Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

In 1695, spirit hunters Red mac Raith and Antea Duarte travel to New Eden to lift a curse. When Antea returns as a ghost, their hunt becomes a conflict between their Banisher oath and the desire to stay together. Investigating hauntings, fighting spirits and judging the living shape their journey.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is set in 1695 in a settlement and surrounding wilderness in North America. Red mac Raith and Antea Duarte are Banishers, a couple of spirit hunters whose oath is to protect the living from ghosts and specters. They have come to New Eden to help lift a curse, but a disastrous mission leaves Antea fatally wounded and returning as a spirit herself. The pair must continue dealing with the threat around the settlement while confronting what her new condition means for them. Their shared task and relationship give the story two connected stakes: the fate of a community under a supernatural threat, and the question of how far Red will go when the person he loves is caught between life and death.

Red and Antea bring different histories and abilities to that journey. Red was once a mercenary, and the ghosts of people he killed helped lead him toward the Banisher’s path; Antea, an experienced hunter, taught him to understand spirits and specters. After her death, she remains beside him in a form that complicates the work she once shared with him. The player can switch between the two characters, making their differences part of movement and combat rather than treating Antea only as a companion in dialogue. Red relies on physical equipment, while Antea can use spectral abilities. Their cooperation keeps the game’s action tied to the central relationship and to the oath that they followed as a pair.

Combat asks the player to combine Red’s weapons with Antea’s powers against ghosts, specters and other supernatural enemies. Red can use a sword, rifle and Firebane, while Antea’s spectral attacks can inflict damage suited to the threats they face. She can also unveil what is hidden, unleash large attacks and teleport, adding ways to reposition and change the pace of a fight. Switching between the characters lets the player link these approaches: a physical strike can give way to a supernatural ability, or Antea’s powers can be used to create an opening for Red. The arsenal expands as the pair progress, so combat develops through both the equipment they find and the abilities available to each character.

Outside battles, the pair investigate haunting cases involving people who are still alive and spirits unable to move on. A ghost’s presence can be tied to past choices, mistakes or a tragic fate, and the task is to uncover what happened behind the haunting rather than simply attack the spirit. Red and Antea meet residents whose stories intersect with the dead, then follow evidence and conversation to understand how the two sides are connected. These cases give the player a recurring role as investigator and judge: understanding the history of a haunting informs what should happen to its spirit and to the person still living with its consequences. The cases sit within New Eden’s wider curse, so personal histories contribute to the larger story of the region.

When a haunting is resolved, the available judgments carry distinct moral weight. Ascending a spirit grants it serenity and releases it from sorrow; banishing it condemns it to continued torment; blaming a living person holds that person responsible at the cost of their life. The player decides which response fits what has been uncovered, and those choices affect the people involved and the wider fate of New Eden. The same conflict reaches the couple’s central dilemma: whether Red should honor the Banisher oath and let Antea go, or sacrifice living people in pursuit of bringing her back. That tension gives individual cases a connection to the larger journey without making their answers identical. The game leaves the player responsible for weighing what each person has done against what each outcome will cost.

New Eden is explored as a connected wilderness and set of settlements, where travelling between places and returning to earlier areas can reveal different opportunities. Antea can teleport across gaps, break spectral or physical obstacles and perceive things Red cannot see. Her abilities can therefore expose passages, secrets and treasures that were inaccessible or hidden during an earlier visit. Exploration feeds into the other systems: finding equipment and valuable resources prepares the pair for future fights, while uncovering secrets adds context to the region’s histories. The landscape is not only a route between story scenes; its obstacles and discoveries ask the player to use the characters’ distinct capabilities and to pay attention to changes that follow decisions made during the journey.

Progression comes from exploring as well as resolving the immediate threat. Ancient artifacts, trinkets and other resources can be collected to enhance equipment, and players can find new gear and choose armor as they prepare for later encounters. Antea also has skill trees where her spectral powers can be upgraded and new combinations unlocked; those abilities shape the ways her attacks can work alongside Red’s physical arsenal. Improving the pair does not remove the haunting cases or settle the moral choices for them. It gives the player more options for the next supernatural fight and for moving through the wilds. The combination of investigation, character switching, traversal abilities and gear upgrades makes the journey alternate between understanding the people of New Eden and preparing to face the forces surrounding them.