Ghost of Tsushima – Game Review

Ghost of Tsushima

Developer: Sucker Punch Studios

Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Game Series: Ghost of Tsushima

Platform: PS4 & PS5

Release Date: 2020

Age Rating: 18

Ghost of Tsushima is a brilliant example of the samurai genre. The development team took heavy inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films. The feeling and nobility behind the actions of the samurai are truly fascinating and immerses you into this sense of honor as you play the game. I loved seeing where the initial inspiration for Star Wars came from. This is apparent in how the samurai interact and try to uphold to their morals and codes. With the upgraded PS Plus the is not a better time to finally get into the great Ghost of Tsushima.

Story of Ghost of Tsushima

The story of Ghost of Tsushima has you play as Jin Sakai of Clan Sakai as he fights back against the invading Mongols. Lead by no other than a descendant of Genghis Khan, Khotun Khan. As you escape certain death, twice, and continue to reap vengeance on the invading forces he acquires the nickname “Ghost”. Given to you by the civilians of Tsushima as they rally behind their defender. You eventually do achieve killing the leader of the Mongol forces, but it comes at a cost. Jin betrays his Samurai code and is sentence as a traitor by the shogun. This sentencing leads to the ultimate battle between uncle and nephew, farther and son, as Jin and Lord Shimura fight to the death. You may decide to spare your would be adopted farther but either way the bond is forever broken.

Pros of Ghost of Tsushima

The game is amazing at immersing you into the fictional world based in feudal Japan, specifically Tsushima, the world that you inherit is full of life, enemies, beauty, and most of all plenty of activities to keep you entertained for hours on end. The combat is souls-like but I found to be a lot more forgiving overall. However with that being said some particular enemies especially bosses can capitalise on your lack of concentration and obliterate your health bar in a matter of hits. In my opinion this just adds a sense of accomplishment when you do in fact finally conquer that boss fight, that encounter, reclaim that stronghold, etc. It adds a sense of worth to your actions and you really feel like you are slowly but surely freeing Tsushima from the dastardly Mongols.  I specifically loved the ghost weapons in particular the Kunai, which I found extremely effective at staggering enemies as I rushed into finish them off.

Cons of Ghost of Tsushima

I do wish the was more iconic bosses in the main story. I really felt the was a lack of boss battles in the main missions. The ones that do appear although really good don’t give enough diversity to warrant the lack of them. Personally watching people play through Dark Souls I was excited to playthrough this game. I was expecting to be able to come across a plethora of ultimate baddies for me to die to and then ultimately obliterate. While the game does pose challenge through the final boss, I felt myself more frustrated than joyous when I did finally defeat the final boss, Lord Shimura.

Summary of Ghost of Tsushima

To summarize Ghost of Tsushima is hands down one of the best console exclusive games to come out of the last generation of consoles. The combat is fluid and rewarding, yet more importantly challenging enough that a couple of wrong moves or failed parries/dodges will have you dying repeatedly. I personally love the combat of Shadow of War, and this seems to be a less cowardly version of that combat AI and I love it even more! You can still scurry away from enemies in this game, yet it is much harder to do so, the game forces you to remain within the combat more forcing you to deal with enemies.

Kage

 I love the kunai ghost weapon it plays very well and is very adaptive. I found myself using it to take out archers to stop arrows, stagger the brutes so you can take them down much easier, kill/stagger multiple enemies creating a way out to flee, and more. Also I found myself bonding with my horse Kage (Shadow). Id go so far to say even more than any horse I ever had on Red Dead Redemption (1/2). RIP Kage, Jin loves you <3

Overall Rating: 9 – Outstanding!

Platform Played On: PS4

Game Time At Review: 52 Hours

Recommendation: Yes

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