I don’t think the gameplay will be anything like Sekiro. Might be a little Nioh-ish, I don’t really know. Probably not as much emphasis on weapon stances etc. But yeah, supposed to be open world, which initially made me not interested, but damn it looks cool as hell.
Like @lordkosc said - streamers and folks playing it early are comparing it more to The Witcher 3, at least in terms of side quest and writing quality, which is a good sign imo. Also the fact there are side quests is neat. The open world stuff is supposed really rewarding for exploration, and rather than map markers you use things like the wind, animals such as foxes and birds, to guide you to locations of interest. Actual exploration, not checklists off map icons.
Also I believe in addition to more open world it’s also a bit more grounded, don’t think you are fighting any monsters in this. Supernatural stuff I think is more along the lines of what you get in Red Dead.
Game’s out on the 17th but the review embargo ends on the 14th, so you’ll have 3 days to decide if you wanna take the plunge.
Review embargo is over. Going just by the various headlines the consensus so far seems to be “likeable but familiar”.
That’s my take away as well. It still seems like a game I want to pick up at some point and play, I really have plenty on my gaming plate right now anyway, but for now I spent my money on Magic cards instead of this. :)
I wonder what the impressions are going to be, and for people who played Days Gone and this, which will they prefer.
I am waiting for 60fps PS5 modes for both though (and TLOU2).
I wonder if “Press X to haiku” will be the new “Press Y to pay respects”
Which review is that from? Googling that got me nothing.
Eurogamer. It’s technically an image caption, so it might not show up if only the body copy is indexed.
Thanks. I often find negative reviews more helpful than positive ones, although it’s hard to take a writer seriously who deploys unironically a phrase like, “the great problem of the human condition”.
I wouldn’t call it a negative review really. It’s a solid 6/7 if Eurogamer still did scores. It’s down on the narrative and on the open world structure, but positive about the combat and at least the technical and/or superficial side of the graphic design. Less so about the stealth.
Guess I can downgrade this to playing eventually, not immediately.
As a counterpoint the Ars Technica review is pretty glowing and has sold me on the game.
GoT 's launch version only includes lip syncing for the English script.
This seems like a very odd decision.
I mean, it’s understandable. It’s lame, but it’s cheap.
For a game that seems to pride itself very much on immersion and is set in a specific place at a specific time, I don’t think I see it as understandable, especially when this is a big first-party blockbuster sendoff to a generation, apparently? I think I mentioned over in the Metro: Exodus thread that when I tried it on Gamepass I loaded it up and noticed that the lip synching seemed to work for every language I tried (English, Japanese, Russian), which I found very impressive. Now, of course, that wasn’t to the same fidelity, not at all, and I guess I get why they chose English over Japanese (probably most of their customers will play it in English), but they only had to do two! It does seem cheap, when they don’t seem to have gone “cheap” with the visuals at all.
Polygon:
With its quasi-historical setting and its open world filled with activities and upgrades, comparisons to the Assassin’s Creed games are inevitable, so let’s not beat around the bush: Ghost of Tsushima is extremely reminiscent of many entries in the Ubisoft action franchise and other, similar open-world games, both in terms of its combat and its structure. If you like maps with a lot of icons on them offering up things to do, you’re going to be very happy with this game.
The best open-world adventures of recent years do something that sets their gameplay apart so they can rise above the crowd and hopefully mature the genre. Sucker Punch never found anything in the gameplay itself that would allow Ghost of Tsushima to similarly stand apart, and that’s its largest failing. It feels like a game that’s destined to go on sale, and then perhaps be seen as a slight cult classic as more and more people discover that its derivative play is hiding some serious charm in its visual design and some impressive environmental work.
Ghost of Tsushima has a distinctive aesthetic, after all, but it’s only skin-deep. The core game underneath that alluring exterior is a pastiche of open-world game design standards from five years ago; it lacks a real personality of its own. Ghost of Tsushima offers a lovely world to explore, and there’s value in that, but it should have been so much more than a checklist of activities to accomplish.
Don’t worry, we’re getting all-new gaming experiences with next gen consoles!
Anyway, this game was never a sure thing, and a familiar game to play when it’s on sale isn’t the worst thing ever.
There are tons of 9+ scores for this game on Open Critic. Looking forward to playing this weekend.