While Ghostwire: Tokyo is coming to Xbox this week, it also brings a meaty free expansion in the form of The Spider’s Thread. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but this update brings a lot of improvements to the game that feels like what the original game should have been. So much has been tweaked, and so much has been added to an already dense experience to the point where I’ve engaged with and been addicted to the game in a much greater way than I was with the initial release. And that’s before I even start talking about the titular new mode that’s been included too.
For those who played the game before, a lot has been added to the world now. For one, the three new enemy types are all wildly different. One is invisible and throws objects at you. Another is a serpentine human who dives in and out of the pavement like water. Similar to Taylor Swift on her latest Eras tour. The highlight, for me, is the Sanguine Dancer. With a strange assortment of legs and arms hanging out of a twisted red piece of fabric, the deadly enemy floats gracefully through the air but throws all kinds of projectiles at Akito from afar before spinning into a deadly charge attack at close range. They’re all great additions to the game’s robust roster of enemies and only heighten the variety.
A few new locations are also added, and a few new mission types. Once again, they add more variety to the game’s open world without feeling like needless bloat. The star of the update is easily the new location that’s been woven into the game – an abandoned school. It brings more horror-tinged elements to Ghostwire: Tokyo, more in line with what you’d expect from The Evil Within. I enjoyed them, though they’re by no means game-changers. More amusingly, if you’re scared of this type of thing, you can enable an option to swap the scary elements with graffiti of puppies. Amazing and ingenious.
The combat has similarly been tweaked too. Akito can now dodge in any direction with the tap of a button. Perfectly blocking attacks now allows following up with a devastating shockwave attack. Akito can even do a hefty ground pound when jumping from Tokyo’s dense concrete jungle rooftops. These options give Akito a bit more options during combat, especially when swarmed by multiple enemy types.
The new additions to the combat also come in the form of new attacks called Elemental Rush. These alternate firing modes for Akito’s three spells can inflict elemental debuffs on enemies. The water power can now freeze enemies in a small radius, increasing the damage they receive after. The fire power can now inflict burning on enemies in a pseudo-flamethrower type of attack, inflicting constant damage, explosive damage and the potential to spread that fire damage to other enemies. They’re, once again, nicer additions that give more depth to the combat and give Akito more options in combat.
This dovetails rather beautifully with the titular mode that’s been included with the update. The Spider’s Thread is a 30-level gauntlet randomly generated from over a hundred designed levels. Each level of the thread will have a primary objective and optional objectives that reward you with extra experience. Objectives are varied – some are platforming-based, some are arena-based or a mix of both. The goal is to reach the end of the thirty levels, and dying sends you back to the beginning, but you can keep all unlocked skills and buffs you’ve purchased on your runs.
This is a simple rogue-lite mode that we’re used to seeing implemented in games, but it is addictive. The Spider’s Thread feels like the perfect addition to the game, especially in light of the overall combat improvements. I’ve put over six hours into it already, and there’s no sign of me slowing down – it is pretty tough, but my willingness to keep coming back makes me think The Spider’s Thread is an exceptional inclusion.
Some other improvements have less of an impact. For one, some expanded cutscenes shed more light on the characters and story. While I appreciate the effort here, the story is still aggressively fine – though that was never my favourite aspect of the game. A few new talismans are also included – one creates high jump points while another creates portable ammo pools. They’re nice additions, but I barely used them this time around since Akito had excellent mobility already.
The Spider’s Thread update won’t dramatically change your opinion of Ghostwire: Tokyo, but it sure makes the game worth revisiting. It’s still got all of those little niggles I didn’t like about the original game – but the added depth to the combat and the totally addictive Spider’s Thread rogue-like mode makes it well worth your time. The fact that it’s free, too, is just icing on the cake.
Ghostwire: Tokyo launches on April 12th 2023 for Xbox Series X|S. The Spider’s Thread Update also launches on the same day, for PlayStation 5 and PC.
