“What does honor mean to you?”
“I guess… protecting people.”
“The ones who can’t fight for themselves.”
Act I - The Tale of Samurai
These lines resonated deeply with me in the first 25 minutes. As someone who always tries to role-play a good guy in RPGs. And sure, Ghost of Tsushima(GoT) isn’t an RPG, and yet it embodies beliefs and morals I find in parallel with what I like to do in role-playing games(RPG). To help those in need & punish the wicked. Lines up well, with the 10th point in the ten commandments of Chivalry. Why is this relative to GoT? Because “chivalry is analogous to Bushido”(A Japanese code of behavior valuing honor above life… For the Samurai class)” Sucker Punch(SP) sells the concept to the player of what it means to be a samurai and beautifully deconstructs the notion as you progress through Jin’s story. Funnily enough, according to Michael Smathers, who wrote an article called Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor. He mentions one virtue of Bushido.
“Mercy (Jin): As warriors, samurai held power over life and death. They were expected to exercise this power with discretion. In other words, they were to kill only for the right reasons. Of course, what that meant varied from one person to the next.”
Hmmm sounds familiar… Hold up! That’s the name of our main character(MC). Jin Sakai! A young lord who marches with his uncle Lord Shimura to stop the invasion of Mongols on the island of Tsushima. 80 Samurai against an army. You can imagine how the fight worked out at the very beginning of the game. We spend the rest of the playthrough combatting the Mongols who litter every road, town, outpost, and major stronghold. Follow his journey as he strives to uphold his samurai upbringing in the wake of an invasion that tests his very limits.
Act II - GoT gameplay with Ubisoft Formula
Just as Shadow of Mordor took inspiration from the Batman Arkham games. Some of GoT's core DNA is derived from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed(AC) series. Trust me I’ve played a ton of them, so I’m quite familiar with what works and what doesn’t. I’m no expert though, but I’ll try my best to break down the great stuff and not-so-great stuff GoT does well.
What works is the repeated gameplay loop. Like assassinations. The AC series is known for it. GoT has them innately. Sneak up on an enemy from above or from behind in stealth and Thump! Gone. You can even activate chained assassinations to kill off your foes twice and thrice! Heck, a ‘focused hearing mode’ exists, which is eerily reminiscent of Eagle Vision, a major component of AC. A mode allowing you to spot enemy positions quickly. The combat is pretty fun. Because the rate of progression as you unlock new weapons and techniques feels balanced and fair. I didn’t have too much trouble facing off my attackers nor too little trouble on normal difficulty. I can face off my opponents in stand-offs which is an ingenious method to take out foes in one blow. The caveat though? You need to hit a button before the enemy attacks. Too fast and you get hurt. Too slow and you get hurt. These can also lead to boss encounters in the form of duels. Facing off a single boss in a 1v1 with nothing but your katana, resolve, and armor you have equipped. Duels are intense and create an incredible way to fight the most challenging of foes. Providing enough tension and anxiousness while balancing your nerves and excitement. Parry your way to victory or dodge until you see an opportunity to stagger them. You have to deal enough damage first to break through their defenses and once you do you can land critical strikes damaging their health. So be patient. Parry when you can. And dodge like a mad lad. Soon enough the blood of your enemies will fall as you walk away like a badass.
A ton of fun things to do aside from fighting. You can partake in shrines which are like small climbing puzzle sections to earn charms that can slightly upgrade our protagonists' capabilities. Allowing him to grow stronger by dealing more damage. Increase the effectiveness of arrows, restore health slowly outside of fights and so much more. Bamboo training to increase resolve is a mechanic serving as a special gauge to unlock combat arts(I’ll touch on this later). Or even partake in following foxes when you encounter a Fox Den to increase charm slots. Heck, my favorite activity to do outside of fighting is finding hot springs! Increasing your maximum health every time you rest in a new one! Seeing Jin so relaxed makes me relaxed too.
No spongy enemies exist either. You can fine-tune the difficulty from easy, medium, hard, and lethal. I primarily played on normal and thought it was very balanced. Others I’ve discussed the game with, say they played hard or on lethal. So you can’t go wrong with either choice. If you need some tips, Before I play has you covered. You may or may not need it. I didn’t read them until the very end haha. But it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? Because Jin’s capabilities in the year 1274 is quite frankly terrifying once you unlock more techniques. He can throw devastating bombs, sticky and smoke too. Kunai to whittle down opponents and stagger them. The man holds no mercy switching to different stances to dispatch shield, sword, spear, and brute enemies, and if that isn’t enough. The dude comes equipped with a bow to kill from a distance. All of these can even be upgraded as you complete story quests and other tales in the game.
No not Tales from Bamco(A funny nickname I like to call Bandai Namco heh). Tales as in sidequests. To make things easier I’ll designate them as such in this review to not confuse readers. Thankfully, not a bazillion of these are slapped willy-nilly. For the most part, they're worth completing. Some more so than others. They range from Companion tales, Mythic tales, and Tales of Tsushima(ToT).
The non-companion quests AKA ToT are decent. And yet most of them boil down to him helping the common folk(called peasants in the game). Who is caught up in the crossfire in the war between the Samurai vs. Mongols. A good chunk of the game has you play as a detective. Investigating mysteries and disappearances, Retaking a village here and there, following tracks, and escorting missions round up the majority of these quests. Demonstrated in visceral detail in every sidequest and unluckily he witnesses/helps them. A sense of fulfillment emerges in completing any request. Since the invaders hold no mercy in enacting some horrifying methods on your people.
Despite saying they were decent earlier, I still feel non-companion quests were repetitive and filler at times. Granted I will give the developers praise for vividly depicting each of them in ways I can appreciate for realism. And I had an overwhelming satisfaction in righting the wrongs against the innocent. Feels good to eliminate evil in human form. Be that as it may, I think the developers of SP could’ve made them better. Having more unique objectives. Why can’t I deliver any ingredients to them if they need them? Use some bamboo I found. Linen for clothing to help you against the rain. Ah, some iron and steel to help reinforce your home. Could’ve chained multiple quests together to be on par with companion quests. Or even more, fleshed-out NPCs so I can become more invested in their plight. I could say more, but I'll keep it short. Suffice it to say. These ToT quests felt decent. Not too bad. But at the same time not too great. Smack dab in the middle.
Moving on. I consider the liberation aspect of freeing occupied areas from Mongol control: farmsteads, outposts, and major strongholds. The weakest parts of the game in my opinion. Holy hell. They offer a rinse-and-repeat style formula that is monotonous and quite frankly poorly designed. I think the developers could've taken a different approach in opening up the Fog of War map akin to Ubisoft towers(These are tall buildings in the AC series you have to climb which opens up a part of the map). GoT should’ve taken major inspiration from Horizon Zero Dawn(HZD) Where the main character climbs robot dinosaurs in a fair manner to open up parts of the map. HZD implemented the design far better than GoT did by taking the Ubisoft Towers design and making it their own. Here the implementation is half-baked. Why the hell do I need to liberate all outposts, farmsteads, and strongholds to open up a region?! Check out how many are in the 1st region alone. See all those red markers? You have to eliminate all invaders occupying each of those areas. Do so and the region’s fog of war will clear up. One might say isn’t this easy to do if you eliminate all of them? I wish my dear friends. SP included an annoying aspect requiring you to rescue hostages not in every red marker, only some of them. I noticed them more in farmsteads. So not only do I have to play rescue missions along with killing Mongols without exception to liberate an area, I have to make sure they don’t die because the baddies will try to kill them. Essentially adding useless filler. I’m sorry if my tone is scathing to those who enjoyed these aspects. I feel very frustrated to have to partake in a rinse-and-repeat formula to liberate all occupied areas to open up one region of the map. And again the process repeats in the 2nd and 3rd regions. In total, I had to free 56 locations from Mongol control. Certainly, I didn’t have to do it. But in the interest of wanting to look at everything the game had to offer I had to accomplish the feat.
Alternatives I was thinking as I liberated areas is: Making shrines the go-to method to open up parts of a map. How many? Well, 16 throughout the three regions make up the island of Tsushima. So the process is greatly lessened. They're a nice change of pace from fighting. They consist of medium-length climbing sections akin to hunting tombs in the AC series or Prince of Persia-esque. So if the developers had combined the mechanic of Ubisoft towers in shrines. Then once you complete more than five in a region, then BAM! The whole map is opened to the player. Copy-paste that design again and you have reviewers praising your game instead of critiquing it. Another idea was to cull the numbers down significantly by liberating occupied areas. Taking out the hostages required. And instead, make it a stealth mission to rescue a hostage or grab an important item then have your allies storm the place as you watch them tear it apart. Or include the design during haiku. I can admire the view ahead of me, contemplate how to sort my sentences together, and open up a region if I complete all of them. This method works by giving more importance to Haiku in the world. Than calling them filler which my friend states. And and I agree with their assessment of it. Considering other miscellaneous activities felt more rewarding. Fox dens, hot springs, bamboo training, and shrines.
GoT has another main strength in the companion and mythic quests. The former is a set of sidequest chains you follow as you progress through the first, second, and third acts. Helping your companion with whatever troubles them. For Ishikawa, to correct a mistake he did not foresee. For Masako to avenge her family. And the warrior monk Norio, who fervently defends sacred temples. There are more, but I'll let those surprise you. Companion quests caught hold of me like a fish on a hook and I couldn't wait to watch more unfold. Weaving an intricate companion plot and in effect I bonded with my allies further. Trade banter at times then engage in serious conversations. Respond in binary choices during conversations, rode horseback alongside them, and fought together against the Mongols. It’s well thought out and I have no major complaints to say. Seriously. These quests are amazing.
The latter, Mythic quests by comparison I also echo the same sentiment above. Worth completing. They differ in fact, all of them detail a legend from long ago depicted in scroll tapestry. As if a storyteller is weaving their tale from the annals of history. Once you hear their story, you embark on a side quest to reclaim the item or lesson from Tsushima’s history. These can range from legendary armor to new combat arts you can use freely. Doesn’t take too long to complete. The armors you attain provide hefty bonuses for gameplay purposes or through stealth means. Arts are also noteworthy to provide new moves when fighting. Ranging from an unblockable strike to even striking three attackers in quick succession. You can’t go wrong with finishing them throughout your journey. Enriching the player even further with great worldbuilding.
Interlude - Iki Island Ruminations
Before I discuss more on the base game I have to talk about the Iki island expansion. I completed it after the main story. The expansion is short. Beat it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Well below the average from How Long to Beat(HLTB). You can see times in the additional content section. Still worth playing for the story. You investigate Mongols on Iki who sent out a scouting party to the main island. Why does this matter? Well, the scouting party used a devastating weapon forcing Jin to investigate where the party originated from. And heck if it makes a head of a clan like Sakai go without telling any of his allies. It must be a pretty big deal. And it delves into unexpected areas from his past I didn’t expect, but welcomed all the same. Providing much-needed context on important flashbacks the MC has throughout the story in the base game. The expansion also includes an element I love. I wish I could say more, but that’s spoiler territory. Best to experience it yourself.
Act III - Final Thoughts from a Ghost
Somehow the game runs flawlessly. I barely have time to read tips, because loading screens start and end super quickly on my PS4 Pro. For the PS5 & PS4 version, Eurogamer has all the details. John Linneman of Digital Foundry analyzes the FPS(frames per second) and more. I didn’t notice any hiccups regarding Framerate, playing on performance mode rather than resolution mode. No serious bugs or glitches either. The game runs like a dream and is perhaps what I consider as stable as the constant PS4 updates to stability memes. I’d even equate it to the legendary FOX engine employed by Konami from which Metal Gear Solid V runs on.
I rarely praise open-world games. Some games bloat worlds too much, losing the player. Others craft a tight balance, not too much and not too little with worthwhile content. GoT is the latter. The visual style and setting work phenomenally in tandem with all the bells and whistles. To my astonishment, gorgeous vistas are abundant. I gazed at the sunsets as I rode my horse called Nobu through countless grassy plains. Waited patiently for the sunrise to peek over the mountains. Was content walking and running through tree leaves of various colors. And embraced the forests as if I was a denizen of them. So much passion and care by Sucker Punch to craft such a detailed world that I am left speechless. You will have no shortage to gawk at, to stop, wonder, and for the life of me, I cannot say it enough to give the description justice.
Ironically, as much as I behold the beauty in the game. I recognize many injustices. War has come and Mongols revel in it. Sparing no expense in demonstrating the aftermath of their brutality, war crimes, and heavy topics. However, as we witness horrible acts a man & woman can do there comes the other side where we become mesmerized at the truest and sacrificial of human beings to help their fellow man/woman. Speeches rally people to rise from their peasant status and bear arms. Conventional tactics are thrown away to save our people's suffering. What use is an 'honor' when the enemy savagely uses dishonorable tactics against us? If we must strive to free ourselves we must first do so with resolve, courage, and unflinching fearlessness. In the face of overwhelming odds GoT crafted allies who rise above the occasion. From the gruff, but serious Ishikawa who desires to right a wrong. To the avenger Lady Masako who desires vengeance for her family. And even the gentle giant monk Norio who guards the temples against invaders. Their voice is another cry of suffering just as the common folk suffer. Together we can defend our home, save our friends and family and partake in camaraderie. Despite much pain. The people cling to salvation. And Jin is ready to help them along the way.
His story is an experience. We see how he has been taught the ways of samurai. To embody their tenets. Loyalty, Control, and Honor. These core lessons are ingrained in the MC. Built from the ground up. And yet what is built can also be broken down. This I feel is SP’s strongest blade at work. The struggle he endures in my playthrough was filled with an incredible transformation he undergoes. He’s not the most likable of protagonists, on the surface level. Yet underneath the underneath, there is an underrated amount of subtle themes and messages that are cyclical to embrace what is a Samurai and what is not a Samurai. Told in ways and tales I found captivating. And the game is built around this from the tranquil music, fun gameplay, worthwhile side quests(At least for Companion and Mythic tales), and an enthralling world to explore. And even the Guiding Wind mechanic guides the player which funnily enough is the personification of the protagonist's father. Fitting dialogue options during conversations. All of these come back to Jin. Again and again, hammer home important lessons and themes the game can impart to the player after witnessing the ending. And man what a finale it was.
I have never played a Sucker Punch game before. So I’m glad Ghost of Tsushima became my first one to play from the studio. Such a breath of fresh air to experience and I am thrilled to play more in their catalog for the future. And watch films by Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. And heck, more Samurai mediums. Despite the critique, I said earlier. I think the game is a worthy entry point for anyone looking for a worthwhile Samurai fantasy game.
8/10
“I guess… protecting people.”
“The ones who can’t fight for themselves.”
