Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) is an action adventure with a ghoulish twist. How is it? Let's talk. Subscribe for more: / gameranxtv ▼ Buy Banishers: amzn.to/3SU1P3i Watch more 'Before You Buy': bit.ly/2kfdxI6
The abbreviation for the title is B:GONE. Can’t take credit for it as someone else commented on it on a different video but my gosh does that fit the game’s theme well
You're actually supposed to rearrange the letters to GONBE. This is a hidden easter egg from the developers to let players know this is gon be a good game.
I appreciate these Before You Buy videos so much. Games are so expensive now, both in price and time commitment, and over the years I've come to trust Jake and Falcon's rewiews to be balanced and honest and as spoiler free as possible. It's really helpful especially when I'm on the fence about any given title.
same. all i want is some gameplay, some overall opinions, and if anything is truly game breaking or just down right bad game design. but gameplay is the most important thing for me. I dont need 30+ minutes breaking down everything, with a massive script full of puns and metaphors. Gameranx are the best at reviews by far.
Adjusting for inflation games have been the same price for 30 years. But considering how screwed my generation and younger are, it hits harder, house prices have increased 1000% but wages only 25%, that's just one example
@@alister101 really? I thought most of the performances were excellent. Especially the further you go into the game, many of the citizens were so well done I felt really bad draining them of their blood lol.
I didn't know this game even existed until it randomly popped up on my feed. Aside from some of the complaints that people have had, it seems pretty good.
@@gavinbeard4026 Usually when a game is really bad people are quick to swarm it with negative reviews, have not seen that for this game! the trailer got to me too!
Never played a bad Don't Nod game, their games might not be blockbusters but they always bring something interesting to the table. Also, most of their releases are new IPs which is commendable. Their writing though, always TOP NOTCH with excellent voice acting, they can teach a thing or two to a lot big company devs imo.
Banishers has been pretty great so far. Definitely knew it wouldn’t be perfect but the 2nd hour really started clicking for me when the world and investigations opened up.
!?????????????? There's no way, I think I picked it up while it was free years ago or something like that, the game was so bad. I didn't think anyone at all enjoyed it @@benwinegarner4797
This is one of the titles I have been very much looking forward to, been a fan of DontNod since Life is Strange and really like the narrative aspects of Vampyre so I’m ready to jump into this one. As a Greedfall/Steelrising apologist I am always a sucker for excellent narrative and world building in a slightly janky package
Totally agree with this. Big fan since life is strange and been looking forward to this for a while aswell. Was abit nervous that it was going to be poorly recieved as alot of games are these days and just don't live up to this hype. But this game may well end up being an underdog that rises up and is much loved. (I hope) cause many ppl hadn't heard about it till now are quite keen to play it after what they've seen online and reviews. Which is great for DontNod and ofc great for this game. I really hope overall it continues to be recieved well and gets great reviews. I'm buying it this week 😍
It was project with help of Capcom no? Or was it just the publisher for it? Loved the memory dynamics in that game and world they built was pretty awesome thematically.
@@DanC2352don’t be ignorant and emotional over video games. You know got damn well that there’s a lot of rpgs that’s waaaaaaaay longer than this game and take up a lot of time to play through fully if you have real life things going on outside of being in the house and playing games
@@DanC2352 what do you get from finding out those games? Nothing. You want to find out which games he couldn’t finish so you can Either tell him it’s easy or not that difficult to finish. I don’t see any other reason to know which games he couldn’t finish other than to take up for those games lol people are weird that way “how dare you say one of my favorite games are hard to finish” is basically the energy I get from that question
I'm definetly playing this as soon as possible. I don't care too much about the combat. DONTNOD make amazing stories and that's what instantly gets me to play their games
Don't Nod is a lot like Spiders. Janky but creative and unique games. I too LOVED Vampyr, and love paranormal investigation settings and I love the 17th-19th Centuries as a time period for gaming lol. So yeah, I'm looking forward to this one.
I almost always check out y’all’s “before you buy” videos before getting a game. I was on the fence with this one but yall convinced me to give it a try cuz I’m definitely the kind of person who loves world-building and interesting stories over combat lol so thank you all for doing these videos! 😊
I didn’t know this was done by the same devs as Vampyr which was outstanding. Wish that games mechanics were more present in this game by the looks of it. That being said I’ll be adding this to the wishlist
I play exclusively story driven open worlds (a fellow lover of story) and as a history nerd, all games set in historical settings are my favourite (RDR2, the sabatuer, AC 3, syndicate, Mafia) and when I heard about the setting of this game man I quickly search up a review and I will be buying, we as gamers should support games like these Nice to see you enjoy story games as well.
It drags a little with the back and fourth across the map to complete missions, but I love this game. Story driven and immersive, the vibe matches the story perfectly. My only real complaint is a lack of new game plus. I wanted to replay it immediately (a new experience for me), but there are far too many side missions for xp and equipment.
