Ghost of Tsushima - Review

For what has felt like forever, I’ve been hungry for an action-adventure game set in feudal Japan. Ever since the Assassin’s Creed series kicked off 2007, and defined its own historically-themed adventure games, we all waited for Ubisoft to turn an eye towards the Land of the Rising Sun. It took 13 more years, and a completely different videogame studio to get us there, but Sucker Punch Productions finally delivered their spin on the idea with Ghost of Tsushima. But does it fill the void?

Equal parts stealth and hack-and-slash, Ghost of Tsushima is a dramatic war story set amidst a beautifully rendered 13th century Japan, on Tsushima island. Jin Sakai, an aspiring samurai, rides into battle with his fellow warriors in an effort to defend against the invading Mongolian Empire, led by (the fictional) Khotun Khan. After a bloody slaughter, the Mongols overthrow the samurai and leave Jin for dead, all the while capturing his uncle and commander, Lord Shimura. It’s up to Jin to seek help and forge allegiances with others also ravaged by the Mongols and surge a resistance to restore Tsushima to its former glory.

As the story unfolds, Jin is torn between how he should go about achieving this goal. While he has grown up surrounded by the bushido code of honour and samurai style of combat, the ruthlessness of Mongolian warfare draws something darker out of Jin, and he finds himself looking to more desperate measures to overcome his opponents, such as stealth and assassination. This puts him at odds with his entire worldview, and becomes a crux to his character and relationship with his uncle, the samurai lord.

Right off the bat, Ghost of Tsushima sets the tone, stakes, and state of its world in a way that feels incredibly grounded, while also making the titular island look and feel almost mystical. Currently I’m around 18 hours into the game, and I’m still frequently surveying the mountaintops and riding through the expansive wildflower fields taking in all the beautiful landscapes. Truly, this game is eye-candy for open-world enthusiasts.

What’s more is the way the game ushers the player to their next objective; instead of using a minimap or extensive waypoints, players can swipe up on the DualShock 4’s touch pad to create gusts of wind that blows the local flora and particles toward the designation. It’s such a satisfying function that fits wonderfully within the artistic framework of the game and doesn’t detract from the immersion of making your way through the Japanese countryside.

And speaking of artistic direction, Sucker Punch is really flexing its creative muscles in how brilliantly it’s able to manipulate the world into looking virtually immaculate no matter where you’re standing. Between the traditional architecture of temples and villages, or the open areas like rolling hills, bamboo forests and river beds, Ghost of Tsushima’s visual design is utterly impressive. Adding on top of all of this is a fast-travel system that loads unbelievably fast--quicker than any other recent open world game I can recall.

While the game had me marveling in its serenity, it also has some equally visceral brutality I wasn’t quite expecting. Short of straight-up dismembering people, Jin is an absolute murder machine. Combat is mostly designated to the face buttons for jumping, dodging, and heavy/light attacks, while the bumpers and triggers work your defenses and ranged arsenal. It’s a set up that somewhat works if, say, this was a mid-2000s action game. But in a post-Dark Souls world where standout games use the shoulder buttons and triggers for primary combat (even Assassin’s Creed does this now), the swordplay feels dated and cumbersome, particularly in the early stages of character progression. As Jin is able to unlock more moves, sword stances (Stone, Water, Wind, and Moon, specifically to counter sword, shield, spear, and brute enemy types, respectively) become available to switch between on the fly, and the game’s action starts feeling more balanced when used in tandem with blocking. But in the first 10 hours or so without these options, the combat system tends to feel like it’s tripping over itself, as enemies are so much harder to counter when you don’t have the right skills to deal with them. Adding insult to injury is the fact there’s no enemy lock-on at any point, and switching the right thumb between the camera stick and face buttons is a hindrance most games have moved away from in the last decade.

That said, where the combat absolutely shines is in the stand-offs, where upon approaching a squad of enemies, Jin can challenge them to a one-on-one duel made popular in Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films (paralleled by the ‘Mexican standoff’ in American westerns). These standoffs are essentially a sort of quick-time event where the player holds the triangle button and lets go at the right moment to one-hit kill their opponent. Eventually enemies may try to fake-out and trick you into letting go too early, at which point Jin will get struck and lose most of his health. But if Jin is levelled up, these standoffs can be chained into killing up to three enemies in quick succession, which feels immensely satisfying. Standoffs are usually how I begin any encounter, when given the opportunity.

