And we’re back to the fifth post of A Quick Look at Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions), which I promise will be the last one (probably). When I said in the last post that I had not done the first story mission, I mispoke. I have. I just have not done the story mission that is needed to be done to move onto the story arc that finishes the first act. This is how I play these kinds of games, and I know I’m not the only one. The games are made to keep you in an endless loop because they want you to stay with their game, obviously. Many execs have said that this was the ideal behind their online multi games–you keep coming back for more.
When I played Monster Hunter World (Capcom), they had a daily quest you could do. It gave you some free stuff, most of it that you could get in-game. Some of the stuff was unique to the daily challenge, but those was few and far between (if I remember correctly). I got sucked into doing it becasue it became a habit/ritual, and I had to consciously walk away from it when I did not want to do it any longer. Otherwise, I would have passively continued to do it, even if I did not really want to do it.
I feel the same with this game. What I mean is that I keep meaning to do the story mission I need to do to end the first act, but then I fall into the rhythm of investigating any foggy area near me until I’m three hours in deep and have forgotten what I planned on doing.
Let me touch on the issue I was having with the standoffs. I think I’ve figured it out. I have the holds toggled off, so in theory, I should not have to hold down the RT while waiting for the enemy to attack in the standoff. But, the game did not tell me that it would take away the prompt to hold RT and then let go to get the death blow. What I figured out was that I just had to wait until the enemy attacked and tap RT. Then I would get the decapitation. And, by the way, the game is incredibly generous with the timing–at least in Medium mode. It slows down the attack so even someone with shitty reflexes like me can get the timing.
As for the attack buttons suddenly not working, well, I figured that out as well. When you switch stances, you have to hit Y to bring up the menu. Then you choose which stance you want (or which ranged you want). Then, you have to hit Y again to close the menu. It was the last bit that I had not remembered (or been told), so the menu was staying open, even though it disappeared from the screen. Once I figured that out, it made much more sense. Before a few days ago, I rarely switched stances during combat so it would not have occurred to me that this was the issue.
Let’s talk more about the combat. As I learn more techniques, it’s feeling much better. I still have issues, though. One, the absolute hordes of enemies. I hate that every time I take on a Mongol stronghold, there are twenty or thirty enemies to fight. They rush at me in bunches and while they rarely attack more than two at a time, it’s wearisome. There is *always* an archer or three in the back who shoot constantly while the others rush at me.
I’ve gotten to the point where this is how I deal with the crowds: I take them to the end of their leash (their tether), and then I go a bit farther. All of them but a few run back in and then I deal with those two or three enemies before repeating the pattern. Is it the shinobi or samurai way? No. Do I care about that? No.
Remember when I said in yesterday’s post that this is a video game-ass video game? This is what I mean. I’m finally at the point with the combat where it feels much better than it did in the first ten hours. That’s because of the upgrades and the fact that I’m over-leveled for where I am, though. People in the RKG Discord talking about how combat feels so smooth and natural. I finally see what they mean–now that I’ve leveled up so many things. The parry window is very generous (I’ve leveled that up, too), and it does feel admittedly good to get a parry and a riposte.
I need to get to the end of the first act. I have a hunch things will get harder and more interesting when I do. I’m worried, though, that the whole game is this: basically wandering around and finding shrines, fox dens (you can pet the foxes!), writing haikus, and soaking in hot springs. In addition, taking on hordes of Mongols and liberating all the different areas around the map.
There is something a bit hollow about riding through yet another gorgeous area only to find nothing in it. There are several homesteads that just had peasants working the land. You could take their supplies, linens, steels, etc., but not do anything else.
There are also collectibles–so. many. collectibles. This is kicking off my compulsive tendency because I WANT to get all the things. But there are too many things to get. I am making myself not get hung up in that, but I can hear it niggling at the back of my brain.
Let’s talk a bit more about the combat. It has a system similar to Nioh‘s, and like Nioh‘s, I get overwhelmed whilst trying to navigate it. Here’s the thing. You have to press Y to pull up the menu–which makes the combat stop? I think? At least for a few seconds. But not forever. Then, you can choose your stance for melee. So far, I have Stone Stance (RB, good for swords); Water Stance (RT, good for shields); and, Wind STance (LB, good for spears and axes). Then, you can use the D-Pad to select the throwable you want. Then, you use X to throw it. Right now, I have kunai and smoke bombs. If you want to do ranged, you have to hit LT, then choose which ranged option you want to use. Right now, I have bow & arrows, wind chimes, and black fire bombs. If I want to use the fromer, I hit up on the D-Pad and then RT to aim. If it’s the latter, it’s left on the D-pad to throw and then X for wind chimes and B for the black powder bombs.
This is too much for me. Maybe I’ll get used to it, but we’ll have to see. For now, I give them game between a 7.5 and an 8. I will upgrade it later on.