It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog, but I’m back again with another video game review. This time, it’s “Ghosts of Tsushima”. This game, along with “Last of us 2” was widely regarded by many gamers over the Summer, although GOT was not part of an established franchise.
“Ghost of Tsushima” takes place in a sort of pseudo-historical era of 13th century of Japan, when there was an attempted Mongol invasion of the mainland, which started on Tsushima but due to heavy storms did not succeed. However, for the purposes of the game and entertainment, GOT tells a slightly different story. It’s also somewhat inspired by the “romanticism” of Samurai, something we see in the Kurosawa films; indeed, there’s a black and white option for the game called the Kurosawa mode.
You play as Jin Sakai, a disciple of your uncle Lord Shimura, both are who are among the Samurai on the island to repel the Mongol invaders. However, the defense is a failure, and your uncle-the leader of your clan-is captured. Although you recover from the initial invasion and make an attempt to confront the leader of the invaders, things don’t quite work out.
Humiliated and humbled, Jin seeks the help of those he might’ve looked down on before-Thieves, Sake traders, warrior monks and Ronins to help stage a counterattack and rescue of his Uncle. Among them are Yana, a thief with a troubled past, and her brother, Taka; the Sake maker Kenji, who uses his selling Sake to the invaders to help Jin get through enemy lines, but he also creates many of his own problems; Master Archer Sensei Ishikawa who helps Sakai learn his craft while also seeking Sakai’s support in tracking down a Rogue student; Lady Masako, a middle-aged warrior woman who has lost almost everything; and your conflicted Ronin friend Ryuzo. He also begins to learn new techniques and approaches, some of which aren’t quite the Samurai way he was trained.
He also gains a reputation as a “ghost”-not only because he survived an attack by the Mongols twice, but also because of his newfound interest in stealth-which is unfortunately not your Uncles’ Samurai way, who believes you should look all enemies in the eye (This is one game that actually kind of shames you for using stealth; which has been a major game mechanic of popular titles).
“Ghosts” plays a bit like Assassins’ Creed or Witcher, with many activities in addition to main story missions; and also an ability/skill tree like many of those games. Combat is somewhat complex-certain sword stances that are used work against different types of enemies-which range from weak Bandits to heavily armed Mongols with shields. Even some of the lighter-armored enemies can pose a challenge; archers have range on their side and often are out of reach (although Jin can arm himself with a bow himself), and Ronins/straw hats might look like they have no armor but can deflect/parry a number of blows.
Like those games there’s a lot to collect too-not only upgrades-both useful or merely cosmetic (“Vanity gear”) to your weapons and armor (as well as different sets of armor itself) but flags, artifacts, writings etc. On occasion, Jin can boost his health or gain items by composing a haiku or relaxing at a hot spring.
The game also has, on occasion, Sakai trying to solve mysteries like the Witcher and AC. However, Jin doesn’t have much of a ‘second sight’ (although he can use one to detect enemies), so it’s pretty much up to the player to follow clues by following prompts, footprints, or-fairly unique to this game-where the wind blows, as the Wind is pretty much the clues to your destination (except for certain shrine missions where you follow a Fox).
Although maybe not as geographically diverse as some other games-Tsushima is mainly composed of farmland and small towns with a slightly snowier frozen area, the game still looks great. Plus it’s a nice break from some overcrowded open worlds we occasionally see these days (Looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077).
While it doesn’t exactly bring much new or revolutionary to the table in terms of gameplay, GOT is still very much a solid open-world actioner, with memorable characters, great graphics, and a gripping story.
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