I'd give it a 78/100 from what I've played. I am really enjoying it so far. I love supernatural/horror and I love a good narrative. This game appeared to have both, judging from the previews and early reviews. So I purchased it and do not regret it. I prefer linearity over open worlds and I don't have a lot of time for in-depth, complex games with tons of crafting, customization and inventory management. Evil West was a recent game that I had an absolute blast playing through because of it's simplicity and fun. I do agree with Jake that it seems like exploring off the beaten path doesn't feel very rewarding and picking things up is boring. Even reading the journals/letters, which provide extra lore and are well-written, go through a slow animation and it feels a little tiring. Also when you observe an object, the game locks you out of doing anything until the dialogue/banter is over. I can see if maybe it's a quest item or important piece of dialogue, but these are just optional objects. Hopefully, they remove this in a patch, because it's really stripping away the freedoms of the player. Some of the animations and objects are a bit bland, like climbing for example. The combat is comparable to a watered down Souls game. Better than Steel Rising, but nothing jaw-dropping. Story, characters, and atmosphere (so far) are worth it for me.
I agree ,i also must add that Evil West was an excellent game as was Shadow warrior 3 both being the same debs,..While There are some flaws in Banishers,it gets alot right and is fresh direction.Robocop is another double A game that was very well excited and a joy to play
@@frankbasile3662ill have to check those out. Which route did you take in Banishes? Blame or the other two that do the thing (trying to keep it spoiler free)
I think I have the answer to the fighting problem, the thing is the combat is very responsive and intuitive but it’s also very rhythmic, there is input log and delay. You can’t spam attack in hopes that it will work, there are strategies like keeping Antea at low energy and constantly swapping between the leads utilizing the gun and the dash. I think the biggest issue for people is the fact that it’s very rhythmic, you just have to get used to it and the combat becomes very satisfying and switching between characters becomes much less of a slog the more abilities you unlock, like switching after a block of after a 3rd attack. Attacking ghost enemies with only Antea won’t be satisfying and will feel like you just gotta punch enough but that’s not how the combat was designed, you are supposed to utilize both of the characters at the same time no matter the situation but depending on the situation you need to know who is a better choice to be the damage dealer and the support. I find the combat very satisfying and polished ever since I got the hang of it even tho in the beginning of the game my opinion was that the combat felt weird and unfinished
Jake, I could tell you wanted to love this game from your review, and I think you do an amazing job staying non-biased in all 9f your videos. I especially appreciate how you strongly emphasized all the great environment, story, and voice acting so not to deter us from wanting to see for ourselves. And, of course, I appreciate your take on what you feel hold the game back. I will certianly be checking it out myself. I fell in love with the trailer immediately Ever since Mass Effect Andromeda, I've been very hesitant to watch or read any online reviews before i try a game myself. Im not defending Mass Effect: Andromeda, but I felt the overabundance of reviews and criticisms were ruining my ability to have my own objective opinion(and i took a vacation from work just to play it) ... Gameranx is about the only review media i watch. Thank u all for all you do
This is so true! I, too, deeply appreciate how Jake always stays non-biased and also very respectful in his reviews. It's so rare!!! Reviewers/critics always trash games they don't like, and by this they ruin other players' experiences, or even the developers (bad reviews-> bad sales-> potentially ends a franchise or the studio's career). Most of the time they don't even bother bringing up positive things about games, even though clearly, the people behind games work very, very hard, even if they make some mistakes in the process. We all have different tastes so I think (no, it is actually a fact) that it's always unfair to say a game is outright bad and cannot be enjoyed. This is just their personal opinion. As long as there's even 1 person in the world who loves that particular game, you can't say that it's a bad game and unplayable! Sorry I just had to share my thoughts, especially with a like-minded person who appreciates good, respectful game reviews too. 🙂
Vampyr is hands down one of my favorite games of all time. The game play was not the best that's for sure but man the world and setting was one to remember. I am definitely looking forward to play Banishers and dive into all the different choices, dialogue and characters!
Almost 20hrs into the game and lovin it. Pretty straight, story driven yet hard decisions to make singleplayer experience and no bullshit openworld activities…this game was just what I needed. Love the art, the landscape, the characters and the lore. Personally I would like to see a tv series like this, anyone’s else thought of that ?
Just started this game and I am loving it. Love the storyline and the combat is not so difficult so I was able to progress. Some games are so difficult that I just stop playing, but no this one. Great review, thanks!
@danielwick6088 it really did! Maybe I'll go back and try it again, sometimes taking a break from frustrating stuff like that can be good. Wouldn't really bother me starting over after all this time, or maybe it was patched, who knows.
