Welcome back! Periodically, I post helpful tips for horror games. Modern video games can be confusing, challenging, and overwhelming. I don’t want casual gamers and newcomers to flee from the gaming ecosystem because they’re not accustomed to the mechanics, design, and gameplay. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a good game with a unique storytelling system, but it has some flaws that might drive players away if they don’t have a few hints. The game takes place in the American colonies during the 17th century. You switch between two banishers who vanquish ghosts from haunting the living. Hence, the gameplay will focus on combat, summoning spells, exploring the environment, and interacting with other characters. If you’re interested in folk horror, Banishers might be a decent choice for you. Here is my survival guide to help you through the game.
Swap Characters Often This is an essential skill. You play as Red, a human banisher and apprentice. The second playable character is Antea, the lead banisher. Antea dies early in the game and she becomes a ghost. The story revolves around their journey to save New Eden and send Antea to the afterlife. Red uses weapons to fight enemies and Antea has supernatural powers. They have separate health bars and inflict different types of damage against enemies. You can quickly swap between both characters to take down mobs of specters. It’s important to learn this ability because a single character isn’t going to survive against larger hoards and more powerful enemies. I can tell it’s part of the game design. Talk to the Villagers Whenever Possible Don’t Nod and Focus Entertainment are infamous for their narrative stories. That means you’re going to spend a lot of time talking to the settlers. You don’t have to worry about getting bored because the story is very interesting and the supporting characters have a lot of secrets. Speaking to the villagers will also unlock many side quests, haunted cases, resources, and segments of the main story. That means you can’t avoid conversations. Like I said, it’s actually quite interesting. Prioritize Haunted Cases These cases might seem optional, but you need spirit points to increase Antea’s powers. The game will provide a large quantity of haunted cases and you can pick any number of them. They always involve a human who is being haunted by a ghost, which reveals character development and new story beats. You can take a break from the main story at any time and explore various haunted cases. Nearly all of these cases will include a combination of exploration, combat, puzzles, and dialogue. It’s a good way to explore the landscape, pick up resources, and learn more about the colonists. Let’s just say New Eden is being haunted by a vengeful, unstoppable force for a reason. You’ll find out more information by pursuing these cases. You Actions Have Consequences Main story missions, side quests, and haunted cases require you to eliminate the ghost or human at the end of each mission. You can blame the human and Antea will drain their life force, killing the person. This action is important for one of the oath options if you want Antea to come back to life at the end of the story. You can also banish the ghost, sending them violently to the afterlife, possibly to Hell. Another option is ascending the ghost. This action will send the ghost peacefully to the afterlife, perhaps absolving a pathway to Heaven. Banishing and ascending ghosts will contribute to a different oath. If you want to send Antea to the afterlife, banishing and ascending ghosts are the correct choices. When you kill or send any character away, the game will show major consequences, both positive and negative. Some characters will disappear from the game, you may unlock additional side missions, characters may become favorable or upset with you, prices might go up in a shop, etc. You’re going to see changes in the game that affect the story. Think carefully because your decisions are permanent. There’s No Stamina Gauge, So Take Advantage of It You can run, block, parry, and dodge with unlimited energy. That’s good news because you can save time by running through the environment, reaching your destination much more quickly. You can also block or parry enemy attacks throughout an entire fight. When in doubt, spam the dodge button when enemies attack. These tactics are a good idea to remember when you’re fighting enemies or traversing the environment. It will make the progression and combat more manageable and quite frankly, more entertaining. Upgrade Your Stats at Bonfires Bonfires are one of the most important elements in the game. You’ll find a number of bonfires in each village and through the environment. Bonfires are the only place where you can upgrade your character abilities, weapons, and equipment. The game becomes more challenging through the story, so you need to have stronger weapons, durable clothes, and more abilities during combat. You’ll gather skill points by completing missions and defeating specters, but you can’t upgrade anything until you reach a bonfire. What if you don’t like your current skill set? The game doesn’t penalize you for changing your skill tree, so experiment at your heart’s content. On the map, you’ll find various bonfires scattered through the environment. They start as a question mark on the map, but they become clearly visible when you get closer. Bonfires are also the only way to fast travel from one location to the next. Sometimes you have to cover long stretches of ground, which can feel tedious. Just hurry to the nearest bonfire and teleport to the next area. Keep an Eye on the Map I already mentioned question marks that appear on the map. When you get somewhat closer, these question marks become visible icons, such as treasure chests, enemy nests, bonfires, elite enemy encounters, breakable barriers, etc. Exploring the environment is the best way to gather resources, find new missions, and gain skill points. Your character will level up and have enough items for story progression without breaking a sweat. It’s also excellent practice against various enemies, so I guarantee your fighting skills will improve as well. Everything is on the map, including your main objectives, villages, and optional locations. The environment is surprisingly big, but it also has many barriers. So, you can use the map to navigate the best pathway to your destination. Don’t forget to use the map for bonfire locations because fast traveling is a great way to save time. Your Have Unlimited Inventory Space Thank goodness Banishers doesn’t have limitations on inventory space. You have the good fortune of picking up any weapon, resource, or quest item without worrying about inventory management. I highly recommend picking up every item along your journey. Useful items are strewn through the environment, both in the wild and villages. Items tend to glow when you come near them, so