Ghostwire: Tokyo - What We Know So Far

Bethesda announced Ghostwire: Tokyo, the upcoming horror-infused action-adventure from Tango Gameworks, at E3 2019. Since then, news has been a bit scarce about this next-gen title, but some more information has begun to circulate at last.

As you might have guessed, the story unfolds in Tokyo. The city has been besieged by supernatural forces following an occult event in which 99% of the local population vanished. Players use their spectral abilities to fight these threats, while trying to figure out why the residents disappeared and who the strange group of people wearing "Hannya" masks are. 

What players have seen of the game's imagery is beautiful and eerie — haunted Tokyo features a stunning combination of modern and ancient, legend-inspired scenery. The combat style, which utilizes an old Japanese system of hand gestures, seems interesting as well. 

Here's what we know about Ghostwire: Tokyo to date.

While publisher Bethesda Softworks has not yet revealed a solid release date, it did let fans know via the June 2020 Gameplay Reveal Trailer that Ghostwire: Tokyo will arrive alongside several other promising games in 2021. Now, that's a pretty wide launch window, but it does tell gamers something important: this is a game designed to utilize the new and improved technology of the PlayStation 5. 

Bethesda's official page says Tango Gameworks is leveraging the power and speed of the new system to incorporate "unparalleled haptic feedback for every ability and character action." And, on the PlayStation blog, Ghostwire: Tokyo's game director, Kenji Kimura, revealed he was particularly excited to welcome visitors into the title's immersive world using the PS5's 3D sound capabilities.

"This version of Tokyo is not a version you've ever seen or heard before," said Kimura. "In Ghostwire: Tokyo, you'll hear and encounter sounds that you normally would not hear in the city in real life. Our hope is that with the 3D sound, you will feel compelled to seek out and identify what is causing those sounds you hear."

Ghostwire: Tokyo is a timed PlayStation console exclusive, but will also be available on PCs at launch. It may even be released for Xbox Series X eventually.

The Official E3 Teaser shown in 2019 highlighted the vanishing of the population that acts as the catalyst for the story in Ghostwire: Tokyo. It set an atmospheric, arcade-like tone that many fans of Tango's super creepy survival-horror titles, The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2, weren't expecting.

The Ghostwire: Tokyo – Gameplay Reveal Trailer joined the teaser in June 2020. It shows fewer cinematics, some first-person perspective action, and some hints about how the hand gestures will be important to the gameplay. Players also see a few more of the paranormal creatures that inhabit this world.

There's been mixed reactions to the new trailer — some gamers were still looking for the darker vibe they thought they saw in the teaser and in The Evil Within. Others think it looks pretty amazing regardless and are comparing its gameplay style to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and 2017's Observer, among other titles.

According to Bethesda, players will be armed with "upgradable, supernatural elemental abilities" to fight the scourge destroying Tokyo. The combat team at Tango has apparently created a combo-based system based on the Kuji-kiri tradition to take advantage of the PlayStation 5's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Shinichiro Hara, the game's combat director, calls the gameplay system "karate meets magic."

"We want the player to feel like a badass, spell-casting, high-tech ninja exorcist defeating countless evil spirits," Hara said in a statement from Bethesda. "In order to achieve this, we chose intricate, deliberate hand gestures as the primary weapons, instead of simple guns. Unlike guns, our gestures allow us to put a lot more movement and personality into the player action as the player's hands are organic extensions of the character."

The ghosts and monsters each have unique abilities and vulnerabilities. Each was inspired by Japanese legends but given a modern twist to represent different aspects of humanity and contemporary life. It should be interesting to find out how else Ghostwire: Tokyo incorporates parts of Japanese history and folklore into a state-of-the-art game title.