Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok overshadowed most of the releases last year to the point that even the excellent ones didn’t get much attention. Case in point, Ghostwire: Tokyo, which initially launched exclusively on the PlayStation 5 before heading over to the Xbox and Xbox Game Pass as one of Microsoft’s latest first-party titles. Tango Gameworks’ first foray into the non-survival-horror genre takes players into a creepy take on Japan’s foremost city, Tokyo, treating audiences to a folklore-rich adventure.
Several months after setting a new sales record, Ghostwire: Tokyo, which isn’t a survival horror game (we aren’t being, in any way, sarcastic here – it’s not as scary as the studio’s previous outings), is free to download and play on the PC until November 2 – if you have an Amazon Prime Subscription.
If you’d like to play the latest and last game made by Shinji Mikami, one of the brains behind the original Resident Evil and Devil May Cry games, before resigning from Tango Gameworks, this is your chance.
Make no mistake, Ghostwire: Tokyo isn’t perfect, but with a Metacritic score of “82” on the Xbox Series S/X and “75” on the PlayStation 5, it’s one of the better games out there. The addition of the free update earlier this year makes a return trip to the haunted and eerily empty streets of the titular city makes it all the more worth it as well.
Ghostwire: Tokyo eschews guns and typical combat with hand-based magic, which should remind you of Immortals of Aveum but only executed better. If nothing else, Tango Gameworks’ latest non-free title is a welcome respite from the massive open world titles that have likely sucked up most of your time this year, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, and even Cyberpunk 2077. Just like its namesake, it’s a dense title that makes the most out of every square inch where your goal is to “free” the people of Tokyo, who have been turned into spirits by a malignant fog.
Between its supernatural vibe and ghastly ambiance, Ghostwire: Tokyo is the type of non-commital game that you’ll be able to pick up because you want something that will keep you on your toes but not necessarily keep you up at night.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is free as long as you have an active Amazon Prime subscription, which you absolutely should have. With the holiday season nearly in full throttle, you’ll want to get the best deals possible. But, a free AAA game isn’t the only offer on the table to entice many introverted gamers into spending $15 a month or $140 a year for what’s basically a godsent subscription for them – it comes with free shipping on Amazon and access to Prime Video as well as Amazon Music. Amazon occassionally throws in free games as well as bonus in-game content for free-to-play titles like Fall Guys, Apex Legends, League of Legends, and Valorant.
Considering that Ghostwire: Tokyo normally sells for $60 (it’s free on the Game Pass, by the way), it’s worth subscribing for at least a month if you want something to keep yourself busy for the weekend.
Speaking of quick weekend adventures, Ubisoft recently released Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which shouldn’t take you longer than your entire Friday and Saturday afternoon to finish. Unfortunately, it’s not reviewing well on Metacritic as it’s more or less emblematic of the problem that has plagued the franchise for a while. But, if that’s not up your alley, or you’re more of a PlayStation fan, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will swing by on PlayStation 5 consoles on October 20 and is expected to be a relatively short game as well.
