Ghost of Tsushima Review

In Ghost of Tsushima, we travel back to 13th century feudal Japan as Jin Sakai in defeating the Mongolians that invaded their beloved island.

Did you ever wish that the Tenchu franchise gets revived again with the current generation graphics? Or did you ever wish for an Assassin's Creed game based in Japan? Or can't get over Sekiro's lore and combat satisfaction? Say no more as we travel back to 13th century feudal Japan in this latest IP made by Sucker Punch Productions, the original creators of the Sly Cooper and Infamous franchises.

We take on the role of Jin Sakai, a nephew of one the most important Samurai Lords at the small island of Tsushima. We will witness how he struggles choosing between honor as a renowned Samurai and survival, relying on different dirty tactics that defy the ways of the Samurai tradition. In desperation to defeat the Mongolians that invaded their beloved island, slowly progressing and evolving as the famous Ghost of Tsushima.

 

GRAPHICS: 10/10

I cannot stress enough that Ghost Of Tsushima's visuals are one of the best in the gaming industry, you're gonna see yourself get devoured by the beautiful landscapes and sceneries due to its in-game Photo Mode, which if I may add, is very good at its own as it has very intricate features for those who are also photo enthusiasts. Trust me as I say this: hours of your playing time will be devoted solely in using the Photo Mode feature, like literally a quarter of my whole playing time is for taking pictures and appreciating the world.

Environmental particles are also very detailed, from the bamboo leaves to fireflies flying through the night, you will see that they've put in much effort and detail into building the beautiful island of Tsushima on where the game's world is set.

Cutscenes are also very well animated though you will notice what is already pre-rendered or not because of how they are made, nevertheless it is still spot-on and will not bother the player too much.

Another factor to praise is the lighting of the game itself is perfection at its peak, you will notice the sun rays entering a window or a hole from a Japanese door is very close to how it really works in reality.

Going on, I also want to praise the character designs especially with the main and side characters as well as the various NPCs that you encounter throughout the game. We can tell that they very much did their research regarding how Japanese people dress during that era of the Mongolian Invasion in mainland, Japan.

Facial animations are also great and very well fit with the character's current emotions but one thing to criticize about it is that the Japanese dub doesn't fit with the oral animations of the characters and it may very well bother some players using the Japanese dubs while going with their playthroughs. We hope this can be fixed by a future patch as this is the only fault that I can find in the animations factor of the game.

But a game is without its faults, as Ghost of Tsushima being an open world game, it is very hard to maintain the level of quality all throughout the different regions of its world. You will notice that some of the textures, especially the furniture inside the houses are using are lower quality, also some carts that are lying around some farm sites are also using the said lower quality textures. It is very forgivable given that it is really a massive game but you will notice these as you play through it.

 

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

The gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima, in my personal view, is inspired by a number of different games. I felt like I was playing a hybrid of The Witcher 3, Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassin's Creed. I'm not saying it like it is a bad thing, it actually really works. The games I mentioned are all, on some degree, critically acclaimed by many gamers and critics all together.

Sucker Punch managed to put some of their key elements together and made it like their own. First, Ghost Of Tsushima's progression isn't relying on power leveling like in other open world RPGs. It's not all about the numbers and stats that you see in almost all of them but it relies on the player's ability to utilize the skills, tools and abilities that the player's obtain as they progress through the game's story. The Combat's feel is VERY SATISFYING, combined with the amazing animations of the attacks, skills and assassinations. The slow motion effects when switching stances and tools really help with the overall cinematic feel and fluidity of the combat system itself.

Speaking of the stances, this is a very unique and good mechanic to revolve around with, it pretty much gave the game it's very own flavor and prevented it from being repetitive. Stances in this game are a must to master because it will dictate the flow of the encounter. Each mob with a different weapon type is weak against a certain stance so proper knowledge of the enemy mobs is a necessity, it's not that hard to get used to but the controls to switch stances may be a of a chore to some players that are unfamiliar with RPGs in general.

Adding to the preventions of the game being repetitive is the two different ways to approach enemy mobs: you can either take then head-on with a Samurai approach or kill them quietly like an assassin with the Ghost approach. Either way has its perks and it all depends on the player's preference on how to play the game.

To help decide on what approach to use is the different armor sets that are acquired throughout the course of the game, there are a total of 12 armor sets obtainable with majority of them having their own perks and specialty. Each armor is upgradable to level 4, further increasing their perks and abilities to its full potential. Unlike other RPGs, you don't have to buy and replace your armor from time to time. It all depends on how you approach the game's rich combat system and mechanics.

