This is a very good game that I had a lot of fun playing.

I have a lot of small gripes, none of which amount to very much individually. Unfortunately, with an open-world game of this length, small gripes can snowball and detract from the overall experience.

I think this game will be my new personal poster child for "ludonarrative dissonance" in video games.

The art direction in this game is incredible.

I respect the choice to not include waypoints. But there were several moments in the game where I just wanted a fucking waypoint.

Standard Sony first party Open World game premise at first glance, Tsushima constantly blew me away with it's visual's and organic flow to the world and gameplay. My main complaint was that the game was far too easy with it's parry timings even on Hard however they updated the game with a new "Lethal" mode that is similar to a DMC Dante must Die mode which greatly increased my enjoyment in the combat. However the stealth in the game is done very well and left me yearning for a new Tenchu game in 2020.

"Honor died on the beach."

Honestly sorta wasn't expecting to like GoT as much as I did when I picked it up, I expected it to be good since Playstation decided to just churn out bangers this generations but damn.

At first glance GoT doesn't honestly do to much new or innovative very much having everything you'd expect in a open world game, however they were smart int his aspect by making these thing not only enjoyable to do or get but by not cramming 500 of them over a 100 mile big map like it's a Ubisoft game.

The little quality to life choices also help like having the wind be your guide keeping the screen from being cluttered and a sore to look at or by reducing the amount of weapons Jin has and giving him stance which is honestly a good thing since you're consistently going into a menu to see what has the best stats breaking the flow of the game.

Also unlike a open world Ubisoft game the world of Tsushima is interesting to explore and absolute gorgeous to look at with not stuttering and SHORT load times which still really baffles me to how they pulled that off.

I also like the story given it's not a traditional one in games as I found myself even questioning Jin's methods as I watched him turn from a Noble Samurai to the honestly scary Ghost all to save his home and honestly the story does a fantastic job looking at this with the use of Jin's uncle Lord Shisuma that's about all I'll say without spoiling things but honestly the story's quality is what surprised me the most.

Game is a solid 4 out of 5 with a extra .5 for the Stand-Off feature which is absolutely dope.

This game caught me by surprise. It wasn’t on my radar until about two months before release when I saw the big gameplay reveal which impressed me and got me pretty excited. I was glad to have a new open world game to sink my teeth into, since it’s been a while since we’ve had a good new one, and I needed something to entertain myself for the rest of quarantine after TLOU2. And man, this did a good job of keeping me hooked.

This is some of the most engrossed I’ve been in a game’s open world ever, up there with Red Dead 2 and The Witcher 3. It looks absolutely gorgeous. The lighting, colors, variety of environments, everything. This is one of the prettiest games I’ve ever played. It pays heavy homage to the works of Kurosawa and the Lone Wolf and Cub series, and it channels what makes those works so beloved into the video game medium brilliantly.

There’s tons to explore in this world, and the game does a great job of instilling a sense of exploration and wonder in the player. There’s very minimal HUD, with no mini map or arrows pointing you in the right direction. The game instead favors a system called “the guiding wind”. Whenever you swipe up on the touchpad, wisps of wind and particles will glide by in the direction you need to go. This mechanic seems gimmicky at first, but you adjust quickly, and now I can’t imagine an open world game without it. I feel like this mechanic (or something similar to it) should be a new standard in open world games. Being able to confidently ride around the world with no HUD and never feel lost is an awesome feeling. It allows you to focus all your attention on the world around you instead of a mini map. As you traverse the environment you’ll also stumble across foxes and birds that will lead you to points of interest. These mechanics help not only make the world feel alive, but make you feel like you’re a part of it. I spent countless hours riding around the open world looking for secrets, and constantly being blown away by its beauty. GOT rewards much of your exploration with either cosmetics or charms to give you different abilities. Constantly hunting the best drip was something that really kept me going. Almost all the outfits are drippy as hell, and they give you different abilities incentivizing you to constantly switch things up depending on the scenario.

