Ghost of Tsushima Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Speedrunning Tips

Ghost of Tsushima is the latest in a long line of powerhouse PlayStation 4 exclusives that boasts the potential to be one of the best games of a generation.  

And Ghost of Tsushima has an argument it's the best of the PS4 exclusives. 

In some ways, Ghost of Tsushima, developed by Sucker Punch Productions, is a mashup of some of the best open-world gaming this console generation has to offer. However, it's also a breathtaking, sometimes startling experience standing uniquely on its own two feet—and effortlessly overshadowing any thoughts of comparisons with other games. 

A tale of a man leaving his familiar surrounding to save his home, Ghost of Tsushima is a fitting conclusion to a console generation. 

Graphics and Gameplay

As expected, Sucker Punch has beautifully crafted a world and characters so deep and immersive it borders on the point of distracting. While the characters have some less realistic movements at times, it's hardly noticeable given the facial features, mannerisms and some of the best lip-synching ever seen. 

The world is gorgeous. There is a little town bathed in yellow leaves that kick up underfoot or with the breeze. There are deep swampy jungles, fields of plants, snowy regions, beaches that stretch off to the horizon, hidden coves and distinct landmarks. No two areas feel the same, while the contrast of the colors stagger, and the best-in-class lighting and wind mechanics just push things over the edge. 

Ghost of Tsushima majors in setpieces. Sprawling, bloodied beaches besmirched by mountains of bodies give way to a vast ocean of naval warships alight by gentle torches underneath the moon. Overarching cliffs to either side make the player feel tiny in a bigger game as fights unfold above and bodies careen down to the sand. That early setpiece is far from the only time players feel like one man against overwhelming odds. 

A lot of times, Ghost of Tsushima just shows off, flexing the little details. An early, dramatic cut scene featuring two-characters in conversation features a borderline distracting, oddly-realistic bead of sweat strike down a character's cheek from the temple, carving a line through dirt and blood. 

Similarly, characters leave footprints in the sand or snow, leaves shuffle up underfoot, fire takes to enemies realistically, blood splatters on the environment and can be wiped from weapons. The realism goes on and on. 

Sound design is no exception. The soundtrack is stellar for a game trying to honor some of the best samurai-based media of our time. It's engrossing with the right strikes and ramp-ups during tense moments. The voice acting is almost flawless and just as immersive as the environments themselves. 

The contrast between the peaceful countryside (the Mongol-free bits, at least) and the bloody violence of combat is staggering. Beautiful nature of untold variety can quickly be sullied by massive sprays of blood and gore, limbs flying off and blood-curdling screams. The game doesn't flinch and doesn't care if players do—players can even provide mercy to downed enemies, punching the sword through armor, flesh and into the ground in visceral detail. 

Descriptors above apply to the feel of gameplay, too. Swordplay is heavy and without remorse. This isn't ultra-punishing like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on the normal difficulty. But timing and proper button presses within those timings decide the player's fate. 

At its most basic, players can perform quick or heavy attacks, the former to exploit openings and the latter to puncture an enemy's defense to stagger them. Dodging, blocking and parrying are part of the combat metagame, with each skill being amplified through skill tree unlocks. 

Resolve meters equate to healing, and they are earned through killing, parrying or advanced skills. Over time, players earn unlockable tools such as smoke bombs to supplement combat. Those are critical—Ghost of Tsushima progressively throws different types of enemies at players, sometimes all at once. Trying to juggle three different enemy types while an archer peppers the player from afar requires a wealth of tools and skills. 

At its best, Ghost of Tsushima provides an elated feeling for tackling an onslaught of enemies. Learning all the tools in the arsenal itself is a joy, and the punctual, impactful gameplay tops it off. Executing a perfect evade or parry and killing an enemy or terrifying the surrounding enemies so much that they run off in retreat for good, are some of the most satisfying experiences in gaming. 

This isn't a video game where the main character powers through everyone and everything until there is some great tipping point where they become unstoppable. This is more of a simulation—players are a samurai in the 13th century wandering an invaded countryside where even the lowliest of enemies are lethal. 

The Standoff feature, especially when upgraded to enable taking down multiple enemies, makes some encounters too easy. But there's a little leeway even there—it feels great, and Jin is a deadly samurai firing on all cylinders while engaging in an honorable standoff. 

Those Standoffs, which challenge enemies to line up for a duel, can be activated even during a stealthy infiltration of an area and boil down to timing minigames with lethal consequences for either side. 

Jin eventually gets a ton of tools to work with in order to navigate a heavy enemy presence, which he can use in tandem with environments themselves. 

If there's one major gripe gameplay-wise, it's the camera. It's not a crippling issue by any means, but the lack of a lock-on button for specific enemies sometimes means it is hard to see where attacks are coming from if the enemy is off-screen—rendering it impossible to properly respond with the necessary counter. 

In a testament to the depth here, Ghost of Tsushima also arms players with a bow and arrow, and different ammo types. Shooting feels as good as it needs to, as do some other projectiles and lethal long-range items.

Like the shooting, environment traversal is also a plus area. Riding a horse is effortless compared to a game like Red Dead Redemption. Climbing up various surfaces is as smooth as any other game out there that handles such a task, minus a few hiccups making the transition to ropes or smaller tree limbs. World navigation occurs through use of the wind and is another example of the perfect marriage between gameplay and presentation. The wind as a guiding factor instead of typical video-game waypoints is awesome. And the way the wind impacts everything it touches, from fabrics to hair, trees and more, is not only engrossing to observe but clearly a remarkable technical feat. 

As impressive as the whole package sounds, the fact it's a runner-up to the actual storytelling going on should really give players pause. 

