18.7.2020

With the Playstation 4 coming to a close thank god Sony had Ghost of Tsushima to end on a high note after the highly divisive Last of Us Part IIThe Developers "Sucker Punch" were also responsible for the Infamous series of games. This actually made me a little apprehensive as to how this game would turn out having played Infamous Second Son which i found to be very lacklustre. While graphically impressive the main character was a little dull and side quests were largely repetitive (Take control of this enemy territory, then run 5ft and take control of this other territory, destroy this camera, paint this billboard for the 15th time) you get the idea.It all just felt too structured and formulaic.Thankfully they have improved on these shortcomings. After an hour prologue introducing us to Jin you're released into the open world and prepare for your PS4 to initiate Jet engine mode with fans running full speed (Atleast if you have the OG PS4) because this is one graphically demanding game.GRAPHICSThe first thing you notice is how alive the open world is, the grass blowing in the wind, the trees swaying side to side (and i mean every blade of grass and tree you travel past) the mist across the fields, sunlight shining through the bamboo trees. While we have seen impressive visuals from TLOU2 just a month prior i think Ghost of Tsushima has the edge over it due to the art design, the world is full of colour from cherry blossoms, red maple trees and many more i cant list due to my lack of tree knowledge. The colours really pop and make the environments vibrant and alive. This game easily utilizes the PS4 to 100% graphical power.GAMEPLAYAs mentioned any issues i had with previous SP games has been resolved. The exploration feels much more organic. There is no hud, just a health bar in the bottom left of your screen. You can access a map in the options menu to get a vague idea where to go but you'll be relying on the wind to guide your way mostly. This is done by swiping up on the trackpad (remember how that actually has a purpose) a gust of wind will then point you in the right direction by observing the direction grass is moving and leaves are blowing. This gives the world a much better sense of openness and mystery when you don't have a mini map showing you 500 different place markers to visit. The game really encourages exploration, often you'll come across foxes or a bird will fly up near you while riding your horse, if you choose to follow them they'll lead you to secret areas. You can tell they have taken ideas from Breath of the Wild which is no bad thing.I often find myself just walking around the map exploring instead of running or riding a horse, taking in the scenery and breath-taking vistas, looking for hidden areas, you can even find places to write poetry using your surroundings for ideas. In many ways its a relaxing and calming game to play if you just want to explore. It's so easy to get side tracked for a couple of hours.COMBATDark Souls/Bloodborne veterans i advise turn the difficulty on Hard mode. This should ensure you get a similar level of challenge. I've been playing on this mode from the start and its by no means impossible so far but you do have to pay that much more attention as one or two mistakes will end in death which is basically the perfect balance. The game saves fairly regularly so its not like you'll have long sections to redo.One thing i didn't understand from trailers was how the combat was going to work and feel so i'll try to explain.Somewhat similar to dark souls this isn't about mashing buttons, its about patience and self control. Jin believes in being an honourable samurai and wont just sneak up behind someone and stab them in the back (Atleast not initially) He'll walk straight into enemy territory and challenge opponents resulting in 5 or more enemies coming for you at once.Parrying is essential, luring enemies and waiting for them to make the first strike is key. Pull off a successful parry and you can follow it up with a quick or heavy attack finishing an enemy off in one or two blows if they have basic armour. The combat rewards you for making clean precise strikes and becomes a finely timed dance attacking one enemy while also observing when the other is about to strike so you can dodge or parry the next depending on the weapon they have.One other mechanic is the ability to challenge some enemies you come across to a standoff. Essentially waiting for them to make the first strike, if you time it right and hit them just before they go to attack you can take them out in one hit (Similar to the parrying method but one on one with a higher sense of tension) They'll often try and catch you out by pretending to attack so its not as easy as it sounds.There's many other mechanics to the combat and weapons you can use but i haven't got that far yet.Overall once you get used to it the combat is extremely fluid and rewarding. Slicing through your enemies as they stand stumbling for a few seconds holding their wounds before falling to the floor makes you feel like a real Samurai warrior.They even added little touches where a defeated enemy wont always be dead but on the floor gasping for life. You can choose to leave them or end their suffering.COMBAT PART 2The more i play the more i realise just how refined the combat in this game is. It starts off relatively basic but as you progress you unlock new stances which you switch on the fly depending on your enemy, some stances are better suited to enemies attacking with swords while others are better for enemies with shields. Not only that but within each of those stances is an upgrade tree and that's not counting the main upgrade tree