Ghost of Tsushima – Review

Exclusive titles are always a hit or a miss it seems. Each of the current platforms often features its own exclusive titles and there are familiar faces that reappear over the years on specific platforms. We all know how Mario and Link have their time in the limelight on Nintendo’s consoles, but we recently also saw the second part of The Last of Us. This time we have yet another PlayStation 4 exclusive title, namely Ghost of Tsushima, which already impressed us with its early footage before its actual release. The game allows you to play as a proper samurai, in the midst of a Mongolian invasion. We were quite intrigued with the setting and the visuals of the game, and it kept pulling us closer and closer to the edge of our seat.

Story

We are taken back to the 13^th century to see one of the last samurai in action. The story shows the invasion of the Mongolians under the leadership of Khotun Khan, in Tsushima. We soon see the last remnants of the samurai forces being wiped out by the Mongolian army, leaving only Jin Sakai alive to fend for himself. He also learns that his uncle is captured by Khan.

The game basically revolves around Jin regaining his position in Tsushima, restoring peace and repelling the invaders. You’ll progress pretty much as fast as you want to, depending on which quests you pick.

Graphics

Graphically Ghost of Tsushima is a very impressive looking game, and it pretty much shows what our current generation of consoles still is able to do. The game looks amazingly detailed, ranging from the character’s facial expressions to their movements, to the level of detail that has been embedded into every part of the world, as well as the usage of proper textures. The game does have a fairly large variety in terms of environments, but with the setting the game has set for itself, you’ll have to make do with certain similarities of wherever you go.

The only thing that is somewhat of a letdown is the lip-syncing when picking different languages. For a game that is about a Japanese fictional story, it is a missed opportunity that the lip-syncing for the Japanese audio is horribly done.

Sound

The sound design in the game is also quite spot-on, especially when it comes to the voice acting. You have different language options, and all of them are handled superbly. The game also has proper backdrops and exciting music when combat triggers. When exploring the open world of the game, you’ll be accompanied by a more tranquil soundtrack.

Gameplay

Ghost of Tsushima is classified as an action-adventure stealth game, which is for the most part true. After the initial introduction, the game will switch to an open-world format, in which you can pretty much pick and mix the quests you undergo. The game is pretty straightforward, and while at the beginning of the game being surrounded by a big group of enemies can be very dangerous, you’ll slowly progress with new skills and sword stances that work better against enemies that have different weapon types.

First of all, the stealth portion of the game is somewhat underwhelming. Of course, you can crouch, hide and so on, but everything feels a bit rough around the edges and somewhat basic. The game does motivate you from time to time to avoid certain parts of combat, in the sense of not diving in headfirst, but it does not really enforce the stealth aspect either. Sure, you can often get a few kills in when you play carefully, but if you’re pretty good at dodging and timing your attacks, then you can also handle pretty much every combat situation.

The combat in the game does take some time getting used to. At first you’ll struggle a bit, especially because a battle can be over in a matter of seconds, adding somewhat to the realistic feel of the game. After a while you get new skills and stances that add a certain variation, especially seeing certain stances work better against different types of enemies.

Overall the game does not bring that much new to the table other than its setting and story. The game plays pretty much like any other open-world game, which means you’ll go from point A to B all the time in order to complete quests, be it main quests or optional ones. The ‘GPS’ function has also been created in a fairly original sense, as when you track an objective, you’ll have to follow the gusts of wind, as they will show you the way. If lost, you can swipe the touchpad of your controller in order to make your path a tad clearer.

Conclusion

Ghost of Tsushima is a great open-world experience, but it has a few rough edges in terms of its stealth mechanics. We do feel like this is another great exclusive entry in Sony’s library of games, especially when it comes to the visual experience, and even the storytelling, be it of the main storyline as well as the side quests. The game is a stellar cinematic experience, and the combat can be a bit tricky to get into at the beginning, but after that, it can become very rewarding to take out big groups of enemies. We can wholeheartedly recommend this experience, especially for those into traditional (fictional) Japanese tales.

Ibuki

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Aspiring ninja.

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