Ghost of Tsushima Review - Is It Worth Buying At Launch Or Is It Better To Wait For The Discounts? (Topic)

After 6 long years of development, the samurai thriller Ghost of Tsushima is finally sent to store shelves and is waiting for gamers who decided to fight the Mongol invaders on the Japanese island of Tsushima. But is it worth going on this journey if, inspired by the oriental setting and films of Akira Kurosawa, the action from Sucker Punch, with its many advantages, cannot be called a game that is recommended for purchase by all PS4 owners? There is definitely something to discuss here, and today in the review we will try to figure out what you need to know before you decide to buy Ghost of Tsushima on Playstation 4, whether it is worth buying a game on sale or even better to skip the new action movie from Sony.

Classic story

The plot of Ghost of Tsushima tells about the real-life conflict between the Mongols and the Japanese, when, at the suggestion of Genghis Khan's grandson in 1274 and 1281, the Mongols unsuccessfully tried to seize the Japanese archipelago. One of the islands in the center of the war was Tsushima, on the picturesque expanses of which the events of the game will unfold. Let us note in advance that the history of "Tsushima" does not claim to be historically accurate, but rather a rather free interpretation of events inspired by the classic samurai films of Japanese cinema.

In the center of the story, the hero Jin Sakai is one of the last samurai from his own clan, who took it upon himself to strike the very heart of the Mongol army terrorizing the island, destroying many hundreds of enemies along the way. Of course, in the history for several tens of hours there was a place for several controversial topics, among which the main one is the internal conflict of Jin, torn between the desire to follow the samurai code and face the enemies face to face and the need to become a “Ghost”, an ambush attacker and generally using “ dirty tricks "to win. This is a rare case in games where the gameplay and the choice of the method of passing the game in stealth or in open combat are reflected in the game's plot. Not to the same extent as in Dishonored, but fans of the game should definitely go through it twice.

Otherwise, the story is extremely classic for an epic inspired by Japanese culture. This is neither good nor bad, just know that very often the characters in the game, and especially Jin, communicate with each other in cliched phrases, written as in a template from the films of Akira Kurosawa. Given the setting, this often exaggerated approach to character creation and dialogue is perceived as appropriate. However, some gamers may not share the creative impulses of the writers and the generally predictable, straightforward story.

On the other hand, thanks to the rather formulaic plot, playing Ghost of Tsushima on PS4 is much easier, and for some it is even more enjoyable after The Last of Us Part II full of sudden and not very pleasant plot twists.

Tsushima - the island of dreams

When, after passing a small prologue, the game sends you to the soundtrack and the sound of the wind melodiously spreading from the speakers into the open world, it is very difficult to resist the external charm of the game. Tsushima is definitely a place where you will want to spend not only a vacation, but also buy a small house and relax in a hot spring every evening, composing a hokka and watching the sun go down into the sky. And if such an opportunity does not appear in life, especially now, during a pandemic, then all these things can be done in the game Ghost of Thushima. It is in the relaxing effect that lies the main advantage of the open world of the "Ghost of Tsushima", when watching golden leaves revived and fluttering in the wind, you want to learn Zen.

It is also worthy of respect that despite the American origin of the developers from Sucker Punch, they managed to convey the Japanese flavor of nature to all 40 biomes of Tsushima, consisting of mountains, plains, swamps and forests. As inspiration, the developers used personal impressions from visiting the island and gigabytes of recorded data, including sounds of nature and scanned leaves of plants growing on Tsushima. In terms of visual design, the game is easily aiming for some of the most beautiful projects among all the exclusives for Playstation 4.

But in terms of technology, everything is far from perfect and is clearly inferior to the same Red Dead Redemption 2. Low poly textures of the environment, angular geometry of rocks and clumsy animation rooted in the past console generation clearly do not contribute to better immersion during the passage of Ghost of Tsushima.

One way or another, but even passionate fans of oriental aesthetics will cease to be amazed at the beauty of Tsushima and the open world will be tested in terms of content, and here everything is completely ambiguous. First of all, the minimalism of the interface and the wind system deserve praise, which, after swiping on the touchpad, throws streams of strong gusts of air into the surrounding world and, without visible markers, indicates the direction to the next point of interest. Birds and foxes that lead to secrets are also worthy of mention here - game designers have foreseen that when playing Ghost of Tsushima on PS4, a gamer could explore the island and all locations only occasionally referring to the global map.

