I’m going to let you in on a little secret that may make me seem self centered.  I enjoy playing games but I hate losing.  For most of my life most people would describe me as a geek, so while this made P.E. so much fun I always felt like it was my fate to lose a few hundred times here.  However, where I rarely met my match was at games that took place in more intimate settings: like across tabletops or boards.

Nobody likes to lose in the bedroom, and for me the same holds true for the parlor.  And if you’re like me it’s unlikely you’ll let a lot of time elapse before a rematch in the event of a loss.  Then again maybe you’re the type who is okay with changing the rules so you always win.  Or perhaps their own mistakes will doom them, allowing you to hold the moment over their head for all eternity.    

That type of behavior can’t hope to sustain a lasting relationship but thankfully even though my attitude was leading me to a future of playing with myself, this was around the same time that video games were making their way into bedrooms.  Finally, I had found an equal, even a mate.  Part competition, part cooperation;  one that would challenge me at every turn, yet never wanted to see me lose.   

This year, on Valentine’s Day Eve, video game developer Don’t Nod along with its fellow Parisian partner in publishing Focus Entertainment are set to release a tale of two lovers whose vows will be put to the ultimate test.  Amidst the backdrop of North America, in the early days of European settlers, comes a story that echoes the ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice.  However, in addition to the matrimonial bonds of those lovers, Antea and Red share a mission that asks them to love others as one of them has already been loved.  In Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, players will be tasked with deciding – is it better to have loved and lost.  Put another way, what does it benefit a man to save the world and lose his soulmate?  

This is No Ordinary Love 

During Banishers, players will get the opportunity to explore the lands and investigate the mysterious, malevolent occurrences taking place in New Eden, as husband and wife: though it seems Red is the primary protagonist.  This is because after the pair’s last mission, a banishing that takes place prior to the games story, an injured Antea succumbs to the wounds she received in that encounter and dies.  Now, Red must decide which love is greater?  According to Don’t Nod, diverging roads will be at the heart of the game’s narrative, and ultimately lead players to the end one.   

Longing for lost love, or even being led by your heart, doesn’t bode well for Red according to his backstory.  Before meeting Antea, it seems Red was a mercenary, albeit a remorseful one.  This may not be simply due to a change of heart over the years, but also because he was being hounded by the lives he cut short.  It would take Antea’s talents to purchase a pardon for Red from those who felt he had hell to pay.  This gives the impression that by the time players meet Red, this settler torn from his home and in new territory, may be once again on the verge of losing himself.  Obviously at one point Red was willing and able to take on the role that put him in service to others, although profiting from it does somewhat sully the sentiment.  But, at some point clearly the cost began to outweigh the value, or perhaps Red merely began to want better from himself – even to the point of letting love find and save him.  

Meanwhile, Antea’s life seems to be the opposite, even antithesis to how Red has chosen to embrace life.  While her actual genealogy hasn’t been revealed, Antea is obviously not of European descent like Red.  And while the story takes place in North America and thereby may give the impression that the banishings that Red and Antea perform are of a shamanistic nature similar to the indigenous peoples of this country, I really do feel Antea’s appearance has a more Caribbean tone, this includes her skin, outfit and even her dialect when she speaks.   

The way players get to experience each of these lovers also speaks to a major difference between the two.  Although players won’t get much time to know Antea when she resides among the living, in her current state her spirit is still strong – even if her flesh became weak. 

This allows the player to interact with Antea in two dynamically different ways.  When you are playing as Red, Antea is available to assist in combat with Red calling upon her for aid at times similar to Atreyu from God of War or a MK1 Kameo.  Meanwhile, her new connection with the spirit realm lets her see and point out to Red key objects or areas of interest.  Add that to her ability to navigate a world invisible to Red, and even teleport herself and Red to unreachable locations once a skill is unlocked, Antea is a spiritual successor to strong supporting ladies like Midna and Alika.  

