Sucker Punch Productions, who had been silent for a long time after inFamous: Second Son, broke their silence at the Paris Game Week 2017 event and announced their new game Ghost of Tsushima, which sparked the curiosity of many people. Captivating the audience with its gameplay video unveiled at E3 2018, Ghost of Tsushima generated immense anticipation. However, upon its exclusive release for PlayStation 4 on July 17th, the question lingered: did the samurai-themed game truly meet the high expectations it had set?
Story
In the late 13th century, the Mongols, under the leadership of General Khotun Khan, attacked Tsushima Island, the only obstacle between the Japanese mainland and themselves. After defeating the samurai army, the Mongols captured Shimura, the jito (lord) of Tsushima Island. Jin Sakai, one of the last surviving members of his clan, embarks on a relentless adventure to free Tsushima and rescue his uncle Shimura.
Devotion to Principles is More Important than Anything Else for a Samurai
In my opinion, one of the most striking points of Ghost of Tsushima’s story is the changes that Jin Sakai experiences in his personality. Our character, who lives in adherence to samurai traditions, realizes that he cannot achieve victory by adhering to old traditions after his country is invaded, and he begins to compromise on his principles. This event is beautifully conveyed to the player in the game, and you deeply feel Jin’s dilemmas between being an honorable samurai and killing his enemies from behind.
Graphics and Atmosphere
Nowadays, for many gamers, the graphic quality of the game they are playing has become a significant criterion. Especially after a game like Red Dead Redemption 2, which has high graphics, the bar for open-world games has been raised. So, has Ghost of Tsushima been able to be a game with high-quality graphics? Except for a few minor texture errors, I can say that Ghost of Tsushima is a visually satisfying game. Only in some parts of the game, the graphics seemed higher than other parts, but this could be due to differences in lighting. Although the game has been downgraded in terms of graphics and texture quality compared to the gameplay video released at E3 2018, but it will still satisfy you visually.
Character Modeling and Facial Expressions
One of the things that bothered me the most in Ghost of Tsushima was the character modeling and facial expressions. The character modeling in both cutscenes and gameplay seemed low for a PlayStation 4 exclusive game. Especially, the lack of synchronization between mouth movements and speech, and the insufficient facial expressions of the characters give the feeling that you are talking to a robot. Because of this, it is difficult to take the characters’ dialogues seriously.
Tsushima’s Magnificent World Awaits You
In the game set on Tsushima Island, the samurai theme and Japanese culture are excellently conveyed to the game’s world. Whether it is the stunning landscapes, magnificent nature, or the sunlight reflecting through the trees, the game’s art director has done a great job and produced a successful work. When playing the game, you will encounter scenes that are as impressive as those from a painting. Additionally, in the game’s open world, you come across villagers killed by the Mongols, and this situation deeply immerses you in the game’s atmosphere.
As a samurai-themed open-world game, Ghost of Tsushima receives high marks from us for its atmosphere. If you are someone who enjoys samurai-themed games, Ghost of Tsushima offers players a unique experience with its magnificent open world.
Gameplay
Ghost of Tsushima offers players a highly diverse gameplay experience with its combat system, mechanics used in its open world, and missions.
Combat System
The game offers two different gameplay styles, ‘Ghost’ and ‘Samurai’, and promises different experiences through the various skill trees that come with each style.
Samurai
If you want to kill your enemies like a samurai, looking into their eyes, the game offers you this freedom. There are four different stances for each enemy type: Stone Stance, Water Stance, Wind Stance, and Moon Stance. You need to switch to Stone Stance if the enemy is wielding a sword, Water Stance if they have a shield, Wind Stance if they are agile, or Moon Stance if they are big. Having different stances for each enemy type allows you to fight your enemies more easily and quickly defeat them. Additionally, you can call out enemy groups to fight one-on-one and take them down with a single hit by reacting at the right time. Of course, the number of enemies you can take down in this one-on-one fight varies depending on the skills you have acquired and the armor you are wearing.
Ghost
If you don’t want to show off to your enemies and prefer to kill them slowly and quietly, the ‘Ghost’ gameplay style is perfect for you. In the Ghost style, you can poison your enemies with blowdarts, assassinate them, throw kunai, shoot arrows, or kill them with bombs you have acquired. Additionally, as you progress through the game, you can climb to high places with the hook you have acquired and ambush your enemies. With the skills you acquire, you can also diversify your stealth and scare your enemies like a ghost.
