Ghost of Tsushima has been the game everyone has been looking forward to. The game was first announced at Sony’s 2017 Paris Games Week conference, and it was the first title since the Infamous First Light and Infamous Second Son, both unveiled in 2014.
Now, let’s get into the details
Release Date
Initially planned to debut on PlayStation 4 on June 26th, Ghost of Tsushima was moved to July 17th after the postponement of The Last of Us Part II, which took its release date to June.
Also, the game’s standard Launch Edition is selling at $59.99 at Amazon. Ironically, the Collector’s Edition and Special Edition aren’t available again. But those that pre-order the Launch Edition gets some digital items like a dynamic theme for PlayStation’s dashboard, ‘Mini Soundtrack,’ and an avatar of Jin all in one package.
Plot – Story
From the title, the game starts on Tsushima Island, located approximately halfway between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese mainland.
The year is 1274, right in the center of Feudal Japan, which is about to be invaded by Mongolia, which resulted in the First Mongolian Invasion.
Key actor Jin Sakai is one of Tsushima’s respected samurai defenders and one of the few to survive the devastating first-attack of the Mongol Empire. At that moment, he vows to abandon the samurai’s traditional honorable way of fighting and goes the “Path of the Ghost,” which is considered lethal and effective for the main goal of liberating the island from the invaders.
The main foe or antagonist, Khothun Khan, the commander of the Mongol armies, is depicted as a ruthless and cunning general whose advantage is employing his knowledge of samurai code against Feudal Japan.
By the way, you would get to see some ‘time jumps’ when playing presumably after specific missions get completed. During its infant stage in development, Sucker Punch rooted for using a Protagonist already found in its history but eventually went with a fictional character to avoid tainting the locals.
In essence, the game was inspired by history, but the island won’t be as similar to the exact one. Also, the armors won’t be identical to the real one as to what they wore in the 13th century. It would be something more similar to the 16 – 18th-century armor, what people are conversant with.
One last thing, those who would want to get fully immersed in the game, can use the original Japanese audio alongside English subtitles.
Actual Gameplay
Ghost of Tsushima is an action/adventure game, open world, played in a third-person perspective. As with samurai movies, players would be involved in a lot of slicing and cutting using katana weapons.
However, based on Jin Sakai’s stealth abilities, he isn’t going to be just a regular samurai since that wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Mongol armies who already outnumber the remaining samurai.
He would have to use his stealth abilities to ambush his foes with deadly attacks and others. There are other tools and gadgets to use during fights, like fire arrows and sticky bombs. On top of his tools, comes a grappling hook that gives him easy access to hard-to-reach places.
One thing to consider is the difficulty setting available in the game, which allows for switching during the heat of a playthrough. In an interview at E3 by Nathan, Chris Zimmerman, Sucker Punch Development Director, told everyone that those on the lookout for challenging games would get their request granted by playing Ghost of Tsushima.
Take note that during Jin Sakai’s adventures, he will have to form allies with other characters to achieve his goal of defeating the Mongols. On that note, some characters would still not support Jin on every decision he makes, and may even draw swords.
In terms of navigating the island of Tsushima, Jin will rely on his road-trip ally (horse) to help him cover long distances. However, unlike other open-world games, there won’t be any map that shows any waypoints, this means players would have to know the way around the island.
How about the Scope
Well, when it comes to side stories and side quests, it’s better not to expect Ghost of Tsushima to be as long as Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey or even The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Still, expect to uncover hidden territories in Tsushima Island.
It’s normal for Sucker Punch studios to build only single-player based titles, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that there wouldn’t be any multiplayer mode in the game unless they make some significant changes though.
In terms of DLC, there hasn’t been a word yet if there would be any downloads for Ghost of Tsushima in the near future.
