HA! I finished it!

[IICptMillerII]

I just finished Ghost of Tsushima. Started it way back in September and played it steadily for nearly 2 months before a whole bunch of things got in the way. I finally got back to it and wrapped up the main story tonight.

All in all, I loved it.

What follows is my spoiler free mini review for those interested in my 2 cents.

The Bad:
I actually did not like most of the supporting characters. I found them to either be unpleasant overall, or cliched too heavily. Kenji is a good example of the latter, being your typical "cowardly used car salesman type trader." I found Yuna to be not very compelling either, which is rather unfortunate because she drives some pretty major story points. Towards the latter 3rd of the game I even actively disliked her, and her specific part of the ending felt like a loose end left untended. Lord Shimura felt a bit too overly stilted and also a bit cliched. I don't think he got quite enough time to develop as a favorable character, though in the end I think he was well done. Enough of him is conveyed to the player to get emotionally invested by the end of the story.

The first 2/3rds of the game are amazing, but the final act felt shallow compared to the previous two. That being said, story-wise I do not think much could be done to avoid that. Act 2 ends on a somber note, and much of Act 3 is dealing with the aftermath and then bringing everything to a conclusion. Acts 1 and 2 felt much larger, and felt like they had a lot more content and stuff going on in general compared to Act 3.

This one is extremely subjective but, I did not enjoy most of the Ghost segments in the game and wish they were more optional. For those that do not know, Ghost mode is the stealth part of the game, and becomes a major plot issue as being a ghost and stabbing people in the back is very dishonorable. There are many times in the story where you are forced to be the Ghost. Sometimes it is understandable and justified given the plot. Other times it is just annoying. For example, some of the villages you have to clear have hostages taken, and if you run in katana out, the Mongols will kill the hostages and you lose the side quest. To me, this got very old very fast. Others I am sure preferred to play the entire game in Ghost mode which is fine. I just wish that when it came to things that weren't major plot points, the game gave the player a bit more choice in the matter.

I had a minor technical annoyance, which was a tiny delay when blocking. I tended to block too late, and much of the games combat is based on timing. It felt more like a delay in the controller than a feature of the game. This is highly subjective though, and overall did not negatively impact my overall experience. The game has ample quick save locations, so I never felt cheated by dying due to a missed block and losing hours of gameplay.


The Good:
Despite what I wrote above, I really loved this game. I first saw the reveal trailer for the 2016 (?) E3 and was immediately interested. It delivers so well on so many points that all of my criticisms feel minor as a result.

The graphics and immersion are through the roof. I primarily play older games and simulators, both of which are not known for their graphical prowess. However, I do appreciate good visual and sound design, and I would be lying if I said I didn't wish for simulators to look a million times better. The visuals alone in Ghost are simply stunning. There were so many times throughout the game, both in cutscenes and other moments where I wish the game was on PC so I could grab quick screen captures. While it might not be a realistic depiction of how the island of Tsushima looks like in real life, it really nails the aesthetic down. I cannot overstate enough how immersive and aesthetically pleasing the game is. Simply looking at the game is enough to get you completely immersed into samurai dominated Japan. And that is before the excellent gameplay.

The gameplay is very well done. The combat is very rewarding and satisfying, and has an element of "easy to learn, hard to master" to it that is very fitting the samurai setting. There are skill trees to unlock new abilities and gear, and there is usually plenty of player choice in how they want to fight. There is also the previously mentioned Ghost mode that all complaints aside, provides some decent stealth action. If the player is so inclined, they can play most of the game in Ghost mode as well. In short, the game is very enjoyable to play.

The open world is open enough and varied enough to add to your overall experience without just being a stylized loading screen that you have to travel across to get from mission to mission, like in some other open world games. All of the various locations and art styles that come with them keep everything fresh and engaging. I actually like traveling across the world on horseback as opposed to using the fast travel feature most of the time due to the amazing visuals of it all. And then there are all the side quests, random encounters, Mongol outposts and villages to liberate, Haiku's to compose, new gear to find... The list goes on, and nearly all of it is interesting and entertaining the whole way through. In my opinion, this game is an open world done right.

The customization options are all fantastic. There is something in there for everyone, with different types of armor/clothing, and dyes to color them with. Plus, there are different gear items such as katana sheaths and hats, bandanas, and face masks to deck out your samurai with. Collecting gear through side quests and exploration, as well as coloring them and choosing the right, aesthetically pleasing outfit for the mission was surprisingly fun throughout the whole game.

The main story might not be the most revolutionary thing in the world, but it is satisfying all the way to the end, and there are more than a few "wow" moments that really help immerse the player. There are enough sensible twists and turns to keep the player engaged and on their toes, although in my case it was not hard to figure out what the ending was going to be like by the time I was midway through Act 2. Despite this, the story is still well executed and worth the journey.
For those who are curious, it took me around 48 hours of gameplay to beat the main story. I tried to do most of the side quests which certainly inflated my play time, and as I mentioned I tended to travel manually as opposed to using fast travel which also padded the gameplay hours. Still though, even if you only focus on the main story, there is a solid 15-20 hours of game here. Add to that the fact that the game is still playable after you officially beat the story, and a new patch back in October added a New Game+ mode, there is a lot of game here to enjoy.

I thought the voice acting and sound effects were great, and the game even comes with a few different presentation options. You can choose to play the game in English, in Japanese with English subtitles, and in Kurosawa mode, a mode that makes the game black and white and Japanese to emulate the well known samurai movie director Akira Kurosawa. These are all things that help add to the overall immersion and aesthetic of the game. Plus, you can change these presentation options at any time while playing, so there is plenty of player choice as well.


