The island of Tsushima is mind-bogglingly beautiful. Still, even if the destination stays the same, the journeys with these characters are rewarding in their own right. All of your allies will fall in line whether or not you invested hours into their backstory, rendering all those sidequests mere set dressing. It may seem like an ally’s loyalty hinges upon completing their side missions, leading to a Mass Effect-style payoff, but that isn't the case. Ghost of Tsushima suffers a bit from a lack of real consequences. You might need to gain the trust of a renowned sensei who’s had a falling out with his pupil, or work together with a drunken sake dealer who cuts shady deals with the Mongols and sabotages them at every turn. It’s a feat I will without question try to achieve, a true rarity in a landscape full of bloat.Įach of Jin’s allies has a backstory interwoven with mythical tales that award you secret techniques and tools. Sucker Punch estimates it could take completionists as long as 90 hours to finish every side quest and find every collectible. The main plot takes roughly 25 to 30 hours to complete, but each ally you meet, folktale you discover, and stranger you aid has their own backstory that’s as gripping as the core campaign. But the truly enchanting parts of the game’s narrative happen between the setpiece battles. Mongol banners wave in the wind where samurai clan flags used to stand while pillars of smoke rise in the distance. Ghost of Tsushima never lets you forget the power struggle between the Khan and the Japanese feudal forces. It’s up to Jin to unite a scrappy force of fighters to protect the island and its people. The Mongols - led by Khotun Khan - have ravaged Jin’s home, cut down his fellow samurai, and are now plotting their invasion of mainland Japan by torturing, bribing, and extorting the people of Tsushima. Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment Characters and Story Jin and his uncle Lord Shimura prepare for battle against the initial Mongol invasion. Ghost of Tsushima oozes the samurai swagger of anime classics like Samurai Champloo and Sword of the Stranger, but grounds its narrative in a rigorous historical account of the first Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274. The two weeks I spent playing as protagonist Jin Sakai left me consistently wide-eyed and slack-jawed. With the release of its first new IP since 2009, the Sony-owned developer nimbly leaps out of its comfort zone and sticks the landing in style. Sucker Punch Productions has long coasted on the successes of PlayStation exclusives like Infamous and Sly Cooper. Set it all in feudal Japan, and you've got Ghost of Tsushima. Take the captivating open-world of Red Dead Redemption 2, throw in the twitchy combat from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, add the diverse talent trees from Shadows of Mordor, then sprinkle in a campaign reminiscent of Mass Effect 2. Ghost of Tsushima blends the best elements of the most outstanding games in recent memory, weaving them together into an experience players will get lost in for the rest of the year.
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