or the ghost skills upgrade tree, or any of the other upgrades. There's a lot of depth here.I read one reviewer say the combat was clunky. I can confirm that person simply doesn't know how to play the game. The only way for it to feel clunky is if you just spam the square button constantly.As mentioned im playing on hard mode and there's such a rewarding feeling of taking out 8 enemies at once without them landing a single hit on you and it can be done as long as you utilize every weapon and skill to your advantage. For example performing a perfect parry will kill an enemy in one hit, throw a kunai if an enemy starts charging you to stun them, throw a smoke bomb if you're surrounded in a tight spot and then assassinate the enemy while they are blinded, activate the slow time ability with the bow so you can get a headshot on an archer before they fire at you. With practice you'll be doing all these things almost simultaneously.You also have the choice to use stealth tactics which you can get quite creative with, climbing atop buildings and jumping on enemies from above is always fun, throwing kunai's at an opponent before they have a chance to alert others or stabbing someone in the back through a door, you can switch up your tactics a lot.There is an argument to be made that the stealth can be a little too easy at times and enemy A.I during these instances isn't always the best but i find if you're constantly switching your play style up you don't really notice.CUSTOMIZATIONSuckerPunch have taken note that people like to customize their characters in RPG games and gone the extra mile to offer various different armour and weapon designs. You can often obtain unique armour sets by completing missions and side quests which come with their own abilities to aid combat or exploration. You can make further modifications by gathering flowers to trade with a merchant who will change the colour and design of your weapons and armour. There's also masks, headbands, and hats you can obtain by exploring.TIP: You can alter how the armour you're wearing looks even further by going to the Options Menu - Gear - Select your armour and you should see an option to press Triangle to "change armour appearance" This gives your armour a more minimalist look.CRITICISMThere is some room for improvement and hopefully SP will fix some of these issues in an update and others in future games. Here's just a few.There's several areas where bamboo trees are densely populated. This is fine and looks impressive. What's not so great is how Jin can just walk straight through the actual trees. I'm not sure if this is intentional to stop the player from getting stuck while riding the horse or if its an actual bug. Either way i would prefer weaving in and out of the bamboo rather than walking through it like Jin is invisible. I'm sure there's a way to make it dense but also have a rough path going through it.NPC's in the open world can look a bit generic. Often enemies or allies you come across have the same face and hair style. More variety would have been nice considering the amount of times you're in battle.They also don't seem to be the smartest. I've seen some non enemy NPC's just staring at walls for no reason or some just sit in their houses doing nothing.Some even sleep next to dead bodies that the Mongols have killed. Its a bit weird at times.There's lots of different skills which again is a good thing. However to select the one you want you have to hold the left or right trigger and then select the skill you want with the D-Pad buttons. When you're getting rushed by 10 enemies its sometimes hard to react in time to throw a smoke bomb if its not already selected in your inventory. Perhaps a weapon wheel or slow time mechanic would have worked better just for the moments when you want to switch to something different. Or maybe its just me.I've had occasional glitches, one where i couldn't get off my horse and it just started running back and forth in circles. Another where an enemy got stuck in-between a wallNone of these things really stand out in the grand scheme of things so don't let that put you off. I'm sure a bug fix update will be released at some point and iron out most potential glitches.NICE TOUCHES TO GAMEPLAYLoad times are quick when fast travelling. It only takes about 5-10 seconds to travel anywhere on the island. Much faster than most open world games.Gathering resources is fast and simple. Gathering wood, supplies and flowers can be done quickly by pressing R2 even while riding your horse so you don't have to dismount every time. This also applies to hunting so you don't have to watch the same animation hundreds of times when you skin an animal. It speeds up tasks which can get monotonous in other games.There's an option to wipe blood from your blade after every combat encounter. Jin can even bow to defeated opponents.You can play the game with Japanese voice actors. A nice touch but i found it hard to read the English subtitles while focusing on gameplay. The game was designed for the English voice acting also so the facial animations of characters talking doesn't match up if you choose Japanese. Still a great option for anyone who does speak Japanese as the voice actors are really good.You can play the game in black and white for an authentic Japanese movie experience. This is the kind of thing to do after completing the full game once as the open world is too colourful to miss out on.For now this is as far as i have reached in the game. This will be the last big exclusive for the PS4 and one you absolutely shouldn't miss.Let me know if this was helpful with a vote and i'll be sure to continue updating as i play through the story.