Act I - The Tale of Samurai
These lines resonated deeply with me in the first 25 minutes. As someone who always tries to role-play a good guy in RPGs. And sure, Ghost of Tsushima(GoT) isn’t an RPG, and yet it embodies beliefs and morals I find in parallel with what I like to do in role-playing games(RPG). To help those in need & punish the wicked. Lines up well, with the 10th point in the ten commandments of Chivalry. Why is this relative to GoT? Because “chivalry is analogous to Bushido”(A Japanese code of behavior valuing honor above life… For the Samurai class)” Sucker Punch(SP) sells the concept to the player of what it means to be a samurai and beautifully deconstructs the notion as you progress through Jin’s story. Funnily enough, according to Michael Smathers, who wrote an article called Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor. He mentions one virtue of Bushido.
“Mercy (Jin): As warriors, samurai held power over life and death. They were expected to exercise this power with discretion. In other words, they were to kill only for the right reasons. Of course, what that meant varied from one person to the next.”
Hmmm sounds familiar… Hold up! That’s the name of our main character(MC). Jin Sakai! A young lord who marches with his uncle Lord Shimura to stop the invasion of Mongols on the island of Tsushima. 80 Samurai against an army. You can imagine how the fight worked out at the very beginning of the game. We spend the rest of the playthrough combatting the Mongols who litter every road, town, outpost, and major stronghold. Follow his journey as he strives to uphold his samurai upbringing in the wake of an invasion that tests his very limits.
Act II - GoT gameplay with Ubisoft Formula
Just as Shadow of Mordor took inspiration from the Batman Arkham games. Some of GoT's core DNA is derived from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed(AC) series. Trust me I’ve played a ton of them, so I’m quite familiar with what works and what doesn’t. I’m no expert though, but I’ll try my best to break down the great stuff and not-so-great stuff GoT does well.
What works is the repeated gameplay loop. Like assassinations. The AC series is known for it. GoT has them innately. Sneak up on an enemy from above or from behind in stealth and Thump! Gone. You can even activate chained assassinations to kill off your foes twice and thrice! Heck, a ‘focused hearing mode’ exists, which is eerily reminiscent of Eagle Vision, a major component of AC. A mode allowing you to spot enemy positions quickly. The combat is pretty fun. Because the rate of progression as you unlock new weapons and techniques feels balanced and fair. I didn’t have too much trouble facing off my attackers nor too little trouble on normal difficulty. I can face off my opponents in stand-offs which is an ingenious method to take out foes in one blow. The caveat though? You need to hit a button before the enemy attacks. Too fast and you get hurt. Too slow and you get hurt. These can also lead to boss encounters in the form of duels. Facing off a single boss in a 1v1 with nothing but your katana, resolve, and armor you have equipped. Duels are intense and create an incredible way to fight the most challenging of foes. Providing enough tension and anxiousness while balancing your nerves and excitement. Parry your way to victory or dodge until you see an opportunity to stagger them. You have to deal enough damage first to break through their defenses and once you do you can land critical strikes damaging their health. So be patient. Parry when you can. And dodge like a mad lad. Soon enough the blood of your enemies will fall as you walk away like a badass.
A ton of fun things to do aside from fighting. You can partake in shrines which are like small climbing puzzle sections to earn charms that can slightly upgrade our protagonists' capabilities. Allowing him to grow stronger by dealing more damage. Increase the effectiveness of arrows, restore health slowly outside of fights and so much more. Bamboo training to increase resolve is a mechanic serving as a special gauge to unlock combat arts(I’ll touch on this later). Or even partake in following foxes when you encounter a Fox Den to increase charm slots. Heck, my favorite activity to do outside of fighting is finding hot springs! Increasing your maximum health every time you rest in a new one! Seeing Jin so relaxed makes me relaxed too.
No spongy enemies exist either. You can fine-tune the difficulty from easy, medium, hard, and lethal. I primarily played on normal and thought it was very balanced. Others I’ve discussed the game with, say they played hard or on lethal. So you can’t go wrong with either choice. If you need some tips, Before I play has you covered. You may or may not need it. I didn’t read them until the very end haha. But it doesn’t hurt to know ya know? Because Jin’s capabilities in the year 1274 is quite frankly terrifying once you unlock more techniques. He can throw devastating bombs, sticky and smoke too. Kunai to whittle down opponents and stagger them. The man holds no mercy switching to different stances to dispatch shield, sword, spear, and brute enemies, and if that isn’t enough. The dude comes equipped with a bow to kill from a distance. All of these can even be upgraded as you complete story quests and other tales in the game.
No not Tales from Bamco(A funny nickname I like to call Bandai Namco heh). Tales as in sidequests. To make things easier I’ll designate them as such in this review to not confuse readers. Thankfully, not a bazillion of these are slapped willy-nilly. For the most part, they're worth completing. Some more so than others. They range from Companion tales, Mythic tales, and Tales of Tsushima(ToT).
The non-companion quests AKA ToT are decent. And yet most of them boil down to him helping the common folk(called peasants in the game). Who is caught up in the crossfire in the war between the Samurai vs. Mongols. A good chunk of the game has you play as a detective. Investigating mysteries and disappearances, Retaking a village here and there, following tracks, and escorting missions round up the majority of these quests. Demonstrated in visceral detail in every sidequest and unluckily he witnesses/helps them. A sense of fulfillment emerges in completing any request. Since the invaders hold no mercy in enacting some horrifying methods on your people.
Despite saying they were decent earlier, I still feel non-companion quests were repetitive and filler at times. Granted I will give the developers praise for vividly depicting each of them in ways I can appreciate for realism. And I had an overwhelming satisfaction in righting the wrongs against the innocent. Feels good to eliminate evil in human form. Be that as it may, I think the developers of SP could’ve made them better. Having more unique objectives. Why can’t I deliver any ingredients to them if they need them? Use some bamboo I found. Linen for clothing to help you against the rain. Ah, some iron and steel to help reinforce your home. Could’ve chained multiple quests together to be on par with companion quests. Or even more, fleshed-out NPCs so I can become more invested in their plight. I could say more, but I'll keep it short. Suffice it to say. These ToT quests felt decent. Not too bad. But at the same time not too great. Smack dab in the middle.
Moving on. I consider the liberation aspect of freeing occupied areas from Mongol control: farmsteads, outposts, and major strongholds. The weakest parts of the game in my opinion. Holy hell. They offer a rinse-and-repeat style formula that is monotonous and quite frankly poorly designed. I think the developers could've taken a different approach in opening up the Fog of War map akin to Ubisoft towers(These are tall buildings in the AC series you have to climb which opens up a part of the map). GoT should’ve taken major inspiration from Horizon Zero Dawn(HZD) Where the main character climbs robot dinosaurs in a fair manner to open up parts of the map. HZD implemented the design far better than GoT did by taking the Ubisoft Towers design and making it their own. Here the implementation is half-baked. Why the hell do I need to liberate all outposts, farmsteads, and strongholds to open up a region?! Check out how many are in the 1st region alone. See all those red markers? You have to eliminate all invaders occupying each of those areas. Do so and the region’s fog of war will clear up. One might say isn’t this easy to do if you eliminate all of them? I wish my dear friends. SP included an annoying aspect requiring you to rescue hostages not in every red marker, only some of them. I noticed them more in farmsteads. So not only do I have to play rescue missions along with killing Mongols without exception to liberate an area, I have to make sure they don’t die because the baddies will try to kill them. Essentially adding useless filler. I’m sorry if my tone is scathing to those who enjoyed these aspects. I feel very frustrated to have to partake in a rinse-and-repeat formula to liberate all occupied areas to open up one region of the map. And again the process repeats in the 2nd and 3rd regions. In total, I had to free 56 locations from Mongol control. Certainly, I didn’t have to do it. But in the interest of wanting to look at everything the game had to offer I had to accomplish the feat.
Alternatives I was thinking as I liberated areas is: Making shrines the go-to method to open up parts of a map. How many? Well, 16 throughout the three regions make up the island of Tsushima. So the process is greatly lessened. They're a nice change of pace from fighting. They consist of medium-length climbing sections akin to hunting tombs in the AC series or Prince of Persia-esque. So if the developers had combined the mechanic of Ubisoft towers in shrines. Then once you complete more than five in a region, then BAM! The whole map is opened to the player. Copy-paste that design again and you have reviewers praising your game instead of critiquing it. Another idea was to cull the numbers down significantly by liberating occupied areas. Taking out the hostages required. And instead, make it a stealth mission to rescue a hostage or grab an important item then have your allies storm the place as you watch them tear it apart. Or include the design during haiku. I can admire the view ahead of me, contemplate how to sort my sentences together, and open up a region if I complete all of them. This method works by giving more importance to Haiku in the world. Than calling them filler which my friend states. And and I agree with their assessment of it. Considering other miscellaneous activities felt more rewarding. Fox dens, hot springs, bamboo training, and shrines.
GoT has another main strength in the companion and mythic quests. The former is a set of sidequest chains you follow as you progress through the first, second, and third acts. Helping your companion with whatever troubles them. For Ishikawa, to correct a mistake he did not foresee. For Masako to avenge her family. And the warrior monk Norio, who fervently defends sacred temples. There are more, but I'll let those surprise you. Companion quests caught hold of me like a fish on a hook and I couldn't wait to watch more unfold. Weaving an intricate companion plot and in effect I bonded with my allies further. Trade banter at times then engage in serious conversations. Respond in binary choices during conversations, rode horseback alongside them, and fought together against the Mongols. It’s well thought out and I have no major complaints to say. Seriously. These quests are amazing.
The latter, Mythic quests by comparison I also echo the same sentiment above. Worth completing. They differ in fact, all of them detail a legend from long ago depicted in scroll tapestry. As if a storyteller is weaving their tale from the annals of history. Once you hear their story, you embark on a side quest to reclaim the item or lesson from Tsushima’s history. These can range from legendary armor to new combat arts you can use freely. Doesn’t take too long to complete. The armors you attain provide hefty bonuses for gameplay purposes or through stealth means. Arts are also noteworthy to provide new moves when fighting. Ranging from an unblockable strike to even striking three attackers in quick succession. You can’t go wrong with finishing them throughout your journey. Enriching the player even further with great worldbuilding.
Interlude - Iki Island Ruminations
Before I discuss more on the base game I have to talk about the Iki island expansion. I completed it after the main story. The expansion is short. Beat it in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Well below the average from How Long to Beat(HLTB). You can see times in the additional content section. Still worth playing for the story. You investigate Mongols on Iki who sent out a scouting party to the main island. Why does this matter? Well, the scouting party used a devastating weapon forcing Jin to investigate where the party originated from. And heck if it makes a head of a clan like Sakai go without telling any of his allies. It must be a pretty big deal. And it delves into unexpected areas from his past I didn’t expect, but welcomed all the same. Providing much-needed context on important flashbacks the MC has throughout the story in the base game. The expansion also includes an element I love. I wish I could say more, but that’s spoiler territory. Best to experience it yourself.
Act III - Final Thoughts from a Ghost
Somehow the game runs flawlessly. I barely have time to read tips, because loading screens start and end super quickly on my PS4 Pro. For the PS5 & PS4 version, Eurogamer has all the details. John Linneman of Digital Foundry analyzes the FPS(frames per second) and more. I didn’t notice any hiccups regarding Framerate, playing on performance mode rather than resolution mode. No serious bugs or glitches either. The game runs like a dream and is perhaps what I consider as stable as the constant PS4 updates to stability memes. I’d even equate it to the legendary FOX engine employed by Konami from which Metal Gear Solid V runs on.
I rarely praise open-world games. Some games bloat worlds too much, losing the player. Others craft a tight balance, not too much and not too little with worthwhile content. GoT is the latter. The visual style and setting work phenomenally in tandem with all the bells and whistles. To my astonishment, gorgeous vistas are abundant. I gazed at the sunsets as I rode my horse called Nobu through countless grassy plains. Waited patiently for the sunrise to peek over the mountains. Was content walking and running through tree leaves of various colors. And embraced the forests as if I was a denizen of them. So much passion and care by Sucker Punch to craft such a detailed world that I am left speechless. You will have no shortage to gawk at, to stop, wonder, and for the life of me, I cannot say it enough to give the description justice.
Ironically, as much as I behold the beauty in the game. I recognize many injustices. War has come and Mongols revel in it. Sparing no expense in demonstrating the aftermath of their brutality, war crimes, and heavy topics. However, as we witness horrible acts a man & woman can do there comes the other side where we become mesmerized at the truest and sacrificial of human beings to help their fellow man/woman. Speeches rally people to rise from their peasant status and bear arms. Conventional tactics are thrown away to save our people's suffering. What use is an 'honor' when the enemy savagely uses dishonorable tactics against us? If we must strive to free ourselves we must first do so with resolve, courage, and unflinching fearlessness. In the face of overwhelming odds GoT crafted allies who rise above the occasion. From the gruff, but serious Ishikawa who desires to right a wrong. To the avenger Lady Masako who desires vengeance for her family. And even the gentle giant monk Norio who guards the temples against invaders. Their voice is another cry of suffering just as the common folk suffer. Together we can defend our home, save our friends and family and partake in camaraderie. Despite much pain. The people cling to salvation. And Jin is ready to help them along the way.
His story is an experience. We see how he has been taught the ways of samurai. To embody their tenets. Loyalty, Control, and Honor. These core lessons are ingrained in the MC. Built from the ground up. And yet what is built can also be broken down. This I feel is SP’s strongest blade at work. The struggle he endures in my playthrough was filled with an incredible transformation he undergoes. He’s not the most likable of protagonists, on the surface level. Yet underneath the underneath, there is an underrated amount of subtle themes and messages that are cyclical to embrace what is a Samurai and what is not a Samurai. Told in ways and tales I found captivating. And the game is built around this from the tranquil music, fun gameplay, worthwhile side quests(At least for Companion and Mythic tales), and an enthralling world to explore. And even the Guiding Wind mechanic guides the player which funnily enough is the personification of the protagonist's father. Fitting dialogue options during conversations. All of these come back to Jin. Again and again, hammer home important lessons and themes the game can impart to the player after witnessing the ending. And man what a finale it was.
I have never played a Sucker Punch game before. So I’m glad Ghost of Tsushima became my first one to play from the studio. Such a breath of fresh air to experience and I am thrilled to play more in their catalog for the future. And watch films by Akira Kurosawa and Takashi Miike. And heck, more Samurai mediums. Despite the critique, I said earlier. I think the game is a worthy entry point for anyone looking for a worthwhile Samurai fantasy game.
8/10
This review contains spoilers
This review will contain spoilers
I came back to this version of the game to play the Iki island expansion and decided to play the main story again for the first time since 2020. This remains as one of my favourite games of all time, a mix of a powerful story, amazing combat and breath-taking visuals from start to finish.
