Ghostwire Tokyo is a game that doesn't ask much of you. It's not exceedingly difficult, it doesn't always have the most unique gameplay experience, and it mostly guides you through where to go. It is also, however, one of the most gorgeously detailed cities in all of gaming.
The Tokyo of Ghostwire is meticulously crafted with a love for the city, but also the people within it. Ironic, given they've all disappeared. In a world like that, it's impossible not to capture the little aspects of life dotted across the city. So whip out your camera, play around with the filters, and craft some memories.
10 Retro 2
We tend to have an idea of what 'retro' means, though it does tend to shift with the generation, as anything retro would. In Ghostwire's case, the retro filters give a stronger chromatic aberration appearance, dialling up the saturation to feel like a fond memory.
Specifically, the Retro 2 filter has a warmer touch to it, making it feel like a calming thought. That is, of course, contrasted with the image above, which depicts a blurry spirit hunting you down. It feels paradoxical, a melancholic comfort of the familiar and surreal.
9 Pencil
An aspect of Ghostwire that stands out above every other aspect of the game is the art style. Yes, the city is hyper-realistic, yet is populated with the otherworldly, the impossible. What you see can't quite be real, yet it exists in a photo-real world.
Instead, you should take out your camera and apply the Pencil filter. This lends a sketchy look to all your images, making everything look like something not quite there, still a prototype. It doesn't strip away the discomfort of the world, but makes it all feel a little more 'there'.
8 Illustrated
Much of what builds the world of Ghostwire is the mash-up of the past and present. It takes tales of the past, of yokai and spirits, and blends them with contemporary culture. This creates a world that feels uniquely modern, taking creatures relegated to the past into a decidedly 'now' setting.
This is where the Illustrated filter shines. It renders the whole world like a comic book, something altogether modern when compared to beasts of folklore. The world becomes more flat colours, bright, and popping.
7 Thermographic
At the core of Tango Gameworks have always been horror games. Ghostwire shifts away from this, yet there is no shaking the horror very much used as its foundations. You have more power than many other horrors would provide, yet still gives the shivers of seeing these monsters just... existing.
We're all familiar with thermal vision. It highlights any little bit of heat to map out your surroundings, usually highlighting living lives. Yet what happens when the ghost dwelling within you has heat emanating from him? Maybe you should take that camera and see what else is hot around the city.
6 Night Vision
Ghostwire feels great to just exist in. Its Tokyo is beautiful, and though every human bar Akito has been removed, the spirits left within have made themselves at home. They'll tear you to shreds, sure, but for the night, Tokyo is their city.
With that in mind, you should take the streets, and slowly. Stride through alleys, skulk down streets, and wade through the highways of empty cars. The city is dark and covered in secrets, so Night Vision might be the best hope you have of finding your way around. Just be careful of what you might come across.
5 Red Moon
Crossing through Tokyo in the game, it's hard to ignore the intensity of the rain, of all the reflections in the myriad puddles. It makes the city feel alive with colour, yet almost impossible to distinguish anything. The city feels like a dream all flashing by at once.
So every now and then it's good to just stop and take out your camera. Apply the Red Moon filter and watch all the other colours wash away. Bathe in the singular bloody glow of the moon, of the crimson Sakura littered across the city. Let the red consume you in its entirety.
4 Monochrome 2
Sometimes, simple is best. Ghostwire doesn't overstretch in that regard. Though many of its systems and story are quite basic and unambitious, it knows where it wants to excel and succeeds. Tokyo is a dazzling city, one you can't help but absorb.
So go ahead and strip it back to just two colours, and you'll still see the beauty. Take away another layer, the very features of the world. Leave it as nothing just outlines, a geometric scene that appears otherworldly. With a camera, you can change the very world.
3 Cinematic 1
On the contemporary nature of Ghostwire, the game is flooded with collectables marking cultural events and historical media. Plenty of this comes in references to films, music, people, and other scary stories to tell in the dark. It's all to add another layer to the world.
The camera combined with the world offers so much power, you can go ahead and create your own stories. The Cinematic filter exists to do just that. Pose Akito however you want, in whatever you want, wherever you want. The whole city is your playground to make your own dashing cinematic masterpiece.
2 Watercolor
The glory of art is that there is so much of it. It's human creation put in motion, something a machine could never possibly process. In many ways, art is both expression and the means to make you want to express. Ghostwire is, thankfully, both of those things.
Plenty of things in the game will depict glorious works of art, yet the Watercolor filter lets you create some of your own. Any scene can be turned into a glorious painting, with your own framing turning a wet street into a rendered painting.
1 Cinema Projector
Ghostwire, despite not fully being a horror game in the traditional sense, very much owes its aesthetics and vibes to decades of horror media. From stylistic depictions to cultural references, horror films are one of Ghostwire's primary sources.
There are a great many otherworldly events throughout the game, but the Cinema Projector filter makes them altogether petrifying. The lens darkens, rippling film rolling over and over as scant figures dance across the viewfinder. It could be your very own documentary if you make it out alive. Otherwise, you'll just be another found footage film.