Very well made open world, collect things, do missions game.

Incredibly beautiful graphics throughout, was constantly stopping and going "woaah this is pretty".

Story is told well and every quest has this lovely emotional line running throughout and got me teary eyed in parts. The build up to unlocking ghost stance and how it weaves story and gameplay together is incredible.

Combat system has some great ideas that build into theme in the form of standoffs, duels and ghost stance and is mostly fine otherwise. However once you start getting into the second half of the game the amount of tools and overpowered abilities you get trivialises all combat and makes any enemy very easy to beat. In doing so this also trivialises stealth as why would a player stealth when you can just run in and insta kill 20 people much quicker. It also makes duels lack the proper tension and weight as if you go in with full resolve you can just instakill the opponent. Which is a shame as the duels are supposed to be the heights of action and suspense in the story.

This is perhaps the most intentional open world action game of the modern era. Everything, the pacing, the art and the story arcs have payoff.....that is accept for the collectables. There is no big incentive that I could tell to collect everything unless you LOVE head bands and dozens of boons that you wont ever use. I would also have preferred if you could swap the esthetic of different armors and their abilities but I understand the design choice to not to.

What I love most is that this game respects your time. You don't have to grind to progress or do 'x' amount of side quests to progress further in the main story. Want to know more about Character 'a'? Go do some of their missions. Don't care about this character? You likely don't have to engage with them again.

Finally, the story from beginning to end is fantastic

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!!

Ghost of Tsushima: Outdated by Dawn

Platinei. Fiz tudo disponível até na DLC, joguei por um mês e acumulei 110 horas- quem me conhece sabe que não sou desses. Mesmo tendo me prestado a dar tanta atenção ao jogo, dei 3 estrelas. Por que?

Ghost of Tsushima é um jogo de mundo aberto lançado em 2020, três anos após aquele jogo que redefiniu o gênero- seu desenvolvimento já estava pela metade antes do lançamento de The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. É ridiculamente claro como os desenvolvedores foram influenciados e tentaram incluir o máximo do que aprenderam em BOTW num jogo que já tinha todas as suas bases prontas e moldadas numa fórmula defasada.


O Mundo

O VENTO GUIA é um substituto genial para os mini-mapas e bússolas que aumenta a imersão e mantém nossos olhos no meio da tela, e os animais que te guiam a pontos de interesse são uma ótima ideia. Toda missão é indicada por fumaça de diferentes tipos e é possível identificá-las facilmente até de grandes distâncias. Os caminhos aos santuários são marcados por portões Tori, fontes termais tem uma grande árvore vermelha, arenas de duelos sempre tem longas bandeiras hasteadas e por aí vai: Cada atividade tem um indicador visual distinto e reconhecível de qualquer ponto alto, o que adiciona muito a exploração...

Mas pra quê, se a exploração não existe?

Esse é mais um caça-ícone, ping simulator ubisoft checklist. Todas as atividades são marcadas por um "?" no mapa, e não há nada nele entre esses pings, a não ser o caminho, e o design do mundo é contra intuitivo para com os indicadores visuais que citei, e nem há muitos pontos altos pra te fazer agir como exemplifiquei. Bases de inimigos obviamente estão presentes, e no lugar das torres que surpreendentemente não existem, liberam a visualização de certa área do mapa ao serem dominadas, fazendo as interrogações pipocarem na tela. Daí você pega o teu cavalo e vai atrás delas, segue o vento, a raposinha e o passarinho até locais que você já sabe que estão lá, e quando não sabe, a aparição desses animais garante encontrar tais coisas. A não ser por alguns colecionáveis, você nunca vai esbarrar com algo por sorte ou por recompensa da sua curiosidade.
A verticalidade é bem presente, mas a escalada é automática e sem graça e o Jin se recusa a descer de qualquer lugar naturalmente, o que atrapalha até o fim.
Se lembra daquele jogo que lançou dois anos antes que também foi um estrondo nos jogos de mundo aberto, onde passeávamos majoritariamente pela natureza em um período histórico e encontrávamos dezenas de situações "aleatórias" variadas e visitávamos cidades vivas com NPCs que tinham rotinas e vidas completas, apenas para que pudéssemos ir lá e contribuir ou acabar com tudo? Pois é, até as pequenas escolhas em meio aos diálogos de Red Dead Redemption 2 Ghost implementou de forma meia-boca, e aqui o máximo que encontramos de um ponto ao outro são mongóis patrulhando com uns reféns e uns porcos ou ursos que morrem com uma flechada. Nas cidades, os NPCs conversam bastante, mas não há nenhuma interação- não dá nem pra machucá-los, e suas rotinas são basicamente dormir e ficar num lugar só.

