Watch our review of Ghost Of Tsushima and find out if you should play it…
Welcome to our review of Ghost of Tsushima, an open world action adventure title from legendary developers Sucker Punch Productions. We’ll reveal everything you need to know before you play, including a look at the world, combat, performance and more.
Transcript
Hey how’s it going guys! Welcome to our review of Ghost of Tsushima, available exclusively on PS4. We’ll tell you everything you need to know before you play, but before I do, make sure to hit subscribe and the notification bell for more videos like this every single week. You’re not going to want to miss it!
Ghost of Tsushima is the first game from Sucker Punch Productions, known for Sly Raccoon and the Infamous series, in 6 years. Announced all the way back in October 2017, fans have been hyped for this very unique looking open world action adventure title ever since.
Set in feudal Japan and inspired by the first Mongol invasion of the 13th century, you play as Jin Sakai, a noble born samurai warrior, sent to defend your home island of Tsushima. Faced against a ferocious, more advanced army, you have to abandon your honourable ways and become the Ghost, someone not afraid to get their hands dirty and employ underhanded tactics to ensure victory. Exploring the dichotomy between tradition and the greater good is something that sounds interesting on paper, if nothing else.
But with a unique premise and all the hype in the world behind it, is Ghost of Tsushima any good? Watch on to find out…
The first thing you’ll notice once you start playing is this is one good looking game, particularly for an open world title. It doesn’t try to be photorealistic like The Last of Us Part 2, rather it’s better described as a moving painting, and you’ll find yourself pausing often just to absorb the breathtaking scenery. And the developers knew you would, adding a photo mode you can use at any time to fully embrace the visual wonder.
And Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t forget its inspirations, as seen with the Kurosawa mode. Activate it, and everything will have a grainy black and white filter and the dialogue will switch to Japanese with English subtitles. This pays homage to the films of legendary director Akira Kurosawa.
The pleasing visuals are complemented by several features designed to help keep you immersed in the world. You can strip away the HUD to basically nothing, and the Guiding Wind mechanic is a great way of holistically including a waypoint feature.
In fact the only criticism I can lodge against the visuals is a lack of a camera lock when in combat. It’s not a huge deal, and you’ll quickly learn to live with it, but it’s a bit of a pain in the early stages.
But when it comes to combat, fortunately it’s as deep as we could’ve hoped. You’ll start off fairly limited, with only a heavy and light strike to execute, but as you progress you’ll learn more stances that are useful in various combat situations.
As the Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll also be able to employ many stealth techniques, as well as full on assaults. You’ll collect tools for sneaking like smoke bombs, wind chimes and even blow darts to strike fear in your opponents before they even know you’re there.This variety allows for plenty of experimentation, and will require several playthroughs to exhaust all the options available.
But if you are planning on replaying the game, strap in for the long haul as you might there for a while! While the main campaign only takes about 13 hours, doing all the side missions will easily take that over the 40 hour mark. And these side objectives are really rich and varied, rather than mere fetch quests. This isn’t a game that forces you towards the end, instead it’s happy to let you meander round the world at your own pace.
However, it’s this main story campaign that proves to be the biggest let down. I can forgive the factual inaccuracies; samurai may not have really had a strict code of honour, but it works for the sake of artistic license. Yet for a premise so unique, it’s disappointing to see it’s far too poe faced and derivative. There’s nothing new for you to sink your teeth into, and I had much more fun exploring the world on my own than completing the missions themselves.
The only other thing that’s worth noting is there is a little bit of open world jank, but with a game of this size it was almost inevitable. Fortunately, these moments prove to be few and far between, and nothing compared to the loveable dumpster fires that are Bethesda titles.
To wrap up, Ghost of Tsushima is a hugely enjoyable game, and a fitting swansong for the PS4. It’s dripping with style and variety, and is one of the best open worlds to explore in gaming. It really is at its best when following your own path, rather than the one the game sets, and there’s enough to discover that you can spend several hours doing just that.
But what did you think of Ghost of Tsushima? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to like, share and subscribe for more videos every single week. See you next time!
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