The combat in GOT is super satisfying. It’s kind of a blend of Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher, with the stances of Nioh or For Honor. Slaughtering hoards of enemies feels so nice, and combining different special weapons and moves you accumulate throughout the game feels awesome. This game does an impressive job of making you feel like a badass. The amount of times I said “oh SHIT let’s fucking GO” in this game is astounding. The stealth is overall on the easier side, and the AI can sometimes be kind of stupid, but the it still feels very smooth and immerses you in the idea that you’re “The Ghost”.

The story of Ghost of Tsushima surprised me as well. I bought this game more for the gameplay and world, not caring as much about the story, but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the game. It’s funny that it came out around The Last of us Part II, since it has many similar themes of revenge and forgiveness, and is riddled with grey morality. The side quests were just as interesting and essential as the main quests, and I enjoyed them all.

Ghost of Tsushima is the first game I’ve ever platinumed on PS4. Rarely do my completionism tendencies come out, but something about this world just made me want to explore every nook and cranny. This and TLOU2 back to back was the most fun I’ve had gaming in a long time.

This is a truly epic game. Its got to be one of the best open world games ive played. Its contending with the world of skyrim as the best in my opinion. For one the art direction is absolutely stunning, the lighting, foliage, use of colour and weather effects make it visually one of my favourite games. The actual exploration is what makes it tho, visual cues like smokestacks, animals trying to get your attention, random citizens letting you in on a rumour and the wind lead you to mystical shrines or hidden grottoes holding secret stories or items. There is no mini map in the corner of the screen telling you where to go and there is no level gating which is a huge win. Side quests for the most part are also very well done. Some lead to encounters and circumstances that are completely unique to those side quests. A simple rescue mission became a whole lot more interesting when you got to sail out onto a mongolian ship for the first time. Each side quest is unique and hold their own intriguing side stories. There arent 10+ rescue missions or 20+ fetch quests. The game also houses side stories to characters from the main quest which are all very engaging and often as cinematic as the main quest, they also let you in on their characters a little more, the best form of side quests though in my opinion are the Mythic tales which have you tracking down Ancient samurai techniques and tools, theres nothing cooler than hearing a poet at an inn telling the story of a Legendary Samurai’s flaming sword at the top of a mountain peek and then climbing this huge mountain in a perilous blizzard to discover the truth of this old tale. Now onto the main quest, this is where we start to get into a-few complaints, the plot is pretty basic, stop the mongol invasion, which is ok because it means that we could focus on the characters alot more, this is where the game falters, the characters are relatively generic and a little dull at times. The main character Jin has good character development and a good arc but he doesn’t really have much of a personality compared to someone like Geralt from the witcher. The story still has some great moments though, there are twists, betrayals, huge battles, the villian is very serviceable and the ending is really good. Now that we have gotten past the worst thing, lets talk about the combat. The combat in this game is kind of god tier? The moment to moment samurai sword combat never got old, its full of depth, variety and “badassery“ and the game does get challenging at points but not by just making enemies spongier or “higher level” but by actually making the enemies harder to fight to test and increase the skill of the player. Im going to cut this review short because i could talk about this game for a long time but know that i could have talked about, how the soundtrack is my favourite from this year, the terrific audio design, awesome boss battles, the armour and weapon customisation or even the decisions you can make to alter the story. This is an amazing game and a great final addition to the terrific library of the ps4. What a game, what a console.

Sony has had their fair share of open-world titles, to varying success. More often than not, they fall under traditional open world cliches most prominently set in stone by the likes of Far Cry 3; where some open world games like Dark Souls or Wind Waker prioritize exploration, other open world games like inFamous Second Son or Marvel's Spider-Man are more about finding collectables and liberating enemy camps - both of which to clear the map and add towards a 100% completion goal. Ghost of Tsushima, at first glance, tries to have it both ways.