Swords aren't replaceable but the skin is customizable and upgradable as it is in the armor as well, Charms accompany the swords to compliment the armor that you are using. There are charms that builds your character to be more stealthy, there are also charms that focus on defense and head-on combat for those who want the Samurai approach, again these are all dependent on the player's preference and I can say that the combinations of charms and builds that you can discover are limitless. There is a vast selection of visual customization in this game so player's will be more than satisfied on how they would like Jin to look, I myself have been switching looks from time to time depending on how I want Jin to act or approach an upcoming battle. It's like I'm really part of the world whenever I'm playing as I want Jin to also reflect my current emotions as I progress through the story and missions.

Continuing with the open-world aspects of this gameplay section, it is pretty much like in any other open-world game. There are towns and settlements where you can upgrade your equipment or buy resources from and upgrade your storage capacity but let me just say that hunting predator hides to increase your storage capacity felt like inferior to other games and a chore as it feels like it was just added for the sake of it being added.

There are many things to interact with, or to do like slicing bamboo strikes to increase your resolve (your ability to heal yourself or use skills), creating Haiku poems on beautiful landscapes will reward you with visual headbands, hot springs to increase your health, shrines to honor to collect rare charms and statues to visit for collecting sword skins, lighthouses to light and many more to elements to be discovered by the player itself. Note that these elements are all required to complete in order to get the Platinum Trophy. Doing so are all worth it in my opinion as it gave the game more depth and things to do while are sidetracked from doing the main storyline.

Before I conclude this section, let me just praise the side quest portion of the game as it is advertised as "on-par" with the quality of The Witcher 3's side quest mechanic and indeed, it is. I found the small lores and stories behind the side quests to be interesting enough to keep playing through them. It kinda gave me that addicting factor that I got from The Witcher 3 that drives me to keep playing (even though I keep telling myself the lie that finishing one more quest and I'm gonna to sleep). Tales of the supporting characters that branch with one another made me enjoy the game even more as these mini-stories gave players something extra to digest as they go through the main story. Overall the gameplay is very smooth and satisfying in Ghost Of Tsushima.

 

STORY: 8/10

Aside from the praise that I gave from the game's side quests and stories, the main story line is good by itself. Ghost of Tsushima is very well a fictional story but some of the lores behind it are all inspired by true events by Japan's Tradition. It all started during the Mongolian Invasion of the 12th century and basically revolves around that storyline. We witness how Jin struggled in life, dealing with loss, pain, anger and guilt.

The game's central theme is all about the morality of choosing between honor of tradition and rationality caused by desperation. We see how carefully crafted each and every dialogue, script and actions to further show the norms or tradition during the medieval period of Japan. There is nothing really nerve-racking or shocking twist in the game's main story as it is very well true to its source materials but some certain scenes may be quite moving to players especially those who became invested in the characters like me. But it is really interesting enough on how the story will continue as Jin's moral codes are being tested as the game progresses. Do you have to follow the Samurai's way in favor of honor? Or save the lives of many in exchange of it? Play the game and see it for yourself.

 

SOUND & MUSIC: 10/10

Superb is the adjective that I would use in describing the sound and music of Ghost of Tsushima, it captures the emotions of the characters during the moment that it is being played. An example of this is writing a Haiku, boy oh boy.. that music is so soothing and really fits the activity well. Music during dramatic moments makes me wanna cry as well and it gave justice to how Traditional Japanese Music is played. English and Japanese VAs did a very good job in giving the characters life as every dialogue, every punchline and every emotions are portrayed well with both languages (even though the animation of the Japanese dub kinda turned players off in using the Japanese voice overs) neverthless, great job from the SFX and music department.

 

VERDICT: 9/10

High praises from Japanese developers are what Sucker Punch Productions, a western developer, got from the game's native setting. That alone speaks how great of a game Ghost Of Tsushima is. As I've said, even though it felt like a mixture of different games, it still felt like it is a game of its own. We are at an end of an era for the PlayStation 4 and this game definitely made the last stretch of Sony exclusives spot-on and worthy of sealing the PlayStation 4's era to an end. As for myself, an avid RPG lover and Sony enthusiast, it is really a proper send-off for this console generation.

They pushed everything to its limits and held back nothing. Truly another masterpiece by Sucker Punch Productions, they made us more excited on what is in store for us in the future of gaming. Ghost Of Tsushima's very fast load times is a testament of this. We don't know for sure if it will have a sequel, but the story ended beautifully with two possible outcomes. We can't wait for future DLCs or even a New Game Plus update in the near future.

It's definitely a game worth buying.