Ghostwire: Tokyo is a psychedelic hodgepodge of mystical martial arts

techradar.com:

Ghostwire: Tokyo is pressing a lot of buttons. Mixing martial arts with magic, adding a touch of surrealist imagery, underlying that with elements of supernatural horror, and packing the whole thing in a semi-open-world narrative adventure, the PS5 console exclusive isn’t messing around when it comes to carving out a space for itself. It’s a hodgepodge of concepts that’s as tantalizing for its combination as for its promise.

Set in the titular city, Ghostwire: Tokyo pits reluctant hero Akito against an invasion force of demonic spirits. These 'Visitors' have taken up residence in the metropolis after its population vanishes overnight. Of course, they're up to no good, and must be stopped by tracking down and defeating the mastermind of their possessive operation: Hannya, the mask-wearing villain who's adorned most of the game's promo images.

All the while there are loved ones to rescue, potential allies to rally by your side, and city districts to liberate from the encroaching darkness. Oh, and Akito is possessed by a spirit himself – a friendly one, though, and a former ‘ghosthunter’ that was pursuing Hannya before kicking the bucket. In the half-hour hands-off demo I watched last week, that all played out as a surrealist semi-linear adventure, which got close to an immersive sim at times.

The segment I previewed comes early in the game. Protagonist Akito stumbles through Tokyo’s abandoned streets encountering its new demonic denizens for the first time while making friends with the spirit living inside his head. These early portions are largely linear, with the player regularly coming across groups of evil Visitors to send back into the void or jumbles of debris to scale in short first-person platforming segments. Some