Games from Don’t Nod (formerly Dontnod Entertainment) can be divided into two groups. The first group focuses on the plot and doesn’t try to offer gameplay that’s more complicated than “get from point A to point B by solving a couple of puzzles.”

The second group tries to combine an interesting story with good gameplay… but the studio always ends up with uneven results. Both Remember Me and Vampyr, the studio’s two “big” games, had good storylines and offered a lot of cool ideas, but they were marred by a huge number of flaws.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is the studio’s third attempt to combine narrative and gameplay without breaking anything. The experiment is definitely a good one, but it still suffers from a number of problems. Unfortunately, these problems prevent us from recommending Don’t Nod’s new creation to everyone and their dog.

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Ghostbusters, but 300 years ago

As with the studio’s previous two “big” games, Banishers draws you in from the very first seconds thanks to its unusual setting. The year is 1695. The small American town of New Eden, founded by British colonists, has been struck by a curse so powerful that the local priest cannot cope with it. The matter is considered serious, and banished warriors are called in to help fight the supernatural.

The Banishers in the Banishers universe are something like ghost hunters from the film series of the same name. They fight the undead, help ghosts leave this world for good, and stand guard over the living. In fact, you’ll be playing as a couple of these specialists.

Red MacRae and Antea Duarte arrive in New Eden not just because they are evil hunters, but at the request of an old friend. Of course, the trip couldn’t end well: upon arrival, their friend is found dead, and the evil forces that rule the city are not very happy about the arrival of uninvited guests. Therefore, after a brief meeting and exchange of pleasantries, Red flies off into the ocean, and his partner and beloved dies at the hands of a nightmarish ghost. In short, the couple’s trip did not go well at all.

Some time later, Red miraculously survives and comes to his senses, realizing that he has lost everything: control of the situation, his friend, his beloved, and even the meaning of life. However, the latter will soon be found.

Execute, no mercy

As in the studio’s previous works, Banishers has plenty of NPC interactions and dialogue. This is perhaps the most successful part of the game: Don’t Nod has managed to create quite intriguing, three-dimensional characters with believable backstories (adjusted for the fantasy nature of the story, of course).

The cases involving ghosts that Redu has to investigate are one of the main local mechanics, sort of like miniature detective investigations.

Listen to one side, nod, look for evidence, stumble upon evidence from the other side (usually dead and ghostly), piece together the whole picture in your head, and then pass judgment. Well, it sounds pompous, but in reality, the hero simply says, “You’re lingering in this world, and that needs to be fixed,” and then fixes it. How exactly is up to the player.

Almost all tasks of this kind offer several solutions. You can banish a pesky ghost so that it can think carefully about its actions in the underworld. Or, on the contrary, you can let it ascend if you think it was treated unfairly. Finally, you are free to condemn the human client if any unpleasant facts come to light during the investigation. And believe me, they will — in Banishers, everyone has something to hide.

And, again, this will affect the ending in terms of game mechanics. Red, who decides to send Antaeus to heaven at the end of the case, can choose whatever he wants. But if he decides to resurrect the girl, he will have to punish literally everyone he meets. There is no other way.

The fate of the characters, regions, and the ending as a whole truly depends on your actions. Resolving certain situations with ghosts can open up access to various side quests. Choices made at certain points in the storyline will lead to different consequences for the settlements where people huddle, fleeing the nightmare that surrounds them. Plus, the inhabitants themselves can become your victims if you suddenly decide to go down a bloody path and save Red’s beloved. Yes, we’re not talking about total genocide, but you will still wipe out a couple of dozen NPCs along the way.