Ghost of Tsushima (2020)

OPEN-WORLD ACTION - Play as Jin Sakai, a samurai, as he reclaims his home from the Mongols, at the expense of sacrificing everything he's been taught.

PROS:

++ Breathtaking & gorgeous visuals.

++ Combat. Fun and fluid gameplay. The more you master it, the more exciting and satisfying combat encounters become.

++ Enemy diversity. Enough enemy diversity to provide a challenge, and prevents the player from just button mashing.

++ Emotional storytelling. Especially with the death of Taka & the confrontation with your uncle, Shimura.

++ Themes. Theme tackled in main plotline was compelling (sacrificing honor in order to defeat a greater evil).

++ Mythic Tales. Mythic Tales were great side missions that had worthwhile rewards.

CONS:

-- Excessive collectibles. Too many different collectibles.

-- Bland side characters. Many of the NPCs had bland voice-acting and personalities.

-- Side quests. Most of the side tales (quests), with the exception of character questlines, were not incredibly memorable.

First off, Ghost of Tsushima looks amazing in 4k on a PS5. I usually don't use photo mode in games but here I got weak a couple of times because the landscapes were just too pretty.

The game itself was great too. While the main story is nothing to write home about some of the sidequests are quite entertaining. The gameplay is fun and the combat is interesting and diverse with all the different weapons, throwables, and stances. Even the stealth bits were pretty fun and I usually don't like those. The standard difficulty felt just right to me. Enough to occasionally provide a bit of a challenge (really just the Ryuzo, Khotun Khan, and Lord Shimura fights) without getting frustrating.

Why not 5 stars then? I found things got a bit repetitive after a while. Sure, they added elements like the Hwacha sequence to help Goro the smuggler but overall it was pretty much just ride to a place, kill Mongols/bandits, repeat. Also Lord Shimura got on my nerves a bit, his opposition to Jin's methods seemed to lean a bit too heavily into the noble samurai stereotype. Anyway, none of these are deal breakers and I'll most likely play quite a bit more of this as I want to finish all of the side quests.

Edit (Jan 2, 2023): Repetitive or not, I played both the base game and the Iki Island expansion to 100% completion, so I guess I did really like this game. Definitely can't be bothered with New Game+ though.

The main quests are great. The combat is super fun. But then when I started exploring around, I realized how empty the open world actually is. With all the activities having zero meaningful gameplay (shrines are slightly an exception) and all the side quests taking one of about 3 formats, the game loses alot of its magic.

I loved the nature/weather/particles - gorgeous. I feel like, if they just had a bigger team, took their time, or just made it a linear game it would have been incredible. But the components that filled it out to be an open world were very dull and not worth doing for the most part.

Definitely had my expectations too pumped up for this one.

I seem to be of a rare breed of people who aren't all that much into samurai, but this game seems to be less of a historical one and more of a Kurosawa tribute. Being able to play the whole game in "Kurosawa Mode" is a nice touch.

The fact I'm not into it so much personally made me not love most of the major aspects:

The story was alright, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters, including the playable one. Something just feels off to me, and it's always been this way with Sucker Punch games. It all feels a bit "distant", it's very hard to describe.

The world looks pretty good, mainly because of the lighting / shading. But it's also pretty empty. I suppose that's just what Tsushima more or less used to look like, so it's hard to criticise it; it's simply a personal thing of preferring open world games where there's... stuff to do? Apart from sitting down and writing haikus.

The many leaves falling down from trees are definitely a cool feature, but that's about it.

The gameplay is where it gets really good. While I never thought Sucker Punch's worlds were truly immersive (for indescribable reasons), they always managed to get the fighting right and allow for varied combinations with the skill tree. Here you have different outfits to choose from that aid different playthrough styles; although ultimately you better bulk up with the fighting gear because stealth is useless in boss fights. And while dealing with two or three guys is pretty easy in normal mode, boss fights and big fights with multiple people including heavily armored Mongols aren't very forgiving and require some strategy, and having enough ammo for your bow(s) and throwables always comes in handy. I remember from Infamous that it was quite hard at times; Second Son is a game I didn't even play through because it became too frustratingly hard at one point. I think the main reason the fighting is tricky here is that there are two different types of defense that you constantly have to switch between (parrying and dodging). At some point I got so used to the red and blue signals to tell me what to do, I almost unlearned to parry when there's no signal at all; ultimately there are three signals to differentiate, which makes me wonder if building my skill tree that way was even worth it.

