Ghostwire: Tokyo

With superb visual design and an incredibly well-realised rendition of Tokyo, Ghostwire gets a lot right, but just doesn't quite have the gameplay chops to push it over the top.

Ghostwire: Tokyo's unique supernatural combat and eerily beautiful open-world paper over the cracks of its subpar story and inconsistent side missions.

Mediocre combat and tiresome activities hold back Ghostwire: Tokyo's otherwise spectacular, otherwordly atmosphere.

Fun combat and a sophisticated city burdened with the unfulfilled potential of a far scarier experience.

Ghostwire: Tokyo’s charm can’t make up for its frustrations

Ghostwire: Tokyo feels like a throwback to a different era of action game design. It takes an off-beat approach to world design, story encounters, and combat pacing that won't be for everyone, but if you can get it to click into place you'll have a resoundingly chill time hunting ghosts throughout Tokyo.

The things I like about GhostWire, I really like. I'd go so far as to say that some elements – its world, enemy design, etc. – are among my favorites in a game in years. That said, there are plenty of elements, such as story and gameplay, where GhostWire is hardly up to snuff.

Still, there are some truly gorgeous dynamic action sequences that were welcome surprises, and a pleasantly playful sense of art direction that kept the more tedious times spent with Akito and KK from sagging. Even if the idea of a modern satire disguised as a horror-style mystery isn’t quite your bag, “Ghostwire” is a creative delight as a sort of alt-universe Tokyo sim, especially if you crave the feeling of hanging out in a FamilyMart (“FujiyaMart”) again.

At times it feels like the game’s incredible art direction, music and visual style deserve a game that’s better mechanically, but when it all comes together, Ghostwire Tokyo is one of the more memorable recent games in the triple-A space, if you can ignore its gameplay stumbles.

Open world Tokyo hosts ghost-fighting, soul-collecting and a little too much flimsy busywork in between.