Overview of Ghost of Tsushima. Bad luck island – review

In theory, progress should be obvious. But why then does the game, released in 2023, look outdated against the backdrop of its own forerunner from 2014?

The place where the sun rises

Although okay, this is not entirely true. There is one thing in which Ghost of Tsushima surpasses previous Sucker Punch games by head, and for that matter, most other action games in the open world: setting design. Tsushima Island turned out to be incredibly picturesque, but at the same time a real place. Artists masterfully conveyed the natural beauty of Japanese nature, which we do not so often see in video games. Autumn forests, endless fields of pampas grass, streams, plains and mountain passes … Tsushima landscapes cannot be confused with anything. And the graphics have nothing to do with it – it’s all about colors and composition. In the yellow fallen leaves, in the dazzling whiteness of the tea fields, in the sun glare sparkling through the thicket of bamboo. Wherever you look, you get the feeling that you are looking into a kaleidoscope – everything is so voluminous and full of life.

But most importantly, the head from all these beauties does not go round: the developers are constantly shading the brightness of nature with the darkness of war. Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of the first Mongol invasion of Japan. The main character, Jin Sakai, along with his uncle and the rest of the samurai fights the invaders, but the defenders of Tsushima suffer a crushing defeat. Only Jin survives: now he is not only the last representative of his clan, but also the last samurai on the island. Who else can stop the forces of Khotun Khan, if not him?

Sometimes it seems that there are too many leaves and other small things on the screen, but they do not particularly harm the aesthetics: everything is so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off

It is interesting that playing as a person who metaphorically rose from the dead, you will now come across traces of bloodshed. To improvised graves by the side of the road, to hanged peasants, killed soldiers, and many devastated villages that the Mongols literally burned to the ground. Sometimes the pictures of violence and destruction look even too realistic, but that’s the point: they “land” the world around them, create a contrast. The scars with which Tsushima is mottled cause genuine sadness for the island where the player, unlike the main character, never lived, and all thanks to visual storytelling.

Jin takes no pleasure from the war. Before the innocently killed, you can bow and wish them peace, and mortally wounded enemies – finish off, so as not to suffer

Perhaps this is what the developers did best. Ghost of Tsushima masterfully creates a sense of belonging to the outside world. The Mongol conquerors are foreigners, but you know Tsushima like the back of your hand. You don’t need a map: while traveling, the authors hide almost the entire interface so that you are guided by local signs. Foxes know the paths to the altars of the goddess Inari, birds lead you to the hot springs, where you can relax and take a breath. And a fair wind serves as a compass: it always blows where your path lies. As if Tsushima is trying in his own way to help in the war with the invaders – and therefore quickly penetrate the world with even warmer feelings.

Sandbox nailed to the floor

That’s just the only thing that really succeeds in Ghost of Tsushima – and the only thing that somehow distinguishes it from similar projects. Speaking directly about the gameplay and game design, the game, in fact, is not bad – it is just “standard”. Yes, not every major project is obliged to make a revolution in its genre. Doing nothing new, but instead of perfecting the old, is absolutely normal, even somewhat noble tactics. However, Sucker Punch does not improve anything: the studio just took outdated solutions in order and for some reason repeated them, making it even worse in places.

If you have seen at least one “sandbox” that has been released over the last ten years, then the gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima will seem painfully familiar. Everything was done as if by the training manual: the study of large seamless locations, the search for collectible items, the release of outposts, the choice between stealth and action, pumping equipment, skill trees …

Oddly enough, towers a la Ubisoft they didn’t get into the game, and otherwise it does not suffer from problems for which it’s customary to scold, for example, modern Assassin’s creed. There is no forced grind, artificially high complexity, strict restrictions on the level and dozens of hours of filler content. In this regard, the game is rather ascetic, which from a habit is perceived freshly. It is also encouraging that the developers do not suffer from senseless gigantism: Tsushima Island turned out to be very compact, but it is never felt cramped.

Unfortunately, even on such a modest scale, the world has come out, frankly, boring. Ghost of Tsushima insists that the player explore the locations at any pace and in whatever way he pleases. But at the same time, the authors are afraid that you will miss all the fun, so really valuable things like sets of armor or unique skills will not work out by chance. They are strictly tied to quests, and the quest journal will helpfully tell you where to get them. To truly “find” in the open world, you can only collectible nonsense, which either improves the characteristics of the hero, or allows you to change the appearance of the weapon (more precisely, only the scabbard). In other words, you always know what you can stumble upon in theory, and this quickly kills any joy of discovery. None of the finds will give tangible bonuses, not a single one will significantly affect the gameplay – and what’s the point?

Someone will object that the meaning of the journey itself and in random adventures. However, in Ghost of Tsushima there is no spontaneous gameplay – there are only timid allusions to it. Different NPCs do not interact with each other and do not react to your actions, unless the villagers in the villages sometimes discuss recent events related to the plot. From time to time on the roads you can run into a Mongolian patrol or a gang of robbers, but these meetings always follow one scenario: the enemies either hold a prisoner who, in exchange for saving, will indicate a new location on the map, or guard a cache with resources. That is, technically, the authors are trying to create the appearance of life, but you don’t believe in it at all: the situations turned out to be too cardboard and monotonous.

And I quite often noticed how wild animals attack the Mongols – the truth is that they are always bears, and the Mongols always have two for some reason. Although who knows? Maybe these are the same Mongols and the same bear, doomed to fight with each other forever.