To start with the story, the game is set in the late 13th century on the island of Tsushima off the coast of Japan during the Mongol invasion. You play as Jin Sakai, a Samurai who has to grapple with sticking to the Samurai code or breaking it to defeat the invaders. The main game was a lot shorter than I remember it being, with 24 main missions, 25 if you include the prologue. From the second this game starts, you are hit with everything that it has to offer, The Battle of Komoda Beach is probably the best opening in any game I personally have played, the sheer hopelessness as the Mongol army cuts down every Samurai fills you with dread. From here on the game has Jin gathering allies in order to defeat the Mongol invaders and their leader Khotun Khan. During this, Jin deviates from the Samurai code and becomes "The Ghost" in order to safe his people. This is the backbone of the games story, having Jin put in places where he has to break his code to get one over on the enemy whilst being stuck between his allies and his uncle, Lord Shimura. There are a few notable missions but most do feel quite similar but are made better by the combat, My favourite missions is the battle in Yarikawa and the scene where Jin unlocks the ghost stance. I really like how they portray "The Ghost" part of Jin's story as while he thinks he is doing the right thing, it isn't as clean cut as that. In particular the scene where he poisons the Mongol troops in Castle Shimura, he ends up giving the Mongols the ability to make his poison, I like how there are both good and bad sides to what Jin is doing and it isn't as clean cut as Jin good, Samurai bad. One complaint I have is that Jin very easily breaks the Samurai code and I wish they had spent more time having him grapple with the decisions he makes. I also think that they could have maybe made the game a few missions longer as Act 3 ends very quickly only being like 5 missions long. The final missions however, where Jin duels Lord Shimura is so perfectly crafted, similarly to the prologue mission, it has everything that makes this game amazing present. Powerful story, amazing combat, breath taking visuals and a sensational score.
Jin is a really interesting protagonist, considering the whole game revolves around him, he is great in the leading role. Daisuke Tsuji gives an amazing lead performance. Khotun Khan is a very imposing villain, appearing very few times but his presence is felt throughout. Lord Shimura is a great side character, his relationship with Jin is a main focus of the story and is hit out the park. I also really liked Yuna and Lady Masako both being very good side characters and Masakos side quest was my favourite of them.
This game also has my favourite combat system, I think that the sword combat in this game is amazing and it makes the bordering on repetitive missions fun regardless. Jin has 4 stances he can use that are effective on specific enemies, those enemies being regular swordsmen, shield users, spearmen and brutes. The stances are obtained by killing a certain number of Mongol generals, I like that they arent locked behind story progression and effectively you could unlock every stance as soon as you finish the first act. There are also a number of other weapons/items like bows, kunai's, powder bombs and dart guns , providing you with enough weapons to make every encounter unique. I like the horse traversal but half the time it is unnecessary as the fast travel in this game is absolutely insane. Taking seconds to travel from one side of the map to the other, rivalling spiderman 2 for quickest fast travel, and this game game out 3 years before it. I like the way the boss battles are done in a duelling way. Playing on normal, I found most of them quite challenging. I do wish there was a bit more mission variety as most consisted of attacking bases of enemies or tracking someone, It does get a bit repetitive near the end.
Visually this game is stunning, full of vibrant colours and beautiful landscapes. If not for The Last of Us Part 2, this would probably be the best looking game on last gen consoles. Im not sure how accurate the map is to real life, but I think SuckerPunch managed to capture the beauty of Japan really well. The score is equally as amazing, each track fits the moment perfectly, especially in boss fights.
The PS5 directors cut adds enough content to satisfy the price. The Iki island DLC is a good story experience with Jin travelling to the island where his father was killed. He is faced with "The Eagle" who poisons him and forces him to face the guilt he feels over his fathers death. Jin also comes face to face with the man who killed his father and has to overcome his desire for revenge and help the people of Iki island defeat the Mongol invaders. It also adds a couple new side quests, new collectables and minigames to play whilst travelling the island. Very fun experience.
Ghost of Tsushima still sits high on my list of favourite games, it is enjoyable from the minute you turn it on. 100% recommend
I came back to this version of the game to play the Iki island expansion and decided to play the main story again for the first time since 2020. This remains as one of my favourite games of all time, a mix of a powerful story, amazing combat and breath-taking visuals from start to finish.
To start with the story, the game is set in the late 13th century on the island of Tsushima off the coast of Japan during the Mongol invasion. You play as Jin Sakai, a Samurai who has to grapple with sticking to the Samurai code or breaking it to defeat the invaders. The main game was a lot shorter than I remember it being, with 24 main missions, 25 if you include the prologue. From the second this game starts, you are hit with everything that it has to offer, The Battle of Komoda Beach is probably the best opening in any game I personally have played, the sheer hopelessness as the Mongol army cuts down every Samurai fills you with dread. From here on the game has Jin gathering allies in order to defeat the Mongol invaders and their leader Khotun Khan. During this, Jin deviates from the Samurai code and becomes "The Ghost" in order to safe his people. This is the backbone of the games story, having Jin put in places where he has to break his code to get one over on the enemy whilst being stuck between his allies and his uncle, Lord Shimura. There are a few notable missions but most do feel quite similar but are made better by the combat, My favourite missions is the battle in Yarikawa and the scene where Jin unlocks the ghost stance. I really like how they portray "The Ghost" part of Jin's story as while he thinks he is doing the right thing, it isn't as clean cut as that. In particular the scene where he poisons the Mongol troops in Castle Shimura, he ends up giving the Mongols the ability to make his poison, I like how there are both good and bad sides to what Jin is doing and it isn't as clean cut as Jin good, Samurai bad. One complaint I have is that Jin very easily breaks the Samurai code and I wish they had spent more time having him grapple with the decisions he makes. I also think that they could have maybe made the game a few missions longer as Act 3 ends very quickly only being like 5 missions long. The final missions however, where Jin duels Lord Shimura is so perfectly crafted, similarly to the prologue mission, it has everything that makes this game amazing present. Powerful story, amazing combat, breath taking visuals and a sensational score.
Jin is a really interesting protagonist, considering the whole game revolves around him, he is great in the leading role. Daisuke Tsuji gives an amazing lead performance. Khotun Khan is a very imposing villain, appearing very few times but his presence is felt throughout. Lord Shimura is a great side character, his relationship with Jin is a main focus of the story and is hit out the park. I also really liked Yuna and Lady Masako both being very good side characters and Masakos side quest was my favourite of them.
This game also has my favourite combat system, I think that the sword combat in this game is amazing and it makes the bordering on repetitive missions fun regardless. Jin has 4 stances he can use that are effective on specific enemies, those enemies being regular swordsmen, shield users, spearmen and brutes. The stances are obtained by killing a certain number of Mongol generals, I like that they arent locked behind story progression and effectively you could unlock every stance as soon as you finish the first act. There are also a number of other weapons/items like bows, kunai's, powder bombs and dart guns , providing you with enough weapons to make every encounter unique. I like the horse traversal but half the time it is unnecessary as the fast travel in this game is absolutely insane. Taking seconds to travel from one side of the map to the other, rivalling spiderman 2 for quickest fast travel, and this game game out 3 years before it. I like the way the boss battles are done in a duelling way. Playing on normal, I found most of them quite challenging. I do wish there was a bit more mission variety as most consisted of attacking bases of enemies or tracking someone, It does get a bit repetitive near the end.
Visually this game is stunning, full of vibrant colours and beautiful landscapes. If not for The Last of Us Part 2, this would probably be the best looking game on last gen consoles. Im not sure how accurate the map is to real life, but I think SuckerPunch managed to capture the beauty of Japan really well. The score is equally as amazing, each track fits the moment perfectly, especially in boss fights.
The PS5 directors cut adds enough content to satisfy the price. The Iki island DLC is a good story experience with Jin travelling to the island where his father was killed. He is faced with "The Eagle" who poisons him and forces him to face the guilt he feels over his fathers death. Jin also comes face to face with the man who killed his father and has to overcome his desire for revenge and help the people of Iki island defeat the Mongol invaders. It also adds a couple new side quests, new collectables and minigames to play whilst travelling the island. Very fun experience.
Ghost of Tsushima still sits high on my list of favourite games, it is enjoyable from the minute you turn it on. 100% recommend
This game is the perfect example of my problem with videogame AAA blockbusters, specially with open worlds. It wants to have it all and leave an impression at every moment yet everything in it feels empty and soulless. I’ve spent 28 hours of my life doing the 4 or 5 same tasks over a surely beautiful and huge, but also generic, uninteresting and repetitive island encountering the same 3 enemies at every turn and mindlessly dispatching them using the same sequence of buttons.
The medieval Japanese aesthetic is on point though. Photo mode is the actual gameplay.
I get why many people love this game and there are some good things to say, but it just doesn’t manage to scratch my brain in any way and why do I play videogames if not for that.
Edit to mention: the progression system is pointless because all the skill trees do the same very thing and the game economy has you mashing R2 to gather all kinds of resource without ever thinking what to do with them because each one can be used to upgrade only one kind of equipment.
The medieval Japanese aesthetic is on point though. Photo mode is the actual gameplay.
I get why many people love this game and there are some good things to say, but it just doesn’t manage to scratch my brain in any way and why do I play videogames if not for that.
Edit to mention: the progression system is pointless because all the skill trees do the same very thing and the game economy has you mashing R2 to gather all kinds of resource without ever thinking what to do with them because each one can be used to upgrade only one kind of equipment.
I'm just fed up of these unimaginative games. It's just the same idea rehashed with fancier graphics. Go here, fight a couple of people, go there, fight more people, find something, cut scene. It's starting to get tiresome.
I can't really say anything about the setting of this game; I've heard mixed things on how accurate things are, but I simply don't know enough/pretty much anything about Japan's history and culture to say. But I can say that I love how this game plays. Starting out, I was playing defensively, focusing on parrying and dodging. About halfway through, I instead switched to be aggressive, attacking my opponents first or interrupting their advances. While I prefer the latter approach, the fact that both of them, along with other approaches, are fun and intuitive playstyles tells me that the combat here is very well made.
What's not quite so well made are the collectibles. I feel like they tried to make things varied, but most of the collectibles are either annoyingly time consuming with not enough reward to be worth it (my completionist ass went for it all, though), or are boring. I enjoyed traversing obstacle courses for the Shinto Shrines, the bamboo strikes were brief but satisfying challenges, and the onsets were good ways to break the pace while providing insight into Jin's mind and giving the most consistently fruitful reward of the collectibles. All the others, though? Not very fun, and I only really did them to see funny number go up.
This is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. It's realistic without sacrificing color and the natural beauty of the setting. I found myself feasting my eyes enough that I would often just sprint to my destinations instead of riding horseback, just to see the world for longer. Music didn't really stick out to me, but it did the job; I enjoyed the more tranquil music that would play in moments of peace.
Characters are a mixed bag. I love Lady Masako, Yuna, and Jin himself, but many of the others are negligible or even bad. Not helping matters is the story is rather basic, only getting dynamic near the end, so the focus really is on the characters.
Overall, when it comes to the general combat and gameplay, This is pretty much a straight 5/5 for me, but it's bogged down by the extracurriculars and middling characters and story. Really hope to see more of Ghost of Tsushima. Um, in the form of video games. This really doesn't need to be a movie.
Note: This was written before playing the Iki Island DLC. Doesn't really affect this review, but just know it wasn't in consideration with this review.
What's not quite so well made are the collectibles. I feel like they tried to make things varied, but most of the collectibles are either annoyingly time consuming with not enough reward to be worth it (my completionist ass went for it all, though), or are boring. I enjoyed traversing obstacle courses for the Shinto Shrines, the bamboo strikes were brief but satisfying challenges, and the onsets were good ways to break the pace while providing insight into Jin's mind and giving the most consistently fruitful reward of the collectibles. All the others, though? Not very fun, and I only really did them to see funny number go up.
This is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. It's realistic without sacrificing color and the natural beauty of the setting. I found myself feasting my eyes enough that I would often just sprint to my destinations instead of riding horseback, just to see the world for longer. Music didn't really stick out to me, but it did the job; I enjoyed the more tranquil music that would play in moments of peace.
Characters are a mixed bag. I love Lady Masako, Yuna, and Jin himself, but many of the others are negligible or even bad. Not helping matters is the story is rather basic, only getting dynamic near the end, so the focus really is on the characters.
Overall, when it comes to the general combat and gameplay, This is pretty much a straight 5/5 for me, but it's bogged down by the extracurriculars and middling characters and story. Really hope to see more of Ghost of Tsushima. Um, in the form of video games. This really doesn't need to be a movie.
Note: This was written before playing the Iki Island DLC. Doesn't really affect this review, but just know it wasn't in consideration with this review.
I don't think it's fair to rate this, as I haven't played nearly enough to rank it amongst my completed list of games, but man... Nothing short of disappointed with Ghost of Tsushima. While I can lay the blame on the game itself for being so vapid to play and Sucker Punch for developing something so milquetoast after the InFamous titles, it's honestly all on me for fooling myself into thinking I'd enjoy an open world game for once. It can be nice to play a game like this every now and then to experience what's in vogue, but it's probably for the best that I dip out now and find something that I like playing wholeheartedly, rather than slog through a 30 hour epic solely because the same development house made games I liked 10+ years ago.
I was on the fence about playing this game at all once it was announced/released. It seemed good, but not something that would be entirely up my alley. I was worried mainly about the gameplay and the game focusing a little too hard on being cinematic and looking pretty but I am incredibly glad to be super wrong. That's not to say the game isn't gorgeous, it's honestly one of if not the most beautiful world I've experienced in a game. The world itself is absolutely a joy to explore and look at, and it all has an extremely unique and cinematic feel. It's small things like the way the camera slowly moves up as you approach the top of a shrine that breathe a ton of life into the world and the presentation that put this a step above nearly anything else of a similar quality. Simple stuff like climbing shrines not only feel fun to do, but are just such a treat to look at because the game is so absurdly gorgeous. I usually save the graphics and presentation part for later but this game just stands out so much in that regard it's immediately what pops into my head.
All that about the presentation and graphics being said, it also doesn't falter in the gameplay department whatsoever. I'm incredibly impressed with how simple the combat is and how I never got even a little sick of it. The big stand outs are the intense 1 on 1 duels, they always were a treat and felt very exciting and difficult. I do wish there was a slight more variety in attack patterns, but there also aren't an absurd amount of these so it doesn't weigh on it too hard. I was delighted to fight any group of enemies that were in my path and I got a rush of excitement the second I found a new mongol base to conquer. Not even diving into future abilities and items you unlock the very core of the gameplay is immensely satisfying. Each fight, even with lower level enemies feels intense and personal. Waiting for an opening to strike, timing a block perfectly to parry them and break their guard, or just overwhelming them with sheer force and attack. For the combat being essentially 3 buttons (plus stance changes to accommodate enemy types) and no combos to be seen it's insane how hard they nailed it that every encounter feels fun and exciting. Even beyond that the items and eventual techniques you learn throughout quests or just growing the skill trees keep the gameplay extremely engaging. None of them are required by any means, I found the sword combat so insanely satisfying I rarely pulled from my throw-able items unless I started feeling super overwhelmed but they all work extremely well and feel very useful. The mythic arts and a slight spoiler stance you unlock mid way through the game in particular stand out as extremely fun and things I did end up using a lot once I unlocked them. The only other big thing to mention in combat is the stealth, while it's almost entirely optional I found it to be pretty well done! I'm not a big stealth guy so I often decided not to use it and fought enemies head on but the stealth functions really well and there's a few tools and abilities to enhance it later on that made it a much more appealing option I drew from a bit more.
