By Luca Newton
Coming up to a year since Ghost of Tsushima released, I finally got around to it, and finished it today, I just absolutely needed to share my thoughts..
Includes spoilers for Ghost of Tsushima..
Christmas 2020, by some miracle, I was able to get a PlayStation 5, which I'm still not sure how - and with that, I was able to finally catch up the previous generation I had missed. I had never owned a PlayStation, and the only console I had was a Nintendo Switch, which I loved, but I really wanted to play games such as Spider-Man PS4, Persona 5 Royal, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc. One game that originally missed my radar was Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima. However, after having my system for half a year, and seeing screenshots from the game, it piqued my interest, and so my birthday I ordered the game, and it came later that month. I played NieR Automata first, but after that, I started Ghost of Tsushima in May. I took my time, but after a month, I finally beat the game. I absolutely adored it..
Ghost of Tsushima is a PlayStation exclusive, developed by Sucker Punch Productions. It is an open world action adventure set in Feudal Japan during the Mongol Invasion. It follows Jin Sakai, a samurai of the Sakai clan. After a large battle at Komoda Beach, against the Mongols, trying to prevent them from invading the Japanese island of Tsushima, they lose. Many samurai are slaughtered, and Jin is one of the few remaining. He is saved by a women - a theif, called Yuna. Jin's uncle, Lord Shimura, has been captured by the Khan, and thus, Jin asks Yuna to aid him in taking back his uncle, in exchange for helping her find her brother. The game is split into 3 acts, and in the first act, the goal is to save Lord Shimura. Over the first act, we meet side characters, who have their own stories in their own rights, which are mostly sidequests. The ultimate goal is to kill the Khan and prevent the Mongols from also invading the mainland Japan.
I believe that Ghost of Tsushima is a masterpiece. In order to establish my point, I will go into detail with the parts of the game I absolutely adored..
The Vast And Beautiful Island, Tsushima..
Definitely one of the most important aspects of Ghost of Tsushima is the open world. As an open world game, it's important not to make it too overwhelming, or alternatively feel too empty. You want to make sure people know where to find things but you don't want people to be basically pushed there without a real feeling of exploration. You want the world to be interesting enough to look at, to want to go around and explore it. You want traversal to feel good enough to be able to walk around the map for hours. The island of Tsushima is all of those things and more - Ghost of Tsushima absolutely nails it.
Firstly, the game looks absolutely stunning. I genuinely think it's the best looking game I've ever seen. While I was playing, I'd literally always stop for a second and take in the environment and revel in how mind-bogglingly gorgeous it was. Ghost of Tsushima has some kind of filter on, which gives it this truly beautiful and movie-like aesthetic to it, that is only accentuated in the use of depth of field and cutscenes which always look so cinematic. The game, despite being realistic, is insanely colourful, you get individual screenshots that look like actual art. Each act of the game has a different aesthetic too - with a Spring/Summer look for the first act, with a golden forest which is absolutely breath-taking. Act 2 takes more of a Fall aesthetic, with the red and orange leaves, tons of reds. Act 3 is Winter, very cold and isolating, but still pretty. The consistent variety in landscape, with stunning visuals kept the game constantly engaging. Not only is it visually stunning, it's also culturally rich, with the Feudal Japanese aesthetics throughout the whole game.
But an open world game looking good, doesn't always equate to a great open world on a gameplay position. Modern open world games often look very good visually, but lack substance within that world. There's not enough to keep you interested - well, even if there's tons to do, it's always bloated, and overwhelming. Ghost of Tsushima, however, doesn't fall for that trap, Firstly, tracking in the game is mostly incredible. By literally using the wind to guide you in the right direction. It's genius, with using visual cues to keep you immersed in the game itself and not just menus and UI. It's immersive, and simplistic enough to be very useful, and I never felt lost because of it. The traversal on the large vast land of Tsushima is also not too much of a trek. Fast travel is easily available, however I often just rode my horse, Nobu, wherever I went. The combination of the beautiful graphics and genuine satisfaction and fun riding Nobu kept me from always rushing to fast travel. The fact you can summon your horse at any point makes it so convenient, and because of that you find yourself genuinely attached to your horse, as its own character.