One thing I initially liked a lot about this game is that there is no clear way to clear the map or where the collectables are - you must let the wind guide you. At first, it’s awesome just being led around this gorgeous world and finding its hidden secrets naturally. It feels like a real place with lots of hidden depth that I, Jin Sakai, am really exploring. Quickly, though, this pretty facade falls apart.

There's little in the way of actual exploration in this game. More often than not, the most efficient way of finding something is choosing from a menu what you want to find and then spamming the windpoint in the direction of level-ups. Rarely will something surprise you in this game without you directly asking to see it.

It really is a shame, too, BECAUSE the game looks so good. this game has been praised to no end about its environmental visuals, and it truly is something to praise, even for its mechanical purpose. Trees and grass swaying in the direction of the guiding wind looked and felt incredible, and in some story missions that didn’t have clear guidance there was usually a nearby fire blowing in the direction of progress.

And those visuals hold up in the combat and enemy animations, typically with very obvious telegraphs that were consistent but varied enough to sometimes catch me off-guard. Combat as a whole generally felt very good, minus some moments where I couldn’t parry out of a combo-ender. The only real problem is its variety.

Taking this game as just its linear missions and campaign, it’s quite short. Only about 24 missions in all, most with a very strong focus on combat. Problem is, new enemy types only appear per Act (of which there are three) and even then, there are only really about 5 to speak of. That may seem like plenty for a short game, but any variation they get is typically just more health or at worst, forcing certain strategies like dodging instead of letting the player parry (which seems like a decent mix-up, but functionally it’s an identical system, both even have the same upgrade that lets you get extra damage off if you do it at the last second.)

That wouldn’t be a problem if the player had a wide variety of options to handle opponents with, but you don’t. Parry, dodge and guard break is your lot as far as base samurai combat goes. There are also ghost weapons that usually function more as wide, enemy-clearing bombs or one-shot insta-kills like the kunai or bow, but more often than not I would just use them to eliminate the more annoying enemy types like brutes so that parrying the other guys would be more enjoyable. I guess this could be construed as a good thing, but as it stands they feel like more and more ways to make your character overpowered than making combat more interesting to engage with.

Duels are awesome though.

I have a lot of nits to pick with this game, but I do want to stress that it is a very enjoyable experience. Combat is viscerally satisfying, but lacking in the kind of mechanical depth that'll keep me coming back to it. Exploration is gorgeous, but still sometimes feels more like chasing waypoints than truly partaking in a world. I didn’t touch on it, but the story can occasionally be powerful and well-written, though often doesn’t dedicate enough to its themes of honor and tradition to make anything truly special, perhaps barring the ending.

A lot of this game is good, sometimes even great, but it's not confident enough in itself to really thrive.

There's a lot to love about this game. It looks absolutely gorgeous; in fact, I would say this is the best looking PS4 game I have played despite it not being technically the most polished. The combat is fluid and stylish. The story was also a pleasant surprise. The first few hours made me think it would be a pretty basic story but I ended up loving the main narrative. Unfortunately, this game is marred by generic open-world bloat and some seriously outdated mission design. By the end I was ready for it to be done. Still, definitely worth playing for the strong sense of style.

Basically you spend 35 hours becoming 13th Century Batman in what might be the PS4's most striking open world. Ghost of Tsushima is not a game that holds up under scrutiny; its beauty is skin deep, its textures beneath the vibrant foliage are not as richly detailed as they may appear from a distance. When I am not playing this game, my brain is scrambling for ways to dismiss it, either for its rote mission structure, its paper thin characters, its sophomoric morality or its less than stellar attempts at appearing cinematic. Yet, when I am playing it, it's as comfortable as old pair of gloves. Combat, without the hassle of a lock-on, is swift; riding and movement is equal parts weighty and frisky (it means the game feels immersive without any clunkiness); and, yeah, I am easily dazzled by the colours, from the leafs and landscapes to the various outfits, headbands and sword kits you can equip. I always felt really in the zone coming home, chucking on some colourful duds, and riding around, wind whipping my cape, fully immersed in a smartly designed, satisfyingly diagetic world. This game will live on as "that samurai game that replaced the mini map and HUD with wind and birds", which is fitting. The game is about as nice that sounds. "Yeah, I remember that. It was a fun game". About as much as you can ask for.