There is likely a lot more I could say about the game, but hopefully that will suffice as a mini review. To reiterate, I really loved the game. The immersion alone is amazing and makes the entire game worth it for me. I'm desperately hopeful that the game will eventually make its way to PC. I haven't heard any news to give me hope, but I can dream. With all that said, I'm off to start a New Game+ which brings with it some new gear items and other new game plus exclusives!

[Rayfer]

I feel like I won the Olympics  👍

First long RPG I ever managed to finish....Wasteland 3 on normal but even so .....,

What a magnificent  game. Real rollercoaster of emotions, difficult choices... great atmosphere and writing and when I finished having " succeeded"  I was left with the awful feeling I had supported the wrong side  ;D.....

Only two minor bugs in 120 hours playtime.

Kudos to the developers.

Well done....!!  Did you play Wasteland 2, and if so how do they compare?  I really enjoyed 2 but never finished it and was wondering if 3 was as good.

[devoncop]

I feel like I won the Olympics  👍

First long RPG I ever managed to finish....Wasteland 3 on normal but even so .....,

What a magnificent  game. Real rollercoaster of emotions, difficult choices... great atmosphere and writing and when I finished having " succeeded"  I was left with the awful feeling I had supported the wrong side  ;D.....

Only two minor bugs in 120 hours playtime.

Kudos to the developers.

Well done....!!  Did you play Wasteland 2, and if so how do they compare?  I really enjoyed 2 but never finished it and was wondering if 3 was as good.

Hi Rayfer

Well in common with my arse about face way of living I am yet to try Wasteland  2 though I bought it in the Cristmas sale as Wasteland  3 really piqued my interest in the backstory.

I think Wasteland  2 may be harder though so whether I will finish that one is a moot point !

[airboy]

Congrats on Wasteland 3!

I found Wasteland 2 way too linear in play.   

[airboy]

Congrats Cpt Miller!

[Gusington]

I would kill to play Ghost of Tsushima on the PC.

[devoncop]

Congrats on Wasteland 3!

I found Wasteland 2 way too linear in play.

Cheers Airboy

I think the difficulty with RPG's always revolves around the conflict between keeping a coherent overall narrative that engages the player and still giving the player freedom to explore and tackle tasks at their own pace and in their own way.
I personally  felt Wasteland  3 got the balance about right. The narrative you end up with can vary hugely and as an aside I was blown away at the end of the game with the country and western song that was done based entirely on my personal decisions for the Rangers in my game and which presumably varies as the player makes different choices in another playthrough.

Very clever.

[airboy]

I was blown away at the end of the game with the country and western song that was done based entirely on my personal decisions for the Rangers in my game and which presumably varies as the player makes different choices in another playthrough.

Very clever.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

[FarAway Sooner]

Yeah.  I gave up on Wastelands 2 after 20 or 30 enjoyable hours because of the "story on rails" thing.  It's a really difficult balancing act for even a real-life gamemaster to balance, so I'll be impressed if many RPG games can ever really get around that.  Even the "side quests" trope feels tired to me after 25 years of PC RPGs.

Congrats CptMiller!  It's always nice to finish one off, especially a game you really like.

[airboy]

Beat Vigilantes.  Probably going to write a review if I get some time around the house renovations. 

[devoncop]

Congratulations ! Was looking at that one...quite an interesting writing style in the style of Raymond Chandler from what I have seen  in a couple of clips on you tube but the UI looks a bit cumbersome would be interested in your verdict.

[al_infierno]

I feel like I won the Olympics  👍

First long RPG I ever managed to finish....Wasteland 3 on normal but even so .....,

What a magnificent  game. Real rollercoaster of emotions, difficult choices... great atmosphere and writing and when I finished having " succeeded"  I was left with the awful feeling I had supported the wrong side  ;D.....

Only two minor bugs in 120 hours playtime.

Kudos to the developers.

Pretty off-topic, but I picked up Suzerain the other day based on your glowing review and I've been absolutely loving it.  Still early in the story and have not seen the consequences of my (sure to turn out awful) decisions, but I'm really digging the game and looking forward to posting here once I finish it.  The writing is pretty damn effective at delivering character and setting relevant info while moving the plot along, and although I'm personally not a fan of the amateur prose-isms sprinkled in (I feel like I've read someone's eyes "glittering" or "flashing" a dozen times now), I have to applaud the writers for conveying all this important geo-political information about who's-pissed-off-about-what in a fairly concise format.

[devoncop]

Yes it's a cracking game....Glad you like it.

No spoilers but I ended up being gunned down in the Persidential Palace after my army was crushed by a neighbouring state.....you have a low bar to beat 🤣

I will definitely play it through again....the choices you make can make a huge difference to how it plays out.

[airboy]

Yes it's a cracking game....Glad you like it.

No spoilers but I ended up being gunned down in the Persidential Palace after my army was crushed by a neighbouring state.....you have a low bar to beat 🤣

I will definitely play it through again....the choices you make can make a huge difference to how it plays out.

How linear is the story?  I've found most text games to be linear as hell with a few branches with choices.  I'm concerned about replay value.

[devoncop]

Yes it's a cracking game....Glad you like it.

No spoilers but I ended up being gunned down in the Persidential Palace after my army was crushed by a neighbouring state.....you have a low bar to beat 🤣

I will definitely play it through again....the choices you make can make a huge difference to how it plays out.

How linear is the story?  I've found most text games to be linear as hell with a few branches with choices.  I'm concerned about replay value.

Hi Airboy

I have only done the one playthrough but my instinct is that most of the main decisions you have to make ( and there are a lot) are likely to remain the same each playthrough but the choices you make will radically affect the result of those decisions so that new decisions will be presented each game if your own decisions are different.  Given other players have not been shot by foreign troops....some have been successfully re elected ...as I was in the first election ...and lived to the end and others have been overthrown  in an internal coup for example  there should be decent replay value.