well I finally beat the main story.
Ghost of Tsushima is an interesting game for me. Honestly it doesn't really do anything that interesting with the open world formula. Its combat is great but not as deep as one might think. The stealth is fun but doesn't leave room for a lot of creativity. Basically what I'm saying is that instead of doing one thing incredibly well above all other games, it does about everything good or on the same level as other typical open world games. It has the Infamous style open world that focuses on destroying enemy bases, which leaves room for some fun end game content. The controls are tight and there's a nice natural flow to platforming and fighting multiple enemies. It tries to introduce creative ways to deal with enemies, but at the end of the day you're just going to charge in and fight everyone because its the most effective way to do things. There isn't much motivation to be stealthy or use bee hives etc etc.
This kind of game would usually be incredibly average to me. In fact I stopped playing it a while back to play other things and it took me months to get back to it. However, coming back to it was really easy and it wasn't hard to get decently hooked again.
The story was a roller coaster of me not giving a shit and being somewhat invested. I thought some side characters had interesting missions and I honestly found the final encounter pretty effective, if a bit abrupt. It's not a remarkable story but its passable. I pray the Kurosawa comparisons don't turn people away from his movies because his narratives have a lot more passion behind their themes and characters. The story is not what kept me playing at all. So why am I dropping a 4 star rating on this game if I don't think its anything special in this genre? It mostly comes down to polish.
I can't remember the last time I played a huge open world game that had this much polish. I never encountered a single bug or glitch. The combat scenarios were repetitive on a technical level, but visually the combat was animated so well and it was incredibly fun to try and pull off things that looked cool. Not to mention the art style here is fantastic. Yes games like Last of Us 2 are technically more impressive with textures, motion capture, voice acting etc, but GoT might have the most beautiful lighting of any game I've played. The final area becomes a bit lame compared to the map early on, but I was so excited to explore and see more sights. Atmosphere is a huuuuge thing for me. My favorite games have so many moments where I just walk around and look at the environments because I love to absorb the art.
Ghost of Tshushima is a very intrinsically motivated game for me. The story and mechanics weren't always pushing me to keep going, it was mostly the excitement of physically exploring the map and having that honeymoon phase with the graphics until the very end.
I know this seems like a really shallow way to play a game and I typically am not one to just play a game for its visuals alone, but I don't mean to imply the rest of the game is awful either. The combat is really solid, it's just not breaking new ground is all. If you like standard action games - this might have just a hair more depth than something like Witcher 3, assassins creed, or Skyrim. The main story isn't great and is riddled with boring mission design, but I spent most of my time doing side missions and clearing enemy forts. Climbing buildings during a fight to grapple hook across a tree and do a multi kill on a horde of enemies, pulling off perfect dodges to get those special animations. The presentation of a game can really boost everything about it and I think its okay to really enjoy something while recognizing that its nothing special.
I wouldn't say this game comes close to executing open world in the same way as breath of the wild, but its somewhat comparable in the sense that BOTW has incredibly simple combat that was made great by its players and the crazy things they did to make it look cool. Simple mechanics are bad when you can't do anything with them except for what the game expects from you. Simple mechanics are great when players discover ways to expand upon it outside of the way the game teaches you to use them.
I had a lot of fun running through this world, constantly having those E3 camera shot moments, jumping into hordes of enemies to fight them in a way that made me look really cool, upgrading new armor, hunting for flowers to unlock new colors, searching for secrets behind waterfalls, taking photos every 10 minutes because the lighting was perfect. The big difference when compared to a usual ubisoft game for me is the motivation to be in the world they created. Assassins creed typically has a very repetitive environment, no visual queues or landmarks to tease you into seeing what its about, and so on. Gameplay wise they are quite similar, but its the way the developers motivate you to make your own fun and seek out content any way you want. An icon labeled 'side quest' does not excite me because I already know where I'm going and what I'll get from going there. Seeing a smoke signal in the distance, or a bird inviting you to follow it is a clever way to do just that - but in a way that doesn't feel mundane. There's still a little mystery to it. Even if you do have a set location in mind, those visual teases will always yank you from the beaten path and that is something not a lot of open world games understand. Make your world feel interesting. Not every game needs to be visually insane and atmospheric, but I think that is beyond important for open worlds games where you spend hours upon hours exploring its world. It's rewarding to explore and find a mountain with an amazing view of the ocean or another forest with new colors and environments. No this isn't an actual in game reward that boosts your stats, but I still find it rewarding to have moments like that.
This game doesn't do enough things exceptionally well compared to its competition for me to consider it the best playstation 4 game, but I think its onto something with its design philosophy and I hope sucker punch polishes this formula even more. I'm honestly stoked for the upcoming expansion because I cant wait to see more locations, and the gameplay loop is fun enough that I know exploring it will be a solid time.
