This is kind of cheating on my part because I did play Ghost Line: Tokyo When it releases in 2022; I actually played it a lot and actually put it on my officially committed, pulse-pounding GOTY list last year. But nonetheless, for me personally this is as much a game of 2023 as it is a game of 2022, so I can’t do a fair summary of my year of gaming without it.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is a huge beast. It was this game that led me to the conclusion that everyone, no matter how much they dislike massive open worlds in general, deep down likes at least one Ubisoft-like Overwhelming map, and Ghostwire is mine . There were dozens of little markers on that map and I had to have them all! I didn’t want to miss a single cool ghost, or friendly ghost, or whatever the haunted streets of Shibuya chose to throw at me today.
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There’s an undeniable sense of guilt here, because a year ago I placed Ghostwire: Tokyo at only second place on my GOTY list, and my continued fascination with it in 2023 proves it It really should always be ranked number one. . At the time, the decision between Ghostwire and another game was a tough one, and I was probably being a bit strategic when I declared the latter my favorite of the year. To be fair, it has a solid proposition, but to be honest, it hasn’t stuck with me as long as I expected it to in 2023; I certainly haven’t been tempted to replay it yet. And that same year, I enthusiastically poured dozens of hours into trying 100% Ghostwire: Tokyo, even with everything else around me to distract me.
So, yeah, from a personal standpoint, it’s kind of like scheduling. But there’s another reason why Ghostwire: Tokyo truly deserves recognition in 2023, and that’s because Xbox Series X/S players actually got their first taste of the game this spring. Ghostwire launches on PC and PlayStation 5 in 2022, but the latter has a year of console exclusivity; and, even though I don’t own a current-gen Xbox, it’s still pretty impressive to me that it’s showing up on the system. People are excited.
When Ghostwire comes to Xbox, the Spider-Wire update rolling out on all systems is my most anticipated DLC release of the year (I can feel Phantom Free’s side-eye when I say that, but it’s true! )—but it didn’t live up to it. If Tango had launched as a paid add-on, I would have spent a few more hours purging the spirits that plague the middle school and its environs, but — perhaps due to those fun licensing shenanigans that led PlayStation to briefly host them — they may be the last Bethesda Exclusive – They gave it away for free. If you’re a Game Pass subscriber, the benefits are even greater, as Ghostwire has been included in the service since Xbox launched.
It’s clear that Ghostwire: Tokyo has barely gone unnoticed by gamers this year: the game celebrated 6 million players back in September, no doubt achieved with the help of Game Pass. But it had an odd trajectory for a game that came out after Elden Ring, yet it received middling reviews and a love for it that seemed to have quietly built up in the background, with few paying attention to it. If my experience is anything to go by, Ghostwire: Tokyo is a game worth your time to really grow into.
What games did you finally get around to playing in 2023, only to find that they were one of the highlights of your year? Let us know in the comments!
