"It's a Video Game!" - Ghost of Tsushima

Since Cyberpunk 2077 ended up being a bust for the PS4, I almost shelled out some money for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. While perusing PSN, I did come across a game that piqued my interest sometime last year. Some said that it was more like Assassin’s Creed than the current AC games are. Being pretty curious, and seeing that I could get this for 40 bucks, I decided to check out Ghost of Tsushima and test that claim out. It took three weeks to do it, but I think I’m ready to go over my findings.

Ghost of Tsushima was released exclusively for Sony in 2020 by Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch is known for also developing the Infamous series and the Sly Cooper series. I’ve played the first two Infamous games, but I haven’t finished Infamous: Second Son yet… need to get back that one. Anyway, the game was pretty much lauded by folk. I started to play this during my quarantine. Now that I’ve finished, what do I think?

The game takes place on Tsushima Island in 1274. You play as Jin Sakai, a young samurai. Your uncle, Lord Shimura, ended up taking Jin under his wing after his father was killed. The Mongolian Empire starts to attack Japan, and the island is the first stop. Khotun Khan, the descendant of Genghis Khan, takes over the island and captures Shimura. Jin tries to fight Khan but is almost killed for his actions. Jin ends up being saved by Yuna, a thief, and ends up forming allies to take on Khan. He takes on the moniker of “The Ghost.” What Jin realizes is that the code of the samurai may not mesh with he needs to do, and he may end up losing his relationship with his uncle because of this.

Yeah, I had to take some cool pics like this.

PROS

I thought this was a pretty good game. I kind of didn’t know what to expect with this one. There’s a reason some call it an alternative to Assassin’s Creed because it has some of those trappings. If anything, it’s like a mixture of old-school and new-school Assassin’s Creed. Stealth plays a major role here and combat is similar to the newer AC games. Anyway, the setting here is cool and seems authentic. I don’t know much about feudal Japan other than some movies, so Sucker Punch did a good job in placing us in this environment. I even think the island is based a real place that’s’ not far from Japan.

The story is pretty good overall. Jin Sakai is a young samurai who has a lot to live up to. He’s someone who’s pretty determined, stoic, and angry at the Mongols who are ravaging the island. One of his biggest hurdles is trying to stick to the samurai code while saving the island. Let’s just say that things aren’t too happy with Jin during the game. Our main villain is Khotun Khan, a fictional descendant to Ghengis Khan. I thought he was pretty effective and interesting. You find out that he learned all he could about Japanese culture in order to tear it apart.

The side quests you get to play are also pretty good. It helped that the characters you assist are pretty cool. They may be even cooler than the Ghost himself. I’d say that my favorite side characters were Yuna, Norrio, and Maskao. We have Yuna, the lady thief who saves Jin’s life and helps him take back the island. Masako was a female warrior who basically loses her whole family in this war. Norrio is a monk who does his best to safeguard the temples on the island. There’s Ryuzzo, the leader of a ronin group on the island and a friend of Jin’s. Then, there’s Shirikawa. While I didn’t like him as much (he was a bit of an ass), his missions were pretty cool.

The gameplay is awesome. As I said above, there’s a reason this game is compared to Assassin’s Creed. The combat is kinda similar, but there’s a lot of layers to it. Since you’re going up against different types of combatants, you have to use different sword styles to adapt to your enemies. Of course, you have a barrage of gadgets to use like you’re the poison darts, flaming arrows, distracting items, and other things. Stealth is a major component of the gameplay. In some areas, Stealth will help you stay alive at times when you’re not at your fullest abilities. You have a few places to hide like bushes, and you can stay up top on buildings. While you do have some mandatory stealth missions, there aren’t many.

Okay... so this might not have been the best idea. Made for a good pic, though.

Graphic-wise, the world looks beautiful. The whole game has a bit of a cinematic feel to it especially in the cutscenes. You have an open world to explore, and it’s one that I honestly felt exploring quite a bit. Yeah, I was also looking for the next Mongol camp/settlement, but the world looks good and interesting. One thing I really played with was the Picture taking. I messed around with that as much as explored. The music is pretty good and fits the era it’s supposed to take place in.

You get quite a bit of armor and bonuses to collect throughout the game. While some of it is unlockable as you play through the story, some of it has to be gotten through side missions. You can also find it laying around or have a fox come up to you and lead you to the place. Yes, a fox comes up to you. It’s actually kinda nice, and you can even pet the fox. As for online play (called Legends), it seems pretty cool. I’ve barely played it, but I kinda want to jump back in for some more rounds.

Leaving a wake of death in the background... perfect.

CONS

My issues for the game as a whole are few. It’s not a perfect game, unfortunately. There were some repetitive missions I ran into. While it did help me explore a bit, taking Mongol camp after Mongol camp can be a bit tiring. On the story front, I did think things started to drag with the second act. I’ve read that some thought this was a bit a problem, and I can see why. It’s not bad because some major stuff happens in it, but it took quite a while to build up to that stuff. Also, this was where I started to run into some repetitiveness with missions.

Nothing wrong here. I just wanted to share this moment.

While I thought Jin was a fine protagonist, I wasn’t that in awe of him. He seemed a bit too stoic for me. I’m not saying that I needed to be loud and obnoxious or anything like that. I do wish he did have a bit of a laugh from time to time. It’s probably me since I don’t know much about the culture and how most samurai tend to behave. Also, some dank stuff happens in this game, so I wouldn’t be cracking jokes either… well, I take that back. I gotta do me, man! Other than some glitches, the fact that the dang samurais are kinda tough to beat (those duels against stone style were HARD), and small nitpicks, this was a cool game.

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In the end, Ghost of Tsushima was a pretty fun time. I might have to revisit the story again one day. It’s definitely one I recommend for anyone out there. If you’re missing old-school Assassin’s Creed, this is the one for you. Anyway, I’m out. Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.