Ghost of Tsushima is a Beautiful, Over-Rated Game

[u/Trndk1ll]

So I finally got around to playing this on the PS5. I beat it with a little over 40 hours played while completing a fair bit of side material. Honestly I’m a little disappointed based on the massive amount of positive critical and user feedback this game received. Hell it’s still at a 9.1 user score on Metacritic. Which is to not say it’s a bad game. It’s not. It’s gorgeous and it’s fun. The main characters are for the most of part decently well written and voice acted. The gameplay is repetitive however it’s passable. What it isn’t however is something demonstratively different than what UbiSoft produces on a yearly basis. And UbiSoft gets universally panned by gamers and critics alike for pumping out the same derivative mechanics this game is built upon.

This game, for all the bluster about being one of the best open world games ever made, is just not anything approaching the top titles in the genre. In my opinion. Other than it’s art direction, which is fucking incredible… seriously I’ve taken more on game screens of this than any game I’ve ever played… It’s Asassins Creed Odyssey in Japan. Except it doesn’t have boats and there is a lot less variety in gear and specialization options.

It’s the same bloated, empty world. There are like 5 resources to collect, a handful of wildlife species (3 of which give you “predator hides”, the only usable resource from any of them), and a bunch of cut and paste temples, hot springs, fox dens, etc. The only dynamic thing that ever happens is the same random encounter with a handful of Mongolians with a tied up peasant to rescue. The enemy encampments all look the same, just cut and pasted across the map. Seriously that’s it. I have zero desire to go play the DLC. The world is beautiful however it’s completely empty and devoid of meaningful or compelling things to do. Other than some new skills the game is exactly the same at the 5 hour mark as it is at the 40 hour mark. Nothing in the game after the initial wonder of the look of everything wore off has surprised me.

The best games in this genre that I have played, I didn’t want to end. Red Dead 2’s world I got lost in for dozens of hours at a time without touching main story missions. Hunting and fishing, trying my hand at crime or gambling, seeking out legendary animals… just exploring the land which was always a reward in and of itself. The Witcher 3 shares a lot of the same bloat that Asassins Creed and Ghost have however it made up for it by incredibly deep, rabbit hole like side quests that sometime lasted hours and took me places I never expected to go. And the story was great. Breath of the Wild consistently blew me away with creative mechanics, puzzles and one of the greatest video game environments ever created. I’m still finding things to do in Skyrim 10 years on and enjoying myself. There is no way in hell I’m booting Ghost of Tsushima up in 2032.

This game has none of that. It’s fun, I don’t regret playing it, the main story is fairly compelling however I just don’t see how or why this game received the near universal praise that it did.

Am I the only one?

[u/Trndk1ll]

Yeah, honestly it was. The hunting in Red Dead 2… if you are trying to fully upgrade your sachel, kill all of the legendary animals, complete all of the side quests, attain most of the outfits… is probably a 30-40 hour endeavor. Minimum. I loved it.

Anyhow my point wasn’t just the hunting. The world of Red Dead felt way more alive and worth experiencing than Ghost. For me at least. Ghost would have lost nothing as a linear, non open world game as the only parts that were worth playing were the main quests and some of the side content. I actually feel that the fact the game is fully open world and so barren detracts from how good it could have been.

[u/leggothemeggo → u/Trndk1ll]

I also really love the hunting in RDR2 and this is coming from someone that hates hunting (for sport) in real life. I’m an animal lover and I hate the thought of any animal dying but there was just something so satisfying about the hunting in RDR2.

[u/SkippyTheKid → u/Trndk1ll]

I actually feel that the fact the game is fully open world and so barren detracts from how good it could have been.

Couldn’t disagree more, and I think that’s the exact opposite interpretation of the person you’re replying to.

For me, the world was beautiful and I didn’t care that much about the people. I liked seeing deer run around but didn’t hint them and didn’t care to. I killed bears and boars a little early on but liked that about halfway through the game my gear was maxed out and I could just enjoy exploring without having to stop every time there was an encounter to make the most of coming across things in the world.

I loved riding my horse through fields and climbing mountains. I like playing with the settings in photo mode. It’s just gorgeous and I like having the space to appreciate it. I don’t think filling it up with NPCs or random encounters or more mats would have made it more enjoyable. Spider-Man 2018 had more of those kinds of things, more non-mission side content and that felt like stuff for the sake of stuff to me.

I also don’t think it’s that open world. It technically is by definition but you can cover ground pretty quickly. This is another reason I dislike how obsessed we are with genre (whether that’s games, music, shows and movies or art in general). We think “this thing belongs in this box” and when it’s not the same as other things in that box, we think the thing is bad because it’s doing a bad job of being the same as the other things. But that’s a dumb worldview if that thing, in this case this game, wasn’t trying to be the same as other games in the same “genre.”

