Ghost of Tsushima Review

Poster for Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima is a stunning open-world action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The player controls Jin Sakai, a samurai as he fights to protect Tsushima Island after the first brutal Mongol invasion of 13th century Japan.

The Story

Throughout the game the main character has to betray his code of honour as it is the only way he can protect his home and the people he cares about from the Mongols. The Mongols, led by Khotun Khan, grandson of Ghengis, cause chaos across the entire island - villages are left burning and dead bodies pile up in the streets. As Jin you must reunite some warriors of Tsushima and recruit new allies to defend your home and eventually take it back. Jin uses his samurai training and his newly acquired stealth tactics to overpower the Mongol army. The main story took me about 25 hours to complete whilst occasionally wandering off to do side content.

In-game Screenshot of the Landscape

Gameplay

The gameplay feels like a combination of games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted and The Last of Us. The game takes the best mechanics such as the circus-like climbing of the Uncharted games and the satisfying stealth of The Last of Us to make the game feel great to play, however a bit unoriginal. The sword combat, however, felt very fresh as it uses a stance system players must switch between to take down the corresponding enemy types. I would also like to mention that the katana feels incredibly satisfying to slice through enemies with and sometimes I would intentionally get caught by unsuspecting enemies just to hear the sound of the katana ripping through a poor Mongol. In open world games it can often feel like a chore to travel around the map however in this game it felt great to hop on your horse and just ride around the beautiful environment. The controls are smooth, however I often had issues where the character would get stuck on something whilst I was in combat and I was left helpless. Sucker Punch also came up with a great new navigation system where you swipe on the touch pad and a gust of wind will lead you to your objective or waypoint. Open-world games often have lots of side content to keep you busy after you complete the main story, and this game is no exception as there are many side quests to complete, territories to reclaim and foxes to find that lead you to shrines.

In-game Screenshot of the Tutorial

Technical and Graphical Aspects

Ghost of Tsushima is like a playable painting. The tutorial level, for example, is filled with autumn leaves and the sun is setting behind you as you learn the basic controls. The art team clearly loved what they were doing as even the tutorial level looks like a painting in an

art gallery. There were many times when I used the in-game photo mode just to take pictures of the scenery as I rode past on my horse. On PS5 loading times were incredibly fast and when I had to fast travel in the game, it was almost instant. I also need to mention how great the music and sound design is in this game. The soundtrack features many Japanese instruments that make the game really feel like 13th century Japan.

Despite being feeling very safe and unoriginal in some areas, Ghost of Tsushima brings in cool new ideas like combat stances and the guiding wind to bring this large open-world to life. The game is filled with content, and has an engaging story to keep you enthralled in its stunning world. The Director's Cut edition came out recently on PS5, so now is the perfect time to play the game if you haven’t already.