The story here was wonderful too, it starts out a bit slow but once I reached the climax of act 1 I was all in. The weakest part is the villain for sure, I don't want to dive too deep into spoilers but they don't really develop him enough for it to feel particularly personal. That's not to say I wasn't motivated to continue the story, there's other aspects to keep me engaged and wanting to save the world I was in but I wish the main villain had a bit more bite on him, and we personally saw some more of the evil shit he was doing so the hatred felt more personal. Aside from that I have no real complaints, it does everything extremely well. The sad moments hit really hard, the badass moments feel absurdly cool, and most of the characters were very likable. It isn't anything extremely unique but it's done very well.
That's kind of how I'd describe the entire game really, it doesn't reinvent the wheel but god damn does it nearly perfect it. Nothing stands out as particularly unique or special in the genre it's just fine tuned almost every aspect to an extremely great degree. I'm glad I decided to go back to this one, it was an absolutely phenomenal time.
but also hey sucker punch this was sick, would even love a sequel but like what if u made a new infamous lol that would be sooooo crazy like crazy enough to work? even? idk just an idea lol.
All that about the presentation and graphics being said, it also doesn't falter in the gameplay department whatsoever. I'm incredibly impressed with how simple the combat is and how I never got even a little sick of it. The big stand outs are the intense 1 on 1 duels, they always were a treat and felt very exciting and difficult. I do wish there was a slight more variety in attack patterns, but there also aren't an absurd amount of these so it doesn't weigh on it too hard. I was delighted to fight any group of enemies that were in my path and I got a rush of excitement the second I found a new mongol base to conquer. Not even diving into future abilities and items you unlock the very core of the gameplay is immensely satisfying. Each fight, even with lower level enemies feels intense and personal. Waiting for an opening to strike, timing a block perfectly to parry them and break their guard, or just overwhelming them with sheer force and attack. For the combat being essentially 3 buttons (plus stance changes to accommodate enemy types) and no combos to be seen it's insane how hard they nailed it that every encounter feels fun and exciting. Even beyond that the items and eventual techniques you learn throughout quests or just growing the skill trees keep the gameplay extremely engaging. None of them are required by any means, I found the sword combat so insanely satisfying I rarely pulled from my throw-able items unless I started feeling super overwhelmed but they all work extremely well and feel very useful. The mythic arts and a slight spoiler stance you unlock mid way through the game in particular stand out as extremely fun and things I did end up using a lot once I unlocked them. The only other big thing to mention in combat is the stealth, while it's almost entirely optional I found it to be pretty well done! I'm not a big stealth guy so I often decided not to use it and fought enemies head on but the stealth functions really well and there's a few tools and abilities to enhance it later on that made it a much more appealing option I drew from a bit more.
The story here was wonderful too, it starts out a bit slow but once I reached the climax of act 1 I was all in. The weakest part is the villain for sure, I don't want to dive too deep into spoilers but they don't really develop him enough for it to feel particularly personal. That's not to say I wasn't motivated to continue the story, there's other aspects to keep me engaged and wanting to save the world I was in but I wish the main villain had a bit more bite on him, and we personally saw some more of the evil shit he was doing so the hatred felt more personal. Aside from that I have no real complaints, it does everything extremely well. The sad moments hit really hard, the badass moments feel absurdly cool, and most of the characters were very likable. It isn't anything extremely unique but it's done very well.
That's kind of how I'd describe the entire game really, it doesn't reinvent the wheel but god damn does it nearly perfect it. Nothing stands out as particularly unique or special in the genre it's just fine tuned almost every aspect to an extremely great degree. I'm glad I decided to go back to this one, it was an absolutely phenomenal time.
but also hey sucker punch this was sick, would even love a sequel but like what if u made a new infamous lol that would be sooooo crazy like crazy enough to work? even? idk just an idea lol.
I've been playing GoT off and on since it released, with the intent of getting close to 100% before finishing the main story. I did that a few nights ago, so I feel comfortable actually reviewing it now. I love this game. Sucker Punch have essentially made my comfort game, Japanese backdrop and playstyle included.
I suppose the first thing to say is that this game is absolutely gorgeous. Without a doubt the prettiest and most consistently pretty game I have ever played. After literally 80+ hours I was still getting shocked by the vistas every few minutes. The step away from photorealism to near-fantasy instead was genius. Colors pop everywhere, the lighting is sublime regardless of it being day or night, the trees and grass and flowers all paint the landscape in a way I've never seen before. Part of the reason I waited so long to log this game is because I have spent many hours just wandering the countryside doing nothing remotely story related, just soaking in the landscape and the ambience and getting into minor fights. I was skeptical of it at first but the Kurosawa mode is genuinely pretty neat. Stuff like the fox dens, shrines, onsen, and bamboo cuts are littered throughout the world in just enough quantity that there's always something begging you to check out nearby. I will say, while there are some cool random events that can happen, there definitely could have been more variety. The mythic tales are a special highlight of the game too, not only giving you super cool moves and techniques to play with, but wrapping them up in little mini storylines with their own setpieces and ANIMATED INTROS! How cool is that?
Combat is smooth and buttery, with enough complexity to be constantly engaging but simple enough that you can get into a flow state and just chop dudes up. You've got a variety of styles to play with, too. you can go full stealth mode, you can go archer, you can go pure stagger or pure damage, and that's not even touching on the armor and tool options. I do plan on going back for NG+ and when I do I'll probably play on one of the higher difficulties where you do more damage and take more damage.
That's not to say it's not without faults though. Combat can sometimes be a little frustrating if you're on a back foot and constantly making mistakes, and it's undeniable that there is a certain degree of repetition with the side content. Furthermore, some of the story missions can require you to do things (like tracking) which aren't always well explained. It's a personal gripe, but I really hate how there's a Legends storyteller every 20 feet.
If you'll allow me to flex my degree for a moment, I have some gripes with the haiku system in the game. I've read a significant chunk of the canonical works of Japanese poetry (the Manyoshu, The Tale of Genji, Tosa Diary, The Kokinshu, etc) and unfortunately I feel like the haiku in this game sort of misrepresent the form in a traditional sense. A lot of Jin's haiku options are WAY too specific and introspective (in a modern sense), and they often ignore the form for the sake of an inflexible metaphor. If you put in the effort, you can definitely make some solid pieces with the options given to you, but some of them do not flow in the way that they should, to my mind. It's a minor complaint but it was one I couldn't ignore.
The story is something of a mixed bag. The central themes of war and inter-family and intergenerational conflict are strong, but the writing isn't always interesting enough to really sell it. There's some good parts for sure, especially the ending to Act 2, but outside of Jin's characterization there aren't really many plot beats that I'd say are all that interesting. The Tales of Tsushima (character sidequests) are pretty good. Masako's story is probably the weakest but still solid, Norio's is cool, and Ishikawa's was my favorite. (Spoilers ahead) I did end up feeling like the final act was a little anticlimactic, especially killing the khan, but I suppose the intention was to focus on Shimura more. Still, the final mission could've included a bigger setpiece with more npcs and perhaps a final scene with all your allies gathered, but I might be being overly critical. As for the final decision, I spared Shimura. To me, letting him live is both the kindest and meanest choice you can pick. It's mean because it's a slap in the face to his pride and his honor, as well as a burning indictment of how he failed the people of Tsushima - a reminder that he will have to live the rest of his life reckoning with the lives he failed to protect just because of his moral code. It's kind because Jin has spent the whole game slaying hordes of people, sinking further and further into the pool of blood - but finds the strength to spare Shimura, even in spite of his actions and his own wish for a warrior's death.
Finally, I'd also just like to touch on how much Sucker Punch did for the quality of life in this game. the most obvious thing is that this game runs fantastically on any console, non-pro PS4 included, and it looks and runs even better on PS5. The loading times were mind bogglingly short on the previous gen and they're essentially non-existent on current gen hardware. The menus and UI are spectacular, giving you so much control in so few button presses, and giving you all the info you need super easily. The guiding wind is a miracle of open world design that adds a ton of immersion. But there's so much more than just that - there's the touchpad sheath sword shortcut, the bow, being able to remove your quiver, having gear sets you can change out on the fly, etc etc etc. While I do like the modern rpg-style Assassin's Creed games, they need to take a page out of SP's book when it comes to the "user experience", for lack of a better term. All the little annoyances that exist in those games and others are absent from this, instead replaced by things that make you go "wow, they really actually did want me to have a good time." That's not even to mention the free Legends content and all the other updates they did for the community. It's also just really really nice to have tons and tons of cosmetic options for gear, and it's rare that a game actually manages to get me hunting for armor colors and sword designs, but I totally fall for it here.
So… I guess those are my thoughts. It's a phenomenal game with one of the strongest open worlds I've ever played. The combat loop is downright addictive, the visuals are unparalleled, the ambiance is incredible, and everything comes together to make a truly fantastic package. I really hope that we get a "Tsushima 2" with new areas and cities in a few years because I'm really just fiending for more. I'm planning on starting Iki Island soon, which I do plan on reviewing as well.
Note: Logging this one in addition to the base game since my playtime was split across both.
I suppose the first thing to say is that this game is absolutely gorgeous. Without a doubt the prettiest and most consistently pretty game I have ever played. After literally 80+ hours I was still getting shocked by the vistas every few minutes. The step away from photorealism to near-fantasy instead was genius. Colors pop everywhere, the lighting is sublime regardless of it being day or night, the trees and grass and flowers all paint the landscape in a way I've never seen before. Part of the reason I waited so long to log this game is because I have spent many hours just wandering the countryside doing nothing remotely story related, just soaking in the landscape and the ambience and getting into minor fights. I was skeptical of it at first but the Kurosawa mode is genuinely pretty neat. Stuff like the fox dens, shrines, onsen, and bamboo cuts are littered throughout the world in just enough quantity that there's always something begging you to check out nearby. I will say, while there are some cool random events that can happen, there definitely could have been more variety. The mythic tales are a special highlight of the game too, not only giving you super cool moves and techniques to play with, but wrapping them up in little mini storylines with their own setpieces and ANIMATED INTROS! How cool is that?
Combat is smooth and buttery, with enough complexity to be constantly engaging but simple enough that you can get into a flow state and just chop dudes up. You've got a variety of styles to play with, too. you can go full stealth mode, you can go archer, you can go pure stagger or pure damage, and that's not even touching on the armor and tool options. I do plan on going back for NG+ and when I do I'll probably play on one of the higher difficulties where you do more damage and take more damage.
That's not to say it's not without faults though. Combat can sometimes be a little frustrating if you're on a back foot and constantly making mistakes, and it's undeniable that there is a certain degree of repetition with the side content. Furthermore, some of the story missions can require you to do things (like tracking) which aren't always well explained. It's a personal gripe, but I really hate how there's a Legends storyteller every 20 feet.
If you'll allow me to flex my degree for a moment, I have some gripes with the haiku system in the game. I've read a significant chunk of the canonical works of Japanese poetry (the Manyoshu, The Tale of Genji, Tosa Diary, The Kokinshu, etc) and unfortunately I feel like the haiku in this game sort of misrepresent the form in a traditional sense. A lot of Jin's haiku options are WAY too specific and introspective (in a modern sense), and they often ignore the form for the sake of an inflexible metaphor. If you put in the effort, you can definitely make some solid pieces with the options given to you, but some of them do not flow in the way that they should, to my mind. It's a minor complaint but it was one I couldn't ignore.
The story is something of a mixed bag. The central themes of war and inter-family and intergenerational conflict are strong, but the writing isn't always interesting enough to really sell it. There's some good parts for sure, especially the ending to Act 2, but outside of Jin's characterization there aren't really many plot beats that I'd say are all that interesting. The Tales of Tsushima (character sidequests) are pretty good. Masako's story is probably the weakest but still solid, Norio's is cool, and Ishikawa's was my favorite. (Spoilers ahead) I did end up feeling like the final act was a little anticlimactic, especially killing the khan, but I suppose the intention was to focus on Shimura more. Still, the final mission could've included a bigger setpiece with more npcs and perhaps a final scene with all your allies gathered, but I might be being overly critical. As for the final decision, I spared Shimura. To me, letting him live is both the kindest and meanest choice you can pick. It's mean because it's a slap in the face to his pride and his honor, as well as a burning indictment of how he failed the people of Tsushima - a reminder that he will have to live the rest of his life reckoning with the lives he failed to protect just because of his moral code. It's kind because Jin has spent the whole game slaying hordes of people, sinking further and further into the pool of blood - but finds the strength to spare Shimura, even in spite of his actions and his own wish for a warrior's death.
Finally, I'd also just like to touch on how much Sucker Punch did for the quality of life in this game. the most obvious thing is that this game runs fantastically on any console, non-pro PS4 included, and it looks and runs even better on PS5. The loading times were mind bogglingly short on the previous gen and they're essentially non-existent on current gen hardware. The menus and UI are spectacular, giving you so much control in so few button presses, and giving you all the info you need super easily. The guiding wind is a miracle of open world design that adds a ton of immersion. But there's so much more than just that - there's the touchpad sheath sword shortcut, the bow, being able to remove your quiver, having gear sets you can change out on the fly, etc etc etc. While I do like the modern rpg-style Assassin's Creed games, they need to take a page out of SP's book when it comes to the "user experience", for lack of a better term. All the little annoyances that exist in those games and others are absent from this, instead replaced by things that make you go "wow, they really actually did want me to have a good time." That's not even to mention the free Legends content and all the other updates they did for the community. It's also just really really nice to have tons and tons of cosmetic options for gear, and it's rare that a game actually manages to get me hunting for armor colors and sword designs, but I totally fall for it here.
So… I guess those are my thoughts. It's a phenomenal game with one of the strongest open worlds I've ever played. The combat loop is downright addictive, the visuals are unparalleled, the ambiance is incredible, and everything comes together to make a truly fantastic package. I really hope that we get a "Tsushima 2" with new areas and cities in a few years because I'm really just fiending for more. I'm planning on starting Iki Island soon, which I do plan on reviewing as well.
Note: Logging this one in addition to the base game since my playtime was split across both.
Ghost of Tsushima is a game that exists in a similar space to Jedi Fallen Order for me. That is, it's based in that first party Sony game style of the last 10 years (see TLOU or GOW 2018), but diverges enough that it feels like its own thing, most of the time. What it keeps from those games is the camera angle (close behind the right shoulder), the slightly stylized realism art-style (though this feels more stylized than most, in how the game is filled with bright colors and gorgeous article effects), and the kinda plodding prestige tv show pacing. What's different here is the combat, of course, which is a pretty tight souls-ish feeling system, the structure (TLOU isn't an Ubisoft-em-up last I checked), and the storytelling style? All of this is kind of a mixed bag as to how it turned out, I think, with the only real successes for me being the combat and the storytelling. It's a good game altogether, it's just.. very flabby.