Skill System
One of my favorite things about Ghost of Tsushima is its skill system. Every skill point you earn unlocks a new ability that adds variety to the gameplay. The fact that there are so many different abilities to unlock with skill points keeps the game engaging and fun.
Your Guide to Wind and Animals
Ghost of Tsushima takes a creative approach to navigation, departing from the more typical navigation systems found in other games. Instead, if you need to go somewhere, the wind guides you there. The wind blows in the direction of your objective, making it easy to navigate without cluttering the screen or straining your eyes.
In addition, animals on Tsushima Island serve as guides on your journey. Foxes lead you to shrines, while birds lead you to special locations like hot springs, camps, haiku spots, bamboo strike areas, and more.
Side Quests
There are three types of side quests in the game: “Character Tales”, “Tsushima Tales”, and “Mythic Tales”.
Character Tales are side quests that revolve around important supporting characters. Some consist of five or six parts, while others have eight or nine parts. In these quests, you help your allies and become a part of their story. Although they are interesting at first, they tend to lose their pace and become boring as you progress.
Tsushima Tales are side quests that you can open by talking to villagers. Unfortunately, except for a few exceptions, they don’t go beyond “I heard there were Mongols over there. Can you check it out?”
Mythic Tales are my favorite type of side quest in the game. In these quests, you act like a detective, investigating the legends told by bards. At the end of each Mythic Tale, there’s a boss battle, and you are rewarded with a unique skill or valuable item.
To sum up, although Ghost of Tsushima has many interesting side quests, like other open-world games, it tends to become repetitive.
Weak Enemy AI
In Ghost of Tsushima developed by Sucker Punch Productions, the enemy AI is quite weak. Even if you come face to face with enemies at close range, they can’t react quickly or perceive you. It’s not just the enemy AI, but also the AI of some of the characters who accompany you in certain missions that is quite weak. It can be quite frustrating when these characters get beaten up and fall down.
Fast Travel and Loading Times
Sucker Punch Productions has designed the game engine to be able to re-run loaded data, so the loading times in the game are quite short. In Ghost of Tsushima, if you choose to fast travel or wait for any loading screen, the process takes about 7-8 seconds to complete.
Kurosawa Mode
You can play the game in black and white with the Kurosawa Mode, named after the legendary film director Akira Kurosawa. If you are interested in old black and white samurai-themed films, I can say that this mode is perfect for you.
FPS Issues, Problematic Camera Angles, and Missing Animations
I played Ghost of Tsushima on a standard PS4 and although there were minor and inconspicuous FPS drops throughout the game, I especially encountered heavy FPS drops in the later parts of the game. These FPS drops in the final sections of the game significantly detracted from the enjoyment of the game, and I was almost playing the game in a frozen state.
All camera controls in the game are given to the player. Unfortunately, this brings along many problems. If you are fighting enemies in an area filled with plants or surrounded by walls, a plant or wall can suddenly appear on your screen. This can be quite frustrating, especially in one-on-one fights that require instant reflexes.
One of the things that caught my attention the most in the game was the missing animations. Many small animations such as lighting incense or opening a tombstone were not created by the development team. When these types of small animations are required, the game goes to a black screen, and after the black screen disappears, you can see that the action you wanted to take has been completed.
Sound and Music
The sound effects of the animals, the wind, and many other things in the game are very well done. Especially when you block an enemy’s attack with your sword, the sound that comes out feels amazing.
The game features beautiful music that reflects Japanese culture and samurai traditions. In the magnificent atmosphere of Tsushima Island, you can play beautiful melodies with Jin’s flute and wipe away the rust from your ears. If you love samurai-themed games, Ghost of Tsushima offers a unique experience with its music.
Final Word
If I have to say my final words about the game, Ghost of Tsushima, with its splendid atmosphere, satisfying graphics, magnificent open world, diverse combat mechanics, and average storyline, has become a game that is above average, if not flawless. Especially unfortunate for Ghost of Tsushima is its timing of release right after The Last of Us Part II. If you enjoy samurai-themed games, you should definitely experience this game developed by a talented company like Sucker Punch.