11.8.2020

Set in 13th century Japan, the island of Tsushima is the first to face the Mongol invasion. You play Jin Sakai - a young samurai of the House Sakai - on the front lines facing the Mongol hordes where your entire clan is wiped out with you the sole survivor apart from your uncle Shimura who is captured. Resolving to do whatever it takes to save protect Japan, liberate the island, and save your uncle, Jin is forced to set aside the honours and traditions of the samurai and wage a new kind of war against the enemy - that of the Ghost of Tsushima.Ghost of Tushima is an open world game where you can run, climb, swim, and ride through the vast grasslands, forests, mountains, and villages of the island of Tushima,in your quest to gather allies and repel the Mongol invaders.The game prompts unguided exploration of your environment and lacks a mini map to show you nearby points of interest, relying instead on the wind to direct you to your destination. The island is littered with all manner of points of interest, including hot springs that increase your health, quiet spots where you can contemplate your adventures and compose Haiku, survivor camps filled with traders who will upgrade your weapons (for a price) or offer useful information about local events and nearby missions, random encounters with roving bands of Mongol warriors, bandits or citizens in need, towns under siege, or enemy strongholds to be attacked.The playing area is huge with the island split up into three sections - each of which will corresponds to an associated chapter - and you're probably looking at well in excess of sixty hours of game play from start to finish if you make the effort to explore the environment to it's fullest.As a samurai your main weapon will be your katana. Initially you will start with only basic fast and heavy attacks but as the game proceeds you will learn new combinations and techniques to add to your arsenal, including several stances - each of which is more effective against a certain type of enemy. Combat usually involves facing a number of different enemies at once, such as swordsmen, spearmen, shield bearers, and "brutes", and so the key to success is to rapidly change between stances and use the most effective technique for the job at hand. You will also obtain charms that can be attached to your weapons, each of which will provide your character with a specific buff to your abilities.Despite your increasing skill with a blade it soon becomes apparent that winning this war is going to require a different kind of warrior, and to this end you also start to learn and adopt the tools and skills of the assassin, utilizing stealth, silent kills, and "ghost" weapons such as the kunai and black powder bomb to confuse and disorient your foes, stalking and striking from the shadows to remove your enemies with one swift blow. It reminded me a lot of the PSOne game Tenchu, for those old enough to remember that.In most scenarios you have a free choice regarding which approach you wish to adopt. Challenging foes directly is the honourable samurai way but may result in you being vastly outnumbered by your enemies, whilst sneaking through the shadows will allow you to avoid conflict or whittle enemy numbers down one by one but is an approach that leaves Jin conflicted and shamed.Samurai, Ghost skills, and stances have their own independent skill trees that can be upgraded each time you level up to unlock new abilities, so it is for you to decide what kind of warrior you wish to be as the story progresses. Also available are numerous upgrades for your weapons and armour, new costumes with distinct advantages, and legendary weapons and techniques that can be learned or obtained. Also important is your "resolve" - a limited but replenishing resource representing your will and tenacity that enables you to restore your health and unleash deadly attacks.In terms of controls the game has a lot in common with Witcher 3. Combat occurs over 360 degrees with you being able to strike out in any direction with a flick of the control stick and pressing the attack buttons, using a combination of swift strikes and heavy blows that break your opponents guard as well as blocking incoming attacks with your blade, dodging or rolling out of the way, using counter strikes, and using environmental hazards such as explosive barrels and hornets nests to distract or destroy your foes. It all makes for an extremely fluid and cinematic combat experience.There are lots of nice little touches to the game that really help to nail the genre, such as the ability to challenge opponents (think Red Dead Redemptions quick draw shoot outs but with blades!), duels where you face off against a single (usually powerful) opponent, and the ability to finish off downed enemies with a merciful killing blow.The graphics are excellent and the environment beautiful, and the game really shows that there's still some life left in the old console yet. You even have the option of playing the game in a grainy black and white filter akin to a traditional samurai movie. Effects, soundtrack, and voice acting are equally excellent and you have the choice of playing with an English translation or Japanese language with subtitles if you are looking for a more authentic experience.In terms of complaints there's not much to moan about. One issue is that there is no punishment or penalty for adopting the "dishonourable" ghost techniques or any reward for adopting the honourable samurai techniques even though Jin being conflicted by having to balance these two approaches is a persistent theme that runs throughout the game, although this doesn't really effect the quality of the story.Additionally, whilst there are a number of different costumes to be obtained that provide boosts to skills like archery, exploration, and stealth, as the majority of game play will involve sword play there's little incentive to explore these and the temptation is to stick with Samurai armours that boost things like your damage, health, and damage resistance. Also, whilst your sword can be upgraded, it is the only hand to hand weapon you will use throughout the game and it would have been nice to see some of the other weapons used by samurai in the game.Ghost of Tushima is a truly excellent and compelling gaming experience that's worth every penny and gets my highest recommendation.