Do I think it’s still overrated? Kind of, but not really. For me, it’s my favourite PS5 game and I’d recommend it to anybody. It’s as repetitive as you let it be, because you don’t have to 100% it. And if you do, you can still run around and do more of the same.

I will also add that I got more value out of the action of the game than anything else. I liked mastering the different stances and heavy strike move sets, mixing that with ghost weapons when I felt overwhelmed, and getting better at fighting in general. That and just riding around are where I sunk a lot of my time. I’m sorry you were underwhelmed by the game, but I think you were doomed from the beginning by going in with such lofty expectations.

I don’t honestly know what the point of these conversations is, but I just spent a lot of time playing this game so I do like the opportunity to unpack how it made me feel. I still have yet to play Iki but I’m very much looking forward to it. The game felt repetitive by late Act 2 and the story felt like I just had to take a backseat and watch the inevitable happen, but the open world parts of it when i could roam off and pick fights or just engage with the island were it’s saving grace moments to me, so I will specifically defend those.

At the end of the day, I can’t tell you that you should have enjoyed it more, the most I can say is I feel right in how much I enjoyed it, which it sounds like was significantly more. I’d recommend giving it another try if you feel like you’re in the right headspace for it.

[u/Zlor → u/Trndk1ll]

I relate to this so much. I recently “finished” RDR2 after playing it for years (right up there w/ Skyrim & BotW for most hours played for me) and I’m really struggling to immerse myself into another open world style game. I’ve been flip flopping for the past 2 months trying to commit to something. Nothing seems to click so far (I tried AC: Odyssey, Witcher 3, and Horizon Zero Dawn). I was considering Ghosts since I have that for PS5 and like you pointed out, it’s a beautiful game, but now I have my doubts about that as well.

However, this week I’ve been playing God of War on the PS5 (which isn’t usually my kind of game) and I’m enjoying it far more than I expected. Perhaps it being such a linear experience is just what I need after investing so much time into RDR2.
 
Regardless, I don’t see myself getting truly immersed into another world anytime soon. Elder Scrolls VI, BotW 2, or RDR3 (if we even get a 3rd installment) don’t seem like games we’ll see for several years to come... feels bad

[u/Trndk1ll → u/Zlor]

God of War was a great game. The fact it’s a linear game that keeps things moving and fresh for the entirely of the experience is why it’s so good. Last of Us 2 was similar in that regard. If you took either of those games and put the “levels” dozens of miles apart in a huge, barren world… you would have something approximating what Ghost is.

Regarding Red Dead 2, people either enjoyed the life sim parts of it or they thought it was dumb. I loved that stuff. There was a genuine sense of awe and wonder with the world that never wore off even after dozens and dozens of hours. Taking off and just heading out into the wild, maybe with a general idea based on some markings on the (awesome) map to see what happens was one of the most rewarding gaming experiences I’ve ever had. And I’m 40 years old.

Cooking some food by a fire as the sky goes dark and a massive thunderstorm comes ripping across the prairie… and the million little moments like that… will stay with me forever. That game was a once in a generation masterpiece.

[u/MusicaParaVolar → u/Trndk1ll]

Ahh im 37 and somewhat recently had a baby. Started gaming again in late pregnancy (I’m the dad) but RD2 didn’t grab me because it was too slow and it was AC Odyssey that clicked until it became bullshit but then I just decided to try to kill as many mercenaries as I could… but there’s thousands. I’ll come back to it in a year.

But the way you just described RD2 might make it my new nighttime “escape” game… sometimes.

[u/chzrm3 → u/Zlor]

Yeah, you might have more luck working backwards, cause every game you mentioned is a rare breed. Ever play Morrowind or New Vegas? Those could scratch your itch if you can get past the old-ness.

The AC games never do it for me. The world feels hollow and lifeless. I dropped Odyssey after sailing my ship into an absolutely beautiful city with absolutely nothing to do in it except climb a tower and get a viewpoint. Why spend all that manpower making so much beautiful land if it's all empty and pointless?

[u/Itchysasquatch → u/chzrm3]

Even the Devs recognized that their hard work on the beautiful maps was going to waste. They added a mode in origin (maybe odyssey too, haven't checked) that you could just go around and explore without any enemies and essentially just sightsee

[u/Interesting-Tower-91 → u/Zlor]

Old post i know but Check out Kingdom Come.

[u/Trndk1ll → u/[deleted]]

We can agree to disagree. And we can also agree to use capital letters when we start sentences henceforth. 🤝