a story-driven path with missions. Akito’s spiritual powers allow him to use elemental abilities for combat, fight enemies, and defeat bosses. Players can also use close-range attacks and a parry move, which can be improved through a skill system by earning experience from battles. The game includes side-missions outside the main story that give players collectibles and items to strengthen Akito’s abilities and provide more details about the game’s world and characters.
The game was announced in 2019 by Shinji Mikami and Ikumi Nakamura, who were the game’s creative director before leaving Tango Gameworks. Kenji Kimura later took over as director. The combat system, which is different from the survival horror style of the studio’s earlier game The Evil Within, was designed by Shinichirō Hara. It was inspired by martial arts and the ritual practices of Kuji-kiri.
Ghostwire: Tokyo was released on March 25, 2022, for Windows and PlayStation 5, and was only available on consoles for one year. A version for Xbox Series X/S was released on April 12, 2023, along with a free update called "Spider's Thread," which added new enemies, skills, side-missions, story scenes, and areas to explore in Tokyo. The game received mostly positive reviews for its design, visuals, and story, but some players noted issues with technical quality, limited combat variety, and repetitive gameplay elements.
Gameplay
Ghostwire: Tokyo is an open world action-adventure game played from a first-person perspective. Players use special powers and magical skills to fight ghosts and spirits that haunt Tokyo. The game's combat director, Shinichiro Hara, says the fighting style combines karate moves with magic. Players use hand movements similar to those used in a traditional Japanese practice called Kuji-kiri to cast spells. When an enemy's health is low, a glowing part of their body becomes visible, and players can use special moves to destroy it. By defeating these spirits and collecting Yokai, players earn spirit points that help improve their powers.
Plot
The story begins with a spirit (Kazuhiko Inoue / Stephen Oyoung) flying over the scene of a traffic accident. The spirit is searching for a body to take over and chooses a boy named Akito Izuki (Kensuke Nishi / Cory Yee), who was knocked unconscious in the crash. Akito wakes up, still in control of his body except for his right hand, which is now controlled by the spirit. Soon after, a thick, scary fog appears, turning anyone caught in it into a spirit. Akito is protected because the spirit is inside him. A man wearing a Hannya mask (Shunsuke Sakuya / Feodor Chin) appears on digital signs and uses a spell to summon evil spirits called visitors. These visitors trap the spirits of people from the accident in cages across Shibuya. The spirit tells Akito he must find Hannya to stop him, but Akito asks to check on his sister, Mari Izuki (Asami Seto / Anne Yatco), who is in a coma at the hospital.
The spirit gives Akito special powers to help him reach Mari’s room. However, Hannya arrives first and plans to use Mari in a ritual. When Akito tries to stop him, Hannya injures Akito and takes Mari. As Akito dies, he remembers that Mari’s coma was caused by a house fire. The spirit, who calls himself KK, saves Akito’s life and tells him to go to a safe house he had prepared before dying.
At the safe house, KK explains he was part of a team that failed to stop Hannya. He sends Akito to the Kagerie Observation Tower to search for clues. There, they see one of Hannya’s allies entering an underground train station. They follow the ally to an underground shrine where Hannya and his team are preparing for a ritual. KK says Hannya plans to steal souls to break the barrier between the living and the dead, allowing him to bring back his wife and daughter. Hannya and his allies escape, leaving Akito to fight one of them. During the battle, the enemy’s mask is removed, revealing it is a puppet made from KK’s body. The puppet separates KK from Akito and traps him, leaving Akito powerless.
Akito escapes to the surface and returns to the safe house, where he meets Rinko, one of KK’s old partners. Rinko gives Akito KK’s commuter pass case and a picture of KK’s wife and son. She also helps Akito use his connection to KK to find him. As they reunite, a bright light appears, showing Hannya has started his ritual. Akito and Rinko chase Hannya, who reveals two of his allies are puppets made from his wife and daughter. Akito defeats the daughter puppet but is delayed long enough for Hannya to summon a giant spirit monster and escape into the fog.
KK reveals Rinko built a motorcycle that can pass through the fog. After collecting parts, Akito and KK ride to Tokyo Tower, where they confront the mother puppet. At the top, Hannya takes Mari and jumps into the mouth of the giant spirit monster. Akito fights the KK puppet again and destroys it.
