Ghost of Tsushima Review
Played on PlayStation 5 (played with the PlayStation 4 Standard copy)
Developed by Sucker Punch Productions
Released 17th July 2020
Back in 2020, as The Last of Us Part II won Game of the Year, I remember seeing heavy amounts of hate towards the game resurge as it did at its release. However, instead of being for stupid, transphobic reasons or valid problems with the narrative, it had to do with how it robbed another game of that award - the same game to also win Player's Voice that year. The game in question? Ghost of Tsushima. Back then, I didn't really understand or even bother to see if Tsushima was good enough to win Game of the Year, but now that I've spent 40 hours with the game and earned a Platinum trophy for my efforts, I can safely say, Ghost of Tsushima deserved that award more than any other title from that year (except for maybe Hades or Will of the Wisps).
Development for the game started back in 2014, soon after Sucker Punch (the developers) finished working on Infamous Second Son and its expansion, First Light. Sucker Punch has this trend in which they switch to a new creative IP after making a trilogy - As seen with Sly Cooper and Infamous. After all, it makes sense; the developers have worked on the superpowered series for 9 years and creative burnout was inevitable. So, to counter this, they started work on something new. First came around a prototype for a cancelled project, Prophecy, set in a steampunk setting. The game may have been scrapped but after coming across accounts of Mongol Invasions of Tsushima in 1274, the open-world melee combat of Prophecy started to imbue with the historical context of the Mongol Invasions. After using many of Akira Kurosawa's classic samurai movies as inspirations, taking multiple historical tours of the Japanese island in person and consulting historical experts about the ancient event, everything clicked into place for Sucker Punch and they delivered what now is known as Ghost of Tsushima.
Story
The story of Ghost of Tsushima was a shockingly great tale of a samurai. When going into this game, the main appeal for me was the immersive world and slick swordplay that I was going to learn and master, however, my interests rapidly shifted towards the incredible narrative that came into fruition. From beginning to end, the whole story held me in its grasp and presented a wonderful journey of a samurai who, in order to save his homeland of Tsushima, must sacrifice everything he knows about honour and tradition to become a hero to its occupants and a demon to its invaders. GoT alters the history behind the Mongolian Invasions of 1274. While the game pictures these cruel warriors as barbaric threats to both the player and the safety of Japan, in reality, the Mongolian ships sank before they could even reach the land.
This retelling of history was phenomenal as it felt incredibly grounded in reality, exploring the moralistic issues of Jin Sakai, the protagonist, and his connections to the land and people. As it progresses, you encounter this basic story of having to rebel against an evil army but the formatting, characters and pacing are greatly gripping. From acts of betrayal, sombre goodbyes or excellent sword-slaying action, every cutscene and piece of dialogue breathed this vibrancy and liveliness into the world, for the story to use as materials and catalysts to further propel itself forward. It felt like every background explored with most characters was significant and if you dive in deeper, you'd gain a greater sense of respect and connection to the characters, narrative and world.
There were 4 types of missions: the main quests (which I've already spoken about), the series of side quests, Mythic Tales and the basic side quests. The series of sidequests were these smaller, self-contained narratives that played alongside the main story. These would be presented as a series for each relevant character. For example, Lady Masako Adachi's line of quests would follow her as you help bring her family's killers to justice while Yuna would ask for your help to put an end to the monsters who traumatised her upbringing and prevent them from continuing their work. These types of quests were very good at humanising these characters and exploring the Ghost's impact and effect on the island.
The Mythic Tales would have you delve into the myths and stories that populate the island of Tsushima and use these teachings and resources to your advantage. From the armour of the most legendary archer ever, Tadayori, to learning how to ignite foes with your strikes using the Way of the Flame, the Mythic Tales were exceptional stories in their own right that also helped develop the environment, inhabitants, culture and history of Tsushima.