Ghost of Tsushima is kind of the best and worst that an open-world game has to offer. While playing it, I realized I had sold a game like Red Dead Redemption 2 a little short because for all of its storytelling defects, it at least endeavored to fill its canvas with rich, interesting characters and colorful side-quests. Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t really do anything interesting narratively until the third act, and most of its side-quests amount to little more than “Go here, kill Mongols.” Every time the game has the opportunity to do something interesting, it reverts to “Go here, kill Mongols.”

To be fair, there’s something oddly comforting in its errand simulator. Some dopamine gets triggered when you clear a map or unlock a trophy. The game is never punishingly difficult, and the combat mostly feels fair–a light challenge while never making you feel like you have to work at becoming good at a video game. And given its lush environments, there’s something soothing about traversing the map to go compose a haiku to get a new headband or sit in a hot spring to increase your maximum health.

But by the end of the game, I was frequently wondering, “Is this it?” Rather than luring me in to play just a little bit more, I found myself a little worn out and taking myself away from Ghost of Tsushima, partly out of boredom and partly out of repetition. I knew the next side-quest would be fairly uninteresting (go here, kill Mongols) and undemanding. I was never mad at the game as much as I was largely indifferent towards it. I don’t necessarily mind when a game gets a little repetitive (there are only so many gameplay systems you can build in and have them all work properly), but there needs to be the character and story to back it up like in PS4’s Spider-Man.

When I unlocked the final trophy in Ghost of Tsushima, I didn’t feel accomplished as much as I was glad that I could put the game away. I appreciate the three weeks of playtime I got out of it, but more often than not, it was a visually lush experience that ultimately felt a little shallow.

Somewhat mixed on this. When it works, the exploration aspect of the game is incredible and filled my heart with a wonder I hadn't felt since Breath of the Wild. However, those moments are soured somewhat when the character acts like he hasn't done a haiku before or taken a bath in a hot spring, despite the fact I had been doing just that for the past couple hours, and the horrible realisation creeps in that exploration isn't really the design intention of Ghost of Tsushima. This kinda sucks because the world Sucker Punch is gorgeous and full of mysteries, but the game's missions can't help but reinforce just how little control you actually have on your character's progression and actions.

The story, despite some great individual moments, fails to amaze, as the ending rolled around and I was left with a distinct sense of dissatisfaction with how the themes and plotlines ended up coalescing. I know it's kind of wanky to pull out ludonarrative dissonance in a review, but never have I felt it as hard as I did here. The game allows for two gameplay styles: samurai and ghost (or in video game speak, combat and stealth), and these two methods of assault are tied heavily to the story and its characters. The game presents these two styles as a way for the player to express themselves uniquely, but after seeing a cutscene that condemned the ghost route, I decided to stick to the samurai code as possible, assuming it would affect the story somehow. However, as the game carried on, the protagonist continued to be scolded for breaking that code and using the tactics of a thief which, might I remind you, I avoided whenever possible. That irritating feeling of powerlessness came creeping back into my brain as I realised despite having options and choice at the core of its gameplay design, Ghost of Tsushima does very little with it narratively. This is a flaw I discovered through a combination of personal taste and expectations, but I found it immensely frustrating that the path Jin ultimately takes between samurai and ghost is dictated not by the gameplay of the past 30 hours, but instead through a binary choice right at the very end.

That being said, this is still a really entertaining and polished experience and I can tell Sucker Punch poured all their love into the project. There's a clear enthusiasm injected into every aspect of this game and I couldn't help but enjoy my time immensely, flaws and all. I wish there was more room for player expression in all areas but regardless, this is a very strong release for Sucker Punch and I hope a sequel can focus more on exploration.

