 |
| Is my hat on fire? It feels like my hat might be on fire... |
So obviously, as a starting point for this review of Ghost of Tsushima – a game I’ve been looking forward to for aaaaages – I’m going to talk about two other games I’d also looked forward to for ages; namely The Last of Us pt. 2 and Jedi: Fallen Order. And what the heck, possibly Control as well, because if you’re going to veer dangerously off the road like a manatee that’s been inexplicably put in charge of driving the review bus, you may as well be a drunk manatee and the bus may as well be on fire. Ding ding, tickets please!
First up, TLoU2 – a game that’s so dark and heavy it’s a wonder it doesn’t have its own gravitational field. I confess I haven’t finished TLoU2, despite being a huge fan of the first game, because honestly it’s just too crushingly miserable for me. I can appreciate it for the relentlessly harrowing masterpiece it is, even though I’ve not slogged my way to the end. But not only was I not enjoying it (in as much as you can ‘enjoy’ graphic depictions of torture and the like), I realised I was actively not looking forward to playing it.
If you’re making excuses about needing to finish stuff in other games to avoid having to go back to a game because it’s such a downer? Then yeah – maybe that game isn’t for you (me).
Bleak house
The thing is, the characters – to Naughty Dog’s absolute credit – are so well rounded and real feeling, they’ve entered some sort of ‘uncanny valley’ of personality. It’s reached the point that the misfortunes heaped upon them and the dreadful individuals that inhabit the world seem all too genuine, despite the popcorn-faced wobbly monsters that pop up now and again to remind you this is post-apocalyptic zombie sci-fi rather than a disturbing fly on the wall documentary of (hopefully) late-Trump era America.
But there’s also another issue that slightly bugs me with TLoU2, and would have done even if I hadn’t found it ‘a bit much’ – and that’s that it is 100% linear. The crushing moral choices the characters make are never choices *you* make, or even influence. You as the player are always just an observer, ferrying them from one regrettable incident to another. Want to nudge someone away from the terrible mistake they’re clearly about to make? Tough. Big stash of ammo and health suspiciously piled up in the room before a locked door? Well you know what’s coming, how it will go down, and exactly where you have to go.
Unsurprisingly the Uncharted games are very similar, and in that sense playing them is not a million miles away from just having to repeatedly mash a button to make a film proceed – you have control, and yet no control whatsoever. Only rather than a fun adventure romp with a wisecracking hero dude, the film in this case is Schindler’s List and you just have to sit back and watch the horror unfurl. TLoU2 is undoubtably a memorable experience, but when you think of it like that, it’s slightly…odd.
Lasagne of regret
With Jedi: Fallen Order, tone-wise it’s a helium-filled meringue to TLoU2’s venison in dark chocolate and tungsten sauce. But while I enjoyed the game, it left me feeling weirdly unsatiated once I’d finished it. The story was pretty simplistic, the characters a bit by the numbers (mildly grumpy mentor haunted by their past, comic relief short dude, feisty lady who has seen her people killed, uncertain hero – can’t think where they plucked them from), and then there was the whole “being a Jedi” part. Despite being a mythical warrior with a laser sword and magic powers, combat always felt a bit stiff. And again, though there was a bit more of an illusion of freedom in that you could pick the order of planets to visit, it was still very linear when you got there.
It’s akin to giving someone a choice of 5 restaurants, but regardless of which one they choose they still have to have lasagne when they get there. Even if it’s a Chinese restaurant, and the owner does rude gestures at you while pointing at the branch of Zizzi next door.
 |
| While on the one hand this looks heroic, on the other I have no idea at all how to get down from here and might have a little cry in a minute. |
In fact, if it hadn’t have been a Star Wars title, and so able to draw on a universe of characters and locations with their own built-in pop culture icon appeal, as a game I think it would have been remarkably unremarkable; all the more surprising give it was made by Respawn, who created probably the best FPS of this console generation in Titanfall 2. Don’t get me wrong – there was nothing *wrong* with any of it. It’s just that it only ever gently tugged half-heartedly at my socks while letting off an indoor firework rather than blowing them off.
Jin & tonic
So finally, on to Ghost of Tsushima. The fact it’s a stunning looking game should at this stage be no surprise. It’s stylised for sure, as the grainy black and white Samurai Cinema mode attests to, but even with the colour on and the in-game grit cataracts removed one trip to Golden Temple at sunset should be enough to wow even the most jaded gamer that visually, this is something really special. The audio work as well, with a full Japanese language voice track, is great.
Impressive as they are, the technical achievements are only part of the appeal though. What I really like about Ghost of Tsushima, and why I think it’s deserving of its high review scores (including a very rare perfect score from legendary Japanese magazine, Famitsu) is that, as a game, it’s immensely satisfying because of its freedom on one hand, and it’s exceptional combat on the other.
Jin, your character in the game, has various unlockable talents and abilities which mean you can set yourself up to excel at ranged combat, stealth, quick close combat, parry and block style swordplay, or a mix ‘n’ match of all of them. And the impressive thing is, you can switch between all of these on the fly, and it’s simple and intuitive to do so.
 |
| i wish I'd brought my sunglasses. Or indeed invented sunglasses, what with this being 1274AD. |
How does this work in practice? Well, take the example of a mission fairly late on in the first act where you have to clear out a town of Mongol enemies. I re-ran this mission 3 times to see if I could tackle it either as a sneak, jumping around on roofs and literally stabbing people in the back, or as a brave but foolhardy samurai walking openly into sword combat and calling enemies out, or as a ranged archer using bows, sticky bombs and throwing knives as well as environmental ‘weapons’ like wasps nests that distract enemies. I finished the mission each time and, apart from the fixed duel-style final boss fight, it was an entirely different experience requiring different skills and a different approach each time.
Remarkably, this open approach can be applied to the vast majority of the whole game – for story missions, side quests and even just random world encounters.
Yes, there will be missions that do push you down one way or another (certainly early on, when they’re teaching you your skills), but the last game where I felt I had this much leeway in tackling stuff was probably Breath of the Wild, and any comparison to that game is always a compliment. The ‘unguided nature’ theme is strong throughout the game too, with gusts of wind, songbirds and foxes showing you the way and leading you to places of interest rather than some anachronistic blip-covered radar.
Get wood for NPCs
For the story and characters, I admit I am a Japanophile so there was added appeal, but Jin’s weighing up of the code he has always lived by and the tactics he now has to use is handled well, if a little lightly (he does seem to get over having to do ‘dishonourable’ things quite quickly). The map being peppered with side missions and stories of the characters you meet along the way is nice too – you get to know a lot more about them, and it’s often revealed they may have some (ahem) moral flexibility to them as well.
There are also artefacts and bits and bobs to collect that reveal more about the world, as well as little events like coming across hot springs and places where you’ll write haikus. Do they make any difference to the core game? No. Are they lovely little asides nonetheless? Absolutely.
A lot of open-world games pack themselves full of tedious busywork rather than little surprises like shrines or poetic vistas, but thankfully Ghost is lean in this sense – there’s no Red Dead 2-style wood chopping or game hunting to take stuff back to camp just to keep some random NPC happy. There is resource collection to upgrade your gear, but for the most part supplies are plentiful, not secreted away in awkward places you have to spend ages parkouring to just to find a bit of bamboo, and the game is clear in showing you what your upgrades do and when you have enough of any particular thing to improve an item.
It’s the combat that really, really shines though – when the rhythm clicks and you start being able to chain together blocks, strikes and stance swaps to in turn take on shield men, sword men and spear men in one fluid motion you can be absolutely devastating. It’s what I wanted to feel when I played Jedi: Fallen Order but never really did – like I am an exceptionally trained, highly skilled warrior rather than a 45-year-old guy lounging on an armchair who’s biggest offensive threat is that I know a lot of swear words.
 |
| I might have a danger-filled life where I could get slashed in half at any time, but at least I'm not the poor sod who has to sweep up all these leaves. |
A typical combat sequence might start with a standoff – time that right and you can take down up to 3 enemies in one go. Then throw down a smoke bomb and take out 2 while they're stunned. Maybe 3 if you're lucky. Dodge a rushing attacker, throw knives to take out an archer, then change sword stance to break the block of a shield man, finishing him with an unblockable attack that lets you instantly sprint on to your next target. And this all happens in a few seconds – but when you do pull off a successful sequence of blows like this, and take down 6 or 7 foes without a scratch, it both looks amazing thanks to the slow-mo visuals and crucially *feels* amazing as well.
Genuinely, the last time combat in a game made me go “Ooh!” when I got it right like this is Superhot. That adrenaline rush never gets old. Ever.
Ghost of Tsushima is a rare thing in that it is pure escapism in its beautiful historical setting, with game mechanics that have been as highly polished as an antique katana. It takes old ideas like wayfinders and adds a new twist, gives you genuine freedom in how you approach missions, and has an engaging, living world that you’ll often find yourself stopping to just admire (well, assuming you’re not mid swordfight). I absolutely adored it, and it was exactly what I needed right now – a fun, substantial, gorgeous game that just takes me out of it. It's one of the best, freshest examples of an open world game I've played in a very long time.
Similarly, I’ve recently started playing Control (see, told you I’d get that in somewhere) and though very different in style and plot, it’s equally good at just taking you to a very different, unique world. Which really, is what games should always be about. I might come back to TLoU2 one day, perhaps when reality is marginally less of a miserable place. Until then, I’m back off to 13th Century Japan – those Mongols aren’t going to eviscerate themselves, after all.