pick up visible items during every opportunity. You use many items for summing rituals, upgrading equipment, and progressing through the story, so this tactic is both practical and necessary. It’s also worth mentioning that you can snoop through people’s houses and shops without repercussions. You can literally steal anything in plain sight, including money and resources. Surprisingly, the merchants and homeowners won’t scold you for these actions. The game also encourages you to read everyone’s diaries, mail, ledgers, and personal letters. Apparently, it pays to be a thief and busybody. Follow the Yellow Brick Road Many video games implement a hint system to help players navigate through the environment. That’s good for people like me who don’t have the best sense of direction. In this case, items will have yellow paint or stains that will indicate if you can interact with them. You’ll find yellow spots on ledges for climbing, narrow paths for crossing, gaps you can jump across, tunnels you can crawl through, etc. I wish the traversal was better, but at least the game drops plenty of hints. Breakable items also have a shade of yellow. You can break boxes, barrels, and barriers to gather money, resources, and open entrances to new areas. Remember the color yellow or you’ll be completely lost and confused. Save Your Progress in Separate Slots I must say, Don’t Nod has a lot of performance issues and bugs in their games. Their previous adventure horror game, Vampyr, was unplayable because it had so many glitches and hard crashes. During my Banishers campaign, the game crashed a few times and I encountered a serious glitch that halted my progression. One of the haunted cases was supposed to prompt dialogue options between Red and an NPC, but the scene never triggered. I also was stuck because the game wouldn’t allow me to leave the area. Luckily, I had multiple save files. I returned to the previous manual save and avoided that particular mission. Don’t Nod probably needs an update for that quest. So, it’s a good idea to save your progress in many separate files. If you encounter a serious problem, you can always return to a prior chapter. You can save your progress at any point manually, so take advantage of it. Also, the game automatically saves your progress frequently, which is good if the game crashes for some reason. Stick to Your Oath Banishers expects you to choose an oath and stick with it. You’ll have one of the “Bad” endings if you don’t commit to your oath. You can pick one of two options. Red can help Antea ascend to the afterlife when they cleanse New Eden or he can help Antea become alive again by absorbing the souls of living people. The second option is a predatory path with many consequences, but it’s still better if you stick to whichever oath you choose. It’s very difficult to remain consistent because the story tempts you to stray. For example, you may feel compelled to sacrifice evil people, but that’s not a good idea if you want to ascend Antea. Likewise, you must murder innocent people if you want to bring Antea back to life. Sorry, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Pick the most desired path and remain consistent. Avoid Items from Merchants Technically, you can buy all kinds of useful items from merchants, including weapons, outfits, and other resources. However, items are quite expensive in the shops and I never found anything particularly rare or valuable. I never bought anything in the stores and it didn’t hinder my progression at all. You can easily gather resources through the environment, upgrade your equipment, and engage in summoning spells. I saw little or no difference between rare equipment and everything I owned from the beginning of the story. You can buy outfits or weapons for cosmetic reasons, but it won’t matter in terms of gameplay. Keep in mind, it’s always a good idea to visit merchants for dialogue choices, just like the other colonists. Some of the merchants will also give you side quests and haunted cases. Experiment with Difficulty Settings This game has five difficulty settings, which gives players a number of options. Based on my experience, it’s probably best to start on normal difficulty and adjust as the game progresses. You can freely change the difficulty at any time. If the game feels slow and simple, you can bump up the difficulty. On the flip side, you can lower the difficulty during challenging boss fights and large enemy hoards. You won’t have extra perks by choosing harder difficulties. In fact, I don’t recommend the highest difficulty setting at all. Most players will find it frustrating and the combat has too much grinding anyway. I’m also going to say something controversial. Most gamers aren’t good enough to play efficiently on the craziest difficulty level for any game. I’ve seen enough streamers and YouTube videos to know it’s true. Conquering Optional Enemies Will Give You Valuable Resources Spectral enemies might seem daunting, but they’re an important part of the game. After all, you’re a banisher to vanquishes ghosts and demonic entities for a living. You’re a seriously awesome fighter. Take the opportunity to conquer enemy nests and elite enemy encounters. They drop resources that are essential to upgrade your outfits and weapons. If you can’t upgrade your gear, later missions and enemies will feel overwhelming. Also, these optional encounters are another good way to practice combat. Some of your later encounters will feel trivial if you conquer many enemy nests and mini bosses beforehand. Beware the Point of No Return The third act of the game gives you a very important prompt on the screen. Basically, it’s a point of no return message. If you choose to proceed past a certain point, you can’t finish side missions, level up your character’s skills, gather more resources, or upgrade your equipment. It’s the endgame. Choose the “No” option if you’re not ready to play the final chapter. Banishers doesn’t have a time limit and you’re not going to win anything for being a speed runner. Take your time to finish anything that looks interesting or valuable on the map. That’s the end of my guide for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. It should give you plenty of tricks and ideas to maneuver through the game. I’m checking out other horror games this year, including the remake of Alone in the Dark. If I finish these games, I might post more survival guides. Keep watching for more content this year related to gaming, my writing progress, and any news that sparks my fancy. I know 2024 is becoming increasingly tense in the political space, so treat each other with respect and adapt to any changes we encounter. Everybody is allowed to have their own options, values, and belief system. On that note, take care and I’ll see you again next week.
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May 2019
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