Finally, there are the basic side quests that were possibly the worst narrative and lore providers - they weren't awful but at best they were mediocre. From a glance, these quests attempt to explore the interactions between the occupants of Tsushima and the enemy factions that terrorise them. However, at their peak, they come across as 5-minute chores that don't offer much from either a story or a gameplay perspective. The redeeming quality of these is that they were short and few in supply across my 40-hour completion.
Ghost of Tsushima's story is fairly unique from Sucker Punch's point of view. Unlike their well-known Infamous games, it doesn't have a character karma system. While I think it's a mechanic that could've been imported beautifully, it did help Sucker Punch produce a more cohesive story that not only better reflected Jin's changes as a character, but also prevented what would've been a detrimental binary choice system that generally wouldn't be as appealing in this setting and story. Additionally, the disapproving or encouraging nature of certain characters of Jin's actions helped with the morality theme that the game was going for. As a side note, the team believed that the story would be relatable, as they considered Jin's journey of relinquishing who he was to "become something new" - a universal message that would resonate with modern-day players. I don't exactly agree with this 100% but I do like what they were going for.
Gameplay
With Ghost of Tsushima's gameplay, I think the argument of whether games need to be brimming with originality or innovation to be either fun or successful is brought up. This is because GoT is, by simplification, another standard third-person open-world game that offers very little uniqueness to the player. It has the pre-existing, formulaic gameplay of any other open-world game that gets released in this modern day: a large, mostly empty world, Far Cry-style enemy outposts, missions scattered around like nothing, a horse to manoeuvre around the island, a stealth system that consists of singling enemies out (especially in the early game), a "listening" mechanic that lets you wallhack somehow, and a basic light-attack & heavy-attack combat. The only thing this game does that isn't quite traditional is that it doesn't have any towers for you to excessively climb to uncover a large chunk of the otherwise hidden map. Yet, I had so much fun with this. It's oozing with polish and is possibly the most well-refined game that has come out in recent years. From its stupendous telegraphing of parriable attacks to its incredibly satisfying stealth, it ticked most things off the checklist for me.
First of all, the samurai combat. I've already stated that it's quite typical with its main forms of attack, however, the melee battles that ensue feel like there is much more depth to the game, and that's because of the refinement. Alongside the two main attacks, you can switch up your stance which allows for another way of tackling enemies. All this does is make those particular enemies vulnerable to your heavy strikes, but the animation, the extra hit in your string of attacks that you unlock and the enemy variety make this otherwise rudimentary addition quite a fantastic one. There's a shield enemy that keeps disrupting you? Switch over to the Water Stance and its flurry of strikes. Constantly being poked by a Spearman? Switch over to the Wind Stance and combine stylish kicks with your sword swinging. There are a total of 5 Stances that you can unlock and 4 of them serve as the foundations that you'll need to master to proceed flawlessly.
Alongside these combative methods, you also have your standard parries, Mythic techniques and Ghost weaponry. First and foremost are the parries. If the Stances are the bread, then the parries act as the butter. While your blocks do automatically transition into a parry, those Perfect Parries where you counterattack at the exact moment the enemies go for a strike is incredibly satisfying and the progression of being able to redirect attacks that you previously had to dodge is very refreshing and feels like your overall skill and ability is in tandem with Jin's own swordsman mastery across the course of the narrative. Next up, the Mythic techniques are severely badass. Not only do you unlock these special abilities via a boss fight where your foe uses the said ability, but the overall cinematic flair that comes with the techniques is awesome. Dashing between enemies in the blink of an eye with the Dance of Wrath or setting your opponents on fire with the Way of the Flame were as cool to use as they were potent in clearing outposts.
The final aspect of the samurai combat interconnects with the Ghost's stealth and, from a story perspective, finely complements Jin's emotional dilemma between a samurai-like honour and saving the island through whatever means necessary. These tools at your disposal range tremendously in versatility and feel applicable to any scenario. Poison darts, sticky bombs, firecrackers, kunai and more are all brutal and rapid ways of disposing of all your foes. In fact, they were designed to be "exceedingly lethal" and more effective than the samurai weapons to ingrain the moral issue of honour into the player even more. What's a nice feature is that the more frequently you use the Ghost's arsenal, the stormier the island becomes - subtle features like this that have the gameplay interact with the world are always some of my favourite ways to engage the player even more.