21.7.2020

This year is a strong year for gaming and Sony (with other brilliant titles like Doom Eternal, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and now Ghost of Tsushima) and there's still Cyberpunk to come. I didn't see an awful lot about this game before launch which is how I wanted to keep it for a change, and it's turned out to be quite a surprise.Visuals: 10/10FF7 Remake looked incredible, but as far as large fully open worlds go, this game can only be compared to RDR2. It's a truly beautiful game that captures the stylized look of classic samurai movies (tall grass and tree's flowing in the wind, leaf strewn forests of vibrant tones, fireflies, embers and smoke of wartorn area's and settlements)there's also a day/night cycle that gives some of the prettiest sunsets you'll see to date. There's a weather system too, which though not on RDR2's level, still looks very nice as a storm blows in.The character models and emotions of their faces feel realistic as do the combat animations, maybe minor hard to notice blimps like blocking certain attacks, but hard to notice. The design of clothing, weapons, armour, buildings etc also all seem accurate to the time period (13th century Japan). There's even a black and white filter with movie reel grain to make the game look like an authentic samurai classic, but the game is so pretty I couldn't leave this on.Sound: 10/10Again, really nothing I can fault. The voice acting for English and Japanese are both great, and never break immersion of world you're absorbed into. Japanese VA's are used (and probably Chinese for the Mongols) so even with English voice selected the game doesn't feel too immersion breaking. The music in it is just as you'd hope from a game like this, and the sound effects from combat to traversing the environment are all spot on.Gameplay: 9/10The game is open world (I've heard it compared to assassins creed, although it's an insult to compare to compare this to assassins creed, it is similar in nature) also to Witcher or RDR2. Albeit this is 13th century Japan during a Mongol invasion, and going for realism, so there are no large cities like Nodigrad of Witcher III, but rather many smaller settlements, farm steads and places of refuge. The map is generous sized, you can roam it freely and set a way point, which cleverly shows as 'guiding wind', with aswipe up of the touch pad. There's a strong storyline to follow plus a number of side quests, findables and opressed settlements to free.Combat is fantastic, better than Witcher III and far better than Assassins creed. There's no lock on, yet it's designed so well you don't need it. The direction you're facing and pushing your left thumbstick leaves you accurately attacking the enemy you're aiming for, even when performing combos. There's a lot of skills to unlock and techniques to master (from different parrying, evasive maneuvers, even different fighting stances) plus different weapons from bow and kunai blades to black powder and smoke bombs. The unlockables give a healthy amount of levelling up and progression to sink your teeth into. Then there's gear customization (aesthetics like headwear, mask or clothing/armour, colour dyes, weapon appearance for katana and tanto blades, horse saddle) or charms you can equip to weapons for various defensive and offensive perks. The game also has a real stealth element to it like Tenchu, where you can sneak behind ends assassinate with your tanto blade, you have a focussed hearing mode that helps hear better and highlights enemies a bit more. Stealth kills are however considered dishonorable or against the samurai (and Sakai clan) code, it's deemed honorable to face enemies head on and look them in the eye. This has some bearing on gameplay but haven't yet noticed it being a huge story altering mechanic.The game even has some Tomb Raider/Unchartered wall scaling mechanics, albeit not of the same caliber, but adds refreshing platforming/puzzle sections to the game that it could've otherwise completely omitted.You can find a number of supplies and materials in houses and the world (plus flowers and raw materials like wood, bamboo etc) all used for upgrading weapons, armour/clothing, colour dying etc). The only reason I don't give it a 10 is sometimes getting down from cliff edges/rocks can be a bit janky (not pressing R2 to use the Tomb Raider esque mechanic, but literally just trying to walk off a rock or edge) Jin suddenly feels like he has vertigo sometimes and doesn't want to jump off, it's been ok today, maybe it'll be patched. This game is most like RDR2, as you can't just walk inside any house like Skyrim and talk to everyone you meet.Other pointers, you can sheathe and draw your blade with right swiping touchpad, down swipe is to pray/bow. Left swipe is to play your flute, and left D-pad is to call your horse (which you can pick and choose a name for). Finally up swipe is the guiding wind. One other cool feature, when approaching groups/enemies from a distance in the open you can initiate a showdown by pressing up on D-pad. This never gets old and you can instantly strike down up to 3 enemies (with perk unlocks) in a cinema-esque scene.Storyline: 9/1013th century Japan, Mongols led by Khotun Khan (grandson of Ghengais Khan) invade Japan via Tsushima. You play as lord Jin Sakai, one of the last surviving Samurai in Tsushima after a battle goes awry. You must find and unite and remaining warriors and repel the Mongol invasion; saving the innocent where you can. There's good side quests and characters that don't tell unmemorable. Plus the game dives into the past at times to build upon it's story, I can't say much as don't want to spoil anything but the storyline is solid. Not as compelling as RDR2 but close, and nowhere near as disastrously bad as TLOU2.Verdict: 5*, a beautiful and highly engrossing game that should give 50+ hours and then some with the additional things to complete or do. I'm playing it on hard and the difficultly feels nice, sometimes I make silly mistakes and die, but you learn from them and the load times are wonderfully quick. This is the best Japanese sword game I've played since Tenchu on PS1, and after the awful release of TLOU2 followed by it's highly disappointing storyline and characters, this game really mends the wounds left and puts strong faith back in Sony, and their exclusives.