But to the very filling of the world there are a number of questions. Many will definitely be pleased that, in terms of content, the developers tried to take the course not for the Assassins Creed series, but for The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, which is expressed in well-written additional tasks, among which you can even find familiar quests to find legendary armor. There is a little story behind almost every side quest in Ghost of Tsushima. Sometimes filled with sadness, and sometimes absurdly funny moments. However, unfortunately, the first impression can be deceiving and the ubiquitous level of "The Witcher" or RDR2 is not worth waiting for, since often, despite the prescribed background, quests are reduced to routine tasks, such as clearing another fort or spying on a suspicious character.

Only the companion lines deserve real attention, which can be called the best side missions in Ghost of Thushima. They stand out for their colorful characters, unusual tasks, and even puzzles on rare occasions. In total, there are a little more than two dozen companions' assignments, and against their background, the standard additional assignments in Tsushima look even more unprofitable, which, apparently, should form the basis for motivation to explore the world. After all, excluding the additional missions that are basically repeated, the world of the game is simply dead, offering only warm springs, sanctuaries and abandoned shacks with the remains of loot behind the next corner of beautiful scenery. It makes no sense to count on any simulations that create the appearance of a living world.

Jin - a samurai and a ghost

No matter how picturesque the landscapes of Tsushima are, the main beauty of the game, as befits a samurai epic, lies in the numerous and bloody sword battles. The battles in Ghost of Tsushima successfully took the best moments of the Arkham series melee system and elements of Soulslake games, as a result, turning each fight into a fast and brutal dance that is not devoid of tactical space. When you move from one Mongol to another with swift movements, you quickly raise the top of the katana, and then with sharp lunges you cut off the limbs and chop off the arteries of your opponents, forcing them to simultaneously fall to the ground simultaneously with the last movement of the sword - then you begin to truly immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the game. Just for the sake of spectacular, samurai-honed battles, you should think about downloading Ghost of Tsushima.

In addition, for effective combos, you don't even need to tap on the gamepad, and in most cases, you just need to press a couple of buttons, choosing the direction to attack. With the latter, you need to be especially careful, since the inconvenient camera and the lack of attachment to the target can make a not very pleasant impression of the combat component at the beginning of the passage of Ghost of Tsushima. Also, do not judge the battles by the first hours due to the pumping, which, together with different types of opponents, radically changes the manner of fighting, allowing you to open new stances and impressive combinations for the simultaneous killing of several enemy soldiers at once.

The fearless path of a samurai who is not afraid to look his enemy in the eye is only one side of the combat component of the game. On the other, Jina is waiting for the path of the "Ghost", which tries to pass off the game as stealth. Let's just say that it tries unsuccessfully. Yes, the game has firecrackers and bells to attract attention, a bow and a few other means for quietly eliminating enemies, but in general, stealth here is primitive to the sick, and every Mongol, with his senseless actions and primitive intellect, clearly claims the Darwin award. p>

Should I or should I not buy Ghost of Tsushima?

If you are an avid fan of the samurai setting and oriental culture, remember the names of all 11 samurai from Akira Kurosawa's classic of the same name, or just want to relax in an extremely beautiful world, then the creation of Sucker Punch will definitely meet your expectations. We recommend everyone else not to rush to buy Ghost of Tsushima, because the game is pursued by too many "buts": an excellent combat component, but primitive stealth, an understandable and canonical story, but riddled with pretentious and boring cliches for those who cannot call themselves big a fan of the setting, with often well-written quests, but most of them turn out to be primitive tasks for verification in the worst traditions of Ubisoft.

"Tsushima Island" is not a masterpiece, but a good game that can be bought without any problems with discounts at the sale starting in the fall. The game will not get worse over the coming months and does not have any significant plot twists, if you spoil them, you risk spoiling your experience of the game (we say hello to The Last of Us Part II).

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The Topic of Article: Ghost of Tsushima Review - Is It Worth Buying At Launch Or Is It Better To Wait For The Discounts?.
Author: Jake Pinkman