Acho que ficou bem claro que não gostei do mundo aberto desde jogo. Mas então por quê fiz tudo que ele oferecia?
Eu tenho um problema com caça-ícones. Eles me deixam compulsivo. Eu não paro até concluir TODO o conteúdo que o jogo tá me dizendo que tem, e como sempre, até liberar todo o mapa. Eu detesto isso em mim, e assim como em Horizon e Infamous Second Son, outro jogo do estúdio que passei pela mesma coisa, esse foi o motivo da minha platina: terminei o jogo faltando uns 2 troféus fáceis de se adquirir por já ter feito tudo antes de concluir a história. Esse tipo de coisa piora a minha experiência mas não consigo desapegar.


O Conto

Adoro histórias de personagens fictícios ambientadas em momentos históricos reais, e o tema de 80 samurais (que são um bicho maneirão) defendendo sua terra honrosamente de 80.000 mongóis é interessante demais. Existem MUITAS "licenças poéticas" e diferenças da realidade, mas a cultura e o confronto são representados de maneira excelente e brutal ao ponto de te deixar impactado por acontecimentos de 800 anos atrás ao mesmo tempo que ensina bastante, ainda mais com a inclusão dos artefatos que explicam objetos e costumes. Sabemos que nenhuma guerra é preta-e-branca, mas não espere nenhuma nuance- o ponto de vista é unicamente dos japoneses- nem mesmo vindo do protagonista.

Jin Sakai é um bom personagem de bom coração, simpatizei com ele e torci pelo seu sucesso, e encarnar um lorde samurai generoso e conflitado é uma das melhores coisas do jogo, mas não dá pra bloquear metade da gameplay até o meio do jogo- sua quebra do código samurai é feita de maneira muito acelerada por esse motivo, e o jogador não vai se sentir em conflito por isso, assim como o protagonista, que decide que esse é o único caminho. Claro que ele sofre consequências graves e a desavença criada com seu tio é de quase partir o coração, mas sua crença na própria razão nunca é abalada por tempo o suficiente pra criar um conflito interno profundo, o que vale pra história inteira.
Há um grande desperdício aqui: se a narrativa se inclinasse para o lado mais épico, as missões principais, os Contos de Sakai,teriam muito mais impacto. Ao invés disso, fica a sensação de que elas entregam "o suficiente", mantendo uma linha reta de empolgação sem muitos altos e baixos, apesar dos momentos realmente dignos de serem chamados de épicos que infelizmente são poucos, assim como o número de missões, o que me impressionou, e impossibilitou o aprofundamento de vários temas.
Existem três tipos de missões secundárias, os Contos de Tsushima: O primeiro são os padrões, que NPCs nos dão e geralmente se tratam de ajudar habitantes oprimidos pelo exército mongol ou bandidos, que variam entre ok e boas sem muito daquela encheção de linguiça de outros jogos de mundo aberto seja na relevância ou na quantidade.
Depois, temos os contos secundários com personagens da história principal. Aqui, Jin desenvolve relacionamentos com essas pessoas e os ajuda em seus problemas pessoais, revelando o passado e a psique desses indivíduos quebrados pela guerra, e provocando algumas reflexões sobre o fantasma de Jin. A história está na sua melhor forma nesses contos, e essa é a melhor parte do jogo.
O terceiro e mais diferente tipo são os Contos Míticos, nos quais um contador de histórias fala, acompanhado de uma bela animação, sobre uma técnica, tesouro ou equipamento lendário de algum guerreiro mítico já morto, e temos que investigar para conseguir sua herança. Aqui temos as melhores recompensas e as partes mais variadas do jogo- a liberdade que esse contexto oferece dá asas a criatividade dos desenvolvedores na narrativa e na gameplay.

O conflito ao final do terceiro ato e a resolução, independente da sua última escolha, são as melhores partes da narrativa principal onde realmente sentimos o peso das emoções nos personagens, mas de resto, é um baita desperdício de personagens e contexto histórico que resulta numa narrativa que não passa muito de um simples "legal". Há alguns personagens que não conseguem chegar ao final do jogo e sucumbem as forças inimigas, mas suas mortes parecem assumir que passamos mais tempo do que realmente tivemos com eles e a falta de interação com todos os elementos do mundo, inclusive os companheiros, faz com que esse problema seja ainda mais aparente. É como se eu quisesse sentir, tô disposto, mas o jogo nem me deu a oportunidade de interagir direito contigo.


