Tag: open world games | A Banana Peeled

Ghost of Tsushima–I am so done

Posted on December 19, 2024 by Minna Hong • 0 Comments

Back to pour more salt on my already irritated wound.

Before I start, though, I have to say that one thing you gotta know about me–I will play the hell out of a game. It’s my personality that I will gorge myself on something I like well past the point where I should quit. That’s on me–but I know that it’s not going to change any time soon.

I have finished up the NPC questlines, the map has opened up to me again, and I am on the final story mission. Funnily enough, there is still one ghost technique still locked off to me so I have no idea if I did something wrong, missed it, or if it comes later. I don’t need it, though, so there’s that.

I talked yesterday about how bored I am with the gameplay, and I need to elaborate on that today–along with talking about the NPC questlines. So, once again:

*SPOILER WARNING*

There are three NPC questlines that span the whole game. That means that they get locked off after you finish the parts that are meant to be played in that act, and you can’t pick it up again until you get into the next act. Oh, and for some weird reason, in the second act, they show you every sub-mission within the mission, so you can do them out of order–and, apparently, lock yourself out of some steps (though you can still finish the mission itself). This is a erally odd choice, but whatever. I don’t need to put too much thought into it.

I found the NPC sidequests to be pretty interesting–until the third act. Like every other part of the story, they fell apart at the end. Again, I have the strong feeling that the team wanted to pack an emotional punch, but they went waaaaay overboard with the drama. And I didn’t feel the stories were that authentic. What I mean is that they felt very much like what Westerners would think Easterners would think/feel. That could just be my bitterness, though.

The first NPC questline I finished was Masako Adachi’s. There was only one part left to her questline, which was hunting down her sister (who betrayed her) and enact justice (revenge). I felt that this was utter bullshit and very much pulled out of the collective asses of Sucker Punch for shock value. I have talked about earning reactions/emotions, and I didn’t feel they earned this one. It was her sister who betrayed her. Her sister who she thought was dead. Her older sister who felt that Madame Adachi stole the life she (the sister) was supponed to have as the older sister.

Doing the Ghost of Tsushima slog

Posted on December 18, 2024 by Minna Hong • 0 Comments

I want to expand on my aggravation for the end of the second act of Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions) and why I’m dragging my feet on doing the third act. In yesterday’s post, I talked about my issues with the story. Now, I want to get more into the gameplay. I’m halfway through the third act, and I’m bored. Again:

*SPOILER WARNING*

In the third act, I have to go to a bunch of different homesteads and get the piece fo armor that a famed armorer made for Khan. The armorer ran instead of giving the armor to the Mongols, but he was caught. I think he hid the pieces before getting caught or he gave them to the villagers or whatever. I don’t remember nor do I care. Each Mongol stronghold has one of the pieces of armor, so there are two reasons why I have to liberate each stronghold.

Instead of doing this, I spent several hours just wandering around and gathering supplies while I had my traveler’s outfit on. Why? Because you get a ton more resources that way. Or rather, because I have a certain charm equipped with that outfit. Instead of, say, one predator hide, I’ll get two, and then a bonus of three to four others. I wanted to max out all my armors, so this was a good way to get the money (“supplies”) needed to do so.

Which brings me to another issues with the game–though it’s not really the game’s fault. Before I get to that, though, let’s talk about Ryuzo. My childhood best friend turned betrayer. Of course I knew he was going to betray me–that was something I saw coming a mile off. However, when I confront him for that betrayal, I (as the player) find myself wanting to let him live. Not because I forgive him, but because I understand what he did. And because it’s not really his fault. And because he doesn’t really deserve to die for what he did to Jin.

Do I get that choice? Of course not. The game tells me I have to kill Ryuzo, so I reluctantly do just that. There’s a side mission in which I do not want to kill the purported baddie of that side mission, either,. but I must to finish the mission. I’m not mad about not having the choice necessarily because that’s how games go. I am just not happy with the direction of the story–that’s all.

Back to the issue of min/maxing. I love the armors of the game. They are very different from each other, and there are reasons to wear certain ones for certain situations. The traveler’s out fit is for resource gathering. The Sakai armor is for standoffs. The ghost armor is for, well, ghosting around. There is a second armor that is also good for ghosting. And another for archery.

Let’s ttalk some more about open world games

Posted on December 15, 2024 by Minna Hong • 0 Comments

black Sakai armor set with antlers on the helmet — This definitely makes a statement

I want to talk more about open world games design just because I can. In my last post, I was talking about what made me lose interest in an open world game. And I was comparing Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions) with Elden Ring (FromSoft). I have to give props to Sucker Punch for one small thing–as you upgrade an armor set, each piece gets refined. So by the end, you look very different than you did in the beginning. The picture I included in yesterday’s post is the final form of that armor set. The picture at the beginning of this postt is the Sakai family set, but after it’s been upgraded twice, I believe.

This is a little touch that really brightens my day. I also appreciate that the different armor sets offer different perks. Such as, the one in the picture above gives you one more chance at an automatic kill in the standoffs. What I mean is that when you do a standoff, if you time it right, you automatically kill the enemy. I have unlocked the perks that give me two added enemies who offer themselves up for an insta-kill (though you still have to time it right). Or maybe three? At any rate, I can insta-kill five enemies in a row, which is great!

FromSoft, on the other hand, has a very different approach to the leveling up part of RPG. In all the games except Sekiro, you just simply put points into roughly a half-dozen stats, depending on what you want to focus on. The names of the stats change in each game (annoyingly so), but they are basically the same. Health, stamina/equip load (though that can be separated out at times), magicks power, strength, dex, int., faith, and then one other random one like arcane. There are no skill trees at all. Yes, you can upgrade your armor and weapons in some of the games and all of the games respectively (except Sekiro, which was its own thing), but that’s pretty basic. Oh, and I’m including the trailer for Elden Ring: Nightreign below just because I can.

I like leveling up my character and choosing what I want to put points into. Weirdly, this is something Sekiro had that the other From games didn’t. Maybe there’s something about being a samurai/shinobi/ninja that inspires skill trees. Probably because the playstyles are so different.

I don’t mind that FromSoft games don’t have skill trees. Probably because they’ve never had them so it would seem weird if they start putting them in. Heres’ the thing about From games. Dark Souls was the first hard-as-nails hardcore game I played (and like the fourth not-casual game I’d played in general), so their button scheme is the only one I’m comfortable with.

Tag Archives: open world games