Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) Review

A samurai's tale.

 Regarded as the swan song of the PS4, Ghost of Tsushima comes to us from Sucker Punch Studios, creators of PlayStation classics such as the Sly Cooper and InFamous series'. A new game starring s samurai who must defend his home from mongol invaders, Ghost of Tsushima was hyped for years and was finally released towards the tail-end of the PS4's life this year. Does it stand among the system's finest games? It sure does.

The game tells the tale of samurai Jin Sakai, who alongside his fellow samurai warriors and uncle, must defend the Japanese island of Tsushima from a mongol invasion led by Khotun Khan. Things end up badly for Jin, as he wakes up to find most of Tsushima being overrun by mongols, with his uncle taken captive. Alone, Jin must build a new force to stand against the invaders and take back the island as he claims a new identity as "The Ghost". Along the way, Jin will meet a wide-range of characters who are caught up in the invasion and we see his samurai code of honor come at odds with his shadow tactics as desperately tries to reclaim Tsushima. 

 The story was an good one and characters like Jin, Yuna, Lord Shimura, and main villain, Khotun Khan were all interesting and fleshed out in the form of flashbacks, cut-scenes, and hidden records. It evens got on the emotional side with all the suffering Jin endures the more his journey gets bloody, which got me glued to my seat. 

While sometimes predictable,
the story was a good one.

 Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world game where you control Jin as he slashes his way through enemy forces and reclaim parts of Tsushima under mongol control. To do that, you'll need a wide-range of weapons at your disposal such as kunai, sticky bombs, bows and arrows, smoke bombs, and even a grappling hook to cut down the countless waves of enemies. Jin can use different stances that work well against various types of enemies like the brutes and shield wielders, which can easily break their guard and stagger them. There's also a special "ghost" stance later in the game, which lets you quickly insta-kill enemies. Alternatively, stealth is an option since you can sneak by enemies like climbing through rooftops and quietly assassinate them, which is a viable strategy at certain points.

Engage enemies head-on or pick them off
separately by lurking in the shadows.

 The sword fighting, duels, and standoffs were a lot of fun as you'll have to read and anticipate your opponents moves in order to block and stagger them, giving you an advantage in battles. It was tricky to get used to initially, but quickly becomes second nature the more you get the hang of things. One aspect that annoyed me with the combat was that the camera can get in the way sometimes and block the action, I felt that a lock-on option would have remedied things a bit. That and the enemy AI was deaf at times as you'll be chaotically fighting a group of enemies who are screaming for their lives while the ones on the other side of the camp are just chilling, minding their own business, which was kind of funny.

 The game follows the standard open-world conventions as you'll ride your horse and explore the island destroying mongol camps, liberating settlements, crafting, and upgrading your gear. The missions are your obligatory tailing and tracking one and occasionally you'll participate in the more exciting character-driven missions, which were a lot of fun. There are over 50 "tales" in the game that are side-mission where you help the inhabitants of the island with their needs and protect them mongol threats. You'll be also chasing after collectables such as Pillars of Honor, Fox Shrines, Bamboo Strikes, Haiku spots, and Hot Springs which have neat bonuses like an extended health bar. Like many open-world games, all that busy work tends to get boring after a while and in my opinion, the game could've benefited from more variety. 

The gameplay was great and the open-world
is riddled with lots of activities to check out.

 Ghost of Tsushima is a long adventure that took me around 53 hours to beat, which included going after nearly everything in the way of collectables and obtaining the platinum trophy, so It'll definitely last you a while. In terms of replay value, there's a new game plus mode where you can replay the adventure with your gear intact as well as a "Lethal" difficulty mode, which is as you've guessed hard. The Legends addition of the game is a multiplayer mode, where you can join other players and complete new tales in Tsushima. I've read lots of praise about the mode though I was mainly interested in the single player offering. 

 In terms of visuals, Ghost of Tsushima is absolutely breathtaking. From the expressive facial performances to the impressive lighting to the wide range of colorful landscapes such as forests and snow lands, the game is a stunner no doubt. Performance-wise, it ran smoothly on PS4 Pro with little in the way of glitches and the such. The game features both English and Japanese voice-overs, with the latter presented as "Samurai Cinema" given the setting and all. I chose the Japanese VA, which was absolutely terrific and felt more authentic to the story, despite having to read lines and all. Regardless of what you choose, the voice-acting in the game is top-notch. The soundtrack was nice and complimented the setting well packing great tracks but the one that stood out was the amazing ending theme. 

The game is filled with many beautiful scenery.

Overall, Ghost of Tsushima was a fantastic experience that I'm glad I didn't miss out on. The story and characters were interesting and I'm excited for the potential sequel after the ending, the gameplay was a lot of fun despite the open-world repetition, and the presentation is top-notch-- no surprise from a game of this calibre. Sucker Punch have put a lot of care into making the game an amazing send-off to the PS4 and it shows with the well-researched world and post-launch content. Fans of the studio as well as those looking for a cool samurai experience won't be disappointed with what Ghost of Tsushima has in store.