A Guerra

Já vou tirar isso do caminho: a câmera durante o combate é uma MERDA. É tão ruim que troquei os botões de ataque pra R1 e R2, sendo que prefiro quadrado e triângulo, só pra poder controlá-la sem interrupções durante as lutas, e recomendo que todos façam o mesmo, é ruim ao ponto de eu não acreditar que foi aprovado e lançado assim mesmo.
A porradaria, ou melhor, espadaria, é de boa qualidade, porém mais uma vez ainda é uma sombra de Assassin's Creed com um parry satisfatório e mais peso. As diferentes posturas passam uma impressão falsa de profundidade, sendo que é inviável combiná-las pra derrotar os inimigos, já que são quase imunes a ataques não específicos para os seus tipos. As armas fantasmas, em meio aos seus confusos menus de seleção cumprem papéis semelhantes e não adicionam tanto quanto deveriam.
Acima da barra de vida, temos um elemento muito importante... Ou deveria ser?
A barra de determinação, que funciona de maneira quase idêntica a de Marvel's Spider-Man. A mesma barra serve para recuperar a vida ou utilizar ataques especiais, dando ao jogador a escolha de um ou outro no meio das batalhas. O problema é que aqui, até o fim do jogo, contando com a DLC, temos um total de... Dois ataques que usam determinação?? Pois é, parece que foi uma ideia de última hora que não foi bem pensada. Quase nunca você vai precisar sacrificar um pelo outro.

O Stealth é bem simples e cumpre seu papel, mas deixa a desejar pelo contexto. Ver os inimigos com medo é satisfatório das primeiras vezes, mas perceber que eles só tem umas duas reações possíveis é desanimador, e muito mais que isso, é perceber o quão pouco tô escrevendo sobre um dos pilares do jogo por que não se tem muito o que escrever.
E PASMEM: missões onde o personagem se ajoelha pra "investigar" uma "cena do crime" e depois seguir pegadas por um caminho quase reto ou acompanhar inimigos sem ser visto em um jogo de mundo aberto em 2020? PQP.

A progressão de Ghost of Tsushima é ESQUISITA. Temos várias "árvores" de habilidades, que tão mais pra galhos, mas não há XP: só coisas específicas aumentam seu "status de lenda", que serve como nível. Salvar um refém de mongóis vai te dar a mesma quantidade de lenda sendo perfeito ou quase morrendo, o que vale pra tudo, exceto uns objetivos opcionais nos campos mongóis. A quantidade é minúscula, o que não te incentiva a descer do cavalo, e você não ganha pontos de técnica ao upar de nível- ao invés disso, os pontos estão espalhados pelo meio da barra. A maior fonte de aumento da lenda são os contos, e as habilidades disponíveis pra desbloqueio nos galhos variam entre aumentar os status de habilidades que você já tem ou desbloquear alguns golpes novos, mas não espere nada de combos, ou seja, uma merda. As essenciais posturas de combate são estranhamente bloqueadas até que observe e derrote uma quantidade específica de líderes mongóis, o que eu quase esqueci que era uma coisa no jogo, e já vai dar pra entender o motivo.

A economia é totalmente quebrada. No começo, eu estava achando meio difícil de conseguir os suprimentos e materiais necessários para comprar os upgrades de armas e armaduras, mas antes da metade do jogo eu já tava com tanta coisa que o inventário tava cheio e eu já tinha todos os upgrades disponíveis. O único recurso que não ficou em abundância foram as flores, que servem apenas para cosméticos. E sim, mesmo antes de sequer chegar no último status de lenda, eu já tinha todas as habilidades, E SIM, SOBRARAM PONTOS DE HABILIDADE. O balanceamento desse aspecto do jogo é terrível, e quando não há mais o que evoluir, pra que explorar, fazer secundárias e derrotar os mongóis pelo mundo? É melhor passar direto. Sério, eu nunca tinha passado por isso em nenhum jogo (não consigo pensar em 5 em que eu completei toda a árvore de habilidades, quanto mais isso) e fico impressionado o quão ruim é, a sensação de estar no meio do jogo e não ter mais o que evoluir desmotiva a continuar jogando. Mas há um elemento que te mantém engajado: os amuletos e as armaduras.

