Ghost of Tsushima - open world game set in feudal Japan

[Zombra]

But...but instead of GPS and quest markers you have little birds and the wind showing you exactly where to go. It's completely different!

Please don't tear down the value of a seamless diegetic UI. It's okay if presentation doesn't matter to you, but man for some of us it really does elevate the medium.

 

[mediocrepoet]

But...but instead of GPS and quest markers you have little birds and the wind showing you exactly where to go. It's completely different!

Please don't tear down the value of a seamless diegetic UI. It's okay if presentation doesn't matter to you, but man for some of us it really does elevate the medium.

Outside of edgelord posting, it really is well done. I thought it was awesome when I first saw how it presented these elements.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

But...but instead of GPS and quest markers you have little birds and the wind showing you exactly where to go. It's completely different!

Please don't tear down the value of a seamless diegetic UI. It's okay if presentation doesn't matter to you, but man for some of us it really does elevate the medium.

Outside of edgelord posting, it really is well done. I thought it was awesome when I first saw how it presented these elements.

On the other hand the Tsushima Meteorology Department probably has the easiest job in the world.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Presentation wise it‘s a neat idea, it still trivializes exploration like in every other modern AAA game.

 

[Ash]

Indeed, but not to the same degree. In other modern AAA, typically EVERYTHING is marked on the map, even insignificant sprinkles of loot. Here fox dens and the stupid birds only trivialize charm acquisition and whatever the hell the birds give you I forget now. And the wind trivilizes objectives. That is a huge dampener on the experience yes, but reducing exploration/navigation down by 70%, whereas most AAA reduce by 100%. With the fog of war on top, exploration/navigation retains some semblance of relevance and demand, no matter how small. So you're correct, just slightly exaggerating.

Most gamers find simple navigation challenge & meaningful exploration too much to handle, it's a very overlooked and underappreciated aspect of gameplay, so it's not going to lose the game any marks in the mind of the shitty mainstream and popamolers, of which there are many even here.

Did the game need the wind? Arguably, it's a big island. The foxes and birds however are yet more pure unnecessary decline features that hold the game back from greatness. Even just eliminating 80% of bird and fox encounters at random on new game initialization would be a massive improvement while still resulting in a little aid here and there and opportunity to pet the fox, for whatever that is worth. Easy fix for whoever sees fit to mod this, it can be improved greatly with just some simple tweaks. Hell you could even add a charm that increases fox/bird encounter rate for those that can't live without.

 

[Fedora Master]

I wish there was a mod that toned the wind down a little.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I wish there was a mod that toned the wind down a little.

 

[Reinhardt]

I wish there was a mod that toned the wind down a little.

you want mongols to win?

 

[Fedora Master]

I wish there was a mod that toned the wind down a little.

you want mongols to win?

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

After playing it more, the RPG stuff and Equipment does make the combat too easy, even on harder difficulty settings. I had to switch away from Samurai Clan armor because you are basically like the Terminator after fully upgrading it. Same for fully upgrading your katana, and the resolve stuff turns you into a healbot after a while. Ash, instead of whining all the time, make a mod for GoT with the following:

1. Severely tone down gains from upgrading equipment.
2. Also tone down/remove character abilities that trivialize combat, such as increasing resolve.
3. Remove certain enemies that make combat annoying: the double handed axe guys (that helicopter around, and you gotta do the most boring dodge dance while they tire themselves out), the spiked shield mongols that alternate between shield bash and sword attack with zero tells (these fuckers are impossible to defend correctly on Hard/Lethal without a 20 year old's reflexes). Or instead of removing them, give them more interesting attacks.
4. Remove throwable shit, or make it much rarer, as it's pretty OP.

 

[Fedora Master]

I've not used the different stances once, except when the tutorial forced me to. There's no point, switching is awkward and you're never in a situation where you REALLY need the "Anti-Spearmen" stance or the "Anti-Shield" stance because all enemy groups are mixed anyway.

 

[Iucounu]

Most gamers find simple navigation challenge & meaningful exploration too much to handle

So why do they play exploration games in the first place? They should stick to corridors.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I am not really digging the wind thing at all. It seems like a shallow attempt to finally deal with the utter bullshit of exploration by marker/compass, but just feels like a more organic version of the same bullshit. For fuck's sake, just add some landmarks and use them in dialogue/instructions to actively navigate the world. I realize there are a lot of morons out there, so maybe have an option to enable full compass/markers on Easier difficulties for people who absolutely need them, but most players should be able to follow "ride to the temple on the east coast, go north from there, turn left at crossroads, and ride into the mountains until you see a lone shack".