Like the Rashomon, but no

With full-fledged tasks, which the game calls “stories”, the situation is a little better. Here, the developers clearly took the landmark of the third The Witcher: The structure of the side quests was copied cleanly. Each has its own small plot and ensemble of characters. On the one hand, we must pay tribute to the studio: there are really a lot of tasks, and they never slide into “give-bring” orders. Sometimes, for example, you need to help the doctor find out what the village is sick on the outskirts of the prefecture, or find out why people disappear in the area of ​​the coastal hotel.

Ghost of Tsushima often creates rather cinematic views, but in static they look better than in dynamics

On the other hand, no matter what the plot of the plot, quests most often end with the same thing – scuffle. Each time, the Mongols, bandits or mercenaries are suddenly to blame for everything (sometimes all at once), and each time they need to be punished – without options. And the gameplay in side quests is usually unchanged. In most cases, some NPC asks to get to the indicated location, where it is necessary to conduct an investigation in the spirit of, again, the Witcher, follow the trail of the offenders and cut them. After ten hours, all these “stories” turn into a routine: they are so similar to each other.

It’s a shame, but the same thing can be said about the plot tasks – and the whole plot as a whole. The central conflict has a powerful reserve for drama: the young samurai is forced to abandon the Bushido code and embark on the shameful path of the shinobi in order to save his homeland and loved ones. A similar story can be interestingly presented, but, unfortunately, the directing at Ghost of Tsushima is extremely bland. By the standards of games, it is gaining momentum too slowly and spinning too late: it becomes interesting to follow what is happening on the screen only in the last third of the plot. And up to this point, you still need to survive, having torn through endless dialogues about military honor and a string of similar battles. It’s as if the developers don’t know how to raise the stakes yet, therefore, as the culmination of each story arch, they simply throw you at the storming of another fortress. Because, well, epic.

Jin can challenge any group of enemies that has not yet noticed him: the one who attacks at the very last moment wins the duel. This is insanely stylish mechanics, but the dominance of loads and black screens makes it difficult to enjoy it

And judging by the standards of the cinema … I hope you like the dialogs shot by the G8, static plans, dull angles and an overwhelming number of editing glues – the game loves to start and break off scenes with a black screen. Or even better: the dialogue starts in the video, breaks off with a black screen, and then continues on the game engine, only the camera is moved away. Apparently, so as not to have to work too much on facial animation. The question is, why drag the name of Akira Kurosawa into the game, if by the quality of the production she does not even get close to his films? It’s as if Resident evil 2 remake called her black-and-white filter not the “noir mode”, but the “George Romero mode”.

Blood, blood, blood

The uniformity of game situations is just a symptom of a more serious problem. No matter how strange it may sound, in the game about the war with the Mongols, too much war with the Mongols has turned out. Ghost of Tsushima has nothing to offer but endless stabbing, and so you quickly get tired of it. There is no way to rest, distract, somehow take your soul. In the game (with literally one exception) there are no additional activities that could not be reduced to sword fights. There is not even something quite banal, like conditional horse racing or, I do not know, tea ceremonies. Sucker Punch created a strikingly beautiful setting on rich historical soil, but for some reason did not want to give the player the opportunity to explore it from different angles, to touch the life and culture of Japan.

With character customization, everything is in order. Armor comes only in sets, but hats and masks can be changed to your taste

The situation is saved by the fact that in itself the combat mechanics turned out to be surprisingly worthy. It is simple (light attack, heavy attack, block and dodge), but it is tasteful. Fencing can and should be combined with gadgets like throwing kunai, smoke bombs and powder bombs. The weight of the blows is well conveyed, and among the military tools there are no useless ones.

But the most surprising thing is that Ghost of Tsushima does not hesitate to challenge the player with an ambitious challenge: Jin does not withstand more than two or three hits, but to fend off attacks of the enemy, you need to look at the movements and body language. Indicators warn only of non-blocking attacks, and the window for parrying is small. Death always breathes in the back of the head, so when you manage to carve a whole detachment of Mongols without a single scratch, you feel like a truly legendary warrior. The authors even provided the opportunity to effectively shake off blood from a katana and return the blade to its scabbard – in a word, they well understand why people adore samurai fighters.

However, for some reason Sucker Punch reinserts the sticks in its wheels and clearly hints that Ghost of Tsushima can also be played “stealth”. It is possible, but it is incomparably more boring than fighting on swords: the opponents’ AI is fabulously stupid, and the world around is not very suitable for intense hide and seek. There is only one more or less large city with roofs and gateways – in other cases it is necessary to “stealth” in small villages, where there are only one and a half huts and a stable from architecture.

Okay, at least without jumping the faith cost.

Despite everything I talked about, Ghost of Tsushima will easily find its audience. It will surely become someone’s favorite game, and I understand why: some will like a realistic setting, others will appreciate the action in the style of samurai fighters, and others will love it for music and aesthetics. Everyone will be equally right.

But, alas, in terms of quality of execution, Ghost of Tsushima simply does not reach the bar that Sucker Punch set to itself back in 2014. And even more so, it falls short of the bar set by Sony exclusives in the last few years.

Pleased

• historical setting;
• beautiful world;
• stylish samurai action;
• authentic soundtrack.

Afflicted

• predictable plot;
• boring direction;
• monotonous tasks;
• dead open world;
• the game is too fixated on battles.

How we played

What: The key is provided by the publisher.

On what: PS4

How many: about 32 hours.

Achievement of the editors

Iaido

Never forget to sheathe a katana after a fight.

Verdict

Ghost of Tsushima is desperately trying to keep up with the senior comrades in the platform, but it turns out, despite all the efforts of Sucker Punch, not so much. Too many “newbie” mistakes were made by experienced developers, sort of. Does this mean that the game is bad? Not at all. But it’s hard to call it good either.