Summary
- Stick to your choices in Banishers to unlock different endings, ranging from bittersweet to haunting consequences.
- Explore themes of love and loss as Red and Antea face moral dilemmas in a dark fantasy RPG experience.
- Don't fail your oath or face the consequences - see Red's fate change drastically based on player decisions.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is an action RPG title from Life is Strange developers Don’t Nod, which mixes the studios’ trademark storytelling with a sprawling dark fantasy epic. The title tells the story of Altea and Red, two Banishers sent to investigate a series of hauntings in the settlement of New Eden. However, their first encounter with New Eden’s malevolent Nightmare, sees the pair separated by death, after which the Banishers are forced to make a choice. This choice, right at the start, sets players on the path toward a particular conclusion. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden features a variety of endings, and some see less-disciplined players judged just as harshly as the titles' malevolent spirits.
Early in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden’s narrative, Red and Antea take an oath to either pursue Antea’s ascension, effectively separating the pair forever, or to sacrifice settlers for her resurrection. Throughout the title’s haunting cases, the pair explore the themes of love, loss, and relationships, before assigning judgment, by blaming and sacrificing the victim, banishing the ghost, or allowing the ghost to peacefully ascend. Banishers’ four endings are categorized by the path players choose at the start, and their ability to adhere to that choice. While both can be faithfully accomplished, the Ascend and Resurrection pathways feature additional endings, should players falter on the path.
Banishers’ Two Main Endings See Red Fulfill His Oath to Antea
If players adhere to their choice to ascend Antea, never sacrificing settlers to grant her strength, they will unlock the first of Banishers’ endings. In this ending, Red and Antea ultimately choose to recover her body and send her to the afterlife. While this is considered the best ending, it is among Banishers’ most devastating, as the pair are parted forever. Red is left broken by the loss of Antea but is able to move on with his life, knowing that he remained faithful to their duty and love until the end.
If players wish to unlock Banishers' second main ending, they must follow through on their oath to resurrect Antea. Doing so requires them to blame, and murder, many of New Eden's haunting victims, most of whom are completely innocent. Following the completion of their journey, Antea will be successfully resurrected, but forced to consume the essence of living beings for the rest of her days. The two continue on their murderous path, and Red is left traumatized by the things he has done, and will do, to keep Antea by his side.
Banishers’ Endings Change If Red Fails His Oath to Antea
Should players falter a few too many times on the path to ascension, they will unlock an entirely different ending for Banishers' Red. This conclusion occurs if players choose ascension, but blame, and sacrifice, too many settlers on the trek back to New Eden Town. In this ending, Red is again successful in granting Antea ascension. However, he is unable to move past the loss and lives haunted by the murders that he committed as part of relieving New Eden's hauntings.
Banishers' final ending is unlocked if players do the complete opposite of their initial oath, leading Red to fail in his attempt to either resurrect or ascend Antea. When this happens, Seeker, apprentice of the Swamp Witch Siridean, will step in to help. However, Deborah, New Eden's Nightmare, will revert back to her monstrous form. Facing this massive spiritual energy leads Seeker to rapidly age, at which point she is revealed to be Siridean at another point in time. Red will, himself, be sent back in time to the title's first chapter, forced to relive the entirety of Banishers: ghosts of New Eden. This cycle will seemingly continue until Red sticks to the couple's original oath.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 79%
- Released
- February 13, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- DON'T NOD
- Publisher(s)
- Focus Entertainment
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
