Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Review – Haunting Tale of Romance & Regret

You may already know developer Don’t Nod for emotional narratives like Life Is Strange, but now they’re taking us on a moody paranormal adventure with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. This occult action-RPG throws us into a bleak alternate version of colonial America where ghosts and spooks are a common threat. Enter our heroes: Red and Antea, wisecracking occult experts for hire who specialize in giving problematic phantoms the heave-ho into the great beyond.

This ghoul-busting couple gets more than they bargained for when they take a job in the remote settlement of New Eden. Turns out the place is cursed, frozen in perpetual winter and crawling with spirits both vengeful and benign. Things go from bad to worse when a run-in with a terrifying nightmare creature leaves Antea dead as a doornail.

But this is no ordinary demise, and Antea finds herself resurrected as a phantom bound to her former life. With no choice but to team up with her still-living partner Red, ghostly Antea sets out to solve the mystery of New Eden’s curse and secure her final reward…either by finding redemption for her restless soul or using dark magic to slip back into her earthly body.

Guiding these two fallen Banishers as they delve into New Eden’s dark past, you’ll need wits and reflexes sharp as any spectral blade if you hope to survive the threats both human and not-so-human. So ready your ritual weapons and prepare for adventure with a paranormal twist, because surviving this haunting odyssey into death’s chilly embrace will take every skill in your supernatural arsenal. The night beckons!

Love That Transcends Death

At the heart of Banishers lies a profoundly moving tale of romance torn asunder by tragedy. Our heroes Antea and Red come to the cursed settlement of New Eden already nursing wounds from another recent ordeal, but still smiling through the pain together. As working partners and lovers, this couple relies on flawless teamwork and unshakable trust to survive the dangerous business of laying spirits to rest. Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when a run-in with New Eden’s resident nightmare creature leaves Antea brutally murdered right before Red’s eyes.

Yet not even death can keep these two apart. Antea returns straightaway as a spritely phantom, shaking off her demise so she can team up with Red once more. What follows is equal parts detective story and journey of grieving, as Antea and Red pursue the hidden secrets that might set New Eden free from its endless winter and perpetual hauntings. Every新 step brings painful reminders that Antea now walks the line between the living and the dead, her murdered body left to freeze while her restless soul remains tethered to the world she left behind.

The story deftly captures all the swirling emotions that come with loss: denial, anger, emptiness, as well as guilt over things left unsaid. Red in particular struggles to accept his failure to protect Antea, while Antea’s spirit grapples with growing inhuman urges that threaten to transform her into the very monsters she once battled. Banishers approaches these weighty themes with grace and nuance despite some repetitive beats in the narrative. Again and again Antea and Red revisit the dilemma of what to do with her untethered soul, debating whether they should try to resurrect Antea’s body or grant her the oblivion that comes with most ghosts’ “final ascension.”

It’s a poignant exploration of the excruciating pain that death inflicts on the living and the dangerous allure of defying it through unnatural means. Even side characters get chances via optional quests to show hidden dimensions, their own sorrows and regrets projected onto the spirit world through hauntings. By the finale, players must decide once and for all whether to let Antea go gently into death’s embrace or rip her back into the world of the living…whatever the cost. It’s a choice sure to leave hearts aching yet satiated by a bittersweet ending.

Of course, even the most affecting story can stumble over pacing issues. Banishers suffers some repetitiveness as Antea and Red continually mourn what was lost between them rather than looking ahead at what’s left to fight for. Likewise the game sometimes loses momentum by drawing things out, forcing players to trudge back and forth across the map padding playtime rather than pushing the plot forward.

But despite a few dull spots, this paranormal odyssey delivers a rewarding tale of sacrifice, undying devotion, and the tragedy of losing those we hold most dear. Glaring flaws notwithstanding, Banishers will likely linger in memory far longer than many big-budget blockbusters thanks to the resonant story of Antea and Red’s romance eternally bound by both love and death. Even the sting of repetition and slow pacing can’t negate the game’s emotional core that shines all the brighter against its dark setting.

“Embark on a journey of vengeance and self-discovery with our in-depth Death of a Wish review. Discover how this game blends intense action with deep narrative themes of trauma and identity, all wrapped in a visually striking art style. Join Christian in his relentless quest against the cult that raised him and uncover the power of found family amidst a nightmare-fueled world.”

Ghostbusting Duo Wreaks Spectral Havoc

Banishers neatly splits the difference between pensive supernatural investigation and ghoul-bashing action. As the now-dead Antea, players tap into heightened phantom senses to uncover clues hidden to mortal eyes. Her spectral powers allow manipulation of objects and environments otherwise intangible to the living. That comes in handy while working alongside still-breathing partner Red, who packs blades and firearms to anchor the physical plane. With a tap of a button, the perspective swaps to Red granting normal human strength and dexterity to grab things Antea can’t touch herself.