Read the rest of the review here
Read the rest of the review here
Beautiful game. Counting this as both the base and DLC, as that’s what the Director’s Cut entails. I had no idea this was so long but it ruled. Slow to start, but the payoff was amazing. Story was cliche yet so well executed and acted that it nailed it. I ended up really attached to the cast and their stories. DLC was a beautiful epilogue and a lot of fun extra content clearly more designed around the PS5’s haptics. In an era where games which opt for a realism artstyle often don’t shoot for bright colors, it’s refreshing to see them here. Great game, except the third area of the base game is significantly shorter and less varied in terrain and visuals. It’s just much less interesting and I suppose is a consequence of creating an open world game where progress is also gated at times.
Ghost of Tsushima is a wildly beautiful and interesting game that turns into a confused experience due to a needlessly wide ambition coupled with inadequate direction. In this (needlessly long) review I will explore what I find to be the strenghts and weaknesses, try to imagine what could have been and then conclude.
ACT I: Another one of those
In many ways Ghost of Tsushima is the best version of the games it derives its formula from. But despite the well crafted combat system that synnergizes with the narrative experience and aesthetic, despite the small but meaningful solutions to the challenge of designing an open world game - boring mission structure, lifeless characters and flat storytelling holds the game back from being more than just another open world adventure, no matter how visually stunning it might be.
I have already played Assasin's Creed, Far Cry and Elder Scrolls. I've played them many times in other games with other names on the box. So when Ghost of Tsushima actually brings new ideas to this table I can't help being dissappointed when it at the same time tries to include a needless amount of elements from these aformentioned games, seemingly without a strong reason, without doing these elements justice. Trailing missions, thin and meaningless side quests, the collecting - all these elements end up feeling superflous.
An open world samurai game with a strong narrative isn't a bad idea at all, but in Ghost of Tsushima it seems obvious that there are parts of the game that the developers were trually passionate about and parts that are just left in there to meet the expectations that come with the formula.
Somewhere along the way the designers should have honed in on what is special and strong in what Ghost of Tsushima was becoming. The forces preventing this subtraction might just be the nature of AAA game development, but regardless I think it ends up a failure of direction.
ACT II: Trickery in game design
The scope is wide and in trying to realize all of these components, the designers have to ressort to tricks. Tricks that when repeated too many times in non elegant ways cheapens the experience. I realize “tricks” have a somewhat negative connotation but I believe when done elegantly with variation, they make an impossible task more possible and don’t diminish the trust between the gamer and the designer. When a magician is good at his “tricks”, the feeling of magic is undeniable, but in this game I feel the magic is disrupted too often.
Having a ton of dialogue with a large amount of characters within an open world calls for a unified system that is coherent through the game. Sadly, the system deployed in Ghost of Tsushima results in less expressive characters and a frankly lifeless world. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (a very old game) the characters move around as they talk, they slam tables in anger, they emote. In Ghost of Tsushima, they stand in place, stone faced in mostly static camera angles, or way too wide camera angles, as if to hide the fact that they don’t emote much. Sometimes they fall to their knees and weep, that's about it.
Visually the game is stunning and technologically impressive, but the way it moves sometimes feels less expressive than way older games. This fact is especially surpricing concidering Sucker Punch's other work (while I don't particulary enjoy it) at least has a lot of expressive characters and dynamic scenes.
Another trick deployed is the constant fading to black. An example would be you playing a mission and at some point a character doing something that demands a unique animation. In a more linear/shorter game it would be more reasonable to either commit to developing this animation (if the action performed is important enough) or avoiding developing the animation in the most elegant way possible. In God of War, when the blacksmiths tinker with stuff, it's either out of view of the camera or they let them just hit the Leviathan axe with one magic blow, the solution or trick there being “magic”. But in Ghost of Tsushima the only solution is sadly to fade the screen to black every single time. It is consistant and most players get used to it I would guess, but it contributes to the diminishing of immersion, in my opinion.
ACT III: Kicking the dog
Having Jin struggle with the choice of either adhering to the moral code of his family or saving his people, meanwhile sacrificing his own humanity, becoming the ghost is a strong idea, and turns out well executed to a large extent. The consequences of using poison in the final stretch of the story is what finally pushes Jin to have to embrace the identity of the ghost. Though this is a nice tool for the story I would have liked Jin to be more disgusted with the consequences, instead of him continuing to use the poison. It seems a bit out of character for the Jin they’ve built up to this point. While a lot of the same points get reitterated over and over, I think the development of Jin's character and his relationship with the world is handled somewhat with grace. The bigger problems I have with the story have more to do with the world and other characters on Tsushima.
There is a trope within storytelling that is called "kicking the dog" (that you may already know about), where the writer makes the antagonist do something cruel and evil, seemingly for no gain. This is done to shift the sympathy away from this character and often to manipulate the audience to be satisfied when the protagonist defeats this evil being. I wish the developers wouldn’t have relied so heavily on this trick and given more nuance to the characters, instead the world seems overly black and white. Maybe this is somewhat inevitable due to the historical reality of the situation but I imagine it could have been handled differently.
The Khan is evil for no apparent reason and the only thing NPCs are good for (most of the time) is making the Khan seem more evil when they are slaughtered. The story utilizes this as an engine driving Jin's story forward. But is this enough as an engine when repeated so heavely? There is some other stuff going on for sure, japanese turning on each other in fear, struggling with the effects of war, some family drama. But I can't help feeling like the world is realized in a low resolution in this sense.
This I feel contributes to the conclusion that most important parts of this game would have been better fitted for a more linear and shorter game. The open world-nature of the game more often ends up detracting from the experience as a whole. It almost feels like they made (at least) two different games that pull in different directions and then forced them together. This realization and redirection may be expensive but I believe it would have been necessary to make the best game possible.
Making the best "open world Ghost of Tsushima" possible would have meant even more changes. Mainly in the character of Jin and main quest, but I think this is a less interesting path, as the innovations in the open world structure are few as it stands.
ACT IV: Unique elements
The strengths - on the other hand - can be found in the visual aesthetic, the combat system, how the game through design guides the player to a relaxed mood, as well as in some parts of the story and the careful treatment of the historical nature of the game.
There are three things I find especially unique and interesting in Ghost of Tsushima.
1: Guiding Wind
The wind guiding Jin to his objective is one of the most successful combinings of story and game design I've seen in an open world game in a while, as it simultaniously solves the problem of UI clutter and ties a game design element to the story of the character of Jin / the relationship to his father. A solution akin to something like the healthbar in Dead Space.
2: Haikus
Often when playing the game it invites the player to a harmonic mood, while just travelling through the beautiful landscapes, following foxes and birds around. But the idea of having Jin compose haikus is the most powerful component of this phenomenon.
Many action-filled games try to add balance to the experience by for example adding quiet moments between fights, but Ghost of Tsushima shows that this could be done in a more substantial and creative way and I think other AAA developers should take note.
3: Legends Storyteller
Having a multiplayer component to a singleplayer story game have allways been a somewhat tricky thing. Often it leads to an obvious dissonance that players have come to accept for the benefit of the fun experience that can be gained by turning a blind eye. An example being having two Master Chiefs in the campaign and so on. Selldom does these two components synnergize, but in Ghost of Tsushima they do. Having an NPC telling stories, mytholizing the Ghost and at the same time playing this mythology in Legends mode is a absolutely brilliant idea. Not only does it remove the dissonance often found in the combination of these elements but it makes the sum greater than its parts.
Bonus Thing: All of the historical stuff is really nice. This attention to detail gives the player a lot of faith in the game world.
ACT V: 結論
While playing the game I imagine a different version where the strongest and most unique components of the game are more thouroughly explored/enhanced and these other components subtracted from the game.
Ghost of Tsushima has a stealth component, but never explores it deeply. Ghost of Tsushima has a platforming system with climbing and swinging using the grapple hook, but never explores it deeply. Instead I find myself wanting a more linear and minimalistic experience, drawing inspiration from games like Shadow of The Colossus, blending it with the cinematic story of a Kurosawa film. A game where the characters feel alive and real. A game where passionate characters with understandable desires clash in epic sword fights, regardless if they are good or bad guys.
I don't think that is what Ghost of Tsushima 2 will be. Maybe it would have been a more impactful original game, maybe not. But this is my opinion in conclusion.
ACT I: Another one of those
In many ways Ghost of Tsushima is the best version of the games it derives its formula from. But despite the well crafted combat system that synnergizes with the narrative experience and aesthetic, despite the small but meaningful solutions to the challenge of designing an open world game - boring mission structure, lifeless characters and flat storytelling holds the game back from being more than just another open world adventure, no matter how visually stunning it might be.
I have already played Assasin's Creed, Far Cry and Elder Scrolls. I've played them many times in other games with other names on the box. So when Ghost of Tsushima actually brings new ideas to this table I can't help being dissappointed when it at the same time tries to include a needless amount of elements from these aformentioned games, seemingly without a strong reason, without doing these elements justice. Trailing missions, thin and meaningless side quests, the collecting - all these elements end up feeling superflous.
An open world samurai game with a strong narrative isn't a bad idea at all, but in Ghost of Tsushima it seems obvious that there are parts of the game that the developers were trually passionate about and parts that are just left in there to meet the expectations that come with the formula.
Somewhere along the way the designers should have honed in on what is special and strong in what Ghost of Tsushima was becoming. The forces preventing this subtraction might just be the nature of AAA game development, but regardless I think it ends up a failure of direction.
ACT II: Trickery in game design
The scope is wide and in trying to realize all of these components, the designers have to ressort to tricks. Tricks that when repeated too many times in non elegant ways cheapens the experience. I realize “tricks” have a somewhat negative connotation but I believe when done elegantly with variation, they make an impossible task more possible and don’t diminish the trust between the gamer and the designer. When a magician is good at his “tricks”, the feeling of magic is undeniable, but in this game I feel the magic is disrupted too often.
Having a ton of dialogue with a large amount of characters within an open world calls for a unified system that is coherent through the game. Sadly, the system deployed in Ghost of Tsushima results in less expressive characters and a frankly lifeless world. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (a very old game) the characters move around as they talk, they slam tables in anger, they emote. In Ghost of Tsushima, they stand in place, stone faced in mostly static camera angles, or way too wide camera angles, as if to hide the fact that they don’t emote much. Sometimes they fall to their knees and weep, that's about it.
Visually the game is stunning and technologically impressive, but the way it moves sometimes feels less expressive than way older games. This fact is especially surpricing concidering Sucker Punch's other work (while I don't particulary enjoy it) at least has a lot of expressive characters and dynamic scenes.
Another trick deployed is the constant fading to black. An example would be you playing a mission and at some point a character doing something that demands a unique animation. In a more linear/shorter game it would be more reasonable to either commit to developing this animation (if the action performed is important enough) or avoiding developing the animation in the most elegant way possible. In God of War, when the blacksmiths tinker with stuff, it's either out of view of the camera or they let them just hit the Leviathan axe with one magic blow, the solution or trick there being “magic”. But in Ghost of Tsushima the only solution is sadly to fade the screen to black every single time. It is consistant and most players get used to it I would guess, but it contributes to the diminishing of immersion, in my opinion.
ACT III: Kicking the dog
Having Jin struggle with the choice of either adhering to the moral code of his family or saving his people, meanwhile sacrificing his own humanity, becoming the ghost is a strong idea, and turns out well executed to a large extent. The consequences of using poison in the final stretch of the story is what finally pushes Jin to have to embrace the identity of the ghost. Though this is a nice tool for the story I would have liked Jin to be more disgusted with the consequences, instead of him continuing to use the poison. It seems a bit out of character for the Jin they’ve built up to this point. While a lot of the same points get reitterated over and over, I think the development of Jin's character and his relationship with the world is handled somewhat with grace. The bigger problems I have with the story have more to do with the world and other characters on Tsushima.
There is a trope within storytelling that is called "kicking the dog" (that you may already know about), where the writer makes the antagonist do something cruel and evil, seemingly for no gain. This is done to shift the sympathy away from this character and often to manipulate the audience to be satisfied when the protagonist defeats this evil being. I wish the developers wouldn’t have relied so heavily on this trick and given more nuance to the characters, instead the world seems overly black and white. Maybe this is somewhat inevitable due to the historical reality of the situation but I imagine it could have been handled differently.
The Khan is evil for no apparent reason and the only thing NPCs are good for (most of the time) is making the Khan seem more evil when they are slaughtered. The story utilizes this as an engine driving Jin's story forward. But is this enough as an engine when repeated so heavely? There is some other stuff going on for sure, japanese turning on each other in fear, struggling with the effects of war, some family drama. But I can't help feeling like the world is realized in a low resolution in this sense.
This I feel contributes to the conclusion that most important parts of this game would have been better fitted for a more linear and shorter game. The open world-nature of the game more often ends up detracting from the experience as a whole. It almost feels like they made (at least) two different games that pull in different directions and then forced them together. This realization and redirection may be expensive but I believe it would have been necessary to make the best game possible.
Making the best "open world Ghost of Tsushima" possible would have meant even more changes. Mainly in the character of Jin and main quest, but I think this is a less interesting path, as the innovations in the open world structure are few as it stands.
ACT IV: Unique elements
The strengths - on the other hand - can be found in the visual aesthetic, the combat system, how the game through design guides the player to a relaxed mood, as well as in some parts of the story and the careful treatment of the historical nature of the game.
There are three things I find especially unique and interesting in Ghost of Tsushima.
1: Guiding Wind
The wind guiding Jin to his objective is one of the most successful combinings of story and game design I've seen in an open world game in a while, as it simultaniously solves the problem of UI clutter and ties a game design element to the story of the character of Jin / the relationship to his father. A solution akin to something like the healthbar in Dead Space.
2: Haikus
Often when playing the game it invites the player to a harmonic mood, while just travelling through the beautiful landscapes, following foxes and birds around. But the idea of having Jin compose haikus is the most powerful component of this phenomenon.
Many action-filled games try to add balance to the experience by for example adding quiet moments between fights, but Ghost of Tsushima shows that this could be done in a more substantial and creative way and I think other AAA developers should take note.
3: Legends Storyteller
Having a multiplayer component to a singleplayer story game have allways been a somewhat tricky thing. Often it leads to an obvious dissonance that players have come to accept for the benefit of the fun experience that can be gained by turning a blind eye. An example being having two Master Chiefs in the campaign and so on. Selldom does these two components synnergize, but in Ghost of Tsushima they do. Having an NPC telling stories, mytholizing the Ghost and at the same time playing this mythology in Legends mode is a absolutely brilliant idea. Not only does it remove the dissonance often found in the combination of these elements but it makes the sum greater than its parts.
Bonus Thing: All of the historical stuff is really nice. This attention to detail gives the player a lot of faith in the game world.
ACT V: 結論
While playing the game I imagine a different version where the strongest and most unique components of the game are more thouroughly explored/enhanced and these other components subtracted from the game.
