Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’s memorable story and inspired investigative cases help carry it across its rougher patches.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a love story about loss and sacrifice, propelling its choice-driven narrative forward amidst middling combat.

Don't Nod drops the melodrama for a poignantly performed story about grief and injustice, where the difficult choices tug at your heart and principles.

This ghost story is stretched a little thin, but still well worth exploring.

Banishers is a spooky, loving tale about two incredible people. I cried a few times, both for these two characters I grew to adore, and for the very sad stories of others just trying to make it in a difficult world. While the combat is not spectacular, and the graphics are middling, everything else makes this a very special game. With superb writing, excellent performances, a clever central mechanic, and thoughtful, engaging stories, Banishers is Don’t Nod’s best game yet.

Some gripping ghost stories justify gathering around Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden's campfire, but an open world full of routine skirmishes and mindless repetition might just scare you off again. As Dontnod's longest game yet, Banishers underlines the value of a tighter focus.

Don't Nod's new third-person goth-tragedy action-adventure RPG is full of swashbuckling ghost hunting, bound up in a story unironically about the power of love. Despite some repetition and busywork, it's a great time.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden sees developer DON'T NOD reach a new development peak, as it marries an excellent narrative with engaging and enjoyable gameplay. Poor enemy variety and technical flaws hold it back from true greatness, but its excellent, story-focused side quests on the other side make a few drab combat encounters worth pushing through. The studio's best game to date, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a new IP we hope is here to stay.

Banishers: Ghost of New Eden's excellent characters and storytelling are diminished by its mundane world structure and repetitive combat.

Devilishly good stories and beautiful haunting visuals in a cool dark fantasy world overcome the bland combat.