Ghost of Tsushima - open world game set in feudal Japan

[anonagon]

I kindda agree but again, it's a traditional open-world trope. I'd like the devs handle it differently, in a less repetitive way in the sequel, but I didn't mind it that much in GoT1. You have a huge open world and you have to fill it up somehow.

Plus most of the activities are far from pointless, unless you play on Normal or Easy. On harder diffs you absolutely want all the level ups and improvements you get from the activities, especially the foxes.

This is very different from shit like, say, RDR2. The side activities in that game (hunting, camp upgrading robbing etc.) are truly pointless because they don't benefit your character at all. I mean why rob trains and coaches when you don't need a single extra cent to finish the game? It's not like this in GoT.

But they didn't actually have to have the world be that big in the first place. The game is much longer than it needs to be, so they could have afforded to scale it down a bit. Older action games knew that the way you milk content out of an action game is through higher difficulties or alternate modes. GoT even has the Legend mode for this purpose, but it chose to also fill up its world with repetitive filler.

The fact that the collection activities are the way you get your basic upgrades is actually something of a bad thing imo, because it means you can't really ignore them once you get bored of them, especially if you are playing on the higher difficulties. I haven't played RDR2 and don't think I'd like it, but at least if I was bored of open-world-ing in that game I could theoretically just blitz the story and not be worse for wear. Alas, the open-world format, especially the modern console version of it, likely just isn't for me. If GoT was made for the PS2 I'd probably be telling you it was amazing.

 

[cvv]

But they didn't actually have to have the world be that big in the first place.

I agree on that but we're in the minority.

Big worlds sell, that's a fact. That's why AssCreed Odyssey and Valhalla were the best selling open-worlds ever while the VERY scaled down Mirage flopped hard.

It's like with cars. You can hear people with brains talk about how stupid, wasteful and pointless SUVs are but the average Joe would buy the intercontinental missile transporter if he got the chance, even if all he does is go shopping and drive the kids to school.

 

[Optimist]

I played this through recently. It's certainly the best AC-like game I ever played, including the OGs.

The game lives on its atmosphere. The visuals are top-notch. The amount of O R I E N T A L I S M would be painful if delivered in a format any more weeby, but here it worked. Jin "killing Mongols with my steel balls" Sakai is a good protagonist and all-around a cool dude. He's stoic but not emotionless, serious but not without some humour, has his opinions but is not judgemental.

I liked his character journey, and it feels like the devs have at least tried to make it work for the player as well. In Chapter 1 I was trying to be a good boy, challenging groups of enemies left and right, and never stabbing anyone in the back which partially worked because it was generally an easier thing to do than fighting them face to face, and underhanded tricks were generally not necessary. I was also under an (apparently untrue) impression that you are being judged somehow for how you behave. Then, chapter two was somewhat more difficult, I stopped being able to consistently challenge groups of enemies, but dispatching them in combat usually worked fine, as I grew to be an armored, mongol-slaughtering powerhouse. And then you have the act 3 where I stopped giving a damn, leaned more into ghost weapons and chain assassinations, and cruised until the end of the story. For most of it, I was convinced that there was a harakiri awaiting you at the end of your journey, but seeing how Jin evolved as a character, the actual endings felt natural.

There's less senseless parkour here than in assassin's adventures, but more actual sneaking around, and stabbing mongols (and other animals) in the back, which was nice. There were the shrine climbs, but these focused more on identifying where next to grapple more than pressing up to move.

I agree with the general sentiment of the game being way too long, but I don't have a good answer as to what would be a good fix if any. Removing grand majority of fox shrines, bamboo strikes and other question mark activities, and then doling out their rewards as parts of the sidequests could be an option, but some of those side activities (like sitting in a hot spring, contemplating how much Jin could use a stiff drink and some female company) were just plain fun. Side stories could probably also be cut in half, without really missing any story beats (just consider how many Masato substories ended in Jin telling her "you don't have to do it alone!"). I liked the charm-based character development, but felt like the game could still use some better itemisation.

All in all good stuff. Would slaughter endless mongol hordes again.

 

[Tehdagah]

I played this through recently. It's certainly the best AC-like game I ever played, including the OGs.

The game lives on its atmosphere. The visuals are top-notch. The amount of O R I E N T A L I S M would be painful if delivered in a format any more weeby, but here it worked. Jin "killing Mongols with my steel balls" Sakai is a good protagonist and all-around a cool dude. He's stoic but not emotionless, serious but not without some humour, has his opinions but is not judgemental.

I liked his character journey, and it feels like the devs have at least tried to make it work for the player as well. In Chapter 1 I was trying to be a good boy, challenging groups of enemies left and right, and never stabbing anyone in the back which partially worked because it was generally an easier thing to do than fighting them face to face, and underhanded tricks were generally not necessary. I was also under an (apparently untrue) impression that you are being judged somehow for how you behave. Then, chapter two was somewhat more difficult, I stopped being able to consistently challenge groups of enemies, but dispatching them in combat usually worked fine, as I grew to be an armored, mongol-slaughtering powerhouse. And then you have the act 3 where I stopped giving a damn, leaned more into ghost weapons and chain assassinations, and cruised until the end of the story. For most of it, I was convinced that there was a harakiri awaiting you at the end of your journey, but seeing how Jin evolved as a character, the actual endings felt natural.

There's less senseless parkour here than in assassin's adventures, but more actual sneaking around, and stabbing mongols (and other animals) in the back, which was nice. There were the shrine climbs, but these focused more on identifying where next to grapple more than pressing up to move.