11.8.2020

Set in 13th century Japan, the island of Tsushima is the first to face the Mongol invasion. You play Jin Sakai - a young samurai of the House Sakai - on the front lines facing the Mongol hordes where your entire clan is wiped out with you the sole survivor apart from your uncle Shimura who is captured. Resolving to do whatever it takes to save protect Japan, liberate the island, and save your uncle, Jin is forced to set aside the honours and traditions of the samurai and wage a new kind of war against the enemy - that of the Ghost of Tsushima.Ghost of Tushima is an open world game where you can run, climb, swim, and ride through the vast grasslands, forests, mountains, and villages of the island of Tushima,in your quest to gather allies and repel the Mongol invaders.The game prompts unguided exploration of your environment and lacks a mini map to show you nearby points of interest, relying instead on the wind to direct you to your destination. The island is littered with all manner of points of interest, including hot springs that increase your health, quiet spots where you can contemplate your adventures and compose Haiku, survivor camps filled with traders who will upgrade your weapons (for a price) or offer useful information about local events and nearby missions, random encounters with roving bands of Mongol warriors, bandits or citizens in need, towns under siege, or enemy strongholds to be attacked.The playing area is huge with the island split up into three sections - each of which will corresponds to an associated chapter - and you're probably looking at well in excess of sixty hours of game play from start to finish if you make the effort to explore the environment to it's fullest.As a samurai your main weapon will be your katana. Initially you will start with only basic fast and heavy attacks but as the game proceeds you will learn new combinations and techniques to add to your arsenal, including several stances - each of which is more effective against a certain type of enemy. Combat usually involves facing a number of different enemies at once, such as swordsmen, spearmen, shield bearers, and "brutes", and so the key to success is to rapidly change between stances and use the most effective technique for the job at hand. You will also obtain charms that can be attached to your weapons, each of which will provide your character with a specific buff to your abilities.Despite your increasing skill with a blade it soon becomes apparent that winning this war is going to require a different kind of warrior, and to this end you also start to learn and adopt the tools and skills of the assassin, utilizing stealth, silent kills, and "ghost" weapons such as the kunai and black powder bomb to confuse and disorient your foes, stalking and striking from the shadows to remove your enemies with one swift blow. It reminded me a lot of the PSOne game Tenchu, for those old enough to remember that.In most scenarios you have a free choice regarding which approach you wish to adopt. Challenging foes directly is the honourable samurai way but may result in you being vastly outnumbered by your enemies, whilst sneaking through the shadows will allow you to avoid conflict or whittle enemy numbers down one by one but is an approach that leaves Jin conflicted and shamed.Samurai, Ghost skills, and stances have their own independent skill trees that can be upgraded each time you level up to unlock new abilities, so it is for you to decide what kind of warrior you wish to be as the story progresses. Also available are numerous upgrades for your weapons and armour, new costumes with distinct advantages, and legendary weapons and techniques that can be learned or obtained. Also important is your "resolve" - a limited but replenishing resource representing your will and tenacity that enables you to restore your health and unleash deadly attacks.In terms of controls the game has a lot in common with Witcher 3. Combat occurs over 360 degrees with you being able to strike out in any direction with a flick of the control stick and pressing the attack buttons, using a combination of swift strikes and heavy blows that break your opponents guard as well as blocking incoming attacks with your blade, dodging or rolling out of the way, using counter strikes, and using environmental hazards such as explosive barrels and hornets nests to distract or destroy your foes. It all makes for an extremely fluid and cinematic combat experience.There are lots of nice little touches to the game that really help to nail the genre, such as the ability to challenge opponents (think Red Dead Redemptions quick draw shoot outs but with blades!), duels where you face off against a single (usually powerful) opponent, and the ability to finish off downed enemies with a merciful killing blow.The graphics are excellent and the environment beautiful, and the game really shows that there's still some life left in the old console yet. You even have the option of playing the game in a grainy black and white filter akin to a traditional samurai movie. Effects, soundtrack, and voice acting are equally excellent and you have the choice of playing with an English translation or Japanese language with subtitles if you are looking for a more authentic experience.In terms of complaints I have only one - that being the fact that there is no punishment or penalty for adopting the "dishonourable" ghost techniques or any reward for adopting the honourable samurai techniques even though Jin being conflicted by having to balance these two approaches is a persistent theme that runs throughout the game, although this doesn't really effect the quality of the story.Additionally, whilst there are a number of different costumes to be obtained that provide boosts to skills like archery, exploration, and stealth, as the majority of game play will involve sword play there's little incentive to explore these and the temptation is to stick with Samurai armours that boost things like your damage, health, and damage resistance.Ghost of Tushima is a truly excellent and compelling gaming experience that's worth every penny and gets my highest recommendation.