Moving on smoothly to the Ghost's stealth - the second component of the gameplay - I found it to be gratifying yet at the mercy of unoriginality once again. I keep reiterating the problem of derivative creativity, however, that only becomes a predominant flaw if what the rest of the game offers is half-baked; that is definitely not the case with this game. Like the combat, it's incredibly fulfilling and polished in its entirety. Whether you're using the aforementioned tools, exterminating a group of enemies up close (and silently) or slowly picking the bandits and Mongols apart with your bow, you will satisfy your thirst for feeling like a demon hidden in the grass or an apex predator tracking its prey. There isn't much else for me to mention about the stealth apart from the epic upgrades you receive like assassinating enemies behind a shoji door or the better Focused Hearing so you can track your targets more efficiently.
As a whole, it feels crazy how I sunk 40 hours of my time into this game and not once did I feel the combat get repetitive or frustrating despite its limited variety of enemies, obvious ways to end a battle quickly or unexpectedly quick progression of game-changing upgrades. The only real flaw within the whole game is that the enemies' tracking of your position feels slightly outrageous as they would glide across the screen to hit you post-dodge. Even with that though, it doesn't disrupt the three pillars that Nate Fox (Game Director) had the game built upon - "mud, blood and steel". These pillars would drive the gameplay to be grounded, visceral and challenging.
Bossfights
The bossfights were the most cinematic and badass moments in the entirety of the samurai combat. Each fight that you get into starts like a classic samurai movie in which both challengers approach each other from opposite sides of the screen and slowly unsheathe their weapons. Every fight, especially the narratively impactful ones, exudes this adrenaline-pumping feeling that I couldn't shake. The only exception to this is the final fight, which releases a more sorrowful atmosphere. Additionally, the fights that take place are great tests of your skill and what you've learned up to this point. All tools and extra weaponry are blocked and you're forced to use the raw talent you've acquired with the katana and the stances you've learned. That means every parry, punish and use of Focus is crucial to the fight and that's why I loved them: you can only rely on your skill and not any game-breaking tool.
The biggest problem that comes out of this structure of duels is that they can be repetitive. Every fight presents different types of weapon mastery that can separate them from feeling like standard enemies but these differences end up feeling minimal when compared to one another. To be honest, the only thing that separated these fights for me was the significance they brought to the main mission or Mythic Tale. While it was cool to fight the Tengu Demon in a nightmarish arena or Kojiro, the infamous unkillable Ronin, their attack patterns and style of fighting barely varied from each other or any other boss fight in the game. The most unique duel (in terms of gameplay) was probably Khotan Khan, the big bad of the game; and that was only because he uses a polearm, a weapon that nobody else uses.
Characters
The cast is excellent. While each character stands out really well by themselves, they excel when having their incredible dynamics with Jin presented. Lady Masako, Sensei Ishikawa, Lord Shimura, Yuna, and Ryuzo are the strongest personas that I've encountered this whole game. The interactions they share with Jin feel human and not shallow. When they share their fear, anger or sadness with each other they make me root for this character regardless of what they've done from a moral perspective. Yet, on their own, they come across more as typical NPCs with a script that's being read for them than anything else. Fortunately, for around 80-90% of the game, you'll see them coupled with Jin either in a cutscene or amidst combat.
