The Experience of Ghost of Tsushima: A Mixed Bag

I'll be honest going into playing Ghost of Tsushima, I didn't really understand what the moment-to-moment beats were going to feel like. Now that I've played a lot of this game, I'm here to tell you just what's up. At its core, Ghost of Tsushima is an open world action RPG that puts you in control of Jin, a samurai who survives a Mongol invasion but must set aside his lifelong traditions and training to fight the occupation.

This is about all the story I'm going to get into because Ghost of Tsushima just wasn't able to grab me in a way that I cared that much about the main character. Let alone anyone in this game. In fact, a lot of the experience doesn't really feel like it brings that much to the table or at least deviates substantially enough from what you've probably already played before in this kind of open world game.

What does work is the game's mostly solid sword play, which is definitely the highlight here. Jin learns new stances and can switch them on the fly, which adds a nice layer of complexity when you're fighting different enemies. There's a tangible sense of variety in how you can approach a fight and chaining attacks together can be super satisfying. You can occasionally get handcuffed trying to take on multiple enemies at once, but the game is mostly generous in how it handles those engagements.

Most melee sections can be started with a sort of standoff mode, which pits you against an enemy in a one-on-one super stylized encounter where you essentially need to hold and release a button to time it correctly with an opponent's first strike. Yeah, those don't get old at all. And that's probably what Ghost of Tsushima does best: presentational stuff.

There's been a lot of effort made in creating these really overly dramatic title stamps wipes and other sorts of really cool eye candy scattered throughout the game. I mean, this world is so overly picturesque with trees and grass and leaves constantly filling the screen deliberately. And you can even swipe up on the touchpad to get a gust of wind that points you to the next waypoint. Unfortunately though for me, this game relies way too much on that all too familiar loop of setting a marker chasing it down rinse and repeat.

You know the story, there's RPG elements that can get pretty granular too with how you choose to unlock perks and charms with your technique points that you earn throughout the game. You'll also unlock new costumes upgrade armor and weapons and chase down objective after objective. And for a lot of people, that's probably going to be fine. Ghost of Tsushima is a perfectly capable title and there's fun to be had in it.

Jin's additional abilities grow much more powerful and unlocking the array of new maneuvers is super rewarding. Like I said, the combat is good. But for me, the overall loop just wasn't exciting. Some mechanics felt kind of needless in a way that didn't really add anything to the overall picture. For example, you're on horseback a lot of this game and just kind of out of nowhere the game points out that hey, you can hunt animals if you want. You can do that. It just feels like a bit of a chore even in the way you collect items where you just sort of casually walk or ride over things and hit a button to absorb them through osmosis.

It just feels empty and that's a big problem for Ghost of Tsushima. It's going for a very specific thing, I mean there's even a Kurosawa mode that turns everything grainy in black and white but it has a really tough time sticking the landing in that effort with just kind of how average it all is. There are moments I did enjoy playing don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of stuff that was just okay maybe even a little janky at times. But at least you can put together some pretty sweet haikus that's a thing.

