Ghost of Tsushima - Review

       

    Ever since the days of the Xbox 360, I've been searching for a game that would grasp my fond memories of scaling roof tops as a ninja in Tenchu Z like I so fondly remember. As soon as I heard Sucker Punch Productions announce Ghost of Tsushima at Paris Games Week in 2017, I was instantly interested and wanted to know more. Sucker Punch's last game Infamous: Second Son was an earlier release during the first year of the PS4 in 2014. Loving what Sucker Punch did with Infamous' recreation of Seattle, I could only imagine what their take on the island of Tsushima would come to be, and what adventures it held. 

 Shot on a Playstation 4 Pro

    Based on real events, and real world locations, Ghost of Tsushima is a fictional stealth/action game that revolves around protagonist Jin Sakai (played by Daisuke Tsuji as seen in The Man in the High Castle) as he tries to reclaim the island of Tsushima from the Mongol's as they begin their invasion of  Japan. Jin find's himself alone and on a mission to save his uncle Lord Shimura as he is held prisoner by the Mongol leader Khotun Khan - cousin of Kublai Khan, and grandson of Genghis Khan. Jin finds himself battling with the old teachings, and the traditions of the Samurai, while at the same time coming to terms with the savagery of the Mongol's and what he must do it order to protect his home. 

    

Shot on a Playstation 4 Pro

  As you go through the story you meet a variety of a cast of characters that you will be able to obtain side missions, and new map locations from. Most main characters will give you a side mission quest that can range from 1 to 4 quest's, anywhere from 1 to 9 quests for their respective side stories. If i'm being honestly the earlier stages in the side quest's didn't interest me much, and I felt like I couldn't really get into the stories of these characters even if they have a great reason to request Jin's help. Though I wasn't feeling some of these side quests, I still decided to push through. Some of the outcomes at the end of the side quests feel very rewarding, and are usually accompanied by some great gameplay scenarios. 

  Shot on a Playstation 4 Pro

    Sucker Punch packs a ton of features into Ghost of Tsushima with all different ways to play. If you are a fan of Akira Kurosawa Japanese film director, then you'll be in for a treat with Ghost of Tsushima's Kurosawa mode which plays the entire game in black and white in the style of Kurosawa himself. On top of that there is a full Japanese dialogue option, with optional English subtitles that will let you get the full Kurosawa experience. Though I did most of my playtime on the normal/English version, I have to give props to Sucker Punch for adding such a great feature to the game. It's no wonder Ghost of Tsushima is selling out in Japan . 

 Shot on a Playstation 4 Pro

    Ghost of Tsushima has an open world that's packed with things to do and sights to see. When it comes to open world games I try to finish them with 100% just to experience everything the devs put in the game, and that can either be great or...not so great. With Ghost of Tsushima the game is based on 3 Acts, and 3 zones. You unlock each zone as you move through the story, opening up more and more things to do. During my playthrough I found myself doing all of the side quest's as well as the random question mark's that pop up on the screen, as they showed themselves to me. Just like games such as Far Cry there are encampments that you must clear and make way for the citizen's of Tsushima to reclaim their homes. In Ghost of Tsushima you unlock new abilities, and combat stances . As I was completing all of the side quests, encampments, and secret locations, I found myself unlocking most of the abilities and most of the combat stances by the end of Act 1. This can make you feel a little overpowered in the early stages of the game, but once you move closer to the end of the game, the difficulty definitely ramps up. That being said there is still plenty to unlock as you move through the story such as; new weapons skins, new armors, and charms. If you take a more streamline approach to the story you may have a harder time with some of the later enemies you come upon. 

 Shot on a Playstation 4 Pro

    Sucker Punch took it to a new level in the graphics department with Ghost of Tsushima. It's hard to deny that I spent a good amount of time playing with the amazing Photo Mode, and making awesome clips of my encounters with my time in Ghost of Tsushimia. While the first hour or so, I felt a little underwhelmed with the graphics coming off the heels of The Las of Us Part 2, but I quickly changed my tune as I witnessed the change in weather as I galloped via horseback to new locations, or just something in the distance that looked like I needed to visit. With the minimalist HUD, it's easy to get immersed into the world, and take in the awe inspiring artistic direction the developers took. In Ghost of Tsushima you use the wind as a guide, and swipe up on the touch pad to have the wind gust in the direction of your next objective. The wind adds a great ambiance to the game, but I can only think of how sick of the wind the characters in game must feel.  

    

    Ghost of Tsushima is a great open world adventure with awesome characters, and beautiful locations to visit. With loads of unlockables, and different ways to spec out a character with armor, and sword skins, there are multiple ways to go at your adventure with Jin as he takes on the Mongol army. 

Ghost of Tsushima - 9/10