I agree with the general sentiment of the game being way too long, but I don't have a good answer as to what would be a good fix if any. Removing grand majority of fox shrines, bamboo strikes and other question mark activities, and then doling out their rewards as parts of the sidequests could be an option, but some of those side activities (like sitting in a hot spring, contemplating how much Jin could use a stiff drink and some female company) were just plain fun. Side stories could probably also be cut in half, without really missing any story beats (just consider how many Masato substories ended in Jin telling her "you don't have to do it alone!"). I liked the charm-based character development, but felt like the game could still use some better itemisation.

All in all good stuff. Would slaughter endless mongol hordes again.

Did mongols even try to invade Japan back when the game was set?

 

[Optimist]

Did mongols even try to invade Japan back when the game was set?

There's precious little that the Mongols didn't try to invade

They did but in an example of nature's weeb-centrism were driven away/ devastated by a storm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_Japan

There are in-game references to that event - monks asking people to pray for kami to send a storm and wipe the invading fleet away, as well as (what I assume is) the storm finish on Jin's katana.


Oh, right, forgot to mention - I also played through the Iki Island DLC. I'm a bit on the fence about it. Mechanically it was mostly good stuff. Sarugami armor was amazing for the end game. Horse charges and its improvements meant that boring dismantling of the camps started following a simple series of steps - do a few rounds of horse-charging, followed by a leap strike, followed by activating the Ghost style to eliminate any stragglers. Enemies capable of switching weapons in the middle of the fight were cool, but it was also where their HP bloat (even with a fully upgraded blade) started becoming tiresome.

I wasn't a huge fan of its story and vibes, though. The whole poison angle felt a bit too mystical for what was otherwise a fairly grounded game. Neither the Eagle nor the captain lady had any sort of charisma. The follow-up mission of rescuing the opium-huffing daughter from the ship felt disconnected from anything else. I understand the authors wanting to utilize the hook of Jin's traumas from the past and his interactions with his father, but this didn't really bring much to the story, or so I felt. Seeing the wild cats looking like hairy loaves of bread made me understand the nips' fascination with the garbage-tier exotic breed, though. My wife had one since before we got together, so I have this nature's mistake looking lovingly at me daily; it's a horrible creature.

There was also one shrine climb that was just painful. Horrible, overextended guess-the-single-correct-path series of jumps, which made me relish coming back to the more reasonable locations of the base game.


Not sure how excited I am for GOY. Looking at the trailer it seemed like they decided to drop the postcard look of the world for something more cartoonish. Also, a lot of fun with GoT I had rode on Jin being an all-around cool dude and Mongol shanker - I'm worried about how well will a mute traumatized lady be able to carry this burden. It could be Chris Avellone's chance to shine, though!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

My wife had one since before we got together, so I have this nature's mistake looking lovingly at me daily; it's a horrible creature.

Well, tell Greebo I said hi.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Although the invasions were certainly real (I believe there were two major invasion efforts), as I think I noted somewhere in this thread, the samurai armors in the game are anachronistic. They look like 16-17 century armors, not like 13th century armors, and as far as I remember the devs have acknowledged this and excused themselves with marketing reasons. It's what the players expect to see, etc. So, yeah, there is "real" realism and "marketing-approved" realism.

 

[Zombra]

I finally finished this last night. While some may quibble that the game isn't perfect in every way, I was profoundly affected by the vibe and consider it a masterpiece I was lucky to play. This was not a game about fast travelling to knock over objectives A, B, C, D, or even checking things off the reviled open world checklist. The checklist is there but that's not it. The mood and the use of negative space to me are the central elements, the core that a video game happened around. I played this when I wanted to meditate in a long canter across the countryside that some here say was too big. I get the complaints but for me it was just right. Of course there is hard gameplay too which I found engaging enough to make me feel like I was learning and growing stronger. As for the length, for all the many dozens of hours this took to complete, and the interminable pacing, honestly it broke my heart when it finally came to an end. I wish I could forget it and play it all over again for the first time. What a journey.

 

[cvv]

I wish I could forget it and play it all over again for the first time. What a journey.

Have you done all quests and also the DLC?

 

[Zombra]

I wish I could forget it and play it all over again for the first time. What a journey.

Have you done all quests and also the DLC?

I did complete all the "stories" I discovered in the game, almost all of which were fascinating, but did not fill in every POI or collect every hidden pebble. "100%ing" games is slave mind work. Also no DLC, I heard it isn't as good as the main game and the main story was told so perfectly it doesn't need more content slapped on.

Oh also quick humblebrag

Since I think dodge rolling is stupid in most 3rd person gaming I played the whole game beginning to end without ever unlocking anything from the Dodge tree.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I wish I could forget it and play it all over again for the first time. What a journey.

Have you done all quests and also the DLC?

I did complete all the "stories" I discovered in the game, almost all of which were fascinating, but did not fill in every POI or collect every hidden pebble. "100%ing" games is slave mind work. Also no DLC, I heard it isn't as good as the main game and the main story was told so perfectly it doesn't need more content slapped on.

Oh also quick humblebrag

Since I think dodge rolling is stupid in most 3rd person gaming I played the whole game beginning to end without ever unlocking anything from the Dodge tree.

You don't dodge roll unless you hit that dodge button twice.

 

[Zombra]

You don't dodge roll unless you hit that dodge button twice.

Unlocking it at all would have been dishonorable. I would have thought you of all people would understand.

 

[Tyranicon]

You don't dodge roll unless you hit that dodge button twice.

Unlocking it at all would have been dishonorable. I would have thought you of all people would understand.

Barbarians are known for their dodge abilities though. Why do you think they're half naked all the time?

 

[mediocrepoet]

You don't dodge roll unless you hit that dodge button twice.

Unlocking it at all would have been dishonorable. I would have thought you of all people would understand.

Barbarians are known for their dodge abilities though. Why do you think they're half naked all the time?

Abs of steel. Literally.