Ghost of Tsushima is an interesting game for me. Honestly it doesn't really do anything that interesting with the open world formula. Its combat is great but not as deep as one might think. The stealth is fun but doesn't leave room for a lot of creativity. Basically what I'm saying is that instead of doing one thing incredibly well above all other games, it does about everything good or on the same level as other typical open world games. It has the Infamous style open world that focuses on destroying enemy bases, which leaves room for some fun end game content. The controls are tight and there's a nice natural flow to platforming and fighting multiple enemies. It tries to introduce creative ways to deal with enemies, but at the end of the day you're just going to charge in and fight everyone because its the most effective way to do things. There isn't much motivation to be stealthy or use bee hives etc etc.
This kind of game would usually be incredibly average to me. In fact I stopped playing it a while back to play other things and it took me months to get back to it. However, coming back to it was really easy and it wasn't hard to get decently hooked again.
The story was a roller coaster of me not giving a shit and being somewhat invested. I thought some side characters had interesting missions and I honestly found the final encounter pretty effective, if a bit abrupt. It's not a remarkable story but its passable. I pray the Kurosawa comparisons don't turn people away from his movies because his narratives have a lot more passion behind their themes and characters. The story is not what kept me playing at all. So why am I dropping a 4 star rating on this game if I don't think its anything special in this genre? It mostly comes down to polish.
I can't remember the last time I played a huge open world game that had this much polish. I never encountered a single bug or glitch. The combat scenarios were repetitive on a technical level, but visually the combat was animated so well and it was incredibly fun to try and pull off things that looked cool. Not to mention the art style here is fantastic. Yes games like Last of Us 2 are technically more impressive with textures, motion capture, voice acting etc, but GoT might have the most beautiful lighting of any game I've played. The final area becomes a bit lame compared to the map early on, but I was so excited to explore and see more sights. Atmosphere is a huuuuge thing for me. My favorite games have so many moments where I just walk around and look at the environments because I love to absorb the art.
Ghost of Tshushima is a very intrinsically motivated game for me. The story and mechanics weren't always pushing me to keep going, it was mostly the excitement of physically exploring the map and having that honeymoon phase with the graphics until the very end.
I know this seems like a really shallow way to play a game and I typically am not one to just play a game for its visuals alone, but I don't mean to imply the rest of the game is awful either. The combat is really solid, it's just not breaking new ground is all. If you like standard action games - this might have just a hair more depth than something like Witcher 3, assassins creed, or Skyrim. The main story isn't great and is riddled with boring mission design, but I spent most of my time doing side missions and clearing enemy forts. Climbing buildings during a fight to grapple hook across a tree and do a multi kill on a horde of enemies, pulling off perfect dodges to get those special animations. The presentation of a game can really boost everything about it and I think its okay to really enjoy something while recognizing that its nothing special.
I wouldn't say this game comes close to executing open world in the same way as breath of the wild, but its somewhat comparable in the sense that BOTW has incredibly simple combat that was made great by its players and the crazy things they did to make it look cool. Simple mechanics are bad when you can't do anything with them except for what the game expects from you. Simple mechanics are great when players discover ways to expand upon it outside of the way the game teaches you to use them.
I had a lot of fun running through this world, constantly having those E3 camera shot moments, jumping into hordes of enemies to fight them in a way that made me look really cool, upgrading new armor, hunting for flowers to unlock new colors, searching for secrets behind waterfalls, taking photos every 10 minutes because the lighting was perfect. The big difference when compared to a usual ubisoft game for me is the motivation to be in the world they created. Assassins creed typically has a very repetitive environment, no visual queues or landmarks to tease you into seeing what its about, and so on. Gameplay wise they are quite similar, but its the way the developers motivate you to make your own fun and seek out content any way you want. An icon labeled 'side quest' does not excite me because I already know where I'm going and what I'll get from going there. Seeing a smoke signal in the distance, or a bird inviting you to follow it is a clever way to do just that - but in a way that doesn't feel mundane. There's still a little mystery to it. Even if you do have a set location in mind, those visual teases will always yank you from the beaten path and that is something not a lot of open world games understand. Make your world feel interesting. Not every game needs to be visually insane and atmospheric, but I think that is beyond important for open worlds games where you spend hours upon hours exploring its world. It's rewarding to explore and find a mountain with an amazing view of the ocean or another forest with new colors and environments. No this isn't an actual in game reward that boosts your stats, but I still find it rewarding to have moments like that.
This game doesn't do enough things exceptionally well compared to its competition for me to consider it the best playstation 4 game, but I think its onto something with its design philosophy and I hope sucker punch polishes this formula even more. I'm honestly stoked for the upcoming expansion because I cant wait to see more locations, and the gameplay loop is fun enough that I know exploring it will be a solid time.