ghost of tsushima launch edition
includes
- digital mini soundtrack
- jin dynamic theme
- jin avatar
developer: sucker punch production
genre: open world action adventure
multiplayer/co-op: yes (legends mode)
release date: july 17, 2020
price: free (ty j.k.)
msrp: $59.99
platforms: ps4
reviewed on: ps4
- visual: 10/10
- audio: 10/10
- gameplay: 10/10
- narrative: 9/10
- challenge: 9/10
- replayability: 6/10
- value: 9/10
- personal grade: 9/10
total score: 9/10
buy at full price, sale, never: full
hours spent on the game: 50+ hours
platinumed? yes
When you think of the Mongol invasions and conquests of the 13th and 14th centuries, you probably think of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire expanding across Europe and Central Asia. What probably wouldn’t come to mind is that the Mongols continued to rule China into the 14th century under the Yuan dynasty and invaded Tsushima Island in Japan in 1274. The initial attack was made at Komoda beach on the northwestern tip of the southern island, where our story begins.
Ghost of Tsushima is an open world action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions, that follows the path of a samurai, Jin Sakai on a quest to protect his home during the historical invasion of Japan by the Mongol Empire.
I have to say, first and foremost, that this is the most beautiful game I have ever played, in terms of the musical score and graphical excellence. The game is absolutely gorgeous when it comes to its visuals. The characters are depicted with lifelike detail. You can clearly see sweat particles dripping down a character’s face during a tense scene, the clan emblem on your katana as you unsheath it, or the ridges on your armor while in battle. The island of Tsushima is filled with granular weather effects, bright and vibrant colors, and an arrangement of windswept leaves, pouring rain, falling snow, chirping birds, mysterious foxes, and more that make the world feel real and alive. Even in a bloody, war-torn world, you can find peace in locations such as shrines to honor, wild foxes to pet, hot springs to rejuvenate in, bamboo to cut, and scenic locations to write haikus, each element uniquely colored. Such elegant scenery deserves to be appreciated, and Sucker Punch Productions accounts for this with Photo Mode. This feature provides a wide variety of settings that allow you to take photos and edit them to your exact liking. Throughout the game, I found myself visiting locations on the island not to complete missions, but to capture their beauty.
The combat of Ghost of Tsushima is addictingly satisfying, with its precise swordplay and rewarding mechanics. There are your typical light and heavy attacks. Heavy attacks break the enemy’s guard in order to damage their health. Then you have your typical guards, rolls and parries, all of which feel sharp and satisfying when you manage to perfect their timing. Some enemies have attacks that you cannot block or parry that are indicated with a red marker before they strike, perhaps inspired by Sekiro. Instead, you need to dodge or perfect dodge to create a window of opportunity to counter back.
Possibly where Ghost of Tsushima’s combat system shines the brightest are the boss battles, which take the form of duels. The rhythm of these duels is fast-paced, tense, and exhilarating in that the fight can be over in seconds if you don’t dodge or parry correctly. Very few games can induce the gratifying feeling you get when you perfect parry or perfect dodge. These dramaticized one-on-one battles successfully evoke samurai and kurosawa-style cinema that were popularized in the 1950s, and are heightened by an epic musical score. Intense combat themes have pounding percussion and discordant string instruments, while darker segments are filled with woodwind melodies.
But there is more to combat than just swinging your katana around. You end up unlocking an arsenal of different techniques and weapons to fit your playstyle, which gives you an added layer of freedom. You can dance between four different stances, perhaps Nioh inspired, to counter different enemy types. You obtain two types of bows, a blowdart, sticky bombs, smoke bombs and kunais. You can even learn to set your sword ablaze! The element of freedom and choice offered by this game finds its pinnacle in the option to play as the Samurai or the Ghost.
As you play through the story, you understand why the game is called Ghost of Tsushima and not Samurai of Tsushima. Throughout the game, you are given the liberty to play headstrong, upfront and with a samurai’s honor, or play stealthily, sneakily and deceitfully, like a ghost. Should you choose the latter, you can chain up to 3 assassinations in a row while in stealth, another extremely satisfying move to pull off.
At the initial battle at Komoda Beach, Jin and the rest of the samurai are quickly defeated by the overwhelming number of Mongols led by Khotun Khan. Jin’s uncle, Lord Shimura, is captured by the Mongols as Jin wakes up on the battlefield to find his allies massacred. Although on the surface, Jin’s ultimate goal is to save his uncle and liberate Tsushima from the Mongols, things take a somber and deep turn as the philosophies of old and new clash. The narrative told throughout the game definitely had some gripping story moments that made me shed a tear, especially Jin’s relationship with his uncle. The game cleverly cuts back to moments from Jin’s youth where Shimura instilled those traditions passed down from generations to further drive the amount of respect and emotion Jin has for his uncle. Pivotal to the samurai code is the concept of honor, which means knowing what is right and wrong and doing the right thing at all times, even when no one is looking. Jin gradually drifts away from these traditions and ideologies taught to him by his uncle, and begins to utilize tactics that are considered dishonorable by the samurai code. The dynamic between sticking to old noble ideals and forging a new path is Jin’s internal struggle. What is the right thing to do? Sticking to old “honorable” ways that put more lives at risk or fighting “dishonorably” to protect his people? The conflict between old and new is where Jin’s character development begins to blossom as he slowly becomes the Ghost of Tsushima.
Though the open world presented on the island of Tsushima is gorgeous and breathtaking, the side quests that take place in it can end up feeling meaningless and repetitive. Most generic side missions resort to a subset of the following: surveying an area, investigating and tracking footsteps, walking and riding your horse with the quest giver, fetching an item, freeing a prisoner, and killing bandits and Mongols. Another set of quests revolves around the narratives of side characters that aid you throughout the game. Aside from developing the personalities of these side characters, these quests mostly utilize gameplay elements that resort to the ones I have listed above. The one exception to all of this are special side quests called “Mythic Tales” that reward you with a legendary skill, armor or weapon and are completed through unique puzzle solving and enduring boss encounters.
There are 4 different modes offered in Ghost of Tsushima: Easy, Medium, Hard and Lethal. I completed my platinum playthrough on Hard and will play through again on Lethal. You can switch between difficulties at any time in the settings menu. Easy and Medium are both well-balanced for players who want to play through the game mostly for the story and open world. Hard mode is a treat for players who want a bit of challenge and Lethal (a mode added in a later patch) punishes players heavily for their mistakes while also increasing the player’s damage. This game currently does not offer new game plus nor the option to skip cutscenes, greatly reducing replayability. The added Lethal difficulty level and two different endings incentivize players to play through a second time. Aside from the main and side missions, there are also a lot of collectibles and easter eggs to obtain, some of which require exploration, platforming or puzzle solving.
Ghost of Tsushima is a densely-packed journey that ends in spectacular fashion. Its satisfying combat, visual excellence and deep storytelling allow for a great conclusion to the PS4 Era. It is amazing that this game is only 40 gigabytes in size, as other open world games of similar visual caliber such as Red Dead Redemption 2 are over 100 gigabytes. Its minimalistic HUD, the flowing wind that guides you in the right direction, the unlimited freedom of weaponry and technique, and the heart-wrenching narrative makes the cinematic, visual, and gameplay experience much more immersive. The game’s absence of new game plus, an option to skip cutscenes, and an in-game timer are minor issues that I hope the developers will address in future updates. I encourage you to traverse the beautiful world for yourself, riding your horse, katana in one hand and the camera button in the other.