Ghostwire Tokyo: Controls Guide for PS4, PS5, and Tips for Beginners

After a lot of hype, Ghostwire: Tokyo is now available for PS4 and PS5 (and PC). It is a first-person horror game that pits you as the main character, Akito Izuki, in a Tokyo beset by a mysterious fog that causes people to vanish if touched by the fog, leaving their clothes where they were. He battles “Visitors,” or otherworldly spirits, as he seeks to save his sister, Mari, with a little help.

Read below for your full controls guide for Ghostwire: Tokyo. Gameplay tips will follow, which will be geared toward beginners.

Ghostwire: Tokyo PS4 & PS5 controls list

• Move: L
• Rotate Camera: R
• Jump: X
• Crouch and Stand: Circle (toggle)
• Switch Consumable: Triangle
• Use Consumable: Triangle (hold)
• Spectral Vision: Square (once unlocked)
• Sprint: L3
• Strike Attack (Melee): R3
• Attack: R2
• Charged Attack: R2 (hold)
• Aim Assist: L2 (hold)
• Guard: L1 (time for Perfect Block)
• Cycle Elements: R1
• Attack Wheel: R1 (hold)
• Quick Purge: L2 (when sneaking up on an enemy)
• Grab Core: L2 (hold when triggered)
• Absorb Distant Ether: L2 (hold)
• Toggle Flashlight: D-Pad Up
• Switch to Bow or Ethereal Attacks: D-Pad Down
• Switch Talisman: D-Pad Left
• Pause Menu: Options
• Game Menu: Touchpad

Note that the left and right analog sticks are denoted as L and R with pressing them as L3 and R3, respectively.

Tips for Beginners

The following gameplay tips are geared for both beginners and a quick, smooth run in the early chapters.

1. Play the Prelude (“The Corrupted Casefile”) for background information on KK and others

“The Corrupted Casefile” is a heartwarming little narrative that may take you a half hour to an hour to complete. It gives you a bit more backstory and, more importantly, character development for KK and a few others who will play a role or are mentioned in Ghostwire: Tokyo proper.

There are no stakes to the game: no trophies, no save file transfer, no worries about dying. There will be one short battle that just involves you deciding between three options.

In the full game, once you hit KK’s hideout, you can find the above note about “The Sewer Kid” and KK’s assistance of Ryota in finding his best friend who disappeared in a sewer. Finding more of KK’s notes throughout Tokyo will grant you more skill points!

Oh, “The Corrupted Casefile” is free!

2. Examine EVERYTHING you can with a white diamond icon

Keep an eye out not just in front of you, but above and below you. You may find many things with a white diamond icon on them. For the most part, this means you can examine them and add them to your database. Examine these sorts of items using L2.

Sometimes, entries will be added to your database automatically. This happens when meeting characters for the first time or encountering a type of Visitor for the first time. These types of entries aren’t necessary to read, but provide a lot of history and context, particularly for those not as familiar with Japanese lore and myths.

You will also find plastic bags you can collect as you traverse the city. These will always have an item, usually a consumable, that will be added to your inventory. These bags are all around the city, so you should be able to build up a nice little stock of consumables even early in the game.

L2 will also open doors, dumpsters, and trash cans, among others. Blue trash cans are a cheap and quick way to build up meika, the currency in the game, so always look for those in your area. Some storage sheds may include items as well.

3. Avoid the fog and clear away fog by cleanse torii gates

As you play Ghostwire: Tokyo, you’ll notice that deadly fog permeating the city. Through the first chapter and into chapter two, the fog basically creates a linear path for you to progress. If you try to go into the fog, you’ll continually take damage until exiting – or dying.

The way to clear the fog in an area is to cleanse torii gates. You will come across the first one pictured, clearing a chunk of fog from the map so you can progress to the hideout. These gates function essentially as viewpoints in Assassin’s Creed and Tallnecks in Horizon.

Of course, to reach other gates, you will first need to cleanse the ones on your way. Cleansing the fog will also reveal more icons on the map.

There are two trophies related to cleansing torii gates, “Opening a Path” for cleansing your first and “Liberator” for cleansing all gates.

4. Crouch and kill enemies with Quick Purge whenever possible or grab their cores from afar

After you enter the hospital in chapter one to find Mari, you’ll be notified that crouching muffles your footsteps and allows for Quick Purge. Basically, Quick Purge is the equivalent of a stealth kill or assassination. Akito pulls out the spiritual core from their bodies, killing them.

Quick Purge might look and sound about as stealthy as a firework, but other Visitors will only notice if they’re very, very close to the attack.

Particularly early in the game, even after getting the bow from the hideout, the recommended method is to go for Quick Purge kills. It’s always best to avoid head-on battles whenever possible, especially if you’re playing on higher difficulties.

There are also three Quick Purge related trophies.

Whenever this isn’t possible, then keep your distance and use Ethereal Attacks with R2. After doing enough damage, you should see a “GRAB CORE” notification that will be activated by holding L2. Here, Akito will work and pull out the core to kill the Visitor, but beware: Akito can be damaged during a core grab!

Both will reward you with green ether, which refills your Ethereal Attack energy. You can absorb green ether from a distance by holding L2. This can be very handy in a battle with multiple enemies.

Side note I: there are two types of ether in the game, green and yellow ether. Whereas the former is specific to Ethereal Attacks, the latter is specific to gaining meika. You will see both types floating around as objects with a green or yellow sheen to them. The larger the item, the more it should drop. This is particularly true of yellow ether, with the above neko yellow ether netting a few thousand meika!

Side note II: this is a rare game where playing on the highest difficulty disallows changing the difficulty during play! You can only change the difficulty on the other three settings or have to start a new game if on the highest and you want to change the difficulty level.

5. Search every alley, nook, and cranny for spirits to absorb!

Tokyo is a large city with many backstreets, alleys, and nooks. These areas will most likely hold some kind of collectible or consumable. In some, you’ll find floating blue spirits that need to be absorbed into your katashiro and set free.

This is basically your main mission of the entire game: find spirits and transfer (release) them. The katashiro are the receptacles to absorb the spirits, which you can do by holding L2 when prompted. You will be given ten katashiro, but can purchase more (recommended). If you fill all of your katashiro, you won’t be able to absorb more until you transfer them.

To transfer the spirits, look for payphones. These were designed by Ed, by the way. When you enter, hit L2 to transfer the spirits. You’ll be asked to confirm you want to exchange the spirits for a certain amount of experience and meika. Once you make the transfer, you’ll also see a meter and number of how many spirits are left.

For the trophy hunters, one of two gold trophies is awarded for completing the main story after transferring 100 percent of the spirits in the city (“Hero of Shibuya”). If you’d rather not play again, then focus on spirit absorption and transfers before finishing the main story. There are also trophies for 25, 50, and 75 percent transferred.

6. Pet animals, read their thoughts, and feed the dogs

Animals are all around the city. You can pet them with L2 when prompted. Note that you will pop a trophy the first time you actually pet an animal (“Animal Lover”).

After KK grants you Spectral Vision, these animals play a more advanced roles. When next to them and prompted, hit Square to hear their thoughts. If you do this to dogs, you’ll be given the chance to feed them, which you should!

You may have come across some dog food or saw it available at the nekomata store. While strange at first glance, dogs will love you for feeding them. After you feed a dog, it will reward you with a random amount of meika! The dogs will dig it up from nearby, which is slightly hilarious when it’s digging into concrete.

Now you have what it takes to make it through the early chapters of Ghostwire: Tokyo with ease. Make your way through the city to save your sister from the dastardly Hannya and his crew!