POSITIVES:
+ Perfect graphics. Incredibly beautiful and serene landscapes.
+ Very clean, minimal and unintrusive UI.
+ All secondary game mechanics (crafting, upgrades etc.) are handled with great care, and are neither intruding on your exploration, nor are annoyingly essential.
+ Incredibly fluid, visceral combat.
+ A rare type of video game set in Japan – no ridiculous anime-like exaggerations, no godawful UI, no cheap crap. A perfectly consistent experience.
NEGATIVES:
- The contrast is a bit too amped up – some locations out in the sun can be blindingly bright, and many interiors are too dark to appreciate them fully.
- The quest design is...somewhat lacking. Yes, I get that the story being told is essentially a historical excerpt from a tumultuous time on the Japanese front (similar to Kingdom Come Deliverance – no grandiose characters, no History Channel bullshit, just reality at a certain time), but the quests are simply not very captivating. Most of them are rather short (which is a positive when they are boring), but what little action is given, it always results in one of the few mechanics being used (namely – sneaking, fighting, collecting items). Quest action variety is practically unheard of.
- Everywhere you go, you can feel the stench of a Ubisoft open world RPG. Outposts to capture, collectibles to collect, areas to liberate, every quest chain design is the same (find allies, establish base of operations, plan an attack on the main base).
- On a personal note, I did not enjoy the game’s obvious attempt to constant pivot the player away from “dishonorable” combat such as assassination, but at the same time including several missions where assassination is practically the only way of fighting. It felt forced, as if the player has to “come to terms” with being a dishonorable samurai. Moreover, as a rhetorical remark, how come stabbing someone in the back is “dishonorable” but sniping a sentry 150m away or launching a shrapnel grenade isn’t?
In the end, it is a solid fictional rendition of Japan’s resistance against the Mongols, but at a very heavy cost to accuracy. It feels and plays like a robust Ubisoft game, all negative aspects included. It is eye-wateringly beautiful, but its picturesque landscapes are just that – landscapes.
+ Perfect graphics. Incredibly beautiful and serene landscapes.
+ Very clean, minimal and unintrusive UI.
+ All secondary game mechanics (crafting, upgrades etc.) are handled with great care, and are neither intruding on your exploration, nor are annoyingly essential.
+ Incredibly fluid, visceral combat.
+ A rare type of video game set in Japan – no ridiculous anime-like exaggerations, no godawful UI, no cheap crap. A perfectly consistent experience.
NEGATIVES:
- The contrast is a bit too amped up – some locations out in the sun can be blindingly bright, and many interiors are too dark to appreciate them fully.
- The quest design is...somewhat lacking. Yes, I get that the story being told is essentially a historical excerpt from a tumultuous time on the Japanese front (similar to Kingdom Come Deliverance – no grandiose characters, no History Channel bullshit, just reality at a certain time), but the quests are simply not very captivating. Most of them are rather short (which is a positive when they are boring), but what little action is given, it always results in one of the few mechanics being used (namely – sneaking, fighting, collecting items). Quest action variety is practically unheard of.
- Everywhere you go, you can feel the stench of a Ubisoft open world RPG. Outposts to capture, collectibles to collect, areas to liberate, every quest chain design is the same (find allies, establish base of operations, plan an attack on the main base).
- On a personal note, I did not enjoy the game’s obvious attempt to constant pivot the player away from “dishonorable” combat such as assassination, but at the same time including several missions where assassination is practically the only way of fighting. It felt forced, as if the player has to “come to terms” with being a dishonorable samurai. Moreover, as a rhetorical remark, how come stabbing someone in the back is “dishonorable” but sniping a sentry 150m away or launching a shrapnel grenade isn’t?
In the end, it is a solid fictional rendition of Japan’s resistance against the Mongols, but at a very heavy cost to accuracy. It feels and plays like a robust Ubisoft game, all negative aspects included. It is eye-wateringly beautiful, but its picturesque landscapes are just that – landscapes.
Truly one of the best games to have ever been released from Playstation in a long time when it first came out on the PS4 in 2020 and I was so beyond happy that the game finally came to PC. This time, for my second playthrough of the game, I decided to keep on the Japanese dub but this time play the game in the Kurosawa filter, and oh my god man when I tell you it felt like a whole new way to experience the game like that. I simply can't get over how amazing this game is and the beauty of it's story and themes, Sucker Punch truly knocked it out of the park with this. I also got to experience the Iki Island DLC for the first time and I gotta say, damn, this DLC was an absolute blast to play through in many aspects, I can't believe it took me till now to finally play it!
If you haven't played Ghost of Tsushima, or you have your reservations about it for whatever reason (open world, PlayStation title, etc.), then you seriously need to get on this game already or at least try it out because it is def one of my all-time favorite games and it's an exceptional open world adventure.
If you haven't played Ghost of Tsushima, or you have your reservations about it for whatever reason (open world, PlayStation title, etc.), then you seriously need to get on this game already or at least try it out because it is def one of my all-time favorite games and it's an exceptional open world adventure.