The only character this doesn't apply to is Khotan Khan - the antagonist. It's interesting to see this character on screen because, despite the devilish actions he's been said to have done, he has this calming, "bureaucratic aspect" to his character. He does aim to conquer Tsushima with minimal bloodshed, slinging alliances that turn into manipulative ruses, however, if need be, he will brutally slaughter those who stand in his way and that's why he's such an interesting villain. We know he's a threat but he rarely shows it off and when he does, it's in the vilest way possible. Khotan Khan doesn't have this charismatic appeal to him that makes him unforgettable across all of gaming history, but his writing and Patrick Gallagher's performance didn't make him forgettable. Fun fact: Gallagher joined the cast in 2017 and prepared for the role of his character by watching The Godfather. Other voice actors like Jin's Daisuke Tsuji or Lord Shimura's Eric Steinberg definitely amplified the emotion in their respective scenes while the rest were great but nothing that was a standout.
Atmosphere
Ghost of Tsushima's impeccable visuals are the best that I've encountered, only rivalled by The Last of Us Part 2's surreal realism. The vibrancy and collection of colours that assemble across the island of Tsushima are second to none and the way they pop out to the player boldens their position more, providing a realistic look to the game. I cannot capture the genuine beauty that I saw in merely a couple of sentences. Even compared to all the games that I gave 10/10 in the atmosphere section because of their visual design, Ghost of Tsushima stands on top for me. The amount of times I sat there and took in the sights, played around with the photo mode and gushed about these visuals out loud is immeasurable. The craziest part? I played on the PS4 version of the game. What allure is awaiting me in the PS5 version is quite exciting to think about. This doesn't even include the amazing lighting and shadow usage, the excellent attention to detail on weapons, the fantastic cinematography in the cutscenes and more. This review simply won't encapsulate the magnificence that Sucker Punch injected into possibly the best-looking game of the previous console generation. The most shocking fact about this is that it was achieved despite the team struggling to transition into a completely new art style. Jason Connell (Creative Director) stated that the art and environment teams had a hard time switching to GoT after working for nine years on the Infamous games, which features a "punk rock" visual style.
In addition to the top-tier optical experience, Sucker Punch has some interesting effective ways of handling the HUD which I feel deserves a mention. For example, the health bar and Focus meter are quite small during combat and disappear completely during exploration, granting this cinematic perspective that contributes to your adventure. The waypoint system works in a similar fashion as well, being minimalist, to the point, that it feels nonexistent. The way you discover in which direction you need to go is via the direction that the wind is blowing and using animals' leading behaviours to discover secrets. If that's not the most unique way to tackle exploration then I don't know what is.
Finally, the animations are brilliant. I know I'm rambling about the visual design a bit too much but that's what happens when a game impresses this much (and I'm not feeling too lazy to type it up). The reason the animations feel so smooth and at home in the context of this game is due to the fact that Sucker Punch invited Ide Ryusetsu and Kuwami Masakumo Shike, experts from a samurai martial arts school, to perform motion capture for the game and advise the team on sword-fighting. Seattle-based historical sword-fighting expert David Ishimaru was also involved in the creation of the game's combat style.
Now for the audio and technical presentation. It's good I guess. No but seriously, not once did I have a bug or glitch in the game and the soundtrack is as majestic as the environments. Of course, I didn't really gravitate towards the music due to the visual design being so strong that it detracted from the value of the audio, but from what I experienced: it's great. The music can have this soft melody that transports you to the superb landscape or this drum-heavy blended with an orchestra to demonstrate a battle-ready beat. When comparing it to other soundtracks in the industry, it definitely doesn't stand out but it's not flawed in any shape or form in which it harms the game's quality.
Story - 8.5/10
Gameplay - 8.5/10
Bossfights - 7/10
Characters - 8/10
Atmosphere - 11/10
Near Perfect
Ghost of Tsushima feels like the perfected accumulation of all the third-person open-world ideas that started to populate the industry since the original Assassin's Creed. If you were to follow a step-by-step guide for making an open-world game, GoT would be the laminated walkthrough you'd use. On the surface, this is a beautiful experience that arguably follows the open-world blueprints too much. Digging a bit deeper, you come across a must-play title that'll engage you with its refinement and captivating world - an incredible way to sign off the PS4 generation.