Ghost of Tsushima has a stealth component, but never explores it deeply. Ghost of Tsushima has a platforming system with climbing and swinging using the grapple hook, but never explores it deeply. Instead I find myself wanting a more linear and minimalistic experience, drawing inspiration from games like Shadow of The Colossus, blending it with the cinematic story of a Kurosawa film. A game where the characters feel alive and real. A game where passionate characters with understandable desires clash in epic sword fights, regardless if they are good or bad guys.
I don't think that is what Ghost of Tsushima 2 will be. Maybe it would have been a more impactful original game, maybe not. But this is my opinion in conclusion.
Ghost of Tsushima is a stunning open-world game where, even after years, some of its effects are still mesmerizing to look at. Its cinematic combat and stealth tools make for a delightful experience to play and observe. Everything is wrapped in a well-told story that culminates in an epic and emotional ending. The only thing I could ask to be better, if they ever do a sequel, would be side-content rewards. Past a certain point, you really have no incentive to play them beyond the stories they tell.
This game is so gorgeous, one of the best I’ve ever seen. Gameplay wise it’s very similar to assassin’s creed, stealth sections and all. The open world was pretty fun to explore, taking in all the sights and finding the miscellaneous tasks was a good time. The story was good, nothing amazing but still had me engaged throughout. Solid 8/10
Ghost of Tsushima is what happens when style and passion collides with safe, bland, AAA gaming.
I can’t comment on whether or not the upgrade from PS4 is worth it as this release was my first experience with Ghost of Tsushima. Although I can say that the Iki Island expansion is just more of the same.
Ghost of Tsushima commits the same sins as a lot of other recent games - open world with a bunch of unnecessary, uninspired side activities, side missions, resource collecting, upgrades, light RPG stuff, collectables and camps to clear. Basically it’s a big map that’s really a repetitive checklist. It is bloated, goes on too long and does not respect the player’s time.
The gameplay is fun, especially in the early hours of play, but it doesn’t have enough depth or variety to last the games run time. Standoffs are cool at first but get old. Combat is simple but satisfying and they give you just enough options to keep things fun for a while. Stealth is shallow and enemy AI is poor. For some reason there is too much linear, tedious climbing and you feel too floaty when jumping about. Exploration doesn’t feel very rewarding and riding about starts to drag.
The story is enjoyable but doesn’t really do anything interesting or get you heavily invested. The game starts off and ends pretty well but of course most of the game is drawn out. The characters are good but not super memorable. I enjoyed that the game had some humour from time to time which certainly helped break things up a bit.
So what really elevates Ghost of Tsushima above the competition? First of all I think people really wanted an open world, historical, Japanese, Samurai game and this definitely got my attention. Then there is the style. This game looks beautiful and not because it tries to push the limits of technology. It’s the art direction, the colours, the constant beautiful views, the wind and weather, the commitment to the time period while also not being dedicated to realism.
The other thing that comes across is the developer’s passion for the location, time period, Samurai culture and other media that has done this before. It’s clear that a lot of research was done when creating this game. I enjoyed it so much that I found myself looking up Tsushima, Iki and Mongol and Japanese history. The inspiration from Samurai films shines through as well and I appreciated the visual options. I played this in Japanese with English subtitles and had a good time soaking it all in.
Overall I enjoyed my time playing Ghost of Tsushima but there was plenty of monotony. I am not in any hurry to play it again or get a sequel. If you’re looking for an open world, AAA, PS4 era game I would probably recommend Ghost of Tsushima over the competition.
7.3/10
I can’t comment on whether or not the upgrade from PS4 is worth it as this release was my first experience with Ghost of Tsushima. Although I can say that the Iki Island expansion is just more of the same.
Ghost of Tsushima commits the same sins as a lot of other recent games - open world with a bunch of unnecessary, uninspired side activities, side missions, resource collecting, upgrades, light RPG stuff, collectables and camps to clear. Basically it’s a big map that’s really a repetitive checklist. It is bloated, goes on too long and does not respect the player’s time.
The gameplay is fun, especially in the early hours of play, but it doesn’t have enough depth or variety to last the games run time. Standoffs are cool at first but get old. Combat is simple but satisfying and they give you just enough options to keep things fun for a while. Stealth is shallow and enemy AI is poor. For some reason there is too much linear, tedious climbing and you feel too floaty when jumping about. Exploration doesn’t feel very rewarding and riding about starts to drag.
The story is enjoyable but doesn’t really do anything interesting or get you heavily invested. The game starts off and ends pretty well but of course most of the game is drawn out. The characters are good but not super memorable. I enjoyed that the game had some humour from time to time which certainly helped break things up a bit.
So what really elevates Ghost of Tsushima above the competition? First of all I think people really wanted an open world, historical, Japanese, Samurai game and this definitely got my attention. Then there is the style. This game looks beautiful and not because it tries to push the limits of technology. It’s the art direction, the colours, the constant beautiful views, the wind and weather, the commitment to the time period while also not being dedicated to realism.
The other thing that comes across is the developer’s passion for the location, time period, Samurai culture and other media that has done this before. It’s clear that a lot of research was done when creating this game. I enjoyed it so much that I found myself looking up Tsushima, Iki and Mongol and Japanese history. The inspiration from Samurai films shines through as well and I appreciated the visual options. I played this in Japanese with English subtitles and had a good time soaking it all in.
Overall I enjoyed my time playing Ghost of Tsushima but there was plenty of monotony. I am not in any hurry to play it again or get a sequel. If you’re looking for an open world, AAA, PS4 era game I would probably recommend Ghost of Tsushima over the competition.
7.3/10
It's not fair to rate a game I haven't even come close to finishing, so I won't. But man... did I bounce off this quickly.
This is just a prettier and slightly more exciting Assassin's Creed. I got bored of the gameplay so quickly that I had to practically force myself to even turn on my PS5 for a second session before giving up entirely.
To the people who enjoy this type of Ubisoft-monogame... am I missing something? When does this get exciting? How is this different from any other open world side quest-a-thon?
Maybe I'm gonna give this game another shot some day, but for now it'll collect dust in my backlogs. So glad I didn't actually spend any money on this.
This is just a prettier and slightly more exciting Assassin's Creed. I got bored of the gameplay so quickly that I had to practically force myself to even turn on my PS5 for a second session before giving up entirely.
To the people who enjoy this type of Ubisoft-monogame... am I missing something? When does this get exciting? How is this different from any other open world side quest-a-thon?
Maybe I'm gonna give this game another shot some day, but for now it'll collect dust in my backlogs. So glad I didn't actually spend any money on this.
Absolutely amazing game, from the gorgeous world design to the slick combat. The last area in the north is a little lacklustre, but the ending makes up for it in spades. Played in Japanese for the most authentic experience.
Wow i didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did.
Ghost of Tsushima isn't a groundbreaking openworld game, but it is REALLY REALLY fun :3
Easily the weakest aspect of this game is it's story. While I wouldn't call it bad, it is very bland. The game has the pieces to a good story with Jin's weakening honor, his quest for revenge, and his pursuit to free his people, but it doesn't say much with any of this. The acting is pretty much the same. Very serviceable, with only a few stand out moments.
But the gameplay? That's a whooole 'nother story.
While exploration is also kind weak, that is wear the faults of this game end. Ghost Of Tushima's traversal is actually really fun. Sure it's not groundbreaking or anything. It doesnt come close to a game like TOTK, or Spiderman 2, but it's much better than GOW or FF7 remake.
While riding your horse, running, jumping, and climbing are all ok, it's how these aspects mix together with the grappling hook that really make things fun.
There's these optional shrines that can give you a strong charm if you complete lengthy platforming puzzle. And while I found little use for most of the shrines (since most of them just give minor stat upgrades), I'd still do the shrines because of how much fun it was to jump, climb, and swing around. :D
My only problem with the grappling hook is that the game barely takes advantage of it, so ends up feeling missed potential. Sure there's a few enemy camps, and Iki island puzzles where you can do some cool platforming, but I would've liked more.
Combat is fucking FIREEE thooo. Sure it's not as crazy as something like Bayonetta or DMC, but it's still really fun :3
The game really shines when it gives you an enemy camp, and says "Go". Ghost of Tushima gives you soooo manyyy options to kill your enemies. You can stab them, blow them up, shoot them, assassinate them, trample them with your horse, and sooo much more.
The boss fights in the game are pretty great too! Again, they aren't insane, and they do take away all of your combat tools other than your sword, but I didn't mind that. Ghost of Tsushima's combat system is honestly strong enough to make pure sword fights really fun.
You can get pretty fancy with you combos if you know what you're doing, and mixing up your attacks on a boss with a Ghost stance, or a dance of wrath never got old.
Oh, also the clothing in this game is FIIIIREEEEEEE
THANK U SUCKER PUNCH FOR GIVING JIN SO MUCH SAUCE
Ghost of Tsushima isn't a groundbreaking openworld game, but it is REALLY REALLY fun :3
Easily the weakest aspect of this game is it's story. While I wouldn't call it bad, it is very bland. The game has the pieces to a good story with Jin's weakening honor, his quest for revenge, and his pursuit to free his people, but it doesn't say much with any of this. The acting is pretty much the same. Very serviceable, with only a few stand out moments.
But the gameplay? That's a whooole 'nother story.
While exploration is also kind weak, that is wear the faults of this game end. Ghost Of Tushima's traversal is actually really fun. Sure it's not groundbreaking or anything. It doesnt come close to a game like TOTK, or Spiderman 2, but it's much better than GOW or FF7 remake.
While riding your horse, running, jumping, and climbing are all ok, it's how these aspects mix together with the grappling hook that really make things fun.
There's these optional shrines that can give you a strong charm if you complete lengthy platforming puzzle. And while I found little use for most of the shrines (since most of them just give minor stat upgrades), I'd still do the shrines because of how much fun it was to jump, climb, and swing around. :D
My only problem with the grappling hook is that the game barely takes advantage of it, so ends up feeling missed potential. Sure there's a few enemy camps, and Iki island puzzles where you can do some cool platforming, but I would've liked more.
Combat is fucking FIREEE thooo. Sure it's not as crazy as something like Bayonetta or DMC, but it's still really fun :3
The game really shines when it gives you an enemy camp, and says "Go". Ghost of Tushima gives you soooo manyyy options to kill your enemies. You can stab them, blow them up, shoot them, assassinate them, trample them with your horse, and sooo much more.
The boss fights in the game are pretty great too! Again, they aren't insane, and they do take away all of your combat tools other than your sword, but I didn't mind that. Ghost of Tsushima's combat system is honestly strong enough to make pure sword fights really fun.
You can get pretty fancy with you combos if you know what you're doing, and mixing up your attacks on a boss with a Ghost stance, or a dance of wrath never got old.
Oh, also the clothing in this game is FIIIIREEEEEEE
THANK U SUCKER PUNCH FOR GIVING JIN SO MUCH SAUCE
Artistically; it paid my rent, gave me sloppy head, and slipped some cash into my wallet on the way out. But mechanically; it's just like every other girl.
There's nothing particularly wrong about this game, in fact, it's really well made. I was just kinda bored a lot of the time since it feels very derivative of most AAA open-world games, especially Ubisoft ones.
The ending was fantastic tho.
The ending was fantastic tho.
Ghost of Tsushima é uma experiência bem especial pra quem curte cultura japonesa e principalmente sobre samurais, é um deslumbre visual e um combate bem decente, trás mecânicas próprias como o vento guiar o caminho, os confrontos, é um game dahora, mas assumo que não curti igual muita gente gostou, investi em ver a história sem pular, algo que não tinha paciência com Horizon e mesmo que tenha momentos empolgantes esse foi de longe um dos grandes pontos fracos do game, além da estrutura de gameplay básica que é bem similar a um jogo mundo aberto comum, o que não é ruim, só não destaca. Foi um experiência legal, mas que não deve ficar marcante em minha mente, até joguei 1h30/2h da DLC mas infelizmente não estava me divertindo, já tava me sentindo satisfeito com o game.
The ultimate samurai fantasy
A beautiful yet morbid perspective into the invasion of Tsushima in 1274, Ghost of Tsushima manages to fulfill the samurai fantasy internalized in me throughout the years, having a great story that made me emotional at certain bits and somehow putting their own twist in the "ubisoft open world" formula that manages to bends but not break it in a stylish and incredible way. You can tell Sucker Punch has put a lot of effort into this title being a complete tonal shift from their previous works with Second Son with its super hero esque gameplay with a punk rock aesthetic into the historical grounded epic we have now.
The main story/tales of Jin Sakai's struggle with the invasion and keeping his ethics and doing whatever it takes to protect his home from the Mongols is an interesting topic to extend on here due to the opening of the game essentially setting the stage for the entirety of the game. I will also surprising recommend experiencing this game in Japanese with English subtitles considering I feel it does the game more justice and this is coming from someone that always prefers English audio most of the time even with Japanese games. Jin doesn't like what he's doing but he realizes he has to adapt and improvise considering his "samurai way" will just have him end up killed and leaving Tsushima to the Mongols. The supporting cast is also excellent having Yuna essentially being an early foil for Jin, his uncle who always supported him and the rest of the remaining few that survived that lend him their aid. I won't lie that there were a few emotional moments I didn't really expect to feel during this game and this all also in lies with the cinematography this game manages to have and excel in. The soundtrack feels like it comes from an epic samurai flick and elevates these moments even further as Jin delves into the mentality and mortality of his actions. The ending was extremely powerful and made the thirty hour journey worth it.
The side stories/tales offer a grander perspective on the conditions of what the people of Tsushima are suffering through. Almost every tale shows the desperation, tragedy, and sorrow the regular people went through as a cost of war. People will lose loved ones, people will want revenge against each other, people will make one final request of you before their final breath. One of the most tragic tales is one relating to Masako, one of the main supporting cast scouring the battlefield for her dead family and it's incredibly depressing as they talked about the various samurai's fate like a son taking the place of an old father or a best friend giving their life for the other. It felt thematically appropriate with the whole game and each of these side tales have such an emotional core in them that I didn't expect from this game. The main supporting casts also have their own chains of side tales as well and while mostly focused on revenge that stemmed from the mongol invasion, they really do a great job of fleshing out these characters that you wouldn't have had the chance in the main narrative.