Akito and KK enter the monster’s mouth and pass through doors showing memories of Akito and Mari. These memories reveal Akito was emotionally distant, which worsened after his parents died. Mari’s depression deepened after losing her parents and feeling ignored by Akito. They catch up to Hannya as he opens a gate to the underworld. Before he finishes the ritual, Mari’s spirit appears and pushes Hannya into the gate. As her spirit fades, Mari tells Akito her accident was not his fault. She explains she returned to the fire to save her parents’ wedding rings. After Mari dies, Hannya fuses with his wife and daughter’s spirits, becoming a monstrous form. Akito and KK defeat Hannya, freeing all the trapped souls. The spirits of Akito’s parents guide Mari to the afterlife as Akito promises to live well. The crisis ends, and KK leaves Akito’s body permanently.
Development
In June 2019, during Bethesda Softworks' press conference at E3 2019, Shinji Mikami and creative director Ikumi Nakamura introduced Ghostwire: Tokyo, an action-adventure game that includes horror elements. In September 2019, Nakamura left Tango Gameworks after working there for nine years. Unlike The Evil Within series, Ghostwire: Tokyo is mainly an action-adventure game rather than a survival horror game, though it still includes some horror themes. Shinichirō Hara, who worked on the combat system for the 2016 game Doom, joined Tango Gameworks to help create the game's action-focused combat. Hara explained that the combat, inspired by Kuji-kiri and martial arts, allowed the team to "add more movement and personality to the player's actions because the hands are natural parts of the character." The game uses Unreal Engine 4.
On September 21, 2020, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, and Microsoft announced that Microsoft would buy ZeniMax and its studios, including Tango Gameworks, for $7.5 billion. The deal was completed on March 9, 2021. Microsoft stated that the purchase would not change the plan to release Ghostwire: Tokyo as a console-exclusive game for the PlayStation 5 first. The game would later be available on Xbox consoles at least one year after its initial release. Players who pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition through the PlayStation Store received early access to the game on March 22, 2022. The game was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on March 25, 2022.
On March 15, 2023, it was announced that Ghostwire: Tokyo would be released for Xbox Series X/S on April 12, 2023, along with a new content update for the game.
Reception
Ghostwire: Tokyo received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to Metacritic. Another review site, OpenCritic, reported that 67% of critics recommended the game. In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 37 out of 40, with one critic giving it a perfect score of 10.
Some reviewers said the game’s action elements felt outdated and less refined, comparing them to older action games. Others noted that while the game had positive aspects, its limited features might appeal only to a small group of players.
Combat was criticized for being simple, with few combinations, a basic skill system, and slow, inaccurate movement. However, it was praised for its lively visuals, energetic feel, and use of the DualSense controller. Movement during combat was also described as slow and imprecise. Many reviewers found the game’s story and characters well-written, but said these elements were not fully developed.
Some critics felt the game became repetitive over time and did not introduce new or exciting gameplay ideas. They also criticized the repetitive task of cleansing gates and the limited use of the game’s open world. The game’s visual style, atmosphere, and detailed design were widely praised.
Side quests were praised by some for their unique tone and short length, but criticized by others for being forgettable and repetitive. Enemies were praised for their eerie designs but criticized for lacking variety and being too easy. Bosses were described as underwhelming.
Before its release, some outlets reported technical problems with the PC version, including stuttering.
The PlayStation 5 version of Ghostwire: Tokyo was the sixth best-selling retail game in Japan during its first week of sale, with 10,144 physical copies sold.
The game won the Award for Excellence at the 2022 Japan Game Awards. It reached 4 million players by May 2023 and 6 million players by September 2023.
Future
A sequel to Ghostwire: Tokyo was noted in Bethesda's internal plan as being scheduled for the 2024 fiscal year, which ends in March 2025. In May 2024, Microsoft closed Tango Gameworks as part of a major reorganization of Bethesda's operations, making the game's future unclear. After it closed, Tango Gameworks was acquired by South Korean company Krafton Inc. in August 2024. However, the sale did not include the rights to Ghostwire: Tokyo, which remain with Bethesda and Microsoft.