There’s no doubt that the gaming industry as a whole has been sky-rocketing within the past 5-10 years. With games becoming more popularized and complex, VSA wants to highlight games, what they do well, what could be better, and show off the pinnacle of modern games. We want to start off with with a very strong contender, and quite possibly one of the best games to this date: Ghost of Tsushima, or Ghost for short.`

Let’s begin with Ghost’s Art. Ghost has one of the most scenic games within the last 5 years. With beautiful scenery everywhere you go, little to no object clipping, and artwork that doesn’t miss, it’s easy to say that Ghost of Tsushima is easily one of the most gorgeous and most polished games made to date, potentially even rivaling God of War Ragnarök’s graphics.

We can’t talk about the game’s physical art, without talking about the sounds. The sound design in Ghost was phenomenal. With an amazing sound track from fighting enemies, to the simple flow of the breeze, the sounds latched you in and kept you engaged for more. The sound crew at Sucker Punch went all out for the orchestra, voices, and even small stuff like hopping onto different surfaces. Although a few sounds were a little subtle, it is nothing compared to the whole ensemble of the game.

SPOILER WARNING: _{Here on out we talk about details that happen within the game, the games gameplay, and other story based points. If you do not want to be spoiled on what happens, please turn back.}

Ghost of Tsushima is about a young Japanese samurai who does what he has to do to save his entire island from the Mongols. With the Mongols becoming stronger and more dangerous Jin, the samurai in question, has to make a hard decisions like kill his traitorous friend, dawning armor sworn to never put on, and even breaking his honorable samurai code in the name of vengeance. In reality, Ghost of Tsushima has a wonderful story, but there is one main issue. Even if in your gameplay you never do anything dishonorable, and try to be a samurai as much as possible, you still are forced to leave the samurai way and become a ronin. This felt cheap as when I went on my playthroughs, I tried to be a true samurai as much as possible, and still was forced out. I understand it had to be done to tell the story it had to tell, and it still is a phenomenal story with wonderful gameplay, amazing combat that makes you feel like you are earning each kill you make, and (almost) every death you take. The final fight of the game is not the big bad of the game, but actually your own uncle, the Lord of the land. He has a bounty on your head for treason, and the only way is to fight. After you beat him, you are given the choice to kill him to keep his honor, or spare him to not kill your own family. This moment will be cemented into my memories for ages, and makes the game ending feel dramatic and spectacular, whichever you choose.

Once you beat a game nowadays, it’s about New Game +, and Ghost of Tsushima has their own. “New Game +” is where you start the story over again, but keep some gear and equipment to make it easier and more enjoyable, get some stuff you couldn’t and overall just play again. The New Game + is okay, but it’s missing what most New Game + nowadays are missing as well, diversity. The game should feel like the same game, slightly more difficult with a small twist, but it starts off easier since you have some of your old stuff. This would make it feel balanced, bring a challenge and a twist that the gaming community would want so they would keep coming back for seconds and thirds. I think it’s okay and good if you enjoy New Game +, but it definitely should be more challenging.

In terms of challenging, I personally played on Lethal, the hardest difficulty rating of the game. I went through many, many deaths, but each death felt like a skill issue at first. I knew I could master it in time, and I did just that. Later on, with more and more enemies pop up, you’d constantly get cornered or stuck on a game object or wall of some sort. It wasn’t terrible, but when get close to clearing a base, and two brutes and a spearman comes out and corners you and makes you have to redo part, if not all, of the base you were liberating. Overall, the difficulty isn’t terribly hard once you learn the different styles, and the bosses felt challenging yet so rewarding.

In final notes, Ghost of Tsushima is a wonderful game with beautiful graphics, a compelling story, and sounds that keeps you feel emersed in the events going on. You feel the heartache, and the sorrow, rage and joy of Jin, and the difficulty feels challenging with easier game modes to play it on. I would have to give Ghost of Tsushima (2020) a 8.68/10.

Want to Buy Ghost of Tsushima?

^{Here is a direct link to the store page!}

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