Jake, you're a man after my own heart I absolutely share the same sentiment. I applaud game companies that have the courage to try different ways of telling a story, in lieu of finding some "formula" of gameplay that's aiming to be the next "license-to-print-money" gaming craze. Focus always has that courage, and heart... telling a compelling and engaging series of smaller stories that, while they may not amount to a great big story that goes anywhere or is coherent, the trajectory is on, and hopefully they are just tightening down that target and getting better with each pass? With Vampyr I found the gameplay loop seriously deal-breaking for me. Get to some new area where you're stuck to do a bunch of little stuff felt Sisyphean after the first hospital area is finished that I put it down and never again returned, I was so turned off by the prospect of having to now repeat a gameplay aspect that I thought was just part of some lazy writing in connecting disparate story parts, but no indeed the thing I disliked most in Vampyr was the thing it hung the crux of it's gameplay upon. Perhaps some day I'll return to it with a more open mind... but this one I've been eyeing for some time, and because I share your sentimentality, taste and virtually everything else in regard to video games on an almost esoteric level (makes game shopping easy if you've done a review!), I am going to go grab this one and sit down and dig in. Thanks for the BYB as always, I had a sneaking suspicion that combat would still be the thing that suffered in their game, 'spose my only true concern being that pacing thing. If the story is dragging its feet or forcing me to backtrack for item walls and such I may literally do the same thing as I did with Vampyr unless this has even more pathos to it. But at least I've been warned, thanks, Holmes! Forget IGN gameranx is literally my go to for everything game content, has been for years. Thanks for that! MORE ON TOPIC, personal thoughts since you opened the comments to it :) : Ghosts are a phenomenon too ancient, rampant and conceptually simple to NOT have some validity. I've never experienced anything that was so preternatural it was clearly the work of some ephemeral entity, but I do know that energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely transferred. I also know, having once lost both my first wife and my father on the same day in unrelated incidents, that I feel them with me and in a very real way (if not exactly in "words") I hear them when they are trying to tell me something. I feel them always and the love that is there has never diminished, but not as though they were trapped in any way like many more tortured or ostensibly 'malevolent' spirits are attributed that characteristic. And if I am incorrect in it, well then it's still not really bad news at all because it means that love alone is powerful and intoxicating enough a force that we simply believe and know in our hearts that those who are beloved to us are with us in some way, inferring that the worst case scenario is that love is so strong we basically manifest that comfort or that feeling of "having" lost loved ones there with us; so the outcome is the same! If we won't know until we pass and stay on the other side, then what does it matter whether or not we can prove anything? The knowing is enough for me. Serenity, love, and peace to you all, Earthlings @VivianDanger
Ur dumbazz must be a game developer for saying 60$ is worth it for " not a bad game". HSIT, I would have suggested like 15 or 20$. i bet u probably own all or most of COD skin bundles@@Fervent._
@@Fervent._that’s why the industry charges so much, because of people like you. This game isn’t worth $60…. This isn’t a AAA game, it’s subpar in graphics and gameplay. Get real dude
@manwithballsonarm6775 he means when i a studio tries new things its taking risks. If people dont like what they did with the game leads to refunds and bad reviews and less people buying etc. But i played the game and i like it. Little bit tedious parts here and there but overall its a decent game
As someone who watch your reviews for years mostly after buying I wanna thank you guys because this time it literally was a ‘before you buy’. Was a bit on the fence with this one but the review convinced me. Been playing all day today and I enjoy it, does indeed feel like a GoW reboot style game with Witcher and Greedfall vibes in there. It starts a bit slow but it does open up after setting the story. It’s also my first UE5 game so it’s also interesting on the technical aspect
Thank you for really explaining what this game is. I thought it looked interesting but when you broke down what kind of game it was for what kind of player you helped me realize it isn't for me. Appreciate that level of depth.
I also had the privilege of a review copy. I agree with everything this video says. I still encourage gamers to check this game out! (This is not sponsored).
I don’t know exactly how far I am, and I don’t wanna say because of spoilers, but I went in completely blind on this game and it has been amazing. I play it on the Xbox Series S and the 30 FPS doesn’t ruin it at all. Not too many games have made me emotional/invested in the story but where I am now, I want to 100% the game, even if it takes multiple playthroughs. I highly recommend this game myself and so far I give it a 10/10.
This game and Don't Nod deserve support. We need more AA and indie singleplayer games, especially since the AAA industry is more interested in churning out more and more shitty live service BS even though 99% of them just end up being massive flops.
I’m about 1/4 through the game and so far I don’t mind the combat because it feels like it’s going for more methodical souls style stuff than something like GOW. It’s not a soulslike to be clear but it has some souls DNA like the bonfires and the gameplay, and that works for me.
