Ghost of Tsushima – adventure game set in medieval Japan

I’ve sunk at least 15 – 20 hours into the PlayStation 4’s latest (and last?) exclusive – Ghost of Tsushima. I was excited when it was announced almost 3 years ago. Then proper information about its development became hard to come by for a long time until it resurfaced with a bang in May 2020 during Sony’s “State of Play” presentation.

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima Story

Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world adventure game set in medieval Japan during the first Mongol Invasion. You play as Jin, a defeated and battered samurai who must rise up, learn and adapt to fighting a foreign invader Japan has never seen before if he is to retake his island home of Tsushima and defend mainland Japan.

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima – First Impressions

First and foremost Ghost of Tsushima is a beautiful game. Beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to and beautiful to play. Its the triple-A experience Sucker Punch and Sony promised and I have been thoroughly enjoying traversing the game world and playing as my main character. Most of the characters in Ghost of Tsushima have been memorable from the annoying Bow master (Ishikawa) to Jin’s rescuer and thief (Yuna) to a vengeful wife and mother (Lady Masako). There are so many more characters like the rowdy merchant, your starving ronin friend and a musician/storyteller with a knack for getting into trouble and many others. It feels exciting to pick up the controller and play each session and I have only scratched the surface (I just finished Act 1) of what is a great experience worth playing.

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Ghost of Tsushima

Comparisons, flaws and Battle system

Comparisons to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are expected but having played both games (I am huge Sekiro fan) I can say that other than the setting; they are very different games when you bite into it. Elements of other games like The Witcher 3, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider and even the long-forgotten Prince of Persia are present and together make a great game though not without its flaws. I have experienced quite a few glitches while playing though not game-breaking and there are a few repetitive game-play elements. The battle system is so rewarding in this game. I just unlocked the 4th and final sword fighting stance and it feels so good to switch between them while fighting a group of enemies; flipping, kicking, parrying, chopping, sticky bombing, impaling and sniping a group of enemies before wiping off their blood and sheathing your katakana. The whole game channels old samurai movies and now we all can be that bad-ass samurai.

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Worth every penny

Have a PS4, love samurai games, old samurai movies, studying or practising Japanese? If your answer to another of these questions is yes then get Ghost of Tsushima and enjoy it. Tweet me @Jamaipanese to share your thoughts and screenshots on the game or leave a comment below. Let me know if you would watch a stream of me playing as well! Cheers.

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