This is a casual gamer’s review of Ghost of Tsushima, played on the base PlayStation 5. The game is absolutely stunning, and while the graphics are impressive, let’s start with the story.
Set in the 1200s on the island of Tsushima, the game is based on the real Mongol invasion. You play as Jin, a samurai warrior, and after your army is defeated, you are the sole survivor. You take it upon yourself to reclaim the island from the invading Mongols. Jin, though trained as a samurai with little outward emotion, is a complex character. He struggles with his loyalty to the samurai code versus using more ninja-like tactics. He also grapples with a tragic past and a lot of guilt. This depth extends to the side characters, from fleeing villagers to fellow warriors, each with their own backstories of frustration and tragedy.
The combat is phenomenal and one of the best melee systems I have ever played. While some projectiles are available, the game focuses on sword-based combat. There are different types of enemies, including those with swords, spears, shields, and brutes. As you progress, you unlock various fighting stances, each tailored to a specific enemy type. For example, one stance is best for swordsmen, another for shielded warriors, and so on.
There are four stances to unlock, and while it takes time, they are crucial, especially in open combat. It takes practice to quickly switch between stances as different enemies appear, but this eventually becomes second nature.
Beyond stances, you can also invest in other skill trees. Resolve is an important stat that allows you to heal mid-combat and perform special attacks. You can also focus on stealth by upgrading ninja-like skills such as sticky and smoke bombs.
Upgrading your armor and weapons is also essential. A more powerful stealth knife allows for faster assassinations, which helps in completing side quests. Heavily upgrading your armor increases both your health and damage output. A cool feature is that as you upgrade your armor, its appearance becomes more intricate.
Unlike games with a levelling system, Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t use levels. Instead, progress is based on your character’s stats and skill tree upgrades. Exploring on your own can lead you to stronger enemies who are more numerous and have better combat skills. To defeat them, you must improve your character’s stats and unlock more abilities. This system encourages you to make your character stronger and more versatile, allowing you to choose a playstyle that suits you best, whether it’s direct combat or stealth.
It seems like there wouldn’t be much to a war story, but the main campaign of Ghost of Tsushima is surprisingly emotional and deep. The plot has many twists and turns, forcing you to solve problems as they arise. I was impressed by the moral dilemmas, like whether or not to break the samurai code. However, the side quests become very repetitive. Most involve clearing enemy camps and rescuing hostages. Unfortunately, completing these side quests is necessary to strengthen your character, as I found even the medium difficulty to be quite challenging. I died a lot, so doing the side quests to make my character stronger was worth it, despite how repetitive they were.
I watched some English gameplay videos and did not like the English voice acting; it just didn’t feel authentic to me. I’m used to watching anime with original Japanese audio, so I played the game with Japanese voice acting and English subtitles. It was a fantastic decision, as the voice acting was top-notch.
As a fan of the anime One Piece, I was excited to realize that Jin’s Japanese voice actor is Kazuya Nakai, who also voices Zoro, the swordsman from One Piece. It’s cool how he voices a swordsman in both a famous anime and a popular samurai video game.
He definitely did a phenomenal job, especially since he’s known for voicing a more comedic character like Zoro. The only issue with the Japanese dub is the lip-syncing. It seems the character’s dialogue animations were designed for the English version, so the Japanese audio doesn’t always match the mouth movements. It can be a little distracting, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
I played this on a PlayStation 5, and the graphics are phenomenal. The environments are beautiful, whether it’s a field of flowers, a snowy landscape, or a creepy swamp. The amount of detail is fantastic, though you might occasionally notice some minor visual artifacts, especially in open areas with lots of flowers. This is very rare and doesn’t take away from the overall experience. While the character details are usually great, there were a few rare instances during dialogue where they looked a bit too cartoonish.
Despite a few small flaws, the game is phenomenal. The graphics, environments, and character details are all top-notch. The story, set in such an old time period, and Jin’s inner conflict are some of the most beautiful aspects of the game. I also thought the ending was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in a video game.
Overall, Ghost of Tsushima is a fantastic game, with the combat alone being a highlight. It’s definitely worth checking out.
