Ghost of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima is a well-rounded game that offers players various challenging quests while guiding them through a rich world, filled with interactive events, and an attention-grabbing story. While the game does have a few drawbacks, Sucker Punch has successfully delivered an open-world game to cure every gamer’s need for a decent Samurai game.
Sucker Punch has proven to us that they have what it takes to make a great open-world, story-driven game. Following the success of the inFamous series, Sucker punch has moved the focus from a supernatural rendition of America to a somewhat historical journey through feudal Japan. In Ghost of Tsushima, players control Jin Sakai, a Samurai from the Sakai clan on the island of Tsushima. Player’s guide Jin through the Mongol invasion as he attempts to defend his homeland from the conquering barbarians by enlisting companions and slashing through Mongol forces.
Source: Sucker Punch Productions
From combat to exploration, Ghost of Tsushima represents a complete, immersive, and enjoyable experience with great combat, voice acting and character development. Even though Jin falls short in the character development part as his character’s persona remains relatively the same throughout the game, many of the side characters are wonderfully drawn up and watching their story unfold alongside Jin’s is a breath of fresh air in a time where open-world RPGs are a dime a dozen.
Story
The story of Ghost of Tsushima closely follows the events of the Mongol invasion of Japan. Set in Tsushima, the game gives us a look at how the Samurai waged war against the Mongol empire while defending their land. The structure of this story is unique, focusing more on characters and their development than the overall plot of the story. This gives the player a chance to connect with every character they come across and makes the game more memorable.
At the start, Ghost of Tsushima allows players to employ companions in the hopes that they will help free Jin’s uncle who has been captured by the Mongols. The story focusses on the way of the Samurai and the honor that resides within each Samurai. However, it also explores the loss of this honor and the desperate means people will take to protect their land, even at the expense of their own code of living. This degradation of the code is at the heart of Ghost of Tsushima. As Jin realizes he cannot defeat the hoarding forces of the Mongols by his conventional means he is forced to strike from the shadows, without honor.
This side of the story is wonderfully exhibited through various flashback moments as Jin performs certain deeds that would prove to be un-Samurai-like. Moreover, we witness this from a few of the characters that Jin is attempting to convince to join his side. This involves completing a certain amount of missions for each character to have them follow you into battle. These missions also give the characters a deserved backstory and a great personality.
All in all, while the story of Ghost of Tsushima is well written out, it is by no means the hero of the game. While the plot itself is rather simplistic (defeat the Mongols, save Jin’s uncle), the core story experience lies in the development of the various characters Jin meets through his travels.
Combat
Ghost of Tsushima’s combat is some of the best I have seen in the open-world RPG genre. The core combat experience is broken up into two parts, the Samurai, and the Ghost. The Samurai employs the use of Jin’s katana or half bow to cut down Mongol enemies in plain sight. Using different stances to fight various types of enemies, the Samurai gameplay allows players to experience a combat system like Nioh and certain Assassin’s Creed games.
I think the biggest drawback of the Samurai gameplay is just how difficult it can be to parry attacks. At certain times it seems nearly impossible and getting the timing down right has a large learning curve, especially since there is no indication of when the right time to hit the parry button is. Instead, I found blocking or evading was much more effective at fighting enemies.
One of the most unique aspects of the combat system is the standoff that a player can activate before the start of the fight. This allows the players to attack and kill one enemy by holding and releasing a button at the exact time. These stand-offs provide some of the most joyous moments in the entire game and as a player progresses through the campaign, they will unlock abilities to improve this.
Jin’s most faithful weapon, and probably the one that will be used the most by players, is his Katana. Along with this, players can use a half bow, which is great for killing or staggering enemies and a plethora of smaller weapons and tools like Kunai blades and smoke bombs.
While the Samurai gameplay can be challenging and will most likely be employed much more, the Ghost gameplay allows Jin to revert from the Way of the Samurai and inflict fear into the Mongol ranks. Striking from the shadow, the Ghost gameplay seems best used as a precursor to the upfront and personal style of the Samurai gameplay. Using both in conjecture is the best and most efficient way to defeat the enemies in the game. The Ghost style gives players the ability to sneak up and kill most enemies in a single blow, like an Assassin’s Creed game. And while this style of fighting is equally fun, it is also where a lot of the game’s biggest glitches lay.
Whether its confusing enemy reactions to movement glitches, the ghost gameplay seems to be the most broken part of the game, which may lead players to use it less. However, watching enemies fall over and desperately try to escape from Jin after he stealthily kills off an enemy offers the most satisfying moments in the game.
Overall, while the combat in Ghost of Tsushima is not the best, it offers players a lot of enjoyment and will have players returning to the game after they have completed a playthrough.
Exploration
Outside of combat, Ghost of Tsushima offers players a chance to walk around one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 4. From rolling fields of flowers to bamboo forests, the game world looks phenomenal and is one that players can sink hours of time into.
Ghost of Tsushima truly opens when players decide to step away from the main storyline. Tsushima is filled with small side quests and events that unlock upgrade points, cosmetics, and lore. From following foxes and songbirds to playing short mini-games, to finding and defeating Mongol leaders to unlock stances, Tsushima is stacked with things to do, places to visit, animals to hunt, various treasure to find, and people to talk to.
The map itself is not as large as some of the other great open-world games, but it is heavily populated with things to do that it seems to be much larger than it is. By ensuring that exploration will lead to a better playthrough experience, the game encourages players to step away from the main storyline to reap the benefits of the majestic world of Tsushima.
The only downside to all this is that once all these missions are completed, there is not a whole lot of replay value. Moreover, the absence of a “New Game+” feature means that certain players may not be encouraged to come back and play the game once they have completed it once.
Game Modes
Ghost of Tsushima offers its players four different game modes that effect the audio and visual aspects of the game. The Standard version gives players English dialogue and standard video settings. The subtitled version offers English dialogue along with English subtitles. The Samurai Cinema mode offers Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. Finally, Kurosawa mode drowns the video in a black and white filter with the Samurai Cinema dialogue options and is described as, “Inspired by the movies of Legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.”
These modes are a great touch to the game and Kurosawa mode is gorgeous. This mode not only makes the entire game look like a classic Samurai film but by adding more of the particles like flowers and increasing wind speed, it brings the whole world to life and serves as a completely different experience. The only downside is that the Japanese dialogue is not as well supported in the game’s design. While the dialogue in English allows for the characters to look realistic, the Japanese dialogue gives players some awkward lip-flapping moments that do not seem to match the voice coming from the characters.
Even with this, I still think that the best way to play the game is on Kurosawa mode as it just looks so aesthetically pleasing, and moving through the world in this mode turns the game into something that has never been seen before.
Photo Mode
Sucker Punch is known for having a great photo mode in their games and Ghost of Tsushima is probably their best rendition at this. Even though it does not, or should not, affect a person’s choice to play this game, the amount of detail that Sucker Punch placed into this game mode is staggering.
Players can take amazing images in the game by modifying the surrounding area, from weather to moving particles and wind speed. Photo mode is a blast and should not be overlooked. Even if only for a moment, it is a great respite from the chaotic world all-around Jin and his trusted companions.
Verdict
Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best games on the PlayStation 4 and a must-play for every person. Sucker Punch has successfully delivered a game full of engaging content and wonderful exploration. It is a great way to leave the old generation behind, ahead of the highly anticipated PlayStation 5.
With a good story, great characters, and a truly living world brought to life in cinematic glory, Ghost of Tsushima is more than enough to keep players busy and entertained for a long time and will probably go down as one of the best games to grace the PlayStation 4. What waits to be seen now is just how good the game will look at the upcoming generation of consoles.