how long is banishers ghosts of new eden

How Long is Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden? A Journey Through Narrative and Playtime

For players embarking on the haunting adventure of *Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden*, the question of length is more than a simple metric of hours. Developed by DON'T NOD, the studio renowned for narrative depth in titles like *Life is Strange*, this action-RPG weaves a complex tale of love, loss, and spectral justice. The answer to "how long" is intrinsically tied to the type of experience one seeks. A straightforward pursuit of the main story offers a substantial narrative journey, while a completionist's path reveals a world rich with side stories, moral quandaries, and hidden lore, significantly extending the playtime.

Table of Contents

1. The Core Narrative: A Focused Haunting
2. The Path of the Completionist: Unearthing Every Secret
3. Factors Influencing Your Playtime
4. Length in Context: Quality Over Quantity

The Core Narrative: A Focused Haunting

For players driven primarily by the central plot of Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith, the game presents a focused and emotionally charged experience. A playthrough dedicated to the main story missions typically spans between 20 to 25 hours. This timeframe allows for a thorough engagement with the game's core mechanics—the strategic combat blending Red's physical weaponry with Antea's spectral powers, the investigation of hauntings, and the pivotal choices that define the narrative's direction. This pace ensures the story unfolds with appropriate weight, giving space for character development and the atmospheric exploration of the cursed settlements and wilds of New Eden. Players will encounter key specters and settlers, engage in critical boss fights, and ultimately reach one of the game's several endings based on their accumulated choices regarding the spirits they judge and the fate of Antea. This 20-25 hour journey is a complete and satisfying tale in itself, offering a dense narrative without unnecessary padding.

The Path of the Completionist: Unearthing Every Secret

*Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden* truly expands for those who wish to leave no stone unturned and no ghost unjudged. A completionist playthrough, aiming for 100% of collectibles, activities, and side quests, can easily demand 35 to 45 hours. The world is meticulously crafted with optional content that is far from filler. Side cases, often multi-stage hauntings with their own tragic stories, provide deep world-building and moral complexity. Scouring the landscape for all artifacts, documents, and memories of the settlers adds layers to the history of New Eden's downfall. Furthermore, the game's central mechanic—the "Banisher's Oath"—encourages replayability within a single run. Each haunting case presents a choice: to blame, banish, or ascend a spirit, or to sacrifice the living. These choices not only affect the ending but also tie into character progression. Experimenting with different approaches to minor cases or seeking out every upgrade for both characters naturally extends the playtime. The completionist path is for the player who views the length as an opportunity to immerse fully in the role of a Banisher, engaging with every consequence the land has to offer.

Factors Influencing Your Playtime

Several key elements directly impact how long one spends in New Eden. The most significant is player engagement with the narrative's choice system. Carefully reading documents, listening to all dialogue, and pondering the ethical ramifications of each judgment will slow the pace considerably compared to rushing through text and making swift decisions. Exploration style is another major factor. The game world, while not an open world in the traditional sense, features large, interconnected regions ripe for backtracking with new abilities. A player who meticulously checks every path and cliffside will spend far more time than one who follows objective markers directly. Difficulty setting also plays a role. Higher difficulties may require more cautious combat approaches, repeated attempts at challenging encounters, and greater attention to gear and skill upgrades, all adding to the total clock. Finally, individual proficiency with the game's parry-and-dodge combat system will affect how quickly one progresses through enemy encounters and boss fights.

Length in Context: Quality Over Quantity

Ultimately, the length of *Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden* is a reflection of its design philosophy. It is not an endless open-world game but a curated, narrative-driven experience where every hour is intended to carry meaning. The 20-45 hour range indicates a title with a robust main story supported by substantial, meaningful optional content. This structure respects the player's time by avoiding bloat, ensuring that even side activities feel integral to the themes of grief, responsibility, and closure. The playtime is directly proportional to the depth of engagement with the game's core themes: how thoroughly one investigates, how carefully one judges, and how deeply one connects with the stories of the dead and the living. In this sense, the question of "how long" is best answered by the player themselves. The game provides a framework that can accommodate a focused, cinematic experience or a protracted, thorough excavation of its somber world, with both paths offering a cohesive and impactful journey. The true measure of its length is found not just in hours logged, but in the emotional and moral resonance of the choices made along the way.

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