This complementarity plays out through Banishers’ many haunting cases. Reports come in from all over New Eden of aggressive apparitions and strange paranormal phenomena. Using Antea’s leftover memories from life, you’ll interview the living to learn more about troubled spirits that must be dealt with before they fully transform into violent “shades.” The key details emerge from studying environments for echoes of past events, which Antea can pick up with her death-granted senses.

Once enough clues reveal the source of a haunting, the team springs into action. Here Banishers embraces its full action-RPG pedigree as Antea and Red synergize their otherworldly talents, chaining combos by swiftly swapping control between them mid-fight. Though Antea lacks physical form, her phantasmal punches pack a seriously mean wallop against ghosts. She also employs debilitating curses and eldritch magic to hamper threats before Red closes in to finish the job with steel or shot.

With combat flowing so smoothly from investigation segments, Banishers strikes an elegant balance between supernatural mystery and spectral ass-kicking. Antea and Red earn new abilities by solving cases, reflected in skill trees granting buffs and passive traits. You can tweak these powers by refunding points to customize the duo’s interconnected playstyle. While their core movesets stay consistent, this flexibility keeps combat feeling fresh even after the thirtieth exorcism.

That’s fortunate because Banishers does lean into repetition via bloated world traversal padding out the campaign. Still, the investigation mechanics integrate so seamlessly with moment-to-moment gameplay that the story always feels propelled forward. This fusion of narrative and action makes even repeated elements more compelling through context granted by the haunting cases at their core.

If only the game executed as cleanly in combat controls and camerawork as it does everywhere else. Battling groups of spirits causes the targeting system to occasionally spaz out, fumbling lock-ons and disorienting positioning. Given the otherwise excellent integration across gameplay elements, these technical hiccups feel doubly disruptive. But practice makes perfect, and with time most players should adapt to wrangling Banishers’ temperamental but rewarding systems. For those who persevere, a brisk ballet of clues, curses, and cold steel awaits against the atmospheric backdrop of colonial America’s ghost-filled frontier.

Haunting Beauty Amidst Endless Winter

One glimpse at its frosted forests and perpetually snowbound townships reveals New Eden as a settlement damned. The entire region languishes under dark magics that revoked the very seasons themselves, trapping the land in endless winter. Dense pine stands sag under heavy blankets of snow while mountain peaks fade into misty skies devoid of sun. The icy sea laps hungrily at shores waiting for its chance to swallow ruined hovels built from wracking timbers.

Everywhere shrouds a haze of dread as if the void’s gaping maw might sudden sweep down to devour all traces of the living. It’s a setting that well earns Banishers’ Mature rating with imagery more chilling than any bucket of blood. Even familiar tropes like abandoned ruins and subterranean caves take on fresh menace framed by the looming threat of vengeful spirits bursting from the ether itself to attack.

Yet strangely, New Eden’s cursed landscape also exposes a certain terrible beauty in the way it lays humanity’s sins bare. The cultivated farmlands and well-ordered homesteads from more hopeful years now stand invaded by failings their builders tried keeping hidden. Violence stirs beneath the surfaces of forgotten graveyards while guilt seeps from the walls of decaying hovels. This shivering realm gives form to the darkness that has forever lurked in hearts now corrupted into roaming spooks and apparitions.

It’s a bleak message redeemed somewhat by traces of compassion still glimmering amidst the dark. Rolling hills dotted with livestock offer pockets of delicate hope stubbornly persisting despite the nightmare consuming all else. And the victims of New Eden’s hauntings often turn out less malevolent than merely lost, anchored to the world by unfinished business or injustice that players can help resolve.

Such bright spots make exploration somewhat rewarding between stretches of bleak wilderness, even if tangible incentives prove limited. Scouring the world yields components for crafting consumables along with occasional Lore Pages expanding on New Eden’s backstory and ghostly denizens. But generic loot and XP gains for levelling up struggle to motivate searching every last frozen corner.

Ambling too far off critical path also risks glorified fetch quests that contrive excuses sending players on tedious toolbox hunts. Still, the palpable atmosphere and artistry woven through New Eden’s design remains Banishers’ strongest case for investigation. The rest stands as mere breadcrumbs leading players deeper into the dark heart of a settlement gripped by forces far greater than itself – as is often true of humanity entire.

A Feast for Senses in a Starved Land

If New Eden’s cursed landscape leaves hope in short supply, the game’s presentation provides an embarrassment of riches to lift players’ spirits. The haunted frontier may deprive its denizens of natural splendor and warm comfort, but Banishers’ excellent cinematic package breaks the gloom with impressive sights and sounds. Chief among its strengths, the voice talent nails that lived-in rapport between partners fused by camaraderie and romance alike. Banter bristles with playful teasing and flirtatious jokes, punctuated by soulful exchanges as Antea and Red reflect on what they’ve lost and where fate might lead them next. The writing strikes just the right balance between breezy and dramatic while standout performances breathe endearing life into the leads.

Matching the brilliant audio, New Eden’s visuals exhibit meticulous attention to artistic detail despite a few unpolished moments. Detailed textures in tree bark and floorboards pair with lush lighting effects for dark interiors granted ominous dimension by dancing firelight or cold moon glow. Disturbingly realistic facial animations channel complex emotion to heighten major story beats even if lips sometimes slip oddly out of sync with dialogue. And between haunting stretches of wilderness, hand-crafted ruined hovels and subterranean networks offer environmental diversity complemented by items and architecture steeped in period-appropriate touches.

Banishers doesn’t aim to break graphical boundaries so much as work masterfully within technical limitations, judiciously allocating resources for maximum artistic impact. Some elements like hair and certain lighting configurations betray subtle flaws if studied too closely, yet standout character models and environments shine while in motion. Coupled with rock-solid writing and sound design, the game weaves an engrossing experience whose minor visual blemishes hardly detract from being swallowed whole by New Eden’s otherworldly tale.

Even repetitive traversal across the frosted netherworld captivates partly through audiovisual feats. Ghostly howls pierce night air that carries crunch of Red’s boots breaking through snowdrifts. Shadows dance hypnotically in the shuddering glow of Antea’s eldritch powers manifested against spirits who shriek defiance with unearthly voices. Every element coheres in sinister synergy for a creepy ambiance often more chilling than outright carnage. Banishers understands that true supernatural thrills come not from gore but suggestion, crafting oppressive mood via sights and sounds that unsettle rather than disgust.

In the end polished presentation carries players through the adventure nearly as much as mechanics themselves while papering over spots where execution stumbles. Like the doomed colony it depicts, Banishers shows cracks at the margins but shines a blinding bright core no darkness can smother. Its brilliance comes not through components viewed separately but an experience made far greater than the sum of its parts. Even visible fraying around the edges can’t diminish New Eden’s haunting majesty once embracing players wholly in its ghostly grasp.

Death and Love Transcend in Compelling Tale

Blemishes and all, Banishers remains a memorable journey well worth undertaking for fans of paranormal fantasy and heartfelt narrative alike. What begins as tragedy transforms into profoundly moving chronicle of life’s persistence even immersed in death’s shadows. Expert pacing interwoven with Antea and Red’s resonant characterizations helps the story overcome repetitive beats. Meanwhile Banishers triumphs through innovative play centered on the partners’ symbiosis despite clunky combat and camera quirks.

At its core lies a compelling ghost tale doubling as mature dissection of grief and loss. Antea and Red’s romantic tragedy captivates via the raw despair of lovers severed by mortality’s cruel hand. Torn between holding on or letting go, their plight unfolds through masterfully atmospheric environs granting supernatural struggles deeply human stakes. For all the sorcerous smackdowns against vengeful spirits, Banishers never loses sight of emotional truths anchoring its drama even when pacing falters.

That heartrending narrative binds disparate pieces into a unified experience more than the sum of its parts. Slick investigation mechanics fuse with flexible skill progression to keep ghost-busting fresh whether dishing out or receiving punishment. And for each repetitive fetch quest or clunky enemy encounter, standout voice performances alongside visual flair redeem any flaws. In the end Banishers delivers a haunting good time befitting the winter’s desolation encasing players in New Eden’s bleak yet beautiful realm.

Like Antea herself, this adventure hinges between realms feeling not quite at home in either. Rough edges reflect the scramble to add depth befitting a full RPG rather than honing a focused, novel vision. Yet also like Antea, Banishers retains a defiant spark against smothering darkness making temporary frustrations worthwhile for poignant storytelling. What awaits may not claim masterpiece status but proves uniquely compelling all the same. While further chances to revisit New Eden’s spectral frontier would be welcome, this chilling debut ensures Don’t Nod’s ghostly tale lingers long past the credits…like any good haunting should.

Also Read:

Release of “Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden” by DON’T NOD Postponed to 2024 Death of a Wish Review: A Savage, Haunting Tale of Trauma and Retribution Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II Review – A Haunting Farewell Crymachina Review: An Ambitious but Flawed Sci-Fi Tale