Overall: 8/10

Story:

Genuinely one of the best narrative experiences I've played so far in 2024. Don't Nod are notorious for making very high quality AA games, and Banishers is definitely a prime example of this. From the beginning of the game I was captivated by the story, ghost hunting side quests/activities, and the general setting/world design of 1695 New England. The voice acting is also especially impressive and passionate, not only between the two main characters, Antea and Red, but also the settlers you talk to within the world.

Visuals:

Despite being an AA game, the graphics and visuals are extremely cinematic. This is most prevalent in the main story, but even the side cases have some visually stunning moments that had me pleasantly surprised.
The various designs of the different gear were also very welcomed. It felt bracing to find a new outfit or sword that had a different look than your current selection, but was just as stunning to look at and came with a new buff.

Music/Sound Design:

The music in Banishers is stellar. Throughout the main story, the music choice was perfectly emotional and seamless at setting the tone of the scenes. there was never a point that I questioned the music's quality, rather I often found myself admiring the composition of each track, from the combat, all the way to general tracks that play depending on the region you're in.
The sound design is no exception either. All of it from the sound of Red running across gravel, to doors creaking when being opened, to the sound of Antea's manifestation explosion all sound perfectly selected. I have no complaints!

Gameplay:

In my opinion the gameplay, however, is where the game has more noticeable shortcomings. Combat felt stiff for the first few hours of playing as Red. As I unlocked more skills and got more of a feel for the game, the combat smoothed out, but still felt like it was lacking some fluidity. This felt exceptionally true with Antea's combat throughout the entire game. Even as I mastered parrying, dodging, and perfect switches, I still felt like the pacing was off with Antea's combat sometimes. All this to say that by the end of the game, I did however find the combat to be more refined than the combat in Vampyr.
The puzzles also felt like more of a hassle than anything. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of puzzles in third person action role-playing games in the first place, but some of the puzzles, like the roots, felt unnecessarily convoluted for where they were located and what specifically they were blocking.

World:

While I will admit I'm a big fan of the world design, I definitely got tired of running everywhere. If you are someone who likes doing all side activities, getting all the gear, obtaining all collectibles, etc. then be prepared to run. A LOT. You are only able to fast travel from one of the predesignated campfires/safe houses to another, of which there are only 30 throughout the entire game. This led to some moments where the closest fast travel point to a specific side activity objective could be as far as 400m ONE WAY. This specific feature was mildly annoying at best, and immensely draining at worst, during longer gaming sessions when you're just trying to run to an objective that is 350 meters away from your closest safe house, and will potentially have to fight through two different groups of specters standing around in the woods to get there.

All in All:

Everything considered, I feel that I got my money's worth out of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and have to say I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who is into the "God of War (2018)" genre of games, open world RPG's, or is just looking for their next amazing single player experience!

A shining example of what a AA game should be. The story and atmosphere are great, each quest and character is unique. Which really surprised me. Every character has their own story, and some of the dramatic moments are truly heart-wrenching. Take, for example, the side quest where we have to help a soldier who accidentally shot his best friend in the heat of battle and is now consumed by guilt. Overall, it's a very mature drama that raises important and sometimes existential questions. But the game is magnificent not only in terms of its story but also as a complete work of art. The graphics and music are beyond praise. What's especially surprising is that, despite being built on Unreal Engine 5, the game not only looks fantastic but also runs flawlessly. There are absolutely no complaints about the performance. And as far as I can recall, this is the first game on this engine that runs so impeccably. Because everything else released on Unreal Engine 5 so far has performed terribly. For example, the recent "Nobody Wants to Die" doesn't even achieve 60fps at native resolution on a 4090, despite its graphics not being outstanding.

Of course, if you're looking for flaws, you can find them in Banishers. The somewhat uninteresting bosses are a bit disappointing, as they act too predictably in many, though not all, cases. In addition, some story missions feel drawn out and disrupt the pacing. The rather limited bestiary is also a letdown. There are simply too few enemy types for a game of this length.

Nevertheless, it's an excellent game with a mature storyline, serious themes, and dramatic choices that force you to constantly check in with your own conscience. It's a unique game about banishing not ghosts, but your own inner demons.

TL;DR: Banishers is an absolute disaster in every aspect. Do not recommend buying even with a generous discount.

The map is a pseudo-open GoW-like world with a lot of grind. Oh boy, grinding in this game provides more joy than the actual story/side quest completion.