Podendo equipar um set de amuletos diferente pra cada armadura, você pode se tornar uma força destrutiva pra cada ocasião se usar os certos combinando com as vantagens de cada armadura, o que é satisfatório e me fez estar sempre trabalhando em otimizar minhas "builds", com cada set muito bem definido pra cada ocasião. Ganhamos armaduras e amuletos novos até o final da jornada, talvez até demais, mas é um dos melhores elementos do jogo e pelo menos é algo que mantém a evolução interessante já que a própria progressão é incrivelmente horrenda.

Horrenda- pra quem só ouviu falar por cima desse jogo pode parecer uma palavra incompatível, e isso tem uma razão.


A Apresentação

Ghost of Tsushima teve downgrade. É um exclusivo da Sony, os trailers não são de antes do lançamento dos consoles, mas mesmo assim por algum motivo teve downgrade e já escrevi sobre jogos com gráficos muito melhores. Mas, mesmo assim uma coisa é inegável:

Ghost of Tsushima é um dos jogos mais lindos de todos os tempos.

Uma mecânica central na minha gameplay pode não existir pra você: o modo foto, que é muito bem feito mas não extrai todo o seu potencial, tomou horas da minha jogatina, e capturei mais de 600 telas.

A mistura da vegetação, monumentos e arquitetura japonesa com a beleza natural de Tsushima e sua gigantesca variedade de cenários compõem uma das melhores direções de arte que já presenciei. O constante vento guia faz com que tudo fique sempre em movimento num interminável show de partículas que eu nunca vi igual.
Mas sua direção de arte não contribui apenas pra que o jogo fique mais bonito. Ela melhora ele inteiro.
Todo o seu visual fica em harmonia, e a beleza e variedade de biomas surrealmente lindos ajudam a afastar a repetitividade que um ping simulator de mapa enorme costuma apresentar, pois você sempre tá sendo bombardeado com vistas coloridas de cair o queixo, enquanto veste uma armadura de design maravilhoso a caminho da luta contra inimigos fáceis de se distinguir entre si, e participa de duelos cinematográficos que dão um show técnico com uma trilha sonora épica e melancólica.

A apresentação costuma ser a primeira coisa a se comentar numa análise, e eu concordo com essa aproximação, mas em GOT ela tem um efeito diferente. Todas aquelas coisas ruins sobre o mundo aberto que comentei no início são mascaradas pelo visual absurdo e pelo brilho nos olhos de partir para um lugar novo.
Considero até esse momento dar meia estrela a mais só pela direção de arte, e não duvido que um dia eu volte aqui e ponha três estrelas e meia. Se não fosse por ela, a nota certamente seria menor, e a excelência desse jogo perante o público seria mais equivalente a realidade: uma meia-verdade- uma máscara composta pelo seu visual, valor de produção, exclusividade do lado azul e a atenção que a mídia e críticos dão a esse tipo de produção. 87 no Metacritic é uma piada.

Além da já bajulada direção de arte, não há nada de incrível aqui. Ghost of Tsushima é um jogo que nasceu ultrapassado e em sua reta final de desenvolvimento tentou tirar o atraso que já sabia que teria, ironicamente, por meio de meias-medidas, algo repudiado pelo protagonista, resultando num jogo genérico superior aos seus semelhantes, mas inferior a tudo que não segue a mesma linha, porém coberto com uma skin desses jogos para parecer que está do lado superior.


Conclusões Conclusivas

Como, então, justificar um mês inteiro nesse jogo, mesmo que tenha o conseguido de graça por meio de um bug na PSN e saber que o motivo de tanto o jogar ser um defeito meu?
A única resposta que encontrei foi perdendo ainda mais horas escrevendo uma análise imensa que pelo menos tenta expressar o que eu senti com essa grande decepção que fiquei ansioso pra jogar desde o anúncio.

Obrigado pela atenção.

Really glad I held on the temptation of buying this on the PS4 since I had a gut feeling a PS5 enhanced version would come out at some point.

GoT is a fantastic PlayStation exclusive that combines a good story and setting with great combat and gameplay. The most outstanding components of this game are the graphics and the presentation which had me amazed as I played through the game. The variety in nature settings, weather effects and different times of day made up for an amazing canvas of pictures and short clips to showcase the beauty and graphical skills of the developers in this game.

Overall the combat can be on the challenging side but the game it's fair as long as you abide by the different stances to face different enemies.

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

I'm torn.