I’ve been interested in this game since it was announced at the 2022 Game Awards. It just looks like the type of game I’ve always dreamt of: a ghost-hunting game! Not zombie slaying or survival horror, but ghost-hunting! I’ve been getting real strong Plague Tale vibes from it, which is a series I loved. This is going to be so underrated and so many people are sleeping on this game. But unfortunately, I get the feeling most people won’t play Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden until it’s a free monthly game on PS Plus
I bought this because ever since life is strange, I love everything Dontnod does. And this is no expection. The only thing I found tedious was the little fetch quests after the side missions to give closure should send you across the map as it does.
Similar vein, lol. But I LOVED Vampyr, the opening intro floored me and I knew I was in for a RIDE, the combat was decent (very Vampire the Requiem to me), so I'm excited for this. Almost even more because it looks like the stepped it up a bit, and the story looks great.
I have watched several videos before today on the gameplay and story it looks really good. I will be playing it later tonight and the reviews are pretty solid with just a bit under 8/10 average.
I just went back and played Vampyr again for the platinum and anticipation for this. I already know this game is going to be phenomenal for me. Jake I'm glad you did this video because I know how much you liked Vampyr, and I really wish more people played it and felt the same.
Something I think people that review games does not take in consideration, at least in this example, if the setting is the 1600, the world will be mostly empty. It makes total sense. You just cannot simply expect to be roaming the world in the 1600 and see a freaking Apple Store or whatever, or an amusement park, you get the point. You’d probably see plenty of wild animals though.
i really gotta start playing more of these AA type games. I keep not being interested (or being disappointed) but the more hyped AAA stuff, and end up circling back to the same group of games. there's so much out there though thats worth play just for fun. Some of the best games I played were from going to the store, looking at the back of the case, reading the 2 sentence description and the 3 pictures and buying based on that. Maybe its time to get back to that a little bit. stop looking so deep into games and just have fun again. Maybe it's time to circle back to GamePass.
Having just completed it, I totally agree - excellent concept and ideas, but boy, it sure does drag in places. I reckon the entire first half of the game, from the opening/ tutorial section up until the island, could have been cut and nothing would have been lost. In fact, I think it'd make it a more focused experience.
This is what happen when you play the game for the sake of reviewing it. That gameplay is fine if you take your time and upgrade the skill tree. You can play as Red, Switch to Antea for investigation purpose also in combat, you have a gun, combo later using Antea different combo. and still not enough for you man... Just play the game normally and take time. Don't just rush it so you can put a review up here...
I do quite fancy this. Sometimes I've found some double A or mid scored games more enjoyable than big triple a games. Hellblade and Greedfall spring to mind so this could be up my straza.
Love that this is an original IP with great ideas. But the loot stuff seemed unnecessary from the moment it was revealed. Hope they stick with this world, and follow-up with a tighter sequel.
My thoughts are that it's quite impressive how a game like Hellblade 2 is getting so much press because of the graphics and the cinematics, while still having the same looking meh combat system from the first one and most likely not much else. Probably some very rudimentary puzzles, again, like the first one. While a game like this, with way more interactive and interesting gameplay elements are simply ignored cuz "GRAPHICS!!!! are not AAAAAAAA!!!" or whatever. "Why can't we have good original games?" Well, because you ignore them most of the time and the rest of the time you don't even know the games exist because the gaming press is not payed to care to let you know about them. Vampyr was a savagely underrated gem, so of course I will support this for sure. Also, for some reason, it does reminds me a bit of the Witcher 2 and Greedfall. I really don't know why. Anyways, thanks for the video.
The way Jake pronounces "Duarte" should be a crime against human rights. With that said, I am having such a great time with Banishers. I loved Vampyr a TON (and pretty much everything else this studio has done, just haven't played Remember Me yet) and this is just such a high leap in scale and quality. I love seeing a studio "grow" like this. I'm 60h in and still got sh*t to do, but its "well-designed sh*t", it's not just run of the mill huge open world "go there do that" sh*t. REALLY really loving what they did here with this metroidvania-ish, God of War 2018 inspired design, alongside their own narrative and social elements present in Vampyr.
Do you guys think getting a free copy of the game or an early preview is considered sponsored or not? I think it does, but a lot of my friends seem to disagree lol
No, not unless they also paid for the review. But it's a slight grey area, people are often more positive than they would usually be when they receive early access, Because they want to get more early access in the future.
I have to agree with the review, im currently into the 2nd act of the game, nearing the end, if i can stop doing side quests... but yes. The combat is a little shallow, enemies are repetitive, i find myself wondering why we arent fighting any humans as well, you do some sidequests that tell us that ghosts arent the only enemies around. The loot system isnt super useful or deep but you can make multiple different builds. There's ALOT of walking...ALOT. You often go back to trails youve traversed during side quests. But the story, character work, the Meat of the game is amazing and alot of fun. I just wished the filler stuff was a little more rewarding.
I am a big fan of Don’t Nod, specifically because they have such a variety of games that they offer. Makes a story lover and combat enjoyer like me happy all around!