The quest format and the exploration of Tsushima might be the most contentious topic about this game due to the fact that on the surface, it doesn't really reinvent the wheel but I don't think open world games need to if they're done with effort and care as Ghost of Tsushima has done. The overall exploration consists of a fog of war and markers on the map that could be a slew of activities and locations that empower Jin not only physically and mentally as well. The sense of direction used to guide you isn't a marker most of the time but the direction of the way the wind representative of your father spirit in which blowing which makes the journey more spiritual than most. Shinto Shrines which act as platforming obstacle courses reward you with a powerful charm and a rare resource for upgrading your bows, The hot springs locations act as a small moment for Jin to reflect on his situation and current events while serving the gameplay purpose of increasing his maximum health by a small amount each time he finds one, Bamboo strikes which act as a test of Jin's swordsmanship based on the real life activity of tameshigiri that relies on pressing the button sequence fast enough which rewards you with increased Resolve which servers as your means of healing and activating certain abilities, inari shrines that rely on following a fox around to the shrine that's hidden in the world that rewards you with enhanced charms and the ability to equip more. Some of the other activities mostly reward you with cosmetics such as writing haikus in specific areas via multiple choices and serves as another chance to refresh Jin's mind with the reward of a headband with the description of your own haiku in it despite not having too many options for each part of the haiku to begin with, pillars of honor that leave behind a sword and tanto redesign for Jin and the more combat intensive activities such as clearing the lighthouses and the duels across the island itself. I will say the duels are probably my favorite highlight of the side activities and it's a criminal shame there's so few of them. All of them are always in this beautiful landscape like near a waterfall or around the blossom petals dropping not to mention being the most challenging and fun part of the combat. There's also the standard collectible items that don't really serve too much of a purpose and the fortunate part is that you don't need to collect all of them for the platinum here. The best thing about completing this game is how seamless the whole experience was. You get an outfit pretty early on called the Traveler's Attire which essentially lets the wind guide you to these specific places and collectibles without the real tedium. Random events also happen that garner supplies and contribute to your own legend. Completing all of the outposts that reveal a bit of the map will eventually reveal all of the exploration spots on the maps which makes things even less tedious. I think some people won't like having everything revealed to them but it makes the game want you to platinum/100% it. All of this accompanying building your own legend. I actually love this system as it fits thematically with the game itself. The first rank is a broken down samurai with nothing going for him and by doing deeds, the main story and defeating mongols but later on, people will start to revere you and the mongols will almost fear you in shock as you become more powerful as these also grant health and resolve upgrades as well. Doing each side tale and special legendary ones that unlocks unique stuff felt like I was just building onto Jin's legacy even more and felt like I was truly becoming one of the most dangerous people in that era and the game does an excellent job presenting that idea to you. If I had one complaint about the exploration though, it would be the huge abundance of inari shrines in the game. While each activity has around 10-20 instances of it throughout the game, inari shrines results in a whopping 49 that will feel a bit repetitive after a while.
The way of the blade isn't the only set of skills Jin Sakai has during his own epic. He mainly has two styles of gameplay, the honorable samurai that faces his enemies at their face and the ghost that kills them from the shadows. Not only can he use a sword well but employs all sorts of tricks and equipment that lets him even the odds. First of all, I do recommend playing the game on Hard all the way through. It provides a decent challenge while still giving you the power fantasy of killing over ten mongols in a row with adequate skill but as always, play how you want as my opinions on the combat will stem from that difficulty. You have your standard fast regular attacks and charge attacks that will stagger enemies if applied enough pressure and the most important aspect about these is the stance system. You will get four stances throughout your playthrough and each one has different sword strikes and are more effective with a specific type of enemy such as one stance good against spear men and vice versa. Parrying is also extremely important here especially in duels as you have two forms of parrying, a regular parry which gives you a window to attack and a perfect parry which gives a bigger window to do even more damage. A cool aspect of this is that difficulty affects how tight the parry windows are so you can't spam the guard button and hope to get it off. The swordplay is incredibly satisfying but Jin doesn't only use his sword in combat. He has a variety of tools he uses as "the Ghost" such as kunai will provides multiple free staggers, smoke bombs that buy you some time and grab some free kills on top of that, sticky bombs which sticks to a person and can one someone most of the time and flame oil you can use to go through guard heavy enemies when needed. He also doesn't need to fight from melee range either as he has a half bow which is faster, less damage and used for medium range combat which uses regular arrows and fire arrows. He also has a variety of other tools that mostly aid in his endeavors in stealth. Bell chimes serve a specific purpose of luring one singular person away from a location and firecrackers draw away as many people as there are. Jin also has a few more techniques and tools at his disposal but I don't want to ruin the surprise of receiving these tools.
It's not a samurai fantasy without the fashion and the techniques you can do in Ghost of Tsushima though. You have your standard samurai armor, the ronin garb, the vagabond look also not to mention a lot of hats and masks to shield your own identity. Almost everything I can think of what I want to wear in a samurai game is truly here and each have their own gameplay effects that affects your playstyle such as more health, less detection and more resolve gains. You can freely ignore these at a certain point unless you truly love to minmax but looking the part of how you want to look is something huge for me. Jin can learn specific moves that can make quick work of enemies as the cost of resolve which also acts as extra health when needed making it a risk or reward scenario but the animations for each swing and technique is satisfying.
You can tell they are proud of the soundtrack and the art design of the world themselves. The syncing of specific moments with the orchestra playing their ass off with a motif that gives off hope and desperation. Exploring Tsushima just for the visual spectacle is worth the entry fee alone as well. Traversing fields full of vibrant flowers makes the game feel like a next generation experience that it's almost surprising this game was on a PlayStation 4 initially. The photo mode is proof they are proud of their work. An example of creating something beautiful would be this screenshot I took using said photo mode. The luscious fields almost feels deceiving as the horrors of war and invasion are also there front and center. Burned bodies, beheaded peasants and the total chaos that the mongols have been known for is front and center and some of it also feels grotesque in a sense.
I also wanted to mention some things that are specific to the Director's Cut version of the game on PlayStation 5 that really enhances a few things about the game that I think are important. A huge majority of this is the Iki Island expansion which provides more of Ghost of Tsushima. A small map but new activities such as using your controller to tilt with the melody of the flute, archery challenges and specific puzzle shrines that require specific solutions along with some extra bamboo strikes and baths for additional stats. The overall story relies on Jin's relationship with his father and delves into the aftermath of certain events along with introducing some new characters. A short and sweet expansion nonetheless and even more content for a game that has a lot of it already. The PlayStation 5 version of this game is truly impressive for two factors being that it's already in 4K 60 fps regardless of the setting which makes the game even more gorgeous and essentially no loading times even through using fast travel or even booting up the game. Small additions includes japanese lip syncing which is needed and haptic feedback which is used wonderfully and the adaptive triggers mostly used for the bows. Not much else other than the digital deluxe stuff here as well.
One of the most surprising aspects of this game is that it has a multiplayer mode with the title of Legends. I haven't played a lot of it but it was a pretty fun experience despite being completely free with the main game. You have four classes you can play as with their own playstyle as you go through missions and some specific story events even. The great gameplay is still here but more reliant on teamwork such as needing to kill two people at the exact same time for them to actually die. There's also a survival mode and even a three part raid from what I read in the menu. A truly impressive suite of things to do which gives the game a bit more value in an already expansive game.
The most obvious influences this game takes from is Akira Kurosawa films and even has a mode dedicated to him replicating his original black and white movies. I can't speak of Kurosawa only really watching Seven Samurai (specifically because of this game) but I can say Ghost of Tsushima shares the same human spirit that the movie had of banding together in the face of adversity. But I digress, I almost forget that Ghost of Tsushima which is a extremely japanese centric game based on real life history of the island was made by an American studio. They have taken the time to really nail the feel and manages to be respectful of what was and what is. One of the ever growing fewer reasons to have a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 and I hope people get to experience this gem. If you love samurai, you owe it to yourself to play this game. The Ubisoft open world formula might be stigmatized because of said company but Sucker Punch proves they can nail the formula when given enough effort which puts Ubisoft to shame.
Strength in every step
A fate neither of us want
This is where we part
A beautiful yet morbid perspective into the invasion of Tsushima in 1274, Ghost of Tsushima manages to fulfill the samurai fantasy internalized in me throughout the years, having a great story that made me emotional at certain bits and somehow putting their own twist in the "ubisoft open world" formula that manages to bends but not break it in a stylish and incredible way. You can tell Sucker Punch has put a lot of effort into this title being a complete tonal shift from their previous works with Second Son with its super hero esque gameplay with a punk rock aesthetic into the historical grounded epic we have now.
The main story/tales of Jin Sakai's struggle with the invasion and keeping his ethics and doing whatever it takes to protect his home from the Mongols is an interesting topic to extend on here due to the opening of the game essentially setting the stage for the entirety of the game. I will also surprising recommend experiencing this game in Japanese with English subtitles considering I feel it does the game more justice and this is coming from someone that always prefers English audio most of the time even with Japanese games. Jin doesn't like what he's doing but he realizes he has to adapt and improvise considering his "samurai way" will just have him end up killed and leaving Tsushima to the Mongols. The supporting cast is also excellent having Yuna essentially being an early foil for Jin, his uncle who always supported him and the rest of the remaining few that survived that lend him their aid. I won't lie that there were a few emotional moments I didn't really expect to feel during this game and this all also in lies with the cinematography this game manages to have and excel in. The soundtrack feels like it comes from an epic samurai flick and elevates these moments even further as Jin delves into the mentality and mortality of his actions. The ending was extremely powerful and made the thirty hour journey worth it.
The side stories/tales offer a grander perspective on the conditions of what the people of Tsushima are suffering through. Almost every tale shows the desperation, tragedy, and sorrow the regular people went through as a cost of war. People will lose loved ones, people will want revenge against each other, people will make one final request of you before their final breath. One of the most tragic tales is one relating to Masako, one of the main supporting cast scouring the battlefield for her dead family and it's incredibly depressing as they talked about the various samurai's fate like a son taking the place of an old father or a best friend giving their life for the other. It felt thematically appropriate with the whole game and each of these side tales have such an emotional core in them that I didn't expect from this game. The main supporting casts also have their own chains of side tales as well and while mostly focused on revenge that stemmed from the mongol invasion, they really do a great job of fleshing out these characters that you wouldn't have had the chance in the main narrative.
The quest format and the exploration of Tsushima might be the most contentious topic about this game due to the fact that on the surface, it doesn't really reinvent the wheel but I don't think open world games need to if they're done with effort and care as Ghost of Tsushima has done. The overall exploration consists of a fog of war and markers on the map that could be a slew of activities and locations that empower Jin not only physically and mentally as well. The sense of direction used to guide you isn't a marker most of the time but the direction of the way the wind representative of your father spirit in which blowing which makes the journey more spiritual than most. Shinto Shrines which act as platforming obstacle courses reward you with a powerful charm and a rare resource for upgrading your bows, The hot springs locations act as a small moment for Jin to reflect on his situation and current events while serving the gameplay purpose of increasing his maximum health by a small amount each time he finds one, Bamboo strikes which act as a test of Jin's swordsmanship based on the real life activity of tameshigiri that relies on pressing the button sequence fast enough which rewards you with increased Resolve which servers as your means of healing and activating certain abilities, inari shrines that rely on following a fox around to the shrine that's hidden in the world that rewards you with enhanced charms and the ability to equip more. Some of the other activities mostly reward you with cosmetics such as writing haikus in specific areas via multiple choices and serves as another chance to refresh Jin's mind with the reward of a headband with the description of your own haiku in it despite not having too many options for each part of the haiku to begin with, pillars of honor that leave behind a sword and tanto redesign for Jin and the more combat intensive activities such as clearing the lighthouses and the duels across the island itself. I will say the duels are probably my favorite highlight of the side activities and it's a criminal shame there's so few of them. All of them are always in this beautiful landscape like near a waterfall or around the blossom petals dropping not to mention being the most challenging and fun part of the combat. There's also the standard collectible items that don't really serve too much of a purpose and the fortunate part is that you don't need to collect all of them for the platinum here. The best thing about completing this game is how seamless the whole experience was. You get an outfit pretty early on called the Traveler's Attire which essentially lets the wind guide you to these specific places and collectibles without the real tedium. Random events also happen that garner supplies and contribute to your own legend. Completing all of the outposts that reveal a bit of the map will eventually reveal all of the exploration spots on the maps which makes things even less tedious. I think some people won't like having everything revealed to them but it makes the game want you to platinum/100% it. All of this accompanying building your own legend. I actually love this system as it fits thematically with the game itself. The first rank is a broken down samurai with nothing going for him and by doing deeds, the main story and defeating mongols but later on, people will start to revere you and the mongols will almost fear you in shock as you become more powerful as these also grant health and resolve upgrades as well. Doing each side tale and special legendary ones that unlocks unique stuff felt like I was just building onto Jin's legacy even more and felt like I was truly becoming one of the most dangerous people in that era and the game does an excellent job presenting that idea to you. If I had one complaint about the exploration though, it would be the huge abundance of inari shrines in the game. While each activity has around 10-20 instances of it throughout the game, inari shrines results in a whopping 49 that will feel a bit repetitive after a while.
The way of the blade isn't the only set of skills Jin Sakai has during his own epic. He mainly has two styles of gameplay, the honorable samurai that faces his enemies at their face and the ghost that kills them from the shadows. Not only can he use a sword well but employs all sorts of tricks and equipment that lets him even the odds. First of all, I do recommend playing the game on Hard all the way through. It provides a decent challenge while still giving you the power fantasy of killing over ten mongols in a row with adequate skill but as always, play how you want as my opinions on the combat will stem from that difficulty. You have your standard fast regular attacks and charge attacks that will stagger enemies if applied enough pressure and the most important aspect about these is the stance system. You will get four stances throughout your playthrough and each one has different sword strikes and are more effective with a specific type of enemy such as one stance good against spear men and vice versa. Parrying is also extremely important here especially in duels as you have two forms of parrying, a regular parry which gives you a window to attack and a perfect parry which gives a bigger window to do even more damage. A cool aspect of this is that difficulty affects how tight the parry windows are so you can't spam the guard button and hope to get it off. The swordplay is incredibly satisfying but Jin doesn't only use his sword in combat. He has a variety of tools he uses as "the Ghost" such as kunai will provides multiple free staggers, smoke bombs that buy you some time and grab some free kills on top of that, sticky bombs which sticks to a person and can one someone most of the time and flame oil you can use to go through guard heavy enemies when needed. He also doesn't need to fight from melee range either as he has a half bow which is faster, less damage and used for medium range combat which uses regular arrows and fire arrows. He also has a variety of other tools that mostly aid in his endeavors in stealth. Bell chimes serve a specific purpose of luring one singular person away from a location and firecrackers draw away as many people as there are. Jin also has a few more techniques and tools at his disposal but I don't want to ruin the surprise of receiving these tools.
It's not a samurai fantasy without the fashion and the techniques you can do in Ghost of Tsushima though. You have your standard samurai armor, the ronin garb, the vagabond look also not to mention a lot of hats and masks to shield your own identity. Almost everything I can think of what I want to wear in a samurai game is truly here and each have their own gameplay effects that affects your playstyle such as more health, less detection and more resolve gains. You can freely ignore these at a certain point unless you truly love to minmax but looking the part of how you want to look is something huge for me. Jin can learn specific moves that can make quick work of enemies as the cost of resolve which also acts as extra health when needed making it a risk or reward scenario but the animations for each swing and technique is satisfying.
You can tell they are proud of the soundtrack and the art design of the world themselves. The syncing of specific moments with the orchestra playing their ass off with a motif that gives off hope and desperation. Exploring Tsushima just for the visual spectacle is worth the entry fee alone as well. Traversing fields full of vibrant flowers makes the game feel like a next generation experience that it's almost surprising this game was on a PlayStation 4 initially. The photo mode is proof they are proud of their work. An example of creating something beautiful would be this screenshot I took using said photo mode. The luscious fields almost feels deceiving as the horrors of war and invasion are also there front and center. Burned bodies, beheaded peasants and the total chaos that the mongols have been known for is front and center and some of it also feels grotesque in a sense.
