My thoughts on Ghost of Tsushima
Oh man. I don’t think there’s anything I want to say about this game that hasn’t been said already but I’m still gonna go ahead and heap more praise on the acclaimed title anyway because it’s just perfect. God of War (2018) was the first PS-exclusive game I played and even when I did, it was on PC. But it was my first time experiencing that story-driven thrill that comes with PS (PlayStation) exclusives and then I went “Daaamn, so this is what the PlayStation users get to play” and so when I got the PS5, I made it a personal mission to play as many PS exclusive titles as I can get my hands on and it started with Spider-Man Miles Morales and now Ghost of Tsushima.
Okay, so I don’t want to go into the whole storyline with you because that’s not really why I’m writing this, it’s not like a consumer review where I tell you how the game started out and who is who etc but I will say that the whole narrative is about a Mongol invasion in Tsushima, Japan and the protagonist (Jin Sakai) must fight to retake his home and save his people from the invaders. It’s a pretty decent story and what really reeled me in is the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about the story or its characters before I started playing. So I went in empty and I was blown away by the sheer brilliance that the game’s developer Sucker Punch Productions offered with Ghost of Tsushima.
Let’s start with the gameplay as a whole. I think the game stands out amongst not only PS exclusives, but also stands out as simply one of the best hack and slash games you’ll ever play. I mean sure you might spring up Devil May Cry 5 and say “oh how about this” but I would pick the real world depiction of a samurai with real sword training on how to live and die by the sword over a fantasy and supernatural story/characters that DMC offers. And it’s not that I have anything against DMC it’s still right up there as one of my favourite game series but when it comes to hack and slash, Ghost of Tsushima all day!!!
The way the fighting mechanics are choreographed makes Ghost of Tsushima a masterpiece. You’ll go from spilling blood in the sand, in the snow and staining the grass with not only Mongol blood but animal blood as well. I’ve never seen a game that makes good use of the infamous Katana blade as this game did. Hell, I’ll even go as far as to say that if you’ve seen Rurouni Kenshin live-action movies, and you’re a fan, then you’ll want to experience this because it’s like putting the assassin Himura inside the body of Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima. It’s a bloody killing spree in just about every corner of the game. The realism when you battle an enemy and your body’s all soaked in blood, from your wounds and that of your opponent, just puts this game above every other hack and slash title I can think of.
Then we come to the part about Ghost of Tsushima being an open-world experience. Yes, it’s an open world game and it’s not only one of the best sword games out there but one of the most visually stunning games you’ll ever play. I started playing the game on my 1080p monitor with 144hz and it was all good and fine but then I decided to try it out on my 4K TV with 120hz and the whole experience became enhanced in 4K. I’m not a big fan of playing games in 4k or 8k resolution etc but they do make a game look better. I spent a huge chunk of Ghost of Tsushima on the monitor without 4K and it was still a grandeur experience, mainly because I didn’t want to keep moving the PS5 back and forth from the TV to monitor but if you want an enhanced experience, then a 4K TV or monitor should give you just that.
Ultimately, Ghost of Tsushima is a beautiful game with a captivating story that might bring tears to your eyes but if you do grow a warrior’s heart playing this game, there will be no room for tears! You’re going to struggle with some of the bosses (I know I did!) And surprisingly Ryuzu gave me the most challenging fight, took me several attempts before I could put him down. You’re also going to have a horse that’ll carry you all around your journey in Tsushima and you’re going to enjoy scouring the ancient region a lot.
And there’s just so much to do even after completing the game’s main story, which is ideal because it would’ve been a shame if you didn’t have to keep playing after completing all your main quests. So I had fun with this, and sure it’s a game that was released in 2020 but if you’ve got the PS4 or you’ve just got the PS5 and you haven’t played this game, I suggest you do that right away and experience one of the best story-driven games on the Sony console.