All in all it feels a lot like an improved Ubisoft game, using the same formula but making the open world a bit more passable with fast traveling (that is actually fast, in that there are no lengthy loading screens to endure) and, while it might sound like a small detail, a horse that keeps following you when you call it so you can mount it while running, instead of having to stop and wait for it every time. It's the little things...

I definitely liked this game, but it didn't meet my expectations after reading so many good things about it. What I read made me expect something groundbreaking like one of the Rockstar games, or The Witcher 3. But I would say it's just a slightly better newer Assassin's Creed type game with good fighting, and not on par with TW3.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the guiding wind. That was cool. Not having a mini-map definitely makes a difference.

As video game production only continues to grow in style, substance and experience, Ghost of Tsushima is a fitting way to send off the ps4 and bring about a new standard for future games.

Everything about this production makes you stop and catch your breath: the gorgeous vistas, the beautiful and haunting soundtrack melodies, the arresting sword fight standoffs and the tortured tale of a samurai who sacrifices everything for his home and his people.

A true 10/10 game. Play it!

5/5

No mini-map and minimal HUD made this game brilliant. You can still chase after map markers using the wind mechanic. The combat was superb and satisfying to get good at, especially on Hard mode. Really enjoyed the weapon and armor system as well, you could make Jin look exactly how you wanted. The armor perks added more oomph to whichever play style you wanted. Also really liked the platforming bits when finding the shrines and stuff, was very simple but satisfying.

Graphics and art design were stellar. The story was very straightforward but the inner struggle of Jin and his relationship with his uncle hard-carried it into very engaging territory.

Replayed about half the game in an attempt to get to Iki Island in 2024 on PS5. All the positives above still hold true. However I think the gameplay loop just isn't enough to hook me in a second time for the great story. I played on lethal mode which is such a genius move for difficulty. Still a phenomenal game.

Easily favourite game of 2020 and one of the best games I've ever played, Jin Sakai's story is riveting from start to finish. Visually it's some of the best graphics I've seen and really makes the sometimes long treks feel joyful. Characters are well written and likeable and the main antagonist is a proper villain, one you are desperate to overcome. The gameplay is one of repetitiveness in the sense of clearing outposts and a relentless amount of side missions, but the exciting, brutal and fluid combat keeps it from being that and that subtle but impactful soundtrack completes the experience.

Ghost of Tsushima could've been a mediocre game at best, but it proves to be much better than many other open world games out there.

This is probably the most beautiful game I've ever played, after TLOU2. Part of the reason why it is so fantastic is because of its scenery. The art direction and evinronmental design is near-perfect here and it merges VERY WELL with story and gameplay. The island of Tsushima is so rich with beauty and secrets to find, that makes you ACTUALLY strive to defend it from the Mongols. It makes you give a **** The gameplay is also top-notch. I confess that it took me a long while to fully get used to the combat but, when it clicks, it CLICKS. It mixes style with substance with ease and makes every single encounter be slightly different or intense enough to make you search for more. Especially during the big battles that the story throws you in.

Exploration (of course) plays a gigantic role in how you'll enjoy the game's progress and I'm happy to say that riding and running through the fields of Tsushima is one of the "chillest" things in gaming, in 2020. Discovering secrets, experiencing the calm soundtrack, collecting masks, flowers, completing objectives, raising your legend status and doing everything else that the open world has to offer is stunning. It might get repetitive, since objectives lose variety halfway through the 2nd act, outstaying its welcome a bit, but it's nothing gamebreaking and it's just incredible how GoT's collectables managed to keep me interested until the credits roll. Even the sidequests got me hooked. There are some very fun and well-written ones.

But the story is probably the weakest part of GoT. While it does get better in the 2nd act, characters have no charisma and the writing lacks any surprises and charm. It does come with some impactful high stakes moments and a few enjoyable samurai tropes, but not enough to make it stand out. Combat, while VERY stylish, does require some time to get used to. At first, it might feel clunky, especially when you're fighting many enemies. Fighting does not work against mobs in this game. Also, stealth mechanics, while seviceable, only work when you done perfectly. Problem is, GoT will seldom give you space or a path to always eliminate entire groups by only using stealth.

