Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, what we know about Dontnod’s Dark Action RPG

We’ve known that for a long time dontnodDespite its gigantic proportions, it’s a particularly busy team on several fronts, but the announcement of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden came almost as a complete surprise during The Game Awards 2022, and it’s something worth exploring with some new details emerging in these hours.

There isn’t much out there yet, to tell the truth, but a scheduled 2023 release date suggests that the works may be well underway and the game could represent a major product for Dontnod and Focus Home Entertainment in the coming months, so more information will be arriving soon. We also know that the team intends to release 8 new games between 2023 and 2025, so it is reasonable to expect a somewhat tight pace in terms of releases, although this is likely to have an important space in Dontnod’s offer, along with various projects.

Meanwhile, we saw the first teaser at The Game Awards 2022, which already makes us understand how production stands at great levels and how there are also some features now typical of the French team in their third-person action RPG. . The interest in the narrative part is already evident from this first look, as well as the ability to create an interesting world capable of recognizing the player, with dramatic tones and a detachment of the supernatural to shake up the conventions of one reality for others that seem alike. Our.

Here, then, is what we know The Outcasts: Ghosts of New Eden, a dark RPG from Dontnod.

Dramatic story

there Date of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is about a pair of ghost hunters and lovers, whose routine is turned upside down by a dramatic event. Set in a place called New Eden, in the year 1695, the game tells adventures Ante Duarte and Reid McRaith, who are sworn to protect the human world from the constant threat of ghosts and undead who tend to invade the life dimension of this strange world. However, their brilliant career, intertwined with the love story that binds the pair, encounters a tragic obstacle: grievously injured during a fight, Ante has in fact become what she swore to defeat and hate forever. This creates a contrast between the actions of the two, who continue to cooperate to carry out their ghost-hunting work, and the case of the woman, who continues to deny her ghost condition, with the couple continuing to fulfill the impossible dream of being together.

The drama typical of a Dontnod novel, built around the intractable conflicts in which the main characters find themselves caught up in, is also found in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and also becomes an integral part of the game’s structure, since it is based on the use of the special powers Antea obtained in her condition The new ghost. Both characters find themselves very torn apart conflictsOn the one hand is Ante who seeks to escape from the spirits’ dimension by fighting against his fellow men and on the other hand is Red, who continues to hunt ghosts while realizing the fact that his love is on the other side of the fence. In such a situation, the choices players will be able to make to determine the course of history carry more weight, which would have a significant moral burden and would have important consequences, as reported by Dontnod.

Action adventure or RPG game?

A little bit of mystery is a definition Play of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, of which very little is seen in the trailer, is in all respects a video with a cinematic cut that aims above all to set up the story and make us immerse ourselves in the special atmosphere of the game. Only in the final seconds of the trailer can we see what appears to be a short clip of the actual game, clearly set according to the canons of third-person action with the view behind the hero. The short shows Red as the main character, while Antea in her “spiritual” form precedes him and takes part in the investigation, until they both decide to attack the enemies. At this point, we can imagine the action taking place through different fighting styles, with Red relying on the use of physical weapons and Antea possibly being able to use powers drawn from her own condition.

Although it appears in the video that the control is set exclusively to Red, Dontnod has already communicated very clearly that it will be possible Use both letters, thus exploiting extremely different skills and attack possibilities. Shortly before the clash, it’s seen in the trailer that Antea is lowering herself to notice some clues and to understand the nature of the creature they have to contend with, which could foreshadow small investigative adventure elements, in the style of The Witcher.

There too progression system Which could contain references to the RPG realm, since we’re talking about unlocking new equipment and skills for both, so we can probably expect the usual role-playing baits like skill trees and the like. Co-op multiplayer hasn’t been reported, so for now we can only assume that the two heroes can be used in turns, or by setting the entire campaign to one or the other, but we’re looking forward to more clarifications in that regard.

Outlook – Perspectives

Among the many projects presented by Focus Home during the Game Awards, which also include Space Marine 2 and Atomic Heart, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden occupies a special place, being a new intellectual property with interesting characteristics, but the presence of dontnod to make it especially awaited. The French team has shown in the past that they know how to work on very diverse themes and with different game structures, which can find a good combination in this new third-person adventure with RPG elements.