This is my fourth post on Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions). I know that seems like a lot for a quick look, but it’s not–at least not for me. Also, I’ve put in over 16 hours of gameplay, so four post doesn’t seem like that many. In the last post, I mostly talked about combat–which I’ll get back to in this post, but not until later.
I was talking to Ian about the game. He’s finished the first region, which, at least by the looks of it on the map, is the biggest of the three areas. I have liberated roughly 1/4th of the Mongol-occupied territories, and it seems like the more I do, the more there is. I asked Ian how long it took him to do the first area, and he said roughly 20 hours. It’s going to take me at least 30 if not more. I haven’t even done the first story mission yet–which, I mean, I probably should do it sometime soon.
I’m in that sweet place (for me) of being OP for the earlier areas so combat is manageable. And, in some cases, dare I say it–easy? I have said repeatedly that when I don’t play FromSoft games, I am not about dying repeatedly. Hell, I don’t even really like it in my From games, but I put up with it because that’s the only way I’ll get to exporience the incredible worlds that Miyazaki has created. And beacuse in most of the games, he gives me plenty of ways to cheese battle the bosses who would break me otherwise. Mostly.
Ghost of Tsushima is both absorbing and completely a video game-ass video game. What do I mean by that? I mean that whenever I play it, I’m into whatever I’m doing .Whether it’s exploring and finding the hidden fox dens, shrines, and springs or fighting Mongols. And, in fact, I am much more into the former than the latter. I’ll get to that later as well.
In some way,s this is just how I play open world games (when I actually play them). I wander about, going from undiscovered location to undiscovered location. I may have every intention of doing the main mission, but then I get distracted by something on the map and do that instead. This happens time and time again. As I said, I still haven’t finished the first main story mission. Well, not completely. I’ve done bits of it, but not the one that is showing in gold.
By the way, that’s another way in which this is a video game-ass video game. Everything is spelled out for you (well, almost everything) and you can always refer to it in your journal if you can’t remember things. When you get new upgrades, they appear in gold on your map. The game will tell you what you get when you visit different areas, and then urge you to press menu to see more details. Or whatever the three line symbol is.
You have the gusting winds that show you where to go, and I have the enhancer on so that it’s VERY obvious. Also, I put the subtitles on a black background and changed the words from white to blue/purple. MUCH better on my eyes. Plus, large font. My eyes are so bad now. I need new glasess, but that is neither here nor there.
I will say that I like Jin when he’s a bit edgier. In the trailer I included above, he’s mouthing off to his uncle when his uncle utters platitudes about how if Jin sinks to the level of the Mongols, he (Jin) is just as bad as they are.
Which, by the way, is one of my pet peeves. The smarmy bullshit that if someone lashes out at an abuser, they are just as bad. I’m not going to get into it here because it’s not the time nor the place, but I don’t agree with that mentality at all. That’s why I’m glad when Jin shows that side of himself. So far, I have only had one time when I could choose what he had to say, and I picked the low road.
I want to make it clear that I’m not looking to hurt someone–but if someone wants to cross me (in the game), then they will have to suffer the logical consequences. This is what I appreciate about Jin’s ghost side (which I know doesn’t really come out to play until later): you don’t want any? Don’t start any.
I will say that the more I play, the more I’m frustrated with certain aspects of the game. Remember that I have a difficult time with any kind of spatial judgment. I just don’t have any perspective when it comes to aspect ratios or distance or anything like that. There was a mission that was investigating spirits in the forest. At night. Yes, there were lanterns, but I still couldn’t see a damn thing. I had to rely on the game telling me that I had left the targeted area in order to narrow down where I needed to be. That was not fun in the slightest.
It’s the same when I have to follow someone’s tracks. I can’t see them. They are very faint to me. It doesn’t help that there is flora everywhere, including tall grasses. I try to go in the direction of the tracks, but I usually give up and just keep going in one direction until the game tells me I’m out of the zone.
Additionally, while the platforming is about as easy as it can get in a game like this, it’s still frustrating to me because I can’t always tell which way I’m supposed to go. Yes, the parts you can grip on the cliff are brown-ish or white-ish, but I can’t always crane my head to see the grips around me. And if you fall from a certain height (but I’m not sure how high), you take damage.
Basically, anything where I have to go in a certain direction is frustrating. I just heave a big sigh and try to brute force it as best as possible. My impulse to clear every objective is at odds with my disdain for these sections. That includes the shrines in which you have too platform to get to them. They have given me useful things, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.
I noticed after the third or fourth hour that the golden birds that flit around your head lead you to something interesting, so I usually follow them instead of doing what I’m supposed to do. I try very hard not to fall into the trap of doing everything on the map because then the compulsive side of my nature takes over. I have done so much and yet there is still so much more to go. I’m starting to get some fatigue, and yet, I cannot stop.
I have one more post in me, I think, so I’ll leave it here for now.