A bulk of the quests in Ghost of Tsushima are about preparing to fight the Mongols and kill their leader. He slowly sheds his samurai upbringing to become something else, making use of stealth tactics, morally questionable weapons like poison darts, and more to become what the residents of Tsushima call simply “the ghost.” By the end, he’s basically a samurai Batman, armed with a huge array of combat skills and useful gadgets.īut Jin can’t do it alone, which feeds into the structure of the game. The most important is the way Jin changes. In order to successfully fight off the ruthless invading force - which makes use of siege weapons and tactics designed to terrorize the enemy - he’s forced to try different tactics. But that doesn’t necessarily win you wars. At the outset, he’s a traditional samurai who faces his foes head-on and values honor above all else. The conflict at the core of the game isn’t just between two opposing armies it’s also inside Jin himself. Jin becomes the de facto leader of a resistance force trying to thwart the invasion and keep it from spreading to the Japanese mainland. Eventually, as these things so often do, the stakes get higher. Initially, Jin’s goal is relatively small: he wants to rescue his uncle, leader of the Tsushima samurai, who has been captured by the Mongol leader. You play as Jin Sakai, one of the only remaining samurai on Tsushima following a large-scale attack that wiped out much of the warrior population. Ghost of Tsushima takes place in 13th century Japan, when a Mongolian army has invaded the titular island. The rest of the time, it’s yet another open-world action game. The two sides of the game feel constantly at odds.
Open-world games are big and busy, and those elements - the gigantic battles, the sprawling map, the copious sidequests, the repetitive mission structure - drown out what makes Ghost feel special.
The problem is that it so often isn’t quiet. Ghost doesn’t hit the same highs as its cinematic inspirations, but it apes their themes and style in a way that at least feels unique for a video game. When things click, it’s amazing Ghost is a beautiful game, one full of focused, contemplative moments, from tense, one-on-one sword duels to peaceful retreats to compose haiku under a tree. Think of it as Assassin’s Creed by way of Akira Kurosawa. The latest PS4 game from developer Sucker Punch is an attempt to merge the structure of a conventional open-world game with the setting of a classic samurai film. Ghost of Tsushima is at its best when it’s quiet.
0 kommentar(er)