However, Don’t Nod must know that dead doesn’t mean gone and Banishers doesn’t leave Atena in Red’s shadow. The game utilizes what I think looks like a near seamless switching mechanism that gives players control of either Red or Antea at any moment during combat. Unlike her husband Antea’s weapons are not carnal, instead they appear noncorporeal similar to Freya from Forspoken. With her newfound abilities Antea can close the distance between her and her adversaries, before unleashing spectral bolts or dealing out shattering waves of concussive blasts.

Meanwhile, Red who is still bound by mortal coils must stick to more traditional – for those times – weapons of warfare. His melee combat consists of a century accurate sabre which he uses in conjunction with a banisher weapon known as a firebane. Although it gives the impression of being a simple torch it seems to burn with a crimson ember that is only capable of harming those who the Curse on New Eden has corrupted. While Red will use these two items in close combat, he also carries a rifle – no doubt a nod to his past as a mercenary – that gives him the option of striking at his target from afar.

There is a beauty in the union of these two, even if some people don’t know a loving couple when they see one.  Though they are an interracial couple, the difference in complexions isn’t only skin deep as Antea by profession is a healer while Red is a hurter; with a soul darker than his mate.  So while he may no longer be the completely brutal man he was before becoming a banisher, how much of the old him is dead and gone?  

Nothing, If I Don’t Have You

More importantly, how will the death of Antea – not to mention her current condition – affect his (or the player’s) decision making ability.  It is this particular aspect of the game above any other that really caught my eye.  While I’m not entirely certain what it was like to be one before the game begins, once the story in Ghosts of New Eden starts Red is no longer simply a banisher, he looks to be acting as a detective. 

My reason for noting this may seem foolish considering there is something mysterious plaguing New Eden, and Red is now the only one capable – and corporeal – who can handle it.  However, looks are deceiving, and what I notice when I look at this portion of Banisher’s gameplay is Red undertaking certain tasks throughout the game, each complex and some even convoluted that contain clues to the much larger Curse occurring in New Eden.    

Though the various, dispersed areas in Banishers are collectively called New Eden now, the land it sits upon goes by another name – one as old as time itself.  And the in-game story of New Eden suggests it may already belong to someone, but apparently it doesn’t mind sharing.  In fact, from the way it seems, if the settlers really want to be a part of this land so badly they can, because that would mean they become a part of its Curse too.  This is presented in the game as a sort of vile spirit that inhabits the land and exploits the ill-advised and immoral inclinations that already existed within the hearts of the men (and women) who are settling New Eden.       

Everyone loves it when three’s company, but when it becomes a crowd it can go bad really quickly.  And in Banishers, I believe this is when players will begin to notice a strain between the lovers, and some within themselves.  Because Banishers introduces another “B” word that has never helped any struggling relationship – Blame.  

But according to the song, isn’t that a portion of what the book of love contains.  Though the facts and figures you find in New Eden won’t always determine the course that Red charts.  Instead, the player will have to determine what Red does or doesn’t do, now not only to the deceased but to the living as well.  

It seems despite her death Antea’s inability to move beyond the land of the living is tangled in the fate of those affected by the Curse.  Now, she finds herself cursed to roam this world and exist as the very thing she despised, hunted and banished.  The unique bond between the two creates a connection where Red gains the power to “heal” Antea, temporarily making her whole and returning her to human form.  And to the man who misses her touch.  As anyone with half a heart can imagine this has to create a great deal of internal conflict for her and Red due to the cost of performing this act.  Don’t Nod believes the consequences will make a decisive difference in how each player deals with these encounters.  Antea and Red’s love tale feels like it took a liking to portions of Marvels Wanda and Stephen. I wonder if it will be Red considering the lives of others in exchange for his lover’s sake or Antea’s efforts attempting to hold onto an illusion.  Honestly, as with any He Said, She Said it could be either of them asking their love to make an ultimate – or unforgivable – sacrifice.  