Un mundo abierto precioso, lleno de rincones detalladísimos y que te anima a explorarlo a fondo. Sufre de las mismas cosas que casi cualquier otro juego de mundo abierto, con la diferencia de que el sistema de combate es realmente bueno.

El sigilo deja bastante que desear, pero los combates multitudinarios son una auténtica gozada y es donde el juego realmente brilla.

Técnicamente es un poco deficiente en la PS4 base. Apenas llega a los 30fps en muchas secciones y, aunque es visualmente precioso, hubiera preferido sacrificar algo de eso y ofrecer una experiencia más estable.

La historia tarda en arrancar, pero todo el último acto es una maravilla y el final es de levantarse a aplaudir. Los personajes son muy interesantes (mención especial a Yuna) y las misiones secundarias están sorprendentemente trabajadas, muy similares a lo que ofrece The Witcher 3 o, más recientemente, AC: Odyssey, aunque su estructura jugable sea algo repetitiva.

No se me ha hecho excesivamente largo, aunque he ido racionándolo para evitar quemarme e incluso sacar el Platino ha sido divertido, así que no puedo recomendarlo más.

Such an awesome game that doesn't try to do anything "extra." The premise is action and exploration, but the action is always going to come first.

The game's introduction is one of the best and most cinematic in recent memory. The image of Jin and his broken, soot-covered armor atop his horse (I named mine Nobu) through a field a yellow flowers was jaw-dropping. The color palette on display is like nothing you've seen in a game before. The closest analog would probably be Assassin's Creed: Odyssey in the Atlantis DLC.

As mentioned above, action takes precedent in this world. There are so many Mongols to kill and so many ways to do it. Do you want to embrace the Ghost, hide in the grass and mud and sink your tanto six inches deep into the jugular or an unsuspecting Mongol? Go nuts! Would you rather solemnly approach a Mongol base and challenge their best warriors to one-on-one combat? It's your story!

In terms of the narrative, Sucker Punch is lightly pushing you towards embracing the Ghost, but they never force you to do so. While I do appreciate giving players the freedom to choose how they want to play and fight, I actually think a game whose scope was more focused on solely "Ghost" identity would be better.

Exploration is a big part of this game, and you will surely have a ton of fun finding every shrine, hot spring and bamboo stand - but unfortunately it did get a little tiring. The shrines are always interesting because the player has to climb up the side of a mountain, or swing from tree limb to tree limb to reach the shrine top. My favorite location to find were the spots to author haiku, but I'm also a sucker for the free headbands Jin gets for writing haiku.

I'm so excited for whatever comes next from Sucker Punch.

The open world format in gaming is no longer as revolutionary as it once was, and it is slowly becoming a tiresome formula. It is not even so much to do with the formula itself, but in how the developers are presenting it to the players, what they are doing with the said formula. The open world concept is traditionally a great idea since it does not railroad players in any one direction and gives them ample room and opportunity for exploration and discovery. It can be quite a magical experience. The issue that we see nowadays boils down to an argument of quality over quantity. The larger the map or the more repetitive activities (acting as filler in empty spaces) does not equal good content. I feel like the most prime examples of this are the Assassin Creed games. Most of the time, the gameplay in those games is magnificent, but the maps are large purely for the sake of being so, and the activities that act as filler become repetitive and boring. It also doesn’t help if you are not really that invested in the story of the game either, like I am with the AC games. Some of the best open world games have learned to provide a sense of variety, and condensed quality content. It needs to be more about the content than the map itself. Witcher 3 is one that comes to mind in that the story and lore of the game is what fuels the player’s direction. While it is technically open world and any or all could be explored (although certain areas are level restricted, not by a lack of permission but by a warning of danger), the quests which are some of the best ever designed in a game lead the player around the map in a meaningful and purpose driven way that is not simply go to point A to begin mission.