The game is beautiful to look at, fun to play in the moment (at least as far as combat is concerned). But there's so much fluff content that just isn't enjoyable after you've done it 20 times. I followed a fox around forty times and to be honest it was fucking boring. It puts into practice interesting concepts around diagetic navigation but then puts pretty boring stuff at the end of the path. Like I said, I'm torn. The main narrative itself is really quite slow and strangely paced. The part of Tsushima you explore in Act 1 was probably big enough in scale to hold the entire game. I was tired by the end of it. Thankfully Act 2 and 3 went quicker.

Iki Island DLC was much better paced, and I really enjoyed the story it told about Jin and his father. It also felt more honest about historical samurai than the main game, which more or less posits them as perfectly honourable heroes.

Legends is remarkably fun for a free co-op mode. Will probably dip into that every now and then.

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.

The game is beautiful, the combat is good but something felt a little bit boring while playing through the main story. The start is very memorable with Jin and his horse running on the field of flowers, the cinematic music playing is amazing.

Anyway, there's one thing that made me stop playing for like a month, it was the way the story was going. Recruiting missions are really boring IMO, and the player needs to recruit Masako, Ishikawa, Ryuzo and the Straw Hats.

Jin Sakai through the 1st act feels so powerless, everything he does is saying "Help me and my uncle will reward you", "My uncle will save me and you". It's ok Jin, we know that your uncle will help saving Tsushima and he is important to you and you want to save him, but EVERYTHING you do is talking about your uncle.

The enemies were very little diverse, Archers, Heavy Fighters, Swordsman, Shield guys, Spearmen, and a mix between Heavy Fighters with Shield. The Duels with other Straw Hats, the Mythic Tales and Main Story Bosses are really well made.

In the end, the game is good, beautiful and the combat is great, but it had some aspects in story that could be more elaborated.

hadn't played this since its initial release on the PS4 back in 2020. liked it a lot then but about 2/3rds of my playthrough this go around was spent in awe at the contrast between such jaw-dropping visuals (seriously, this might be the most gorgeous game i've ever played) and the incredibly tedious narrative that literally bored me to tears. how i thought this was a masterpiece just under two years ago is insane. playing any open world game after Elden Ring might as well be the equivalent of the Seinfeld "i've flown first class, Elaine. i can't go back to coach" bit. solid game but pretty much a glorified Ubisoft product in terms of the checklist-style objectives, which become incredibly fucking exhausting.

Breathtaking everything was well polished except maybe gameplay to cinematic cuts small nitpick was used to Red Dead Redemption 2 smooth cuts but I didn't mind them.

The Story is solid. Animations are top-notch. The gameplay is polished. The choice of stealth and combat is almost unmatched by other experiences.

The Guiding Wind is pure genius the addition of minimal HUD activity adds so much as I stated is breathtaking and compliments the world art style.
Sucker Punch always found clever ways of imersion using the ps3 ps4's controller features from the Infamous series to this I can't wait to see what they do in the future.

+ The game's content I'm 32 hours done with the main story and some side stuff there's still like 30 hours more of content like Iki island Etc.

After 67 hours of gameplay I finally finished this game and I loved every second of it. The story was great and the characters you meet along the way were mostly interesting people with their own individual stories and quests. The graphics are some of the best I've seen on PS5 and the setting is gorgeous, I wanted to take a screenshot every few minutes. But in my opinion a game can have all the bells and whistles in the world but still fail if the gameplay is lacking. Fortunately the gameplay in Ghost of Tsushima was the best part of the whole experience, it was enjoyable and accessible but with lots of layers added in the further you progress to add a lot. From combat in both stealth and straight up swordplay to exploration and traversal it all was fun to play and while certain quests and activities could be repetitive the way you approached them always felt fresh, especially with various combat upgrades added. I should mention I have yet to dive into the Iki Island DLC but based on what I've heard it adds more of what I loved in the main game. This is a game that I will most certainly be playing again in the future and it's one that any Playstation owner should at least consider playing.

Visualmente é uma obra prima, a direção de arte, cenário e design dos personagens são incríveis. A história é simples, mas com reviravoltas interessantes, pela primeira vez, vemos consequências morais de um aspecto simples de gameplay, que é a furtividade. O combate é fluído, divertido e versátil, existem estilos de combate diferentes pra cada inimigo do jogo. O maior problema é a falta de variedade de inimigos, mais pro end game, os inimigos são apenas um reskin dos inimigos antigos, que dão mais dano, o que é bem perceptível na luta contra os seis Chapéus de Palha. No mais é um excelente jogo.