26.7.2020

For me this is the most fun and interesting game I've played in quite a while. Does it top Red Dead 2? No, but it sure could have done with more production time & budget I feel. As the game progresses however, and you get used to it, even on hard mode it's way too easy, like infuriatingly easy. The abilities and powers you get just crush entire armies with what feels like a breeze. The tools and kit you get are super cool and fun to use, but I was waiting for some cleverer or tougher enemies to come out, but sadly they are all dumb, clunky and easy. The archers announce when they're about to fire each arrow, and the regular Mongol soldiers all say what sounds like "Hear You" when they detect you.At the very least, Sucker Punch should release a patch to give a harder mode with special enemies that hunt you instead of just standing there waiting for you to hit them.The positives of the game are many. It's very well acted, looks gorgeous, is very fun despite becoming too easy with practice, has enough to keep you engaged for a decent amount of time (it took me 8 days to Platinum it). It's a great intro game into a potential series. If they do make a sequel, I really hope they listen to the fans and expand upon its very promising potential. I think that certain earlier games like Fable 1, Okami, Zelda, RDR2, MGS4, Witcher 3, etc, did particular things better, but those are different style games afterall.The story made me feel a lot, and made me cry. I never wanted to stop playing it, and wish we could have kept exploring all of Japan as it really is that fun and engaging, despite my previously mentioned complaints. It certainly was a refreshing breath of fresh air after the dark and depressing experience that was The Last of Us 2 which Ghost of Tsushima was released just a month after.When I got the Platinum, I was like "Cool, what next?". There's always a second play-through, even on Kurosawa mode, but I was left feeling wanting more, as after the credits the story just kind of fades and you're left exploring Tsushima with none of your friends anywhere to be found, with the game feeling empty. At least we get to explore more after the credits, but it's just basically to get to Platinum, which is cool but I loved the game so much that I was expecting and wanting more y'know.I want to give this game a 9/10, but it might not quite be there, because as I said it was too easy and could use a bit more of something, like a patch. It's definitely a game of the year candidate, and if Halo Infinite disappoints like Halo Guardians did, I don't see any other game taking GOTY away from Ghost of Tsushima. Very worth buying and going for Platinum.(SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!). Act 1 felt like the best part of the game, with the south island feeling the most fleshed-out and developed. The build-up to freeing your uncle was very suspenseful and exciting, but the actual mission was disappointingly easy. Same old enemies, yeah there was a duel, but it was all just too easy and not the poignant crichendo to Act 1 that I was anticipating. In fact I started to hate my uncle from the end of that mission, but that's probably the point. I am not a fan of quicktime events, and this game relies way too heavily on them, obviously not as much as TLOU2, but still, quicktime is horrible gameplay in my opinion.Anyway, not a perfect game, but where it shines it feels like golden sunshine, and made me feel glowy inside, and I loved Jin. Thank You Sucker Punch, please release a patch to make it harder or more challenging and I'll play it again, and I look forward to the sequel (but please don't pull a TLOU2!)UPDATE EDIT: They released a patch with a new difficulty "Lethal". Now, playing this mode from a new game with no upgrades or ghost weapons etc is a lot harder than hard mode, which I am so happy about. However, when you get your upgrades, armour and ghost weapons, Lethal mode is actually way easier than Hard mode as your enemies die easier, especially the duals! I was fearing the duals on Lethal mode, but they are like playing on Easy mode! WTF?? Sucker Punch... please look at the 2006 game "Okami" by Clover Studios for some ideas on game difficulty balance. The boss battles and hard sections of that game are genuinely challenging, whereas I still feel wanting for that sensation with Ghost of Tsushima, that cathartic feeling of defeating genuinely difficult bosses or combat scenarios. I love the kit and abilities in Ghost, but there's never anything to make Jin feel puny or helpless in the game. Even the final boss is like every other enemy but with more health. I feel that Ghost missed the opportunity to properly utilise every last bit of kit at Jin's disposal. The game Okami makes you use your powers and abilities to their limit, especially in the boss battles. In Ghost, it feels a lot of potential was wasted purely because of time constraints. Maybe if there was an extra year of development there could have been some more interesting combat scenarios such as Jin having to use his grappling hook creatively during combat, since afterall so much story emphasis was placed on the grappling hook, but it's severely under-utilised I feel, especially compared to preceding games with similar tools.One last thing, at the end of the game you have a wide array of armours, costumes, weapons and abilities, including being pretty much naked, but we don't get to use them again in a New Game +. I would like to go through the whole game from beginning as Naked Jin, on like an Extremely Difficult mode. Or at least give us something extra to add onto New Games, such as skins or replay specific missions or duals, or be able to dual multiple people at once, for example it would be cool to fight Masako, Khotun Khan, Shimura at the same time. Or make a Dual Mode, with 4 vs 4 duals for example (i.e. Jin, Yuna, Norio, Ishikawa VS. Kojiro, Ryuzo, and other Straw Hats). Man this game has so much more potential, it's already awesome af but I want so much more from it!

