Obakeidoro 2, a “Dead by Daylight-like” with cute ghost and human characters, was playable on the Nintendo Switch 2 at Tokyo Game Show 2025 on the show floor. Gearing up for a release in early October in Japan, what is this game all about and, more importantly, is it any fun? Let’s get into it.
Background
Obakeidoro 2 is a follow-up to Obakeidoro which was released by Free Style Games on the Nintendo Switch back in 2019. Similar to games like Dead by Daylight, the premise is pretty simple. There are three “human” players and one “ghost.” It’s the job of the ghost to catch all of the human characters before the time limit runs out. It’s basically a game of hide-and-seek. For Obakeidoro 2, the gameplay conceit holds pretty true to its predecessor, except this time around, online or local play allows up to eight players. Free Style brought the game to TGS 2025 and I had a chance to check it out.
Gameplay
Controls in Obakeidoro 2 vary slightly depending on whether or not you are a human or ghost. Ghosts can jump with B, catch humans with Y or use X to initiate a “Super Catch,” which can nab up multiple humans. Once caught, humans are thrown into a jail in the middle of the stage.The ghosts also have the ability to pass through walls, given them a bit of an advantage. Even with that said, there is a bit of a cool-down between moves and after catching and jailing humans.
As a human, you can jump with B, crouch with X, open locks with A and let out a blast of light from your lantern with Y. This blast stuns ghosts and can buy the humans some time to rescue their allies in the jail or to run away and hide. The jails have two locks, so working in tandem to unlock them is paramount. Crouching can also help in keeping a low profile from the pesky ghost.
The gameplay is smooth and easy to get into. The three minute time limit also a good thing as matches won’t drag on for too long. This also plays well to the Switch 2 (or Switch if we’re talking about the original title) for handheld players if they want to just hop in quickly and then back out.
Visuals & Performance
Obakeidoro 2 is a cute take on the horror genre from a visual standpoint. Both humans and ghosts are somewhat chibi-fied, but still full of detail. The game also features surprisingly good lighting as well. As simple as things may be, Obakeidoro 2 still looks nice from a visual standpoint, especially compared to the original. During my time with the demo on the show floor, the game also held a consistent, smooth framerate.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for something similar to Dead by Daylight that’s a little bit less complex, Obakeidoro 2 (or the first title) might be worth looking into. The gameplay loop is fun, the game runs well and you can hop in and out of the game pretty quickly. Another great addition to the game, the full release offers GameShare to play the game with friends on both the Switch 2 and Switch 1 locally and online. We’re keeping an eye on this one as we near the (Japan only at the moment) October 9, 2025 release date.
But, let’s turn things over to you guys. What do you think about Obakeidoro 2? Did you play the first title? Are you thinking about picking this one up? Sound off in the comments down below. We’d love to hear from you.
by Danny Bivens
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