Bozo Beat — Ghost of Tsushima Review

Much like the Ghost himself, Ghost of Tsushima snuck up on everybody and delivered quite a surprise. The hype for this game was relatively low-key up until launch, so expectations weren’t necessarily high. However, it’s interesting how a game with seemingly little promotion compared to other AAA titles became the fastest selling new IP for the PS4 in just 3 days. The answer is actually pretty simple: it’s a really good game.

Graphics

Right off the bat, I noticed Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest visual flaw: the lip sync. The characters’ facial animations and lip sync aren’t quite matched with the English voiceover, and even less so with the Japanese. It’s a shame as it made the game’s beginning cutscenes a bit jarring for me. Additionally, the facial animations when talking with NPCs in the open world are absolutely lifeless, an issue that many open world games suffer from. But frankly, it’s hard to be objective about these things right after playing The Last of Us Part II, so these points can be brushed aside as very minor nitpicks. For what Ghost of Tsushima may lack in detail and animations, it more than makes up for with its environments. This is definitely a very pretty game, and it’s evident that the developers spent a lot of time crafting the open world’s beautiful vistas. It was so easy for me to get lost among the stunning array of colors at any given moment. Climbing up mountain tops and simply gazing across the gorgeous world never got old.

Gameplay

What I appreciated most about Ghost of Tsushima’s gameplay was how liberally it incorporated elements from other successful franchises. For example, it clearly took several pages from Breath of the Wild and, as a result, provides the best open world experience since. The game’s mentality to exploration is to simply let the player go and explore. Many open world games give a map that’s chock-full of icons and markers that tell the player where to go. Instead, Ghost of Tsushima’s map is completely empty, encouraging the player to fill it up and see all the world has to offer. Rather than waypoints and markers, the wind guides players to points of interest, allowing them to take in the scenery instead of staring at an icon. Thankfully, the world never felt empty as there were countless fun and interesting things to see and do. There are enemy bases, duels, hot springs, shrines, bamboo strikes, mountains to climb akin to Assassin’s Creed, and many more points of interest. Ghost of Tsushima’s world is split up into three parts, the latter two unlock as the player progresses into the story. While I usually hate the idea of sectioning off parts of an open world, it didn’t feel like a problem here as the first two were expansive and dense. However, it definitely felt like the developers ran out of steam when making the final section of the world as it was both smaller and more barren than the first two. Regardless, Ghost of Tsushima’s world has a lot to offer and I loved exploring every corner of it.

Ghost of Tsushima’s combat can simply be described as pure fun. I thoroughly enjoyed every combat encounter the game threw at me to the point where I would engage in combat regardless if it was required or not. The player can unlock four different sword stances that specialise in different enemy types. This means that I wouldn’t approach a sword enemy the same way I would approach a spear enemy. This gave combat a lot of depth as it kept me on my toes, constantly switching between stances as waves of enemies came charging at me. However, these fun dynamics only really presented themselves later in the game. For the first half of the game, I found myself simply waiting for enemies to attack in order for me to parry and deliver a deadly counterattack in a somewhat similar style to Sekiro. While this was still fun and satisfying, I wish the game further pushed the envelope on sword stances. Another combat mechanic I loved was the ability to scare off enemies like in Shadow of Mordor. This felt like a great reward for progression and it added an extra layer of flare to combat.

Ghost of Tsushima also features stealth gameplay that, unfortunately, isn’t nearly as fleshed out as combat. The game doesn’t really incentivise or reward stealth aside from the fact that it’s easier than combat. However, the only reason it’s easier than combat is because the enemy AI is completely broken during stealth, meaning I could easily exploit them. For example, I took out an entire enemy base by luring three guards into a small tent, performing a triple assassination, and repeating. There was nothing fun or engaging about that. I never enjoyed stealth and would always rather engage in combat if given the option. This is a shame since stealth is such a big part of not only the gameplay, but the story as well. I definitely would have preferred if this game had a few more months of development to fully realize the stealth mechanics.

Story

I didn’t have any expectations for Ghost of Tsushima’s story going in, so I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the time I was done. Right from the start, several interesting themes such as honor, loyalty, and legacy are introduced and they make for a great narrative. While Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t push any boundaries or do anything new in terms of storytelling, it still provides a very compelling and well paced story that I enjoyed from start to finish. What amazed me the most was how invested I was in all the characters. This was due to the fact that almost every supporting character is given their own series of side missions with proper narrative arcs. I was fascinated by all of their journeys and genuinely curious to find out what would happen next. Even the random side missions found in the open world had a surprising amount of depth that really fleshed out the world.

Verdict

Ghost of Tsushima is nothing short of a fun time. Despite its flaws, it’s clear that Sucker Punch spent the past 6 years working with a passion on their best game yet. The game is a love letter to classic Samurai films and Japanese culture in addition to several other games as well. Ghost of Tsushima is one of the most well-rounded games I’ve played and I highly recommend it. If this truly is Sony’s send-off to the PS4, it’s safe to say this generation ended on a high note.