Never Knew Love Like This Before 

The setting for Banishers is the vast, wild and still developing towns of New Eden.  Taking place in the year 1695, images of the game’s landscapes including mountain ranges and forests, along with the scattered settlements full of the people that have chosen to make New Eden their own do justice in marrying the game’s fictional setting with what we know was taking place in North America during that time.  Even though from the game footage I’ve seen, particularly the long, deserted paths between towns, I do kinda feel like I’m back at Hogwarts.  This gives Banishers a rather gothic feel, which I think is romantic no matter the continent.

The fear of being or feeling alone, isolated and in the dark; unaware of what is going on and yet sensing the spectre there is something there.  This other entity, both a part of and potential threat to your existence, has you at its mercy while others can’t relate because they aren’t going through it; they don’t see it.  With a game set in the period during which Banishers takes place this can translate into a simple tale of what is lurking in the woods for you as you walk home at night.  Or a story of the secrets that lurk in the homes of the townsfolk who Red and Atena encounter and are charged with aiding as Banishers.  

As players progress through the game, moving from one hamlet to the next in this open world RPG, they will soon discover the wickedness of this world isn’t confined to simply the deceased or wraths you come across in the woods.  While the demonic appearance of these enemies remind me of the things we hear about stories elders used as warnings to keep them safe – or keep them in their beds – I feel this is an example of where there is smoke; something simmering, but check the source.  Much like Dante, I believe Red will realize during his search to save Antea that the “demons” are sometimes closer to home; and the inhabitants.  Eventually, like I previously mentioned, there will come a point where Red will notice an inconsistency in the accounts and artifacts he has gathered during a ghost hunt.  And despite his other vows, matrimonial and mortal, due to Antea’s dilemma he will break with a part of his morality.  

Whatever belief system the Banishers prescribe to it clearly acknowledges the power of the spirit; the cost of one soul.  There’s no doubt in my mind that Don’t Nod would want to take at least some time during a cut-scene to show Antea’s redemption of Red.  Acknowledging, much like players will witness with each investigation, that Red was responsible for the haunting he was experiencing and that she condemned an innocent.  Maybe that’s what my heart wants to believe, because the ritual of reuniting with Antea – if even for a few moments – requires a life.  This may seem harsh but I’m looking and that is clearly stated in the Banisher rule book – Life to the Living: Death to the Dead.  It’s too late to change them up now; you can’t get out of this game.  

In order to clear each “case”, Red will have to judge, and he may not adhere to wisdom like Solomon, more like the songs pulling at the strings of his heart.  Red can act in the interests of the people he has promised to protect, taking the option to Banish the spirit he was searching for, an act I assume sends that soul straight to hell.  However, as in Inferno, after his own past I assume Red is also striving to be a better man with faith the same holds true for the lost soul he has been charged with confronting.  At these moments he can offer the damned a chance to Ascend.  While this option may also contribute to the players ability to unlock skills for Red and Antea, if the player reads from the book of the dead then Red will do something that makes him look like “that guy” he used to be.  With the results of him placing the BLAME on the townsperson and reaping their soul to sustain Antea for seconds.  

But one has to wonder what will it benefit Red, or better yet cost him, and with Don’t Nod borrowing a few pages from Fable, in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden players can expect to have to live with the consequences of their actions with villagers taking note of where your heart is in your work.  Surrounded by a harsh, wilderness terrain that is about to enter its harshest seasons, the coldest thing may need to be your heart.  Ghosts of New Eden has everything else covered, with chests and quests that will give players a chance to upgrade the couple’s weapons, abilities and attire. These may be all Red has to give him any comfort, depending on the company the player chooses for him to keep. 

Considering we are approaching the closing, If this was a fable it would be where I suggest they all go on to live happily ever after.  However, I doubt once the true nature of the Curse that threatens New Eden is discovered there will be anyone happy.  As for who is alive and who is in the ever after, that is a question only Red can answer, and answer for one day.  

How much BLAME will Red exact, whether warranted or not, in order to keep Antea by his side? 

In Banishers you’ll find out what you won’t do for love…when they’re all you need to survive.