To be honest though, this kind of active exploration would only be worth it in the context of actual gameplay, not the Ubisoft-like collectathons. So I guess either make something like a Piranha Bytes/Warhorse game, or just go full Ubisoft, can't be half retarded.

 

[Iucounu]

I am not really digging the wind thing at all. It seems like a shallow attempt to finally deal with the utter bullshit of exploration by marker/compass,

Haven't played the game, but I suppose the devs felt proud of its "poetic" qualities.

but just feels like a more organic version of the same bullshit.

Yes a proper organic way to do things would be a tracking dog sniffing out the target against the wind (but only when the wind blows from the target towards you). Or you could follow the wind when trying to find a sailing ship on the sea (assuming it sailed in the same wind direction). Or you could locate a carcass by the vultures circling above.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Or you could pass the wind, and hastily walk in the opposite direction.

 

[Ash]

Most gamers find simple navigation challenge & meaningful exploration too much to handle

So why do they play exploration games in the first place? They should stick to corridors.

Illusion of freedom and exploration is enough. Like with Bioshock, the "all time GOAT". Where everything is just pretending to be intelligent, but it's the opposite.

So I guess either make something like a Piranha Bytes/Warhorse game, or just go full Ubisoft, can't be half retarded.

As I explained before, going half, or even three quarter retard will always be better than going full retard. I can just about stomach GoT, whereas I don't play most other AAA at all. Completely irredeemable.

 

[Morgoth]

ITT popamoler justifying Popamole of Tsushima as only 3/4 popamole.

 

[Ash]

You are THE longstanding popamoler of this board and you don't even realize it. In fact you only made that comment because I shat on Bioshock, which you love. You're always jerking over AAA garbage here bro, don't try and pretend otherwise.

Also...I've shat on this game way more than I've praised it. Weird butthurt comment, in conclusion. I don't think you could even identify what popamole is. It is braindead substance-less gameplay, essentially, equivalent in engagement to the midway game of whack-a-mole. You know, the games you love. Like Bioshock. Braindead substance-less gameplay being something I take a stance against in every other thread involving some shitty overrated game receiving undue attention, necessary because most gamers are dim.

 

[Morgoth]

Dude. I haven't even playing any modern game this year alone. Right now, I only got Arcanum installed.

But keep telling yourself how bad the decline of gaming is while simultanously contributing to it, hypocrite.

 

[Ash]

Bullshit! I have fought the decline since day one (which includes fighting you, as you are an enabler), and always recommend superior alternatives which falls on deaf ears. I have been in this thread largely shitting on the game, with some backhanded compliments that are deserved, and also didn't spend a single cent on the game - I played it on a friend's PS4. You've obviously only read the last page of the thread if that was your takeaway.

 

[Fedora Master]

I just realized you can switch stances with the 1-4 buttons without pressing T. lmao

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Yeah, this game is a little weird, in that I do absolutely like the base combat (amazing swordfighting if you use parries, perfect parries, dodges/perfect dodges and such, fun archery), and I love the setting and the aesthetics, the beautiful world, and the dialogue and cutscenes are well done minus the occasional woke stuff, and even the stealth stuff can be fun at times. But there is that Ubisoft elephant in the room, overall the gameplay is just not good, because instead of a wholesome integrated experience as in games like Gothic 1/2, Risen, ELEX, FNV, KCD, BotW, here it just feels like a giant list of chores.

Bring up map, find some random icon (quest, question mark, etc), activate wind guidance, close map, jump on magically appearing horse, ride frantically tapping the wind button, meet 2-3 mandatory Mongol/Bandit parties along the way, aggro some bears/boars, get to target area, do some variation of repetitive shit (chase fox, climb to shrine, wash ass in hot spring, compose haiku, cut bamboo sticks, etc) or do actual quests (the best part of the game) but that are still broken down into tiny extremely spelled out sequences, where if you fail/die you get put back almost into the same place (the console way).

It's just all so dumbed down and "processed" that it doesn't feel like actual gameplay that we are used to from better open world games.

 

[Ash]

Porky pig levels up. Your first monocle is now unlocked!

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I was playing high quality games when you were still modding cooties in your mom's uterus.

 

[Fedora Master]

One of the reasons the Ubishit style of open world is so popular with devs is the fact that it is incredibly easy to populate the world with activities to create "content", even if it ends up being the same over and over again. I freed my uncle and BAM, a bunch of farmsteads are suddenly occupied by Mongorians that I need to exterminate. It's always the same though and with the difficulty only going to down I can just run in and slaughter these idiots with no need for stealth or style. Yet "more" is certainly not better in this case.