Ghost Of Tsushima Review – A gaming masterpiece!
Ghost Of Tsushima is probably the most talked about game right now. And for very good reason. I had my doubts when the first trailer dropped. Most likely because it looked so good. We’ve had a fair few games this year look fantastic and fall miserably short when it comes to ther potential. At the very most I was cautiously optimistic. Sucker Punch, the developer, had a history of producing quality games that have both charm, maturity and replayability. One such example would be the Sly Cooper games, which I have not and will never grow tired of. So in the hands of such experts I had a feeling the game would at least deliver on some front. I had no idea it was going to be as good as it is…
Plot
Gost of Tsushima follows the story of a samurai, Jin Sakai, who fights in the war against the ruthless Mongols. Seeing the way they fight in battle, using tricks and slaughtering everyone in thier way. Jin starts to question his samurai way, and question whether he would throw away his honour as samurai in order to take back what was taken by the Mongols during the war.
He realises very quickly that fighting with honor, the traditional samurai way, will only get him killed. And so, in a desperate bid to rebuild his homeland from tyranny and save his uncle he becomes the Ghost of Tsushima.
Gameplay
Gameplay. This is where the game really comes into it’s own. Almost every part of this open world Japan is interactive. There’s loot and items to pick up, if you equip a certain type of armour the controllers will rumble when collectables are nearby. Everything in the world can be savaged and used.
Not to mention the new wind guide system, setting a navigational course for a certain area will see the wind blow in the direction you need to go. By swiping up on the touchpad you can call a gust to guide you.
The combat is fun but challenging in it’s own way. It can seem easy at first but as I quickly found out, getting surrounded is a quick way to ensure you die no matter how good you are. Because of this you need to be smart and approach every situation differently, there will be times when you’ll want to just take the enemies on head first but whittling thier numbers down is the most effective way of ensuring you don’t become overwhelmed.
Jin can learn different samurai stances that deal different kinds of attack damage depending on what kind of enemy you’re facing. He can also distract with smokescreen that will help you kill more enemies of they’ve already spotted you.
There are so many forms of combat but none of it feels like combat if that makes sense. It seemingly blends so easily into the dangerous and merciless but world Jin has to navigate so it doesn’t feel like the game has slowed down to start an action sequence. It’s 100mph from the start and never lets up.
Review
All in all I found this review really hard to write (as is apparent in my ramblings.) Not because I don’t like the game but because I love it. I honestly thought 2020 had finished with the surprises but no. Ghost of Tsushima is a wonderful game. The best thing about Ghost is that there’s literally nowhere you can’t go. No level locks or anything like that. The side quests you choose to do are your choice and your choice alone. It gives a feeling of freedom that most open world games can’t emulate.
I had high hopes anyway and they’ve been sent flying. It’s beautiful, addictive and the story and characters stay with you long after you’ve placed the controller down.
I’m in awe.
