*Note: Some spoilers are in this review.
I had been waiting for Ghost Of Tsushima's arrival because it looked interesting and the game looked beautiful from the trailers shown. I started playing as soon as I got my copy and right from the start I was blown away. The game accessibility is easy to set up. You can adjust the game settings to the difficulty that works for you. For me, I go with the easy setting when first playing a game so I can enjoy the story and have an easier time with the controls due to arthritis in my hands. There is a subtitle backdrop meaning you can add a color background to subtitles so they are easier to read. The game gives you a nice quick overview of the game controls in the menu and you can do a quick save of the game there as well.
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| Setting up the game before playing is easy. |
The game setting is the 1274 Mongol invasion of Japan. There is a beautiful opening showing all the Mongol ships on the sea and it is quite an impressive sight, with incredible detail.
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| The Mongol ships appear. |
There is a moment with all the samurai and the Mongols which introduces us to the main character Jin Sakai and his uncle Lord Shimura. It seems that there is going to be a great battle, but the Mongols don't fight like the samurai making them unpredictable which leads to the slaughter of the entire samurai army, Shimura being captured by their leader Kotun Khan, and Jin left for dead. This is where Ghost Of Tsushima really starts the game with Jin having to navigate the battlefield while being severely wounded. It also gives you a tutorial going over the combat mechanics of the game.
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| Jin fights his way through the battlefield. |
Of course, Jin doesn't die. This is where he meets a thief named Yuna who rescued him from the battlefield and healed his wounds while hiding from the Mongol invasion. She has a brief conversation with Jin stating she believes he can help her. Right from the start, I liked Yuna. She was smart, brave, and a fierce warrior. She agrees to help Jin and asks that he help save her brother Taka who was taken prisoner. Jin agrees to help her brother after he rescues his uncle.
Jin soon realizes he can not fight the Mongols alone or with the traditional samurai tactics. This is where his journey truly begins as he travels the island looking for allies and learning new fighting techniques and learns the way of the ghost. Through all of it, you see the conflict Jin feels with not following the samurai ways and there are some beautifully emotional flashback scenes with Jin when he was a child and his uncle talking about what it means to be a samurai. These moments show really well the close relationship Jin has with his uncle and how Shimura was a father figure to Jin and gives a better understanding of why Jin is disheartened by what he feels he must do and does not want to disappoint his uncle.
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| Shimura and Jin have a conversation. |
Ghost Of Tsushima is an open world game and the world is beautiful. As Jin goes on his adventure there are tons of side quests to do alongside the main quest. This includes side stories for some of Jin's allies known as Tales. There are also legendary tales that give Jin elite weapons and armor. I loved doing these because they added to an already beautiful game and I liked getting to know Jin's friends especially characters like Yuna and Masako because these weren't just women who were there. These were two incredibly fierce warriors who were survivors, intelligent, and equals to Jin. The combat in the game is fantastic. Ranging from cinematic duels to stealth to full melee, the game keeps you on your toes. Switching to different stances gives an edge over certain types of fighters. For example Water Stance is effective against shieldmen and when you do heavy attacks in this stance, you can stagger them and unleash your fury. As Jin levels up he gets points that can be used to unlock more paths in these stances. You can also use these points to unlock more abilities and tools for stealth in the ghost path.
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| Combat in the game is a lot of fun. |
There are different armor sets that Jin can wear as well and each armor set gives Jin different abilities such as better aim with an archer's outfit or better melee abilities with a certain type of samurai armor. There is even a set of armor that makes it easier for Jin to navigate the map following the wind. Ghost Of Tsushima also has a photo mode which is a feature I absolutely love. The open world of the island is gorgeous and there is always a reason to stop and admire the area. Just exploring was a good time for me because I would find myself stopping and wanting to take a picture with photo mode because it was so pretty. Being able to take in these amazing views and take photos while doing it was such a smart choice because it added something special to exploring. There is also a very cool setting called Kurosawa mode which allows you to play the game in black and white looking like a Kurosawa film.
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| A beautiful image taken with photo mode. |
Besides side quests, there are also extras you can find such as hot springs which increase your health, areas where you can sit and write a haiku, or bamboo strikes where you can practice your katana skills and increase your resolve which can be used for special power attacks or to heal your health. There is another extra activity you can do which is my favorite thing in the entire game and that is following foxes to an Inari shrine where you can honor the shrine. Why is it my favorite you ask? Well, one I love foxes. Secondly, in some of the shrine areas after you honor the shrine you can pat the fox. That's right. Ghost Of Tsushima lets you pat a fox and I made it my mission to find every single Inari shrine in the game just so I could pat as many foxes as possible. As you can see from this clip from one of my streams, patting foxes was the best thing ever for me.
Pat the foxes!
The main story and side stories in Ghost Of Tsushima are well done because they intertwine together beautifully and add more depth to each of the characters. The game is not necessarily historically accurate something that Sucker Punch has said in many interviews. It is set in that time period, but it is clear that they did a lot of research on how the various weapons and samurai armor should look and were very respectful of the culture even creating original fictional characters. In a few scenes it was obvious to me where they had been inspired by the films Seven Samurai and Yojimbo and I loved it. It brought up happy memories of watching those movies with my grandparents and getting to go see those films at the AFI Silver Theater when they had a Kurosawa film festival. I grew up watching Kurosawa films and I love them still. Playing Ghost Of Tsushima reminded me of those times and I felt such joy playing this beautiful game because of those various scenes and moments.
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| Jin enjoys a peaceful nap with his horse. |
Ghost Of Tsushima is an absolute gem. The overall story is beautifully told and I loved the fact that the side stories meshed well with the main story. I enjoyed the game so much, I wanted to keep playing and exploring. I did absolutely everything in the game because it was such fun for me to play. The character development is incredible and I found myself truly loving all of them, not just Jin. There were some emotional moments between characters that had me moved to tears which shows just how much thought went into every aspect of the game right down to the tiniest detail. For me, Ghost Of Tsushima was a flawless game and an amazing beautiful samurai adventure.
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| What a view! |
*Ghost Of Tsushima is available to play on the following platforms: Playstation 4