26.7.2020

Hmmmmmmm.... I must say that despite all the 5 star game of the year reviews I personally have to disagree slightly with those somewhat excitable comments, it's all a matter of opinion though I guess hey and fair play to the folks that really love this title.No doubt about it Ghost of Tsushima looks beautiful on a big screen, colourful and very cinematic with only occasional soft textures perhaps up close, the audio is again very good and cinematic and the art style black and white "Kurosawa" mode with added film grain and a deliberately narrowed soundscape is a nice option probably for a second playthrough. The game is fantastically produced with excellent menu and upgrade systems although I did find some of the controls a bit strange but I got used to it in the end.I also liked the minimal HUD approach with the guiding wind effect to see where you need to go and like most open world adventure games there is plenty to do alongside the main story.However, this is where I feel there is a slight problem and I really do hate to say this because Sucker Punch have clearly made a good game here with a lot of effort and love poured into it.... But it's just a tad boring I'm afraid, there's nothing wrong with Ghost of Tsushima really I just simply find it dull in terms of story, characters and general gameplay, it's all a bit bland ultimately and to be honest has mostly all been seen before once you look beyond the admittedly very pretty aesthetics and peel back the game to it's actual gameplay, I'm around 15 hours in and I'm a bit bored, it simply hasn't grabbed my full attention yet. I can literally fall asleep while the cut scenes are on because the characters are so quietly spoken and frankly uninteresting, I don't know maybe I've just played far too many open world games now and I'm beginning to struggle with the monotony of them perhaps.I must stress again that Ghost of Tsushima is not a bad game by any means, for me personally it's simply a case of meh it's alright but nothing out of the ordinary when all is said and done sadly... much like last years Days Gone actually.Update*Well, I was a tad harsh on this in hindsight as it really does improve massively after the first 20 hours, once you unlock the combat and weapons skills and the story picks up pace it does become a cracking game indeed although still nothing really new, amazing graphics and audio though it has to be one of the best technical open world games ever made on console, right up there with Horizon Zero Dawn in many ways but definitely nowhere near as good in terms of the story.So, upgraded from my original 3 stars to 4 stars, just needed to get going a bit quicker and have a more interesting story really.Update 2*Completely changed my mind after finishing this, a great ending made the story way better than I originally thought and after 80 hours of play I admit I was wrong... Ghost of Tsushima is a beautiful and superb swan song for the PS4.5 stars indeed.

10.8.2020

Bought the Collectors Edition from Game which is on par with the Far Cry 5 Deer Skull and Death Stranding BB, maybe better. I have been to Japan visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nikko, Osaka, Matsumoto/Matsue Castle et-cetera, et-cetera. Genuinely love Japanese Culture (Manga, Anime) and their history so this game from a western studio is a perfect homage to that.Totally different games but the images aren't as pin-prick sharp as TLOU2 but don't misinterpret that as it not being beautiful, it is, an incredibly beautiful, vibrant world bustling with interesting motive driven characters to meet, magnificent destinations to explore and secrets to discover, there is a good amount of content here.