I also wanted to mention some things that are specific to the Director's Cut version of the game on PlayStation 5 that really enhances a few things about the game that I think are important. A huge majority of this is the Iki Island expansion which provides more of Ghost of Tsushima. A small map but new activities such as using your controller to tilt with the melody of the flute, archery challenges and specific puzzle shrines that require specific solutions along with some extra bamboo strikes and baths for additional stats. The overall story relies on Jin's relationship with his father and delves into the aftermath of certain events along with introducing some new characters. A short and sweet expansion nonetheless and even more content for a game that has a lot of it already. The PlayStation 5 version of this game is truly impressive for two factors being that it's already in 4K 60 fps regardless of the setting which makes the game even more gorgeous and essentially no loading times even through using fast travel or even booting up the game. Small additions includes japanese lip syncing which is needed and haptic feedback which is used wonderfully and the adaptive triggers mostly used for the bows. Not much else other than the digital deluxe stuff here as well.
One of the most surprising aspects of this game is that it has a multiplayer mode with the title of Legends. I haven't played a lot of it but it was a pretty fun experience despite being completely free with the main game. You have four classes you can play as with their own playstyle as you go through missions and some specific story events even. The great gameplay is still here but more reliant on teamwork such as needing to kill two people at the exact same time for them to actually die. There's also a survival mode and even a three part raid from what I read in the menu. A truly impressive suite of things to do which gives the game a bit more value in an already expansive game.
The most obvious influences this game takes from is Akira Kurosawa films and even has a mode dedicated to him replicating his original black and white movies. I can't speak of Kurosawa only really watching Seven Samurai (specifically because of this game) but I can say Ghost of Tsushima shares the same human spirit that the movie had of banding together in the face of adversity. But I digress, I almost forget that Ghost of Tsushima which is a extremely japanese centric game based on real life history of the island was made by an American studio. They have taken the time to really nail the feel and manages to be respectful of what was and what is. One of the ever growing fewer reasons to have a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 and I hope people get to experience this gem. If you love samurai, you owe it to yourself to play this game. The Ubisoft open world formula might be stigmatized because of said company but Sucker Punch proves they can nail the formula when given enough effort which puts Ubisoft to shame.
Strength in every step
A fate neither of us want
This is where we part
Prettiest game of all time contender
Ghost of Tshushima is one of the absolute best games from a decade ago. Seriously, if the Ubisoft formula wasn't so damn tired by now, this would have been a really special game. Instead, It's a very good one in a sea of contemporaries.
GoT especially excels in it's presentation. Everything that has to do with UI/UX is best in the industry shit. The way Sucker Punch uses the environment (wind, birds, fireflies) to direct the player is nothing short of genius and something I'd LOVE to see more devs attempt in the open world space. I'm also just a big sucker for weather effects in general. So I found the wind stuff really impressive graphically as well.
The way the game plays is not very inspired but functional. Most of the gameplay consists of riding your horse from one location to the next and basic parry-focused Assassin's Creed style combat. There are also a ton of "investigation" segments that I'm frankly just so tired of. All this involves is arriving to an area and interacting with a handful of intractable objects to advance whatever scenario the game places you in. It's just so uninspired and feels lifted off of games that do it better.
Narratively, the game has a few strong moments but is overall a letdown. Most of the characters are simply not interesting. I understand Sucker Punch wanted to have a more grounded take here, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing the wet blankets of Tsushima to the memorable cast of the Sly and Infamous games. You can make characters both realistic AND interesting, I promise it doesn't have to be one or the other. The main narrative feels more interested in storming forts over and over, rather than exploring Tsushima's cast of characters to their full potential. The side content does help make the story a little richer. But, it's ultimately inconsequential as well.
Ultimately, for a game that's all about breaking tradition, it's unfortunate how strongly Ghost of Tsushima clings on to the ideas of the past. It's a good game, but it could be so much better.
GoT especially excels in it's presentation. Everything that has to do with UI/UX is best in the industry shit. The way Sucker Punch uses the environment (wind, birds, fireflies) to direct the player is nothing short of genius and something I'd LOVE to see more devs attempt in the open world space. I'm also just a big sucker for weather effects in general. So I found the wind stuff really impressive graphically as well.
The way the game plays is not very inspired but functional. Most of the gameplay consists of riding your horse from one location to the next and basic parry-focused Assassin's Creed style combat. There are also a ton of "investigation" segments that I'm frankly just so tired of. All this involves is arriving to an area and interacting with a handful of intractable objects to advance whatever scenario the game places you in. It's just so uninspired and feels lifted off of games that do it better.
Narratively, the game has a few strong moments but is overall a letdown. Most of the characters are simply not interesting. I understand Sucker Punch wanted to have a more grounded take here, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing the wet blankets of Tsushima to the memorable cast of the Sly and Infamous games. You can make characters both realistic AND interesting, I promise it doesn't have to be one or the other. The main narrative feels more interested in storming forts over and over, rather than exploring Tsushima's cast of characters to their full potential. The side content does help make the story a little richer. But, it's ultimately inconsequential as well.
Ultimately, for a game that's all about breaking tradition, it's unfortunate how strongly Ghost of Tsushima clings on to the ideas of the past. It's a good game, but it could be so much better.
Yeah, this is officially an all-time favourite of mine now.
Normally I don't gel with the Ubisoft-esque open world design, but the way Ghost of Tsushima carries itself makes it feel like a wholly unique experience. Sucker Punch took that formula and made it feel fresh. Yes, it's a large map full of activities that can feel somewhat repetitive, but the traversal and combat are always so completely satisfying that it becomes hard for me to put the controller down.
Usually I can't stand combat-focused games (I have yet to find a FromSoft or DMC game I enjoy) but the swordplay here is exceptional; easy to pick up but challenging to master. I never once got tired of fighting off Mongols, and while most quests will lead you into similar combat encounters, it all feeds into the central goal of the game. You are driving the Mongols off your island and nearly everything you do is working towards that goal. The minimal UI also means I'm not staring at a tiny little HUD map to know where I'm going for the entirety of the game (coughcoughThe Witcher 3coughcough). Simply following the wind and the birds, meant to represent the souls of your father and mother respectively, was an inspired choice. Helps that this has to be one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful games to ever grace home consoles. Every square foot of Tsushima is a work of art. This game is just pure zen; nothing like taking a few minutes to compose a thoughtful haiku or reflect on past mistakes while soaking in an onsen. And don't get me started on all of the awesome collectibles: from sword kits to new armour types, which help to incentivise the exploration that much more.
This is not a perfect game. I can see many people having trouble dealing with the repetition and [somewhat] been-there-done-that feeling that comes with AAA open worlds these days. But to me, this is a shining jewel on the crown that is this genre, right up there with the recent Zeldas. It's a game I can see myself coming back to and playing once every few years. And the PS5 version includes all the neat little bells and whistles that come with the DualSense controller, the substantial Iki Island expansion, voice sync for the Japanese dialogue, and the online Legends mode. There's a lot here to sink your teeth into. If you have yet to experience the journey of Jin Sakai, I can't recommend it enough.
Normally I don't gel with the Ubisoft-esque open world design, but the way Ghost of Tsushima carries itself makes it feel like a wholly unique experience. Sucker Punch took that formula and made it feel fresh. Yes, it's a large map full of activities that can feel somewhat repetitive, but the traversal and combat are always so completely satisfying that it becomes hard for me to put the controller down.
Usually I can't stand combat-focused games (I have yet to find a FromSoft or DMC game I enjoy) but the swordplay here is exceptional; easy to pick up but challenging to master. I never once got tired of fighting off Mongols, and while most quests will lead you into similar combat encounters, it all feeds into the central goal of the game. You are driving the Mongols off your island and nearly everything you do is working towards that goal. The minimal UI also means I'm not staring at a tiny little HUD map to know where I'm going for the entirety of the game (coughcoughThe Witcher 3coughcough). Simply following the wind and the birds, meant to represent the souls of your father and mother respectively, was an inspired choice. Helps that this has to be one of the most jaw-droppingly beautiful games to ever grace home consoles. Every square foot of Tsushima is a work of art. This game is just pure zen; nothing like taking a few minutes to compose a thoughtful haiku or reflect on past mistakes while soaking in an onsen. And don't get me started on all of the awesome collectibles: from sword kits to new armour types, which help to incentivise the exploration that much more.
This is not a perfect game. I can see many people having trouble dealing with the repetition and [somewhat] been-there-done-that feeling that comes with AAA open worlds these days. But to me, this is a shining jewel on the crown that is this genre, right up there with the recent Zeldas. It's a game I can see myself coming back to and playing once every few years. And the PS5 version includes all the neat little bells and whistles that come with the DualSense controller, the substantial Iki Island expansion, voice sync for the Japanese dialogue, and the online Legends mode. There's a lot here to sink your teeth into. If you have yet to experience the journey of Jin Sakai, I can't recommend it enough.
Fantastic game. I had a blast with the combat, but I eventually had to turn it to the hardest difficulty because it got easy with all the upgrades. Still, with wonderful visuals, great music, an impactful story and fun gameplay, it's hard to go wrong with Ghost of Tsushima.
minha primeira review detalhada no site porque foram 70 horas e um troféu de platina então tenho local de fala (sem spoiler)
prós
- direção de arte IMPECÁVEL com fotografia em nível de cinema e animações muito agradáveis (as ilustrações dos contos míticos são as melhores)
- mundo aberto rico com exploração envolvendo minigames bem originais, as regiões têm um ecossistema muito bonito mesmo que não tenha tanta variedade de espécies
- sistema de customização cheio de opções (só de espada são umas 30), sem brincadeira passei um tempão só criando trajes
- DLC muito boa, não cheguei a jogar tudo porque quis focar na campanha mas tem uma história que casa muito com a narrativa principal do jogo, sem parecer uma side-story. dá pra ser jogada durante ou depois da campanha que continua sendo interessante.
contras
- apesar de ter várias formas de jogabilidade, o combate fica enjoativo pela falta de variedade de inimigos. é literalmente os mesmos 5 NPCs com cores diferentes e a dificuldade não aumenta muito conforme o jogo anda.
- bugs meio idiotas ingame (tipo o pássaro que é seu guia ficando preso no meio do cenário, o botão de assassinar no modo stealth não aparecendo na tela e te denunciando pros inimigos) mas com certeza os que mais impactam são os bugs de troféu. li em um guia que existe 20% de chance de algum dos troféus simplesmente não desbloquear pra você, eu tava em busca da platina junto com uma amiga e na run dela 2 troféus não desbloquearam quando ela já tava em quase 90% de progresso. :(
- NÃO TEM MINIGAME DE PESCA!!!! fiquei muito triste quando vi um monte de vila de pesca no mapa E NÃO DÁ PRA PESCAR que absurdo
resumidamente é uma ótima experiência visual com um combate ok e uma progressão de história emocionante. se você quiser masterizar o jogo como eu fiz vai sentir a exploração e o combate ficando enjoativo bem mais rápido (porque apesar de serem bons, eles não inovam conforme o jogo avança). eu recomendo jogar focando na campanha, explorando o que tiver de fácil acesso no mapa e fazendo só as missões míticas que são as que te dão um bônus novo e todos são muito úteis!!
prós
- direção de arte IMPECÁVEL com fotografia em nível de cinema e animações muito agradáveis (as ilustrações dos contos míticos são as melhores)
- mundo aberto rico com exploração envolvendo minigames bem originais, as regiões têm um ecossistema muito bonito mesmo que não tenha tanta variedade de espécies
- sistema de customização cheio de opções (só de espada são umas 30), sem brincadeira passei um tempão só criando trajes
- DLC muito boa, não cheguei a jogar tudo porque quis focar na campanha mas tem uma história que casa muito com a narrativa principal do jogo, sem parecer uma side-story. dá pra ser jogada durante ou depois da campanha que continua sendo interessante.
contras
- apesar de ter várias formas de jogabilidade, o combate fica enjoativo pela falta de variedade de inimigos. é literalmente os mesmos 5 NPCs com cores diferentes e a dificuldade não aumenta muito conforme o jogo anda.
- bugs meio idiotas ingame (tipo o pássaro que é seu guia ficando preso no meio do cenário, o botão de assassinar no modo stealth não aparecendo na tela e te denunciando pros inimigos) mas com certeza os que mais impactam são os bugs de troféu. li em um guia que existe 20% de chance de algum dos troféus simplesmente não desbloquear pra você, eu tava em busca da platina junto com uma amiga e na run dela 2 troféus não desbloquearam quando ela já tava em quase 90% de progresso. :(
- NÃO TEM MINIGAME DE PESCA!!!! fiquei muito triste quando vi um monte de vila de pesca no mapa E NÃO DÁ PRA PESCAR que absurdo
resumidamente é uma ótima experiência visual com um combate ok e uma progressão de história emocionante. se você quiser masterizar o jogo como eu fiz vai sentir a exploração e o combate ficando enjoativo bem mais rápido (porque apesar de serem bons, eles não inovam conforme o jogo avança). eu recomendo jogar focando na campanha, explorando o que tiver de fácil acesso no mapa e fazendo só as missões míticas que são as que te dão um bônus novo e todos são muito úteis!!
Pretty standard open world game with a beautifully realized setting, amazing music and interesting combat mechanics. The core gameplay loop is what you expect from a AAA open world title, but I had fun doing the main story and the side activities.
I would say the story of the DLC is actually better than the story in the main game. Pretty easy title to recommend for anyone wanting to play an Assassins Creed-like game in a japanese setting.
I would say the story of the DLC is actually better than the story in the main game. Pretty easy title to recommend for anyone wanting to play an Assassins Creed-like game in a japanese setting.
An incredible artistical achievement that employs a smart solution to the Open World filled with markers game.
With the aim of making you appreciate the world as much as possible without breaking the immersion. A combat that is kinetic, addicting and engaging. A story that rivals any classic samurai film out there. There's so many positives to this tale that it's hard to name them all.
The only negative is that some mission objectives tend to turn repetitive and, while it strives to let you find all activities organically, said activities most of the time can be as run off the mill as possible
With the aim of making you appreciate the world as much as possible without breaking the immersion. A combat that is kinetic, addicting and engaging. A story that rivals any classic samurai film out there. There's so many positives to this tale that it's hard to name them all.
The only negative is that some mission objectives tend to turn repetitive and, while it strives to let you find all activities organically, said activities most of the time can be as run off the mill as possible
I love the story and combat, abhor the open world design. Still hyped for GoT2 though.
The game is really pretty, but everything else is shallow somehow. It has that Ubisoft's open world vibe and that's not a good thing. Altough it is a better game than everything Ubisoft made, it still gets pretty boring after you realize you finished just 1/3 of the game. Maybe I'll go back to it someday