There are no decisions which "carry dramatic consequences". There is a lack of choices instead. Existing banish/spare decisions have zero consequences except for the last cut-scene. And there are no other types of choices, even in side quests. You wander through a static world with a static scripted story with only an illusion of choice.

Moreover, there are no "dramatic consequences" at all. All the decisions (i.e. those are only banishing or sparing) affect the final cut scene and nothing more. The individuals you banish or spare trigger no events even in the village they were/are living in, not speaking of the overall game world. That said, no one in this game gives a single solid reaction if a good half of a village is banished or stopped being haunted. Any changes in the world are strictly scripted and bound to the storyline triggers.

Again, Banishers pretends to be a story-driven RPG despite explicitly mocking the player when a "bad" or "incorrect" choice is made in the scope of "social justice" problems. There are no depictions of the actual consequences but only boo-hoo dialogues when everyone tells Red how bad he is because of acting wrong. This is a perfect example of a game where DEI made the characters, story progression, and quests way beyond miserable.

Banishers runs on Unreal 5. It is a disgrace to ship such visuals with Unreal 5.

It's not a story-driven action RPG. It's not even an RPG at all.

[PT/BR]

Uma grata surpresa no mercado de games da atualidade.

Um jogo subestimado pela crítica que (pra variar) não chegou a ver todo o conteúdo e o carinho dos developers com o jogo.

O jogo possui bons gráficos e traz um combate competente (uma cópia de God of War), que se colocado na dificuldade mais alta, apresenta um desafio muito bom com uma fluidez ótima.

Mas o combate nesse jogo está LONGE de ser o fator mais importante. A construção da história, o universo construído, a relação dos dois personagens e a qualidade das dublagens é algo muito acima da média. Cada quest (até as secundárias) possui uma narrativa trabalhada (dilemas morais, diálogos interessantes e reações humanizadas) e a sua escolha trará consequencias para os NPCS do jogo e para o relacionamento dos protagonistas.

Enfim, com um mercado de jogos apodrecido pela FORTINITEZAÇÃO descerebrada, é um MUST PLAY para os velhos de guerra que ainda se preocupam em ler e curtir um bom conteúdo.

[US/EN]

A pleasant surprise in today's games industry.

A game underestimated by critics who (once more) didn't fully appreciate the content and the care that the developers put into the game.

The game has good graphics and features competent combat (a copy of God of War), which, if set to the highest difficulty, presents a very good challenge with great fluidity.

But the combat in this game is FAR from being the most important factor. The construction of the story, the universe created, the relationship between the two characters and the quality of the voice acting is far above average. Each quest (even the secondary ones) has an elaborate narrative (moral dilemmas, interesting dialogues and humanized reactions) and your choice will have consequences for the game's NPCS and the protagonists' relationship.

In short, with a games market rotten by mindless FORTINITE clones, it's a MUST PLAY for old veterans who still care about reading and enjoying good content.

This game has a tremendous story line, and great side-stories. If that's what you're looking for in a game, this is it. It also has interesting combat, particular in its "arenas" of sorts, where quirky rules apply (for example, you do more damage the less health you have).

Saying that, however, be aware that this is a Don't Nod game, so expect 21st century issues to crop up in 17th century America, particularly LGBTQ+ characters that simply would not have existed in that era, since the consequences of discovery would have been a capital offense.

Make sure, by the way, that you buff up ranged combat, since many boss fights, particularly the last one, are very difficult via melee.

Also, make sure you do all these "arenas" such as nests, elites and even scourges, since they significantly add buffs to your attributes. I initially avoided doing them, so a couple of the initial bosses were harder than they needed to be.

By the way, take your time and upgrade your character and your equipment before advancing the main quest line. I found the first boss after leaving the initial town to be too challenging, since I rushed into it.

Great Game. Great story line, Great battle interface with a bunch of combat skill options.

One of the most enjoyable games for me this year

Just finished my first playthrough with ascent and oh boy do i love Red .
Game is like Vampyr just more action packed , still plenty of talking though .
Absence of new game plus is major failure since i really wanted to use some other sets (played as sharpshooter since gun is freaking amazing ) , so i kinda had rather weak manifestations .
Love how they captured puritan era and mystery of the land .
So far i had only fast travel bug crashing my game sometimes.
Really dont miss on gem like this one , good interesting games are so hard to find these days

God Of Banishers

Игра приятно удивила. Приятные главные герои и интересный сюжет, что основная сюжетная линия, что второстепенные расследования.