180: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (with Erik - Pages of Play)
Dave is joined by Erik (Pages of Play) to discuss Don't Nod's 2024 action RPG, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (aphid.fireside.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson
Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (Don't Nod, 2023) represents a different type of game that Don't Nod has been making alongside their popular choice-based narrative games like Life is Strange and Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. With 2018's Vampyr, Don't Nod took a swing a narrative, decisions-matter action RPG, and while I liked Vampyr a lot, the decisions-matter part of it left a lot to be desired. Five years later, they took another swing at that type of game with Banishers, and really righted that specific area. Decisions matter in Banishers in a way they don't matter in most games, and it led to one of the most effective stories I've played in a while.
Guest info: Erik (he/him)
- Listen to Pages of Play podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pages-of-play/id1755937349
- Check out Erik's written work on So Many Games https://somanygames.co.uk/
TIMESTAMPS
- 0:00 Title Card
- 0:32 Intros
- 5:03 Histories with Don't Nod and Banishers
- 8:29 Opening Thoughts
- 16:22 Story/World Setup and Characters
- 28:43 Inciting Plot Event and Choice/Morality System
- 37:51 Tough Choices
- 48:02 Presentation and Side Quest Writing
- 59:00 Combat
- 1:13:37 World Design and Vibes
- 1:22:50 Boss Fights
- 1:27:20 Recommendations
- 1:30:20 Pages of Play Podcast
- 1:36:38 SPOILER WALL and Patron Thank-Yous
- 1:38:06 Spoiler Section- Side Stories Tying Into the Main Story
- 2:17:10 Spoiler Section- The Nightmare
- 2:32:08 Spoiler Section- Endings
Music used in the episode is credited to Trevor Morris. Tracks used: Main Menu, The Harrows, Intimate Moment- Harmony
Social Media:
BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/
Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures