Review: Ghost of Tsushima (2024)

Serenity now

Waking up on the battlefield ofTsushima to find his people massacred at the hands of an invading Mongol army, samurai (and noble) Jin Sakai is foisted into a good old fashioned revenge tale. While it seems like a surface-level conflict, the setup is frankly genius, allowing the narrative to blossom alongside of the player. Jin morphs into the persona of the “Ghost,” the potential savior of Japan, but his lineage provides us with a firm background that informs his character’s motivations.

Watching it all unfold with Japanese audio (English is available) and in an optional black and white “Kurosawa mode” filter is glorious. Sucker Punch pays homage to classic Japanese cinema throughout the game’s 30-ish-hour runtime.

That filter — and the rest of the game really— sings in HDR, right down to details like individual leaves cascading across the screen. Amazingly, Sucker Punch also kept the load times down to a minimum, as they range from five to ten seconds (sometimes less) when transitioning between fast-travel locations. PS4 Pro owners have the option to swap between a performance-based mode and a visual-first toggle, but I kept it on the latter the entire time and didn’t notice any major framerate drops. In many ways, coupled with the fast load times, it feels like the culmination of current generation tech.

While this is a “call your horse with a button and roam the open world” game, Ghost of Tsushimaallows its personality to augment that seemingly rote framework. It starts out a bit clunky, with a limited moveset and light traversal options, but once you get into the main loop, everything comes together.

You know that boring breadcrumb trail that’s in most games? Well Ghost reinvents it, with a flowing wind effect that points you in the right direction while wildly altering the environment in front of your eyes. I’ll never get tired of it and now I want it in pretty much every game: it’s tough going back to busy objective markers that gum up the HUD.

The rhythm of combat is also a sight to behold. Resolve (think of it as MP) fuels your healing and your skills, allowing an interesting balance between defense and offense. The crux of the action is housed within the timing-based parry system, as well as the need to dodge unblockable attacks (reflected by a blue and red glint, respectively). It’s the standard for a lot of action romps, but I respect it, especially after it opens up.

Ghost of Tsushima slowly ramps as you acquire new stances, dancing between them to counter enemies who sport shields, spears, and swords. You also manage to feel powerful at the start even with a low health bar and no tricks, as the parry system provides you with most of the tools you need to survive. Adding in extra ninja stuff, more stealth options, dodging, and brute-force techniques help you customize Jin’s playstyle to your liking, though.

Like the small open-world nuances, combat blossoms over time. The insta-kill standoff sequences are fitting given the cinematic samurai theme, but are also functional ways to approach combat head-on if you aren’t big on the whole stealth thing (very few missions require a “no alarm” stealth parameter).

Review: Ghost of Tsushima (2024)

Serenity now

References