Speaking of progression, Ghost of Tsushima features skill trees and crafting for its various combat functions such as sword stances, arsenal, and other attributes. While its leveling-up system is pretty straight forward for unlocking techniques, crafting requires visiting specific vendors--merchants, armourers, bowyers, swordsmiths, trappers--to work on such gear, and is further complicated by these vendors accepting only specific materials (outside of supplies, which is ostensibly the general currency). And even then, only some of these vendors are at any given location; trappers are at most campsites, but  only some locations will have a bowyer, for example.

From these purchases, Jin’s look can be customised with a range of outfit combinations of headgear (including masks), armour, and sword and bow kits. Armour and headgear will alter Jin’s stats depending on the level of some gear, with the stronger armour being awarded after completing their specific questlines.

Thankfully, collecting materials is made more convenient by how easy it is to get distracted while travelling around Tsushima. In my sub-20 hours in the game (general reports suggest the game averages at around 50+ hours), I have only just gotten past the first mission of the second portion of Tsushima--of which there are three. The first deals with forging a ragtag alliance to rescue Lord Shimura by busting into Castle Kaneda, which has become the Mongol army’s first major stronghold, and gateway to the rest of the island. Up until that point I willfully met every character I could find and help, while also exploring and stumbling upon hot springs, shrines, bamboo strike training, torii trails, and various tale threads, which become a daisy-chain of quest arcs. My favourite of these discoveries are the haiku locations, where Jin takes the opportunity to soak up the surrounding landscapes and compose poetry. 

While it’s easy to get distracted, the game’s menus make getting around the map and general UI a real breeze. It’s so effortless to find your next point of interest, travel there almost instantly, sort your gear, unlock any new abilities, and finish your objective. Even Jin’s horse is a dream to summon and ride; easily one of the best videogame horses I’ve controlled.

For genre buffs who appreciate voiced Japanese dialogue and/or classic samurai films, Ghost of Tsushima has you covered--with some caveats. First of all, the Japanese dub is performed terrifically, albeit without any lip syncing by the characters who have been animated to suit the English dub. It’s a disappointing feature (read: setback) that holds the game back just that little bit from a more authentic experience. Secondly, Sucker Punch incorporated a ‘Kurosawa Mode’ located in the display menu, which converts the game’s graphics into a much more dramatic black and white visualisation, while also compressing and panning the audio to the front speakers, much like what’s expected from the feature’s namesake. This mode is an interesting addition that works in some moments, such as the set-piece duels with major characters/enemies, but gets in the way in the more general aspects of play, such as traversal, since the open world’s lighting is obviously lit for colour.

Ghost of Tsushima is an amazing experience almost 20 hours in, and I can’t wait to see the adventure through. Its world is stunning and feels fantastic to explore. Unfortunately, the game falls short in some of its earlier combat and the absence of a lock-on system really adds an unnecessary hurdle to larger battles. But once Jin is levelled up enough, and the requisite sword stances are available, there’s definitely a kind of flow state you can get into when everything finally clicks--it’s just a shame it takes a significant portion of the game to get there.

Despite its shortcomings, I’m excited to finally get into Sucker Punch’s operatic samurai tale. It’s a far cry from superheroes and bandit raccoons, but Ghost of Tsushima is an incredible achievement that blends intense action with awesome exploration and artistic sensitivity. It may not be the exact swansong some might have expected at the twilight of the PS4’s lifetime, but coupled with the studio’s efforts at the beginning of the generation, it definitely bookends the pantheon PlayStation-only experiences quite nicely.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by PlayStation

The Pros

+Environments are lush and feel alive.

+The story is emotionally gripping (so far) and plays on the samurai genre well.

+It’s so easy to lose yourself in exploring Tsushima.

The Cons

+No enemy lock-on.

+Combat feels pretty tacky in the early-game, and overall quite dated.

+Japanese lip syncing is an oversight that falls short of delivering an authentic experience to purists.