Ghost of Tsushima Thoughts – act 1
I think the game has a fantastic opening act. There’s a pretty rad opening cinematic that gets you into the meat of the story with very nice animated cutscenes. Once the game opens up into the world it gives you an initial area that’s pretty large to explore and discover with the only objective to recruit allies to save your Uncle. The world is also packed with POIs to find while you are on your journey, and sometimes these POIs make you find other POIs that you didn’t mean to discover which only further derails where you were going initially. There is a pretty nice soundtrack that isn’t super overbearing but gives a nice shelter to just silence when traveling or fighting. As a plus depending on what you are fighting, Mongols or Japanese, there is a different soundtrack for it. The game looks beautiful giving you much time to stop and take in the sights, and sometimes you are encouraged for it cause it might reveal a POI or collectible. The world is very accessible to your playstyle as well, there is a ton of ways to approach either combat or just world exploration. For example: In an enemy camp you might find tall grass, hatches in the roof or floor for stealth, wasp nests to attack to take out key enemies, torches to hit to light nearby enemies on fire, grapple points, rocks to grab onto and climb up/down. The game encourages you to use any of these or just stick it out classic style by challenging all the enemies in an all out brawl; or for the exploration side to just run around on your horse. I’ve spent around 21 hours as of writing this with nearly 100% completion in the first section so far and I mostly run around on foot ignoring the horse entirely. All the characters I’ve met so far all feel real, and are quite enjoyable to interact with. To learn their story, what they have lost due to the war, and how they are adapting to the situation they are in. There’s a load of fun equipment too: from two types of bows, to a ton of tools like kunai or sticky bombs, and even a distraction tool in the form of firecrackers and windchimes. Combat is also a blast, with a touch of Sekiro type of parry/stance system. You can unlock 4 stances which are effective at breaking the stance on different types of enemies. While touched briefly, there is a ton of collectibles to get in the form of: cosmetics, crickets, fox shrines (easily my favorite part), relics/items from Japanese forces and Mongol forces, haikus, hot springs, and much more. The game also touches on some Myths that don’t feel too out of place, and as a bonus it even leans into supernatural stuff with the guiding wind, the legends for certain gear, the ability to change the weather with a flute, and more. The game always leaves me wanting more when I have to put it down and I find myself drawn back to just SEE MORE of the world. I want to experience these side quests, see the sights, and do more Ghosting. Currently it all culminates into a very fun experience leaving me hungry to finish doing everything in the first part of the map and move on to see what else the game has to offer.
