GoT doesn't really do anything poorly, does a few things very well, and ultimately adds up to "Really good! if you're into that kind of game."
Extremely beautiful, naturalistic huge open world, but not a ton of environmental storytelling going on (unless endless destroyed homesteads and massacred villagers really gets you going). Would've loved to have learned some more about the people, culture and history of Tsushima, could've added a lot of emotional weight to the invasion.
The swordplay is the game's strongest asset, it's something that I crave every few months now since the game's release. I'll load up the game, wipe out a few enemy camps, fight a duel or two, and then put the game away, satisfied, until the craving returns again.
The biggest disappointment here is the writing. I played in Japanese w/ English subtitles, which I absolutely loved having as an option. That, combined with the excellent audio design and gorgeous world, had me fully bought in for the first few hours, but I gradually lost interest in the story and characters.
Characters are largely forgettable, basically serving as archetypes to play their part in the story that broadly deals with family, honor and tradition. It's all fine, very well-executed, but very safe and without a ton of personality.
By far the biggest highlights were the mythical tales that unlocked Jin's special abilities, the art style was great, stylistic and distinctive. Some of the best-designed quests too, usually ending in one of those ever-satisfying duels.
Loved the slower-paced flourishes too, composing haikus was surprisingly rewarding and the fox dens and hot springs provided excellent little moments of serenity. More of this in GoT2, please!
In all, I feel roughly the same way about this game as I do the Horizon series: I am begging you, please find some really talented writers and give them creative control of these games! You add a good story with some memorable characters to these open worlds and this quality of gameplay, you could have an all-time great game on your hands!
Extremely beautiful, naturalistic huge open world, but not a ton of environmental storytelling going on (unless endless destroyed homesteads and massacred villagers really gets you going). Would've loved to have learned some more about the people, culture and history of Tsushima, could've added a lot of emotional weight to the invasion.
The swordplay is the game's strongest asset, it's something that I crave every few months now since the game's release. I'll load up the game, wipe out a few enemy camps, fight a duel or two, and then put the game away, satisfied, until the craving returns again.
The biggest disappointment here is the writing. I played in Japanese w/ English subtitles, which I absolutely loved having as an option. That, combined with the excellent audio design and gorgeous world, had me fully bought in for the first few hours, but I gradually lost interest in the story and characters.
Characters are largely forgettable, basically serving as archetypes to play their part in the story that broadly deals with family, honor and tradition. It's all fine, very well-executed, but very safe and without a ton of personality.
By far the biggest highlights were the mythical tales that unlocked Jin's special abilities, the art style was great, stylistic and distinctive. Some of the best-designed quests too, usually ending in one of those ever-satisfying duels.
Loved the slower-paced flourishes too, composing haikus was surprisingly rewarding and the fox dens and hot springs provided excellent little moments of serenity. More of this in GoT2, please!
In all, I feel roughly the same way about this game as I do the Horizon series: I am begging you, please find some really talented writers and give them creative control of these games! You add a good story with some memorable characters to these open worlds and this quality of gameplay, you could have an all-time great game on your hands!