So that's what's up with Ghost of Tsushima. I hope this helps you understand what that game is all about. Please tell me what you think, are you still excited for this one? I'm genuinely curious. Stay safe everyone and as always thank you so much for watching.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni'll be honest going into playing ghost of tsushima i didn't really understand what the moment-to-moment beats were going to feel like and now that i've played a lot of this game i'm here to tell you just what's up at its core ghost of tsushima is an open world action rpg that puts you in control of jinn a samurai that survives a mongol invasion but must set aside his lifelong traditions and training to fight the occupation that's about all the story i'm going to get into because ghost of tsushima just wasn't able to grab me in a way that i cared that much about the main character let alone anyone in this game in fact a lot of the experience doesn't really feel like it brings that much to the table or at least deviates substantially enough from what you've probably already played before in this kind of open world game what does work is the game's mostly solid sword play that's definitely the highlight here gin learns new stances and can switch them on the fly which adds a nice layer of complexity when you're fighting different stances work better for different kinds of enemies there's a tangible sense of variety in how you can approach a fight and chaining attacks together can be super satisfying you can occasionally get handcuffed trying to take on multiple enemies at once but the game is mostly generous in how it handles those engagements most melee sections can be started with a sort of standoff mode which pits you against an enemy in a one-on-one super stylized encounter where you essentially need to hold and release a button to time it correctly with an opponent's first strike yeah those don't get old at all and that's probably what ghost of tsushima does best of all the presentational stuff there's been a lot of effort made in creating these really overly dramatic title stamps wipes and other sorts of really cool eye candy scattered throughout the game i mean this world is so overly picturesque trees and grass and leaves are constantly filling the screen and deliberately so you can even swipe up on the touchpad and get a gust of wind to show up that points you to the next waypoint unfortunately though for me this game relies way too much on that all too familiar loop of setting a marker chasing it down rinse and repeat you know the story there's rpg elements that can get pretty granular too with how you choose to unlock perks and charms with your technique points that you earn throughout the game you'll also unlock new costumes upgrade armor and weapons and chase down objective after objective and for a lot of people that's probably going to be fine ghost of tsushima is a perfectly capable title and there's fun to be had in it jin's additional abilities grow much more powerful and unlocking the array of new maneuvers is super rewarding and like i said the combat is good but for me the overall loop just wasn't exciting some mechanics felt kind of needless to in a way that didn't really add anything to the overall picture like for example you're on horseback a lot of this game and just kind of out of nowhere the game points out that hey you can hunt animals if you want you can do that it just feels like a bit of a chore even in the way you collect items where you just sort of casually walk or ride over things and hit a button to absorb them through osmosis it just it just feels empty and that's a big problem for ghost of tsushima it's going for a very specific thing i mean there's even a kurosawa mode that turns everything grainy in black and white but it has a really tough time sticking the landing in that effort with just kind of how average it all is there are moments i did enjoy playing don't get me wrong but there's a lot of stuff that was just okay maybe even a little janky at times but at least you can put together some pretty sweet haikus that's a thing so that's what's up with ghost of tsushima i hope this helps you understand what that game is all about please tell me what you think are you still excited for this one i'm genuinely curious stay safe everyone and as always thank you so much for watching so i hope you did it i hope i did it too buddy boyi'll be honest going into playing ghost of tsushima i didn't really understand what the moment-to-moment beats were going to feel like and now that i've played a lot of this game i'm here to tell you just what's up at its core ghost of tsushima is an open world action rpg that puts you in control of jinn a samurai that survives a mongol invasion but must set aside his lifelong traditions and training to fight the occupation that's about all the story i'm going to get into because ghost of tsushima just wasn't able to grab me in a way that i cared that much about the main character let alone anyone in this game in fact a lot of the experience doesn't really feel like it brings that much to the table or at least deviates substantially enough from what you've probably already played before in this kind of open world game what does work is the game's mostly solid sword play that's definitely the highlight here gin learns new stances and can switch them on the fly which adds a nice layer of complexity when you're fighting different stances work better for different kinds of enemies there's a tangible sense of variety in how you can approach a fight and chaining attacks together can be super satisfying you can occasionally get handcuffed trying to take on multiple enemies at once but the game is mostly generous in how it handles those engagements most melee sections can be started with a sort of standoff mode which pits you against an enemy in a one-on-one super stylized encounter where you essentially need to hold and release a button to time it correctly with an opponent's first strike yeah those don't get old at all and that's probably what ghost of tsushima does best of all the presentational stuff there's been a lot of effort made in creating these really overly dramatic title stamps wipes and other sorts of really cool eye candy scattered throughout the game i mean this world is so overly picturesque trees and grass and leaves are constantly filling the screen and deliberately so you can even swipe up on the touchpad and get a gust of wind to show up that points you to the next waypoint unfortunately though for me this game relies way too much on that all too familiar loop of setting a marker chasing it down rinse and repeat you know the story there's rpg elements that can get pretty granular too with how you choose to unlock perks and charms with your technique points that you earn throughout the game you'll also unlock new costumes upgrade armor and weapons and chase down objective after objective and for a lot of people that's probably going to be fine ghost of tsushima is a perfectly capable title and there's fun to be had in it jin's additional abilities grow much more powerful and unlocking the array of new maneuvers is super rewarding and like i said the combat is good but for me the overall loop just wasn't exciting some mechanics felt kind of needless to in a way that didn't really add anything to the overall picture like for example you're on horseback a lot of this game and just kind of out of nowhere the game points out that hey you can hunt animals if you want you can do that it just feels like a bit of a chore even in the way you collect items where you just sort of casually walk or ride over things and hit a button to absorb them through osmosis it just it just feels empty and that's a big problem for ghost of tsushima it's going for a very specific thing i mean there's even a kurosawa mode that turns everything grainy in black and white but it has a really tough time sticking the landing in that effort with just kind of how average it all is there are moments i did enjoy playing don't get me wrong but there's a lot of stuff that was just okay maybe even a little janky at times but at least you can put together some pretty sweet haikus that's a thing so that's what's up with ghost of tsushima i hope this helps you understand what that game is all about please tell me what you think are you still excited for this one i'm genuinely curious stay safe everyone and as always thank you so much for watching so i hope you did it i hope i did it too buddy boy\n"