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"Is anyone in these damned woods innocent?", protagonist Red mac Raith laments in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. During a main story quest, I'm tasked with deciding the fate of two individuals who are both accused of wrongdoing. In Red's defense, I've asked myself the same question. After completing several haunting cases that ultimately conclude with you meting out judgments against either the dead or the living, Banishers continually asks you to make murky choices and decide what justice really means to you. Is anyone ever really innocent? Do you even have the right to determine who is if you're doing so for your own gain? And can you ever really know right from wrong when no one is above suspicion?
While its world feels a little overstuffed and the combat can feel a little repetitive, it's Red and Antea's relationship and the overarching question Banishers explores that hold my attention the most.
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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden review: "The story is the best reason to see it through"
At its core, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a love story that explores how far you'll go to save your partner, Antea. After her life is cut short early on, she returns to Red's side as a spirit, and you follow the pair as they set out to uncover the cause of a curse plaguing the lands of New Eden. As expert ghost hunters known as Banishers, Red and Antea are able to connect with the spirit world and dispel specters and ghosts with unfinished business. With a host of haunting cases to find throughout the world, you'll investigate why a ghost still lingers and why they're haunting certain members of the community they have ties with. It's during these cases that you'll be faced with a string of choices that all tie back to one major decision you make right at the start of the adventure.
Are you willing to sacrifice lives to try and bring Antea back to the land of the living, or will you aid in her ascent by banishing or helping the ghosts move on? The very first haunting case sets an ongoing precedent for the kinds of dark scenarios you can expect to encounter. After investigating the nearby area and performing a ritual to see an echo of past events, it's revealed that a young man is being haunted by his best friend - a man he himself killed after being driven to desperation by hunger. Worse still, the corpse has been his main source of food ever since. After trying to make him confront his actions, you're presented with a choice: Do you blame the man who killed his friend and take his life for Antea, or do you ascend or banish the ghost of the man he killed to help Antea move on?
It's easy to lay blame at the young man's feet, but doing so would take his life, and is that really justice? I linger on the decision for quite some time, as I do with every choice in each haunting case to come - and not just because of their morally shady nature. Early on, you have to decide on an oath Red and Antea promise to one another - either you commit to helping her ascend, or try to save her by blaming as many people as possible. From that point on, you can choose to try to fulfill it or go against your chosen oath as you solve and complete each case.
After deciding to help Antea ascend, I'm determined to avoid taking any lives since it just feels outwardly wrong to do so. While your oath doesn't lock you into what choice you make, I'm set on this path. The trouble is, of course, that there's almost always an argument for and against every decision you're faced with. And the more I play, the more it becomes clear that New Eden is full of people - both living and dead - who are doing or have done terrible things for a myriad of questionable reasons.
I always find the most compelling choices are those that are shades of gray, meaning right and wrong aren't so easily discerned. While some feel obviously more wrong than others in Banishers, the way the choices weave into your own wider motivations relative to Antea can make everything murkier. And after the first case throws you right into a pretty bleak situation, it doesn't get any lighter throughout Ghosts of New Eden.
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I can't yet speak to how impactful my choices will be for Red and Antea, but I have seen how some decisions have affected areas - be that with those I didn't sacrifice popping up later, or in one case, factoring into the leadership of a town. From what I've seen so far, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden reminds me of Don't Nod's 2017 action RPG, Vampyr. As another choice-heavy experience, Vampyr follows a fanged doctor who can use his position to fight against his desire for blood, or give into it. It was an interesting idea that didn't always land, but I liked the way certain decisions tied to pillars of the community that affected whole areas of London. While my choices so far haven't yet led to any drastic outcomes, I'm more interested to see how they will shape Red and Antea as a couple.
The couple dynamic is the biggest selling point of Banishers for me personally, and I appreciate the way it factors into everything, from the choices you make, to the combat, which also shares some of the action-based DNA of Vampyr. While Red uses weapons to fight specters, Antea uses her spirit powers to pack a punch, and you can tag-team every fight by switching between them. It works quite well from a dual protagonist perspective, but it’s the choices that speak to me above the action.
You’ll certainly have plenty of chances to fight, though, with lots of points of interest and off-shoot areas to explore as you progress. It’s certainly an ambitious adventure, and while some of the side activities can at times feel like it’s slowing down the pacing and pulling me away from the story one too many times, I'm intrigued to see where my journey - and the many choices I've already made - will lead me. Is anyone innocent in these woods? Am I doing the “right thing?”. I still can’t quite answer that question, but I’m looking forward to finding out.
Look ahead and see what future releases with have to look forward to with our roundup of new games for 2024 and beyond.
