I remember when I was still in school accommodation, for a while in the dormitory, I loved to tell ghost stories after the lights went out. Some stories are superstitious legends in the countryside, some stories are unpredictable in people's hearts, and a few people who are afraid and want to hear always chat at night. But the role of storytelling is not everyone can do, in addition to the story to be fresh, the environment should be in place, it needs to tell the person to create a suspenseful and terrifying atmosphere during the narrative, the effect of the ghost story can be maximized, and the surrounding audience can be accurately stimulated in the appropriate bridge section.
The Tango game studio founded by Shinji Mikami is well versed in the "horror survival atmosphere", and after a breakthrough in the "Evil Spirit Possession" series, this time they turned their attention from Europe and the United States back to Japan. The new game "Ghost Line: Tokyo" is a first-person action-adventure game based on the background of urban gods and ghosts, but they are good at creating a horror survival atmosphere, they put this part in a more secondary position, focusing on the large map to bring players an adventure of voldemort in the modern city.
Shibuya, where mythical monsters and urban legends run rampant
Ghost Line: Tokyo takes place on the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, where the entire city is transformed into a ghost-infested world due to the invasion of some mysterious force. Supernatural phenomena appear everywhere, and human beings disappear one after another. In a car accident, XiaoRen is accidentally possessed by the soul detective KK at the moment of death and obtains supernatural powers, and the two work together to fight against the ghosts that run rampant in the world and confront the people wearing the masked man, uncovering the conspiracy step by step.
Like the title, "Ghost Line" and "Tokyo" are the biggest highlights of the game. The protagonist Xiaoren's main ability is to use gestures to seal and psychic spells to fight against unknown creatures on the streets of Shibuya. The gestures for casting spells are cool and easy to operate, combining action with shooting elements. A short press or a long press of R2 can unleash three different types of attack elements: wind, water, and fire. To use the familiar gun analogy, the wind is a fast pistol, the water is a wide range of powerful shotguns, and the fire is a more powerful howitzer. Pressing L1 is to use the earth element to defend in time, and the perfect defense can also avoid damage. As the story progresses, you can strengthen these attacks to gain more skills.
Although it is a gun analogy, ghost line: Tokyo does not have a very similar sense of combat from most shooters, and the attack elements wielded in the hand are mostly wide in a wide position, and do not need to press L2 auxiliary aim to achieve good results. However, the attack element is still a combination of limited resources + limited damage, and it is easy to run out of food for burying your head. The game also provides archery, stickers and other auxiliary means to expose the core faster, and after the core appears, casting a spell seal or directly destroying the core is a fatal blow to the ghost. Using the resources in your hand to attack to expose the core and end the monster is more fun than simply shooting. In the middle and late stages, when the ability is enhanced, the damage and efficiency are multiplied, and the stamping scene of several enemies at the same time is very rewarding.
The oppressive people in the battle are also the ghosts from urban legends, the faceless suit man, the headless boy, the rift girl, the rain boy, etc. are called the strangers who crossed over. There are attack types with different preferences in film and television works, and they are easily attracted by the corruption generated by the accumulation of negative emotions, scattered in the streets of Shibuya waiting for the protagonist to cast a net.
Whether you're a fan of supernatural theories or not, the way these monsters appear is also an absolute shock to your vision. Although horror is not the main core of this game, after all, it is mainly based on gods and ghosts, and the atmosphere is still very well shaped. Watching the street lights gradually turn to the red of the crisis, listening to the music gradually hoarse and distorted is the prelude to the appearance of ghosts and monsters. Even some of the scenes of classic horror films have been restored, and some tasks still follow the mysterious and transformed scene design of the "Evil Spirit Possession" series, and use abstract art design to bring the environment to life.
In addition to these aggressive monsters, traditional yokai such as Kappa, Tang Umbrella Monk, and so on exist as minor characters, and finding them or completing related branches can also obtain hook jade to unlock skills. The legends of these monsters can be seen in the menu as a supplement to the setting, and some of the allusions and proper noun production teams that appear in the dialogue have also left detailed explanations so that you can understand the knowledge of these gods and ghosts.
Delicately restored streets, weak main line design
In terms of the restoration of the streets and alleys, the environment of "Ghost Line: Tokyo" is more realistic than most games set in Tokyo. Players familiar with the geography and scenes of Tokyo can explore well in the game, and many landmark buildings, scenes, and streets are cleverly spliced together in the game, especially some scenes such as Tokyo Tower are added to the game by analogy scanning.
But in addition to restoration, the game will collect spirits everywhere as a driving force to push players to explore the scene. Except for some scenes required for the mission to enter the interior of the building to search, basically all the streets and alleys and roofs within sight can be explored after purifying the torii gate and clearing the fog. Keeping an eye out for various items along the way and collecting spirits to teleport and revive them is more fun than frequent battles, and it will also help you increase your experience points and increase your combat effectiveness.