22.11.2020

At the risk of being lynched I have to say that this game is not as good as I expected it to be from all the other rave reviews. Don't get me wrong, it looks fantastic and technically it is flawless. But much like some other open world games it can get extremely repetitive, and lacks any real freedom of choice.Taking its inspiration from the films of Kurosawa as much as historical Japan in Ghost you play a samurai warrior fighting a hypothetical battle against Mongol invaders on an outlying island of Japan. The premise is that having failed to defeat the Mongol's in open battle you resort to stealth tactics.This in itself is something I have an issue with. Samurai honour is not about the honour of the individual,

27.7.2020

Wow is all I can say. Its taken me about 2 days maybe three depending on work. But this is the perfect way a game should be made. The story gripped me from the start. Instantly I found myself taken back by the jaw dropping scenery.Once game play began I was launched into a battle. From that point I was gripped. The story is full of complex forms of duty and honour but It was the combat that done it for me. Now admittedly some mechanics work like other assassins games.....you know what I'm talking about and what games.One huge aspect to any film or game is the music. And wow does this music make you feel involved.

28.7.2020

What a fantastic game, there is far too much to say, so i will keep it brief -Overall 10/10Graphics - The first thing you will notice is the beautiful graphics when riding into battle & always the variety of beautiful landscapes make it a pleasure to wander on your horse & come across different towns, temples, territories, weather changing patterns, camps, Lighthouses, mountains, beaches & a great deal more. This is the best graphics to date on PS4 & gives you an idea of what the next gen consoles such as PS5 will look like.Gameplay - this is challenging, but fun as you learn to master 4 stances (Stone/Water/Wind/Moon) This is great for blocking attacks, parrying,

1.4.2021

Ghost of Tsushima is honestly, a very well made game not rife with the egregious monetisation you typically see in other modern titles today. It's beautiful, has fantastic art direction, great music and simple yet enjoyable combat for what it is. I'm also amazed that the load times are virtually non-existent for this game, which is a big feat given this will sit (for most people) on HDDs. It also had a pretty condensed open-world map, which is appreciated when you consider just how riddled with bloat some open-world games are nowadays. It's clear to see that love and care was poured into this game, and I respect that.All of that said, it truly does feel like a typical Ubisoft open-world game,

20.7.2020

Visually outstanding, this is a high quality, cinematic gaming ode to the samurai of feudal Japan. It rewards intelligence, inquisitiveness, attentiveness and patience and is beautifully balanced between the frequently tense and fraught stealth and combat sections and the more tranquil and thoughtful aspects of character (skill and loadout) and narrative (fleshing out personalities and storylines) development.The pacing and difficulty are spot on: the game does not unrelentingly force you into trial and error battles in which you are hopelessly outmatched, instead preferring to make the experience a fully immersive, engaging and enjoyable use of your playing time.

19.7.2020

Simply put, Ghosts of Tsushima is the best game i've played this year, and possibly in some time. While still being in the early stages of the game, it's already evident that it has a near perfect balance or gameplay, storyline, graphics and overall playability. The pacing is perfect, with a really engaging story that also involves numerous side missions and a huge open world map, and as many have already mentioned, the graphics are so sublime that at times, you'll want to stop playing, just to take in the breathtaking scenery, sounds or sit by a lake and compose your own haiku. A personal favourite is the use of different fighting stances, each of which gives you an advantage over a particular type of enemy,

3.9.2020

Since Tenchu on the PS1 I've waited for a great Samurai game from Sony .. and this is definitely it . The graphics and colours are a joy . If you want value for money .. then again ,... this delivers . Somebody said that by playing just the main mission it was twenty five hours of gameplay ... what a waste ! .. Yes it becomes a bit ' samey' in that you get a bit fed up of rescuing the same peasants from small bands of baddies ... but I do wonder how many people reviewed this before completing the game. Bear with it . The story develops to include , surprise, sadness , treachery and a great story line .. even the 'ending ' (???) is a surprise when the credits roll .

1.9.2020

I've been playing a lot of the PS4's Exclusive Games and since I heard such good things about this game I had to pick it up. You play as Jin Sakai a noble Samurai Lord on the Island of Tsushima, the Mongols have launched a full scale invasion of the Island and all but eliminated the Samurai clans. You must now liberate the entire island from the Mongols and their ruthless Khan with the help of allies and the local populace. However the code of the Samurai may not be enough to defeat the Mongols alone, Jin must also use more ruthless tactics and become the Ghost ...Pros - Amazing Samurai Combat, Main story is pretty compelling, Beautiful Huge Open World, Incredible Graphics!,

Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - Reviews

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