As for actual activities, Tsushima is filled with them. As is standard, there are normal side quests, which are actually pretty good and worth the time. There's a variant of them called Mythic Quests which serve as world building, with lore of some armour or ability, and by the end of them, you'll have tons genuinely useful, powerful abilities and armour. They were instantly done when I found them. In addition to that, you also have the enemy bases and invaded towns - in these you typically have to kill all the Mongols, find all the Sashimono banners, and set off a black powder cache. There are variations of this, with some having extra objectives like freeing hostages. They served as a way of progressing combat early on, but later in, they were a good way of getting resources. They always filled the map a bit, to clue you to where other activities are.
There are other activities that give you charms, which help in combat; one involving following a fox to an Inari shrine - I did a lot of these as they were common and quite addictive. There was also a different shrine that was at the top of a broken passage, and so it's a challenge of using your abilities to parkour to get to the shrine, and these were insanely fun, because of the parkour in Ghost of Tsushima being super fun, and when you string it together, it's incredibly satisfying. In addition to those, there are a few activities to increase health, resolve, special armour and weapons. The bamboo strikes for resolve were pretty fun actually, remembering a pattern very quickly to strike all of them in one. These side activities all served a logical purpose that you actually wanted to get, and doubled as genuinely fun activities to do.
The Wrath Of The Ghost Or The Honour Of The Samurai..
Ghost of Tsushima isn't just an adventure game - it is also an action game. The combat is thrilling, honestly. It honestly exceeded my expectations. The feeling of using your sword has real weight to it too. I don't know exactly how to explain how it feels, but it is always just so satisfying. I felt like a samurai, I felt like The Ghost. The flow of the combat is exhilarating, especially in a group of enemies in an area, where you can shred through enemies in the best way possible. But what makes it so engaging is its progression. In Act 1, the invaded towns gave you "Stance Progression". Basically, the way Jin wields his sword is based on his stance, and the different stances are different styles of combat, which each have advantages over the different enemy types. For example, you get a Water Stance, which can knock back shielded enemies. The way you switch between stances is quick and simple. When you have all of them, it's so much fun being in a crowd of Mongols with different types, and changing stances on the fly. With the Mythic quests I mentioned earlier, they add to Jin's combat abilities. Most of them, being strong moves, such as Yarikawa's Vengeful Spirit - which slays through multiple enemies with so much power, or the Way of the Flame, that sets your sword on fire. Each of them are different, and helpful in many tight situations. But as strong moves, you can't use them endlessly, they use this thing called "Resolve". Resolve is mainly the way to heal during battle - it builds up over parries and beating enemies. There is a limited amount of Resolve, but you can extend it. These powerful skills take some of the Resolve circles in order to be used. It adds this element of strategy where you have to be sure you can afford to a strong ability.
Unlike a lot of other open world games, Ghost of Tsushima doesn't actually have levels in the traditional sense. Enemies aren't levelled, and neither is Jin. Instead there's the Legend system. You accumulate Legend through combat, and the side-quests and main quests. When you get increments of a Legend title, you get skill points, there you can get a variety of skills. I love how the skills are actually useful and worth investing into. They include combat, stealth and exploration abilities. The Legend ability was really great in my opinion, because it made me feel like any time I struggled, it was wholly on me and my skill, and not my level. You can take on any enemy, as long as your skill was good enough, and that's a personal and intimate progression. However, there are means of which you can improve your skill. The multiple armour sets have different abilities to them that can prove beneficial, even more after upgrading them. Charms can be applied to the armour, which can enhance more of the extra abilities on the armour or add new abilities, you can even increase the amount of charm slots you have.