One last thing that might push you away from Ghost of Tsushima is how "cliché" it can become. It is an open world that WILL get repetitive, DOES use a bunch of systems and mechanics from others of the genre and NO, it's not as good as industry colossi like The Witcher 3 or Zelda BOTW. The thing is: That's fine! Ghost of Tsushima gets all of those clichés and problems, put them in a powerful blender and makes an impressive and bonafide juice with it. If you like action and open world games, I definitely recommend this one. It's one of the most remarkable exclusives on the console.

Unless... Unless you don't like the samurai, for some reason.

This game is perfectly competent. That's about the best compliment I can give it. It does a lot of things that have been done before, competently. It does some new and interesting things but they don't blow you away, they're competent. In other words, it's a pretty bog-standard open world adventure game with a check-list, "towers", and missions where you follow people slowly without getting too close.

Starting with the most obvious elements of the game, the combat and stealth, there are a few things that work well in its favour. The combat skills make for fun, high octane, fight scenes that are super photogenic and can, at times, feel super cool. Moves like the heavenly strike make combos flashy and dynamic, knowing the best ways to launch your combos and the best finishers to use is very satisfying.

That said, the combat isn't without its flaws. With no lock on system in place, large fights can get sloppy and can result in moments where you feel robbed of success. Generally, when fighting, you use the left stick to direct your attacks towards a target but at times Jin will attack the wrong enemy or a closer target than where you're directing him. More than once I broke down a foe's guard and hit the buttons for a heavenly strike only to have Jin launch the attack off to the right, at a guy who took almost no damage since I hadn't hit him at all yet.

Moving on, the stealth is rudimentary. If you've played Assassin's Creed you know exactly what this stealth is like. It doesn't really add anything to the formula, avoid lines of sight and stab guys. You can level up to do chain assassinations and get gear that makes you harder to detect but that's about it. Nothing to write home about.

Stealth missions, because of this design, can be confusing and frustrating at times. Missions where getting caught is a fail state can feel incredibly linear, with a single path to progress through, which seems pointless in my view. What's the point of all these skills if all I need to do is crouch walk along the path you've pre-designed to get me through? On one occasion I failed to sneak but must have hit a check point because I loaded forward in the mission, I still have no idea how to succeed at that particular mission.

The story is alright, maybe one of the weaker points. None of the characters really have personality, and Jin's journey to becoming the Ghost is weakened by this. The game suffers from a real "events as plot" mindset, there aren't many occasions where you really spend time with your allies to get to know who they are as people. You only show up to help them murder the people that they're mad at so that, when it's time, they'll show up to help you murder the people that you're mad at.

Spoiler territory now: The side characters are fine. Whatever. A lady samurai on a murderous revenge rampage is fine. It would have been nice to know who she was as a person better but oh well. The characters that really come across as weak are Jin, Yuna, Ryuzo, Taka, and good ol' Uncle Shimura. Playing as Jin you don't really spend any time with his uncle or his childhood friend. There are a few flashbacks to Jin's past where his uncle is fatherly but aside from a combat tutorial they're non-interactive. Ryuzo does not appear in flashbacks. This kind of drains the impact of his betrayal, as well as the conflict between Shimura's honour and Jin's fall from grace.

Yuna and Taka are better served, but ultimately Taka dies off so fast his sacrifice is more of a gotcha than something the writing built up to. Yuna gets more time with Jin and we learn of her past, her abusive mother, and why she and Taka ran away but nothing else. Additionally, we have no idea about her values or beliefs, she's just there for the ride, I guess.

The plot is flat. It's serviceable if you turn your brain off, but it's not worth much consideration.

Where this game really shines is the exploration. When you go off the story and quest rails to play with the toolbox that the devs have given you. Raiding camps, dueling, assassinating, and mowing down enemies is what the game was built for. The above gripes can make for frustrating moments, but they don't happen in every encounter, and if you're the kind of person who likes completing a collectathon in an open world then this game scratches that itch.

The world is beautiful, the minimalistic HUD and the photo mode really add to this. Without the constraints of the plot the game is much, much better.

Ghost of Tsushima is a totally passable experience. The plot's not great but it is short at least, and the combat can be fun when it opts to function correctly. The world is beautiful, the sound is excellent, and if you need a little vacation into an action game with colour and interesting vistas to explore, you could do worse than this.