Story and More

Ghost of Tsushima starts with a bang through one of the best prologues of this console generation—if not ever. 

Players assume the role of Jin, a samurai warrior in 1274 on Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. For those who know their history, things don't exactly go as planned for inhabitants of the island, and Jin is whisked away into the grander tale. 

But this isn't any cookie-cutter narrative where the protagonist seeks out revenge. The principled Jin who spent his whole life going about things in an honorable manner is suddenly thrust into a situation where approaching things in such a way could cost him his life. He falls in with some friendlies, and the journey is one of exiting a comfort zone for the greater good. 

As Jin evolves, it's great to see so too does the nature of warfare, with gunpowder coming into play and siege tactics entering the narrative. The story itself bobs and weaves through big setpieces and smaller, intimate tales with a zoomed-in focus on a single person. On more than one occasion, a moment was so well made it elicited an emotional response from this writer. While the main story is great, some of the side missions for allies are moments players will recall long after the game's relevancy has faded. 

Even smaller storyline steps leading to bigger parts of the game ooze high production values with characters throwing callback references to one another and plot points unpeeling like an onion.

Those smaller non-essential quests are deep and only made more so by the presence of player choice in conversations. That's a boon and also masks something like getting from Point A to Point B, a hiccup other even great games struggle with from time to time.

The story itself isn't a quick affair just as the map of the game world is by no means small. It's littered with activities. Side-quest-like Tales reward resources and abilities. Shrines serve as traversal challenges, and some of the most beautiful spots and vista viewpoints in the game. Bamboo stands offer a minigame with big rewards, as do haiku locations. 

Ghost of Tsushima gives great reason to scope out every inch of its superb world, too. Following a gold bird to a secret destination could reward critical points or items. Taking down a base offers must-have crafting materials exchanged at hubs with NPCs who improve player items. Hunting is on the table too thanks to the wide assortment of wildlife present in the game, with some predator hides playing a role in the surprisingly deep customization systems. 

There are multiple samurai stances to master, and applying them to general combat is a sometimes-tough, yet rewarding experience. Stone Stance, for example, excels against swordsmen and has its own list of combos and unlockable details on its own skill tree. After unlocking more, some good against spearmen and otherwise, players can quickly swap between them by pressing R2 and hitting the corresponding face button. But that mere explanation helps to illustrate just how many things players need to juggle at once—and how rewarding it is to master the systems. 

Samurai techniques are yet another mark in the positive column for exploring anything and everything. Only by defeating leaders do players unlock different stances. Similarly, some of the best abilities in the game are locked behind Mythic Tales, epic side quests for players to uncover and beat. 

And why stop there when exploring? Uncovering artefacts out in the wild unlocks all sorts of items and stumbling upon shrines or hot springs can provide boosts to max health or important charms. Quite frankly, this is an open-world game done right, as the gentle wind guidance instead of keeping eyes glued on a GPS point meant more focus on exploring what the creators crafted. 

Despite the many systems in the game, including charms that offer stat bonuses and outfits and accessories, the HUD never feels cluttered, and menu navigation is really easy to do. The game is all about quality of life and options. Those menus include helpful videos on the skill trees. There are options to take off the already-minimal HUD completely, though that's only advisable for the most seasoned players, as combat visual cues go goodbye.

Accessibility is another bonus included, as players who want to just hop into the easiest difficulty and experience the story can do so. Those who want escalating challenges can wipe out the HUD and dive into an unforgiving difficult level. 

While the suite of options and things to do isn't groundbreaking anymore, the fact it's all done so well in a marriage of uber production values within the confines of a truly charming story makes it all notable nonetheless. 

Speedrunning Tips

Ghost of Tsushima won't be a tough game to speedrun—provided players put in the work. 

The work includes mastering all the gameplay systems with some specific focuses. 

Those specific focuses should include things like pouring skill points into Evolving Tactics such as the Standoff Streak, which permits the killing of multiple enemies during a standoff. Thinning out the herd before taking on an entire base will speed things up. Likewise, beefing up the Kunai out of all Ghost Weapons will mean throwing blades that can completely stagger enemies, if not kill them. It's a similar story for the Sticky Bomb. 

In general combat, players can't really go wrong with leveling up one of the two main trees. Some deflections could terrify nearby enemies, while some outright evades can eventually lead to instant kills. The base skill trees are potent enough in the right hands that a speedrunner shouldn't need to waste time on side quests gunning for legendary combat arts and other extracurriculars. 

Otherwise, recommendations won't read too differently from other open-world games. Knowing where to go and spending minimal time between objectives is a must. Horse riding is simple enough in most cases, but fast travel is an option once the player has visited a location. 

As a whole, Ghost of Tsushima is going to be a boon for speedrunners and viewing audiences alike. This is a game that takes a ton of skill to get right when not trying for a speedrun, which means it's especially rewarding for runners. 

Conclusion

Ghost of Tsushima is going to stand the test of time as one of the best bits of storytelling in video games. It has no problem standing alongside heavyweights like The Last of Us Part II and Red Dead Redemption 2 in many areas. 

The world is so engrossing and immersive at every turn that even some shortcomings in gameplay and stealth, merely because we've seen them in other games before, don't register as major red flags. There are some "been here, done that" vibes, too with some of the gameplay elements, and one would think open-world fatigue is a thing. But Ghost of Tsushima is so uniquely wrapped, immersive and enjoyable that what seemed like big concerns before setting hands on it doesn't even come up much while playing. 

As a whole, Ghost of Tsushima is an amazing, fitting sendoff for the PlayStation 4's lifecycle. It's absolutely engrossing and provides further hope for what the next wave of systems will be able to accomplish when it comes to advancing the entire medium.