Bethesda and Tango Gameworks' Ghostwire Tokyo is the upcoming first-person adventure game with horror leanings. Though none of the promotional material specifically says as much, in Ghostwire Tokyo, Japanese horror takes the center stage.

As we had discussed not long ago, Ghostwire Tokyo aims to present us with a different kind of apocalypse. One that bears its teeth not in global catastrophes and viral pandemics, and one where the downfall of humanity isn't necessarily brought about by our hubris. Though, that one's still on the table, we think.

Instead, Tango Gameworks - headed by Shinji Mikami himself, of Resident Evil fame - wish to explore a supernatural disaster that has roots in traditional Japanese folklore. Given the studio's previous output, and the nature of the game, an inkling of horror is to be expected. These are the people who made Evil Within, remember.

Is Ghostwire Tokyo a Horror Game?

For the most part, this isn't one of those will-they, won't-they situations where the outcome is undecided until the very end. For the most part, Ghostwire Tokyo technically isn't a horror game. Featuring a first-person perspective, Ghostwire is instead an action-adventure game with a robust spellcasting system.

However, the thing to remember is that even the likes of Fallout and Elder Scrolls can be plenty scary when push comes to shove. Further still, Tango Gameworks practically built itself out making horror titles, with the company's leadership having previously influenced some of the greatest horror games of all time.

Keeping all of that in mind, and considering the nature of Ghostwire itself, it's really hard to imagine that the game wouldn't be terrifying when the devs want it to be. Almost all of the game's promotional materials prominently feature monstrosities drawn from Japanese folklore, and the developers themselves have said that the main antagonists are effectively a modernized version of the Yōkai.

Exciting stuff, we think. But, let's take a small step back before getting into details!

What is Japanese Horror All About?

The presence of horror elements in modern media is hardly novel. Elements of fright and suspense are, one could argue, built into the core of most video games on the market. Even bog-standard RPGs usually feature a spooky dungeon or two, for example. On top of that, even the most empowering and brutal FPS games get scary at times.

Japanese horror, however, is different than what most gamers will have gotten familiar with. Featuring ghastly and inexplicable events that are often beyond comprehension, it's similar to the modern development of New Weird in a roundabout way.

When it comes to folklore specifically, the most important historical rendition of Japanese horror will be kaidan. Ghost stories, for the lack of a better term. Kaidan can be traced back to the Edo and Meiji periods of Japanese history. Slowly, these strange tales evolved and bifurcated into dedicated forms of theatre: Kabuki and Noh.

Both Kabuki and Noh featured demons, vengeful spirits, life after death, and other related subject matter. The difference between the two was mostly that of social meaning, while the topics remained similar.

It was Kabuki, in fact, that greatly affected early Japanese horror cinema. Most horror fans will know of The Ring (Ringu) and its legendary depiction of Sadako Yamamura. Well, much of Ringu's iconic looks, atmosphere, and narrative progression were all inspired by the historical progression of Kabuki.

How to transplant this specific horror niche into gaming?

To circle back to Ghostwire Tokyo, we're not saying that you should expect The Ring in a playable format. We are, however, saying that the game will deal with the esoteric in a way we don't often see in video games. The key defining feature of Ghostwire will, from what we can tell, be its modernization of traditional Japanese horror tropes.

Eagle-eyed fans of the game have already noticed that Ghostwire's enemies have an eerie resemblance to many modern Internet memes. Urban legends given un-life? An interaction between modern and ancient? Some sort of novel techno-magical apocalypse? These all seem very likely if you think about it.

Looking back, none of this would be new for Tango Gameworks. The Evil Within, you see, prominently featured horrific interactions between the mind and technology. To be sure, the series never really drew on actual real-world urban legends, but there certainly was a sense of groundedness to the story.

Given what we know about Ghostwire Tokyo so far, it feels like an obvious evolution of the developers' existing preferences. A modernization of the classic Japanese folklore combined with Internet memes. If that's not a hell of a premise, we don't know what is.

What we know about Ghostwire Tokyo's Japanese horror elements so far

As you can probably imagine, details are slim on Ghostwire Tokyo's central narrative developments. Setting aside the fact that story will be a huge draw for players that may be on the fence, there's bound to be a reason for the game being as shrouded in mystery as it now is.

At the time of writing, we know that the so-called Visitors have mounted an invasion on Tokyo. With most of the city's citizens gone, and with the Yōkai-looking gang of warlocks mucking about, it's up to the surviving protagonist - Akito - to take matters into his own two hands. It comes in handy that Akito can suddenly cast spells himself. These, in turn, are used to whittle down the Visitors' health and expose their magical cores. Once that's done, Akito can pull off badass finishing moves to destroy a Visitor for good.

With that in mind, Ghostwire Tokyo is not going to be a survival horror game. The focus falls squarely on detective work, adventuring, exploration, and combat. Horror elements are plainly present, for sure, but they shouldn't be the main draw. We can't help but make another comparison to Remedy Entertainment's Control, as Ghostwire seems to be going for a similar balance between horror and action.

Closing Thoughts

There's an air of mystery to Ghostwire Tokyo. Presumably coming out sometime this year, the game is still a major unknown for the mainstream gaming audience. Certainly, there's a sense of mystery and adventure to it, but we're hoping to see more practical gameplay footage in the coming weeks and months.

While we know that it's a new kind of spellcasting FPS, we're still unsure how the rest of the game will function. Featuring a combination of karate and magic as the main system of interaction with the world and the enemies, Ghostwire Tokyo is one of the most interesting new AAA releases of 2022. The sheer potential of this project is off the charts, and if Tango Gameworks' previous work is anything to go by, we're in for a treat.

More than anything else, though, we can't wait to explore the world of Ghostwire Tokyo and Japanese horror. Open-world or not, this new version of modern Tokyo enmeshed with traditional Japanese lore seems like just the thing we need in 2022.

Stay tuned! More news about Ghostwire Tokyo is bound to be dropping shortly. We'll do our best to stay on top of it - right here at 2Game.