The only aspect I wasn't too big on in the combat has to be the stealth. But that is purely just a thing I typically don't like in any game. I am naturally a pretty impatient person, and would rather just go in for the attack, rather than sneaking. I will admit, the options and items for stealth look very cool, and if you like stealth, I'm sure you'd probably love that aspect of the game. Thankfully, the game is pretty forgiving with stealth, it wasn't too big of a hassle. Despite that, the stealth definitely fits the duality of the combat, which is the point of Jin, as The Ghost and Lord Sakai.
The Tragic Tale Of How War Affects People, And What It Means To Be A Samurai..
Disclaimer: This section includes the major story spoilers
Going into this game, the part of the game I least expected to be enthralled by, was definitely the story and the characters. I thought that it would serve its purpose, however here I am pretty enamoured by how good it was. Was it the best story in any game? Not close. But it is absolutely incredible in my opinion - and only because of the way it understands its characters, and lets them breathe.
In Act 1, you are one of the only remaining Samurai, and have to save your uncle, who has been captured by the Khan. Simultaneously, you were saved by a thief called Yuna, who aids you in exchange for saving her brother too. You get some of the greatest warriors in the area to help take on the Mongols and save Lord Shimura. In Act 2, we deal with a huge betrayal, as one of the friends we meet in Act 1, works with the Mongols for food and monet. With Castle Shimura under Mongol control, Jin now has to get prepared to take Castle Shimura back. However, because of the previous act, Jin has defied the strict Samurai code, and this leads Lord Shimura to arrest Jin. However, as a fugitive, Jin escapes, runs to the North, and regroups with the other warriors, and plans to kill the Khan. However, after Jin kills the Khan, Lord Shimura has to kill Jin to answer for his crimes as a traitor according to the Shogun. That's just a simple summary of the 3 acts - between the acts, there's a consistent theme of family, and loss of family, as well as how war changes people. Jin becomes The Ghost as a result of war, which defies what his uncle believes in, which leads in having to kill his only family, however, as he loses the dual, we are left with a moral dilemma where Jin has to choose whether he kills or spares Lord Shimura.
I think the main intrigue of the narrative is that debate of what it means to be a Samurai. Jin changes his code, and becomes The Ghost, but that conflicts what the Shogun deems acceptable. That dual identity serves as the whole game's conflict, right from the start where Jin is conflicted if he wants to defy to code, to the very end where Jin has to literally fight for his ideals, and how he truly believes The Ghost is a more beneficial way of protecting Tsushima.
Jin as a character is a lot more complex than I would have expected. He is instantly filled with grief and guilt. Grief and guilt as a result of his family's death, and his survival of the huge Komoda Beach battle, of which most did. As a main character, Jin is very likeable, and a badass, but also very understanding. Through Jin, we see through story threads of multiple characters who are our allies. Sensei Ishikawa and Masako Adachi stuck out the most to me. All allies have completely optional stories spanning over the 3 acts, and I personally couldn't imagine missing them out. Each share a story about grief and how war affects people, but through a different aspect, and a different person. Masako Adachi is a samurai who survived, but her entire family; her kids and grandkids, were all slaughtered by the Mongols. This helps us empathise with Masako, as something like that is truly tragic. The narrative is completely necessity to the overall game, and it certainly made the main story moments with these side characters much more intimate and detailed.
All in all, the narrative manages to have multiple stories in one, and is never linear. It shows multiple takes on grief, conflict and the consequences of war, as well as a question of morality. Ghost of Tsushima went a lot deeper than I had expected, but I love that it did.
Ghost of Tsushima is a lot like a lot of other open world games in the genre, with how its formula is. Some would say that maybe that is to its own detriment - however, Ghost of Tsushima uses that formula and really runs with it. Uses that structure, and adds that Japanese flare to it. It takes what works in open world games and really perfects them. Making an overall masterpiece that is definitely one of the best in the genre.
Comments