Ghost of Tsushima (2020)

I have played about another 6 or so hours on New Game Plus. Controls are coming back to me, though I am not utilizing all the combos and stuff I have unlocked. I am reminded how amazing you feel when this game is flowing. Just cutting through enemies, countering, dodging, it all comes together great. But I am also reminded how bad I am at parries lol...

I think the thing I like the most, even on replay, is how much the island and its people feel like their own character. I LOVE exploring, finding new stuff, petting the foxes, even writing the cheesy haiku. Normally, I don't love the experience of wandering around a setting, but a few games stand out for having made truly amazing and immersive settings, that I cannot get enough of.

Other ones that come to mind are Spider-Man and Bioshock.

Reached the credits of Ghost of Tsushima and oh man, that ending. Right in the feels, like a samurai sword to the heart!

I need time to process, I tend not to rank games until I've slept. I was thinking it was going to be a 4 star for me, but now, could be bumping it up to a 5. This character development. I think I want to carry on and finish all their arcs!

And i never do that.

Great game. Beautifully executed. Like a samurai sword to the something vital or whatever.

Beautiful game. I put it down after 12 hours or so (a few weeks ago) but feel like delving back in. It's a simple game, it is comfort food gaming. But it does everything it sets out to do quite well.

Hopefully the next game expands on the combat system, makes it more deep, more engaging and I also hope the open world repetitiveness gets dealt with.

Love the wind, the foliage, the aesthetic.

Alright, so far I have played two wonderful games on the PS5: Tsushima and Spider-Man. But while Spider-Man is definitely a perfect execution of what we consider a video game, Tsushima is an art object on its own. It transcends it media form - no one could argue that this is only an entertainment product and that there is no value in it besides from being fun to play.

It has artistic vision, everything is so well crafted, it has grit, it has ground, beauty, flow, power level ... It is thoroughly magnificent and I have to spend that one exec a beer who said: "Wait, let's follow up to this one game designer's idea to make game in historical Japan, a homage to Akira Kurosawa, which story wants to demystify the pop cultural conception of Ninjas. I think we should fuckin' do it and let's do it big." It's actually quite unbelievable that something like this got made in our capitalist world.

Also, it's not like I think that the Nazis are right but let's talk about the right-wing idea that stories in a historical setting do not need to pander to woke culture to be cool. Tsushima proves this point quite thoroughly. All female characters are bad-ass warriors out of necessity but they aren't respected by there fellow soldiers. Nonetheless, I as a viewer understand the sexism and female empowerment. That the historical setting does not weaken it's own boundaries does only increase the stakes. Today I payed The Spirit of Yarikawa's Vengence which is just a beautiful side quest. But in there, our protagonist stumbles upon a gay person whose love to a family's father get's him into trouble. The village he lives in, distrust him, but to safe the person he loves, he takes the blame and keeps the secret. When he asks us for advice because we are the lord of his township, we don't have any solution. It's feudal Japan, we can't help this man. Even though the protagonist shows compassion his ultimate ruling sounds: Leave. You need to leave. I can't help you.

It was gut wrenching. But it makes the story worth telling. It has a morale.

i'm about 4/5 of the way through act 1, enjoying it, but i feel conflicted coming at this after a brief stint playing sekiro. i liked sekiro but needed something that required a little less of me, and tsushima hits that mark for me, it's fun enough to play but it's never challenging me too much, it's very pretty, but again, it's not asking a whole lot from me. it makes me wonder what this game would be like if the encounters felt more sekiro-like. i never feel like i land the parrys in tsushima quite right, but i also have only had to replay a handful of fights, so it's not necessarily a difficulty spike that's got me down. all in all pretty fun, but i'd like it more i think if it were a bit tighter, lots of sections alternate between feeling like rdr or yakuza, or assassins creed or uncharted or sekiro-light. it's fun, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't feel like it's speaking with its own voice.

still, it's a great way to pass the time, though and it's not only gorgeous but i have to say i really like the dualsense integration as gimmicky as that may seem