In addition to increasing the player's desire to explore in these aspects, there are cats, dogs and dogs in the streets and alleys. Humans have disappeared without a trace because of the supernatural phenomenon, but the small animals are still in place. As Shinji Mikami said in the game promotion before, players can always pick up these cute little animals, and feeding dog food to dogs can also get monetary rewards or trigger small rewards such as branches. There are even many cats and cats that have accumulated spiritual power and grown into cats that can understand human language. They run a variety of shops, selling props and even commissioning rare items to help Xiaoren and KK on their journey to eliminate demons.
In the PS5 version of the game setup, Ghost Line Tokyo offers six graphics modes:
Quality mode: lock 30 frames, high-fidelity rendering, light chase
Performance mode: lock 60 frames, high frame rate rendering, no light tracking
HFR quality mode: 30~50 frames without locking frames, high-fidelity rendering
HFR performance mode: No lock frames exceed 60 frames, high frame rate rendering
HFR Quality Mode (Vsync): 30~50 frames without locking frames, high-fidelity rendering, vertical sync to prevent tearing
HFR Performance Mode (Vsync): No frame lock exceeds 60 frames, high frame rate rendering, vsynchron to prevent tearing
As a first-person game, I prefer to choose performance-related modes for a smooth combat experience. Based on the background of the story of this work, most of the scenes are on the streets at night, which has a lot of tests for light and shadow. However, "Ghost Line: Tokyo" can maintain a high picture effect on the streets of Shibuya, whether it is a priority quality or a priority performance, the lights of the city are mixed with the scenes of rain from time to time, and the light and shadow effects of the ground puddles and materials and glass are very good. Even in performance mode, when HDR is turned on, you can see the details of the picture in the dark very well.
However, the game part of the CG cutscene is not as good as the game machine to do much unexpectedly, some details will be a little blurry, affecting the overall performance effect.
It may be because the studio put a lot of thought into the vast map construction and ignored some of the plot design on the main line. The main story of Ghost Line: Tokyo does not have the same ups and downs as most "urban fantasies", and the narrative basically does not set up too much suspense, and may not even be as impressive as dozens of short branches. So instead, these rich side quests became a great pleasure for me to unlock the empty map area. The branches are filled with all kinds of small stories that allude to mythical monsters and urban legends, and the warmth, sadness and joy of the world are condensed in it. There are family stories of the sister of the boarding doll guarding her brother, the sad story of transplanting the eyes but always seeing the residual shadow, and even the hilarious funny stories of being stolen by the kappa, the regret of dying without paper on the toilet, and so on.
Probably limited by space or production, some of the plots that are more closely related to the main line are completed by the voice recorder and KK's investigation data, which details some of the related supernatural events handled by KK and his party before the game starts, and collecting these investigation data in various areas can also obtain skill points. It is highly recommended that players download the visual novel "Ghost Line: Tokyo Prequel" (support Chinese) in advance before starting the game, and the plot design and character image of the main line will be relatively clearer. But despite this, in addition to Xiao ren and KK, the shaping of these characters is still a bit thin, and many times the existence of supporting characters is simply for the promotion of the main line, which does not help the protagonist's personality and emotional display much.
summary
Ghost Line: Tokyo is one of the best action-adventure games created "based on the Tokyo background" in recent years, and the game has put a lot of effort into the map design to encourage players to explore deeply and hunt demons. It took me almost 30 hours from start to level, and it would have been longer if I had to complete all the side elements. Compared to the "unreasonable" side quests of some RGP games that are eager to help others along the way and fish and play cards, the design of this game's side quests is tied to the background of the game, which will make you want to actively complete.
At the same time, the resources in the map are quite abundant, and the combination of Spirit Vision and PS5's built-in action hints greatly reduces the difficulty of exploration. Even torii gates in each area can pay a "tip" to pay a prayer to get punctuation tips for collection information, and combat power can also get attribute bonuses by drawing lots.
In terms of game performance, Ghost Line: Tokyo's full optimization and setting options allow PS5 and PC players to maximize the charm of the game, except for some CG effects that are not satisfactory, the actual exploration of the map of each experience is very good. The DualSense grip for the PS5 features an adaptive trigger and a delicate blend of haptic feedback for a more immersive gaming experience. For PC players, Unreal Engine's Super Resolution Technology (TSR), Nvidia's Deep Learning Supersampling Technology (DLSS), and AMD's Super Resolution Sharp Painting Technology (FSR) are provided to enhance the visual effect.
For players who like modern urban glamorous rays and Japanese culture, Ghost Line: Tokyo is sure to be a feast for the rest of the world. Players attracted to Evil Spirit Possession and Shinji Mikami may need to calm their minds, this is a relatively relaxed exorcism city adventure, which does have a lot of familiar horror elements, but it is not the main point. I prefer to use the content of this game as an opportunity to step out of the country and revisit Japan, standing at the top of the 109 building overlooking the street, the heavy rain washing the whole city, jumping down and flying to the next place I want to go.