With that said, I think Ghost of Tsushima is the best and worst of both worlds. On one hand, the quests or “tales” as this game calls them, are overall uniquely designed and meaningful, but on the other hand, the map is large and filled with so many repetitive collectible type locations that act more like distractions from what is important. During my first few hours playing the game, I was in love and ready to declare it the GOTY right then and there. However, as the game went on, the dreading sense of repetitiveness took over and the game itself lingered on for too long. Normally I wouldn’t claim a 50-60 hour game as overlong if the content justifies it, but if it seems stretched out with the purpose of prolonging the journey, then it can damage the overall experience. I think Ghost of Tsushima just barely crosses that threshold of being slightly overlong. Granted, I know in a story related manner, it is not going to be something quick and easy to overcome an entire mongol army when you are outnumbered and need to utilize guerrilla warfare tactics. At the same time, some of the side quests were repetitive with a plot that appeared in some form or manner involving a peasant enlisting your help in finding a relative and either rescuing them or avenging their killers. Those quests could be drastically diminished without harming the overall content.

The story really shined in the character related tales, even more so than the main quest line. This is where I begin to understand the criticism of the main protagonist Jin Sakai and his overall lack of charisma or defining characteristics. Jin is sort of plain and a standard trope of overcoming adversity against all odds, even sacrificing one’s own integrity. He just seems one note, and doesn’t really undergo any sort of development other than the transition in his fighting style. Speaking of which, while I know the topic of fighting style is important to the code of a samurai and the idea of honor they hold so dear, the game does railroad you into that predicament. This is less of a criticism and more of a “what could have been” moment. While the game does have two endings, the decision of which is made at the very end with no real consequence one way or the other, what if the later half of the game could have been divided into two arcs, one which follows the way of the samurai and one of the way of the ghost. That freedom of choice and consequences based on that choice would have made the game far more interesting.

I diverged off topic with my explanation of Jin, but it is highly possible that Jin feels like the weakest link in terms of characters because the rest of his supporting cast is so magnificent. The character tales especially were an interesting type of quest line, allowing the players to get to deeply know each person and the development behind their character. Lady Masako and Yuna were among my favorites, but I also like Sensei Ishikawa and the story arc involving his one time pupil Tomoe. Even though she was briefly in the game, Yuriko also left an incredible impression and honestly some of the most emotional segments in the game, which I do believe was lacking overall. Norio, the warrior monk, was also a great addition and had the persona of being an extremely likeable guy. Aside from them, the mythical tales were also some of the game’s best content. Each one derives from a piece of Japanese folklore, beginning with a hand drawn style piece of animation as each tale which is sung by the musician/ quest giver.

The main story feels fairly standard and predictable, and thus the game relies on its other functions to come out ahead, including incredibly fluid gameplay. The combat and platforming were major highlights in the game, and their level of entertainment did not die off quickly. Other notables are the game’s luscious colors and graphical designs. Every piece of environment is picturesque, and when combined with the combat, we get the stunning duels that are the game’s cinematic high points. Regarding cinema, the Kurosawa mode was a bit of a disappointment. It seemed fun at first, but I felt cheated out of the games vibrant colors and graphics. I admire its inclusion the most and its intent. If anything, it will achieve name recognition for the cinema giant amongst casual movie watchers. It is also fun to utilize during duels and cutscenes to really obtain that classic samurai flick visual. The mode just does not work the greatest during normal gameplay, as it also makes it more difficult to see. especially when trying to go stealthy during any night sequences.

Ghost of Tsushima hits many of the right notes for me, including its setting of feudal era Japan, which is my bread and butter, at least when it comes to watching classic Japanese cinema. I love the look of the game, how it encapsulates the player in this specific moment in time in Japan, Everything about it felt very authentic and meticulously applied. It provides that escapism that we all seek from any form of entertainment, and transports us to fill the shoes of a samurai and it captures that feeling. For all of its shortcomings, regarding its length, its repetitiveness, and uninspired main story/character, they felt like nothing compared to everything else the game had to offer. While it is not “the” GOTY for me, there is no denying that it is one of the best games of the year, and it deserves its praise.

https://themadnessofdionysus.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/ghost-of-tsushima-2020/