*Note: Some spoilers for the game are in the review.
The concept for Banishers was interesting to me, two people known as banishers who solve hauntings and banish ghosts while helping the living. The banishers are like exorcists, but a little cooler. I noticed that it's done by the same studio who worked on Vampyr another game I quite enjoyed. I did appreciate that the game had warnings about flashing lights in the game as well as a trigger warning for interactions with racism and misogyny for the time period. The accessibility settings are decent. There are options to adjust the size of the subtitle fonts, there is an aim assist option, and remap the controls for game controller and PC mouse and keyboard settings. You can adjust the game's difficulty settings as well. I tend to enjoy games like this more on story mode so that is what I chose.
Banishers is set in 1695 in a fictional Puritan town called New Eden. Banishers and lovers Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith arrive in New Eden after being invited via letter by their friend Charles Davenport asking for help with a very strong malevolent spirit that has basically cursed the town. Unfortunately by the time Antea and Red have arrived Charles has already died from a heart attack after trying to face the spirit alone. This is where Antea and Red's journey really begins and gives you an easy to follow tutorial on the combat and banisher abilities like doing a ritual to see echoes of a past event. I liked the combat and the explanation of different ghosts like Specters and Bonewalkers. I also instantly liked Antea and Red. There is a noticeable calmness between the two that shows a complete trust and love of each other and it's done in a beautifully subtle way such as Antea gently teasing Red about some minor mistakes he made when he first trained as a banisher.
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| Antea and Red arrive in New Eden. |
Antea and Red meet with Charles' widow Esther to try and figure how and why the spirit came to be. They figure out pretty quickly that the spirit is an entity known as a Nightmare, a ghost whose death was unjust and wronged. Red is still relatively new to his banisher powers and Antea warns him that a Nightmare is nothing like he's faced and they can be very tricky. Talking to some of the villagers like the governor Fairefax Haskell shows just how arrogant and ignorant many of them are especially in the way they speak to Antea as a Black woman during this particular time period. Red always steps up for her and makes it very clear that Antea is in charge, not him. It's always surprising how quickly people adjust their behavior when Red does this and I was amused every time Antea gave him a knowing smile as if they're both in on the joke about how foolish people can be.
Their first night in New Eden, things go horribly wrong. Red forgets Antea's warning about the Nightmare, waking up with Antea not there and hearing her calling for help. Red rushes to the place where the Nightmare first appeared thinking Antea is in trouble not realizing it's a trick. The Nightmare appears and is absolutely terrifying nearly killing Red, but Antea shows up and confronts it which causes the Nightmare to kill Antea and throw Red out a window to the cliffs below. It's gut wrenching that moment knowing it's part of the story and nothing can be done. Red wakes up in a cave with a mysterious woman watching over him known as Seeker. She explains to Red that a witch named Siridean had told her to find Red and help him in dealing with the curse. Seeker tells Red what he must do in order to solve the curse and lift it. Shortly after Red runs into the ghost of Antea and Antea explains that her body is her ghost tie and they need to recover it. This is where you make the first big decision in the game that can affect the ending. Red and Antea can either resurrect Antea which means very dark magic that would sacrifice human lives or they can perform a ritual of ascension which would send Antea peacefully to her afterlife. I personally chose the ascension path.
The town of New Eden is locked down due to the curse and the majority of the villagers have left for other smaller villages in the area. Red and Antea have to solve the issues in these areas because there are a series of smaller malicious curses influenced by the Nightmare and several decisions that some of the more influential villagers have made. The combat introduces a new setup with Red and Antea being able to work together with Antea's ghost powers. For example, if a path is blocked by a boulder you can switch to Antea and she can use her ghost powers to blast the boulder apart. Red has to talk to the villagers and Antea gives him advice on how to navigate the conversations and clues to look for.
There are plenty of side quests in the form of haunting cases that Red and Antea can work together to solve. For the big main story side quests, you get some insights into how the curse happened in the first place and it does not paint many of the villagers in a good light. The designs for the various ghosts and supernatural creatures is really well done and fighting them requires different tactics. I love that you can switch between Red and Antea easily depending on what skills are needed and there's a really good ebb and flow to the combat because of this. There are puzzles too that rely on both their skills to solve and I was glad the puzzles aren't overly complicated so you can solve them without too much frustration.
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| Red and Antea face a supernatural creature. |
The user interface menu is easy to follow with upgrading Red and Antea's equipment and their skills which can be done at a campfire rest area. This is also how you fast travel throughout the game via the various rest area spots that are unlocked. I do wish we could fast travel anywhere on the map, but I do appreciate that there is fast travel because that made things a lot easier for completing the many side quests. When Red and Antea solve a haunting case they have choices to make; ascension which gently sends the ghost to their afterlife, banishment which is harsher for more violent ghost and sends them to the void, or blaming the living which kills them and absorbs their power. Blaming is considered the "evil" choice because that is part of the sacrificing multiple lives to bring Antea back.
I found it interesting that the hauntings aren't simple. There were definitely aspects of certain hauntings where it was morally grey and neither party was correct or noticing that for some of the people of New Eden they weren't necessarily good people and let their ignorance and fear overtake them causing pain to others. In fact there are some that make it very easy to want to choose the blame option because of their rotten behavior. It shows how well done the writing is as you struggle with making those decisions in some scenarios. There are also moments of reflection between Red and Antea about their relationship, how they'll deal with the Nightmare, and accepting that they will have to say goodbye to each other. Ultimately, throughout the game there is this theme of accepting death and loss not just for the two banishers, but for the people of New Eden who are haunted or struggling with their own grief. Red and Antea are able to help and while a few villagers at first aren't ready to face it, some do find peace in acceptance. I liked exploring everywhere and while New Eden is very haunted, the backdrop is beautiful with lots of lush forests and snowy mountain vistas.
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| Red and Antea admiring the view. |
There are some technical issues with the game that aren't a big deal, but they're noticeable. After a couple hours the game has issues with stuttering and the only way to address it is to close the game and reboot it. Sometimes the camera angles go a little haywire and it's hard to see enemies and I would have to turn or reset it. Other than those issues, I enjoyed Banishers a lot. Revealing the truth behind the Nightmare was really something because it made me care about the person they were before and I realized how heartbreaking it really was for them to have nearly the entire town blame them for something that was not their fault. It was eye opening to realize that among New Eden there were only ten people who were not complete jerks and the rest were selfish, arrogant, and willfully ignorant. The voice acting for all of this is incredible especially for Red and Antea when they realize how awful some of the people of New Eden really are and Red being able to call them on it with Antea at his side encouraging him is great.
When the time came to say goodbye, I was not okay. I had come to love Red and Antea and enjoyed my adventure with them. Red kept his oath to Antea and the scene is heartbreaking and beautiful and I cried so much watching it play out. It was perfectly done and it was a lovely tender moment between the two as they accepted their parting even though it was sad. The ending summary did a good job explaining what happened to Red and the people of New Eden after everything was done. I appreciated the journey and absolutely adore Red and Antea. With all the side quests and the main story I finished the game in about fifty hours. For completionists it can be a little longer with about sixty hours. I enjoyed Banishers immensely for the great storytelling, the fun combat, and for incredible characters like Red and Antea. I'm glad I got to experience this adventure with them.
*Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is available on the following platforms: Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, and Steam
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