Ghost of Tsushima

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

 

Makers of Infamous? Sold.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

It looks visually stunning.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Holy shit, officially hyped.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

This is probably the only game I'm hyped about out this years E3. God the game looks beautiful.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

This does look very impressive. I like the angles, lighting, atmosphere, character design. I hope they show how the controls actually handle. It'd be a shame if its just a button masher. If there is some skill involved in getting those kill hits, it'd be pretty amazing.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

From the jarring janky walking animation, I'd say it requires some skill to parry and strike. It looks like there is some sort of stance system similar to For Honor, but not quite as complex as needing to be in the right guard to defend. Seeing as this is a product from the inFAMOUS devs, I expect to be an OP character that is vulnerable to getting hit. That was the interesting thing about inFAMOUS in how the protagonist was so powerful and could kill people with ease, but if you got hit, you'd die pretty fast from very little damage compared to other games of the genre. The hud was hidden for this demo, so it will be interesting to see how that multiple take down system works when he drops into the shrine.  Since you don't have super powers, it will be interesting to see what the upgrade system will consist of, whether it be move sets, armor, or other abilities and enhancements to those like the multi-takedown. Will we get a bow like the NPC, or are these NPCs with us all the time like a Mass Effect party system where we can upgrade them? I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

LOL, this is the only trailer I've ever seen where the gameplay part of the footage makes the cinematic stuff look like trash.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Yep, you can just go ahead and take my money because I'm completely on board for this.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

 

Holy shit this keeps looking more incredible with every trailer!

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Gah, I'm seriously thinking of dropping the $170 for the Collector's Edition just for the fucking mask it comes with (the game as well but that mask is awesome, will have to do some serious thinking this weekend about dropping that money). Plus I'm totally getting Tenchu vibes from this and I am so on board with that.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I put in for the week off for this. This looks amazing... and the little detail with the detection meter to actually know how close you are to being spotted is just outstanding to me.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

The graphics are amazing. The combat looks crazy.. but I'm guessing all the enemies have a small amount of hit points, or its just that they're keeping with some realism that a sword will slice the shit out of people and kill them pretty quickly. lol. 

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I'm trying to understand the mechanic of the meter at the bottom. It looks like a type of stamina meter.

I doubt there is a small amount of hit points, and its the latter. I dunno if you've ever played the inFAMOUS games, but Sucker Punch has generally had the theme where you're super OP on offense, but incredibly weak on defense. So if I had to guess, they kept with that and while you hit hard, so do the enemies and they can kill you just as easily if you aren't at least a little methodical. During the samurai game play, it looked like you could parry and land a one hit kill, but some of the enemies he didn't and had to hit them 2-3 times. It looks like they had a guard meter he broke before landing the kill. I'll assume taking more time kill someone while surrounded will be risky.

Like in all the inFAMOUS games you had crazy OP powers that could one/two shot any normal enemies in the world, but all it would take would be a a few people with guns to take you out in 3-5 shots. You had to use the cover and dodge system, you couldn't just button mash and go in full charge. It was an interesting balance of satisfying offensive power, but keeping you honest when facing tough encounters.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I trust this more than I do the reviews which seem to be mostly positive but mixed.

TL;DW

Pros: Fun combat, Beautiful environment, Do anything anywhere (for the most part) and play anyway you want. Enemies don't get more HP as you go deeper into the game to negate your skill and strength increase, but they will kill you faster if you're not careful. Basically typical what SP has done with inFAMOUS in terms of combat. Kill fast, die fast. Don't be reckless.

Cons: No lock on system occasionally causing you to attack the wrong enemy while in a stance that was meant for another, side quest repetition after about 30 hours.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I seriously can't wait until Friday. Hell I'm even considering calling in just so I can get more time with this (upside is I am off all weekend). Well that or just not sleeping at all and playing it until I go into work (this is one of the few times I've pre-ordered a digital copy, it's been sitting on my PS4 pre-installed since last week and taunting me daily).

I had to laugh when Yong said it does Assassin's Creed better than Assassin's Creed Can't wait to see if there's truth in that statement since I'm pretty much going to be going full Ghost mode for this (I love Samurai and everything but you don't shoot off Tenchu vibes like this and not expect me to play it like a Ninja).

Edited July 15, 2020 by Strider Hiryu

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Yeah I'm def going full ghost. From someone that slaughters everyone loud and proud in MGS games, this game actually makes assassinations look fun. I have 80 hours of vacation I need to burn and I just haven't been able to without good conscience since the whole madness with COVID. Now that its died down I'm taking the week off for this.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I watched Yong's review and damn thats a solid review. If I had the cash to justify another game purchase I'd buy this today. 

On 7/14/2020 at 8:24 PM, Strider Hiryu said:

(I love Samurai and everything but you don't shoot off Tenchu vibes like this and not expect me to play it like a Ninja).

While watching Yong's review I completely had flash backs of Tenchu during the assassin segments.  Assassin play looks amazingly fun.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I played the opening last night, took a few encampments, and did the first few parts of the main story. The combat is simple and fun. Since I don't have any stances yet, I must dodge and parry before attacking, I may beable to get an opening strike kill on the first guy in a group. After that you'll just get killed recklessly massing heavy and light attack. Shield bearers will strike twice and then you must break their guard with heavy strikes followed by a killing blow with the regular attack. Standard enemies without shields can be instakilled outside of a standoff if you time your held down heavy attack right. Spear carriers cannot be blocked and you must parry their attacks. They go down fast, but they hurt if you get hit. And the brute I encountered is like a spear enemy but he swings his massive weapon 3 times before you can strike him. He doesn't go down quite as easily.

I did my first camp infiltration as a "ghost" and it was pretty fun. You press the touch pad to get enhanced hearing. This will spot every enemy within range through walls. You move much slower in this mode but you can toggle it seamlessly. Since it was the intro to assassinations, I'm sure it was much easier than it will be later down the road. None of the enemies were really crossing paths to where they could see a dead body yet.

I'm not sure the extent to how punishing dying is yet. I died once when I got too confident at the first encampment. I took down several grunts, a brute that kicked my ass because I hadn't grasped his 3 strike attack pattern yet, and then I killed the leader only to get taken out by a grunt that was still around. It made me do the whole encampment again. But I did it with easy the second time since I knew what to look for. I got my first few talent points and I'm going to invest in the blocking tree where I can auto block arrows by holding down the guard button. That seems to be pretty important to my play style. I don't need the dodge roll just yet since the standard parry seems to be very good as is.

[slippers 3,168]

sold out lol. i didnt pre-order. 

it seems like you cant just randomly kill peasants 😕 well at least theres looting and hunting. thats what i spent majority of time on rdr2

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Ok. This game checks all my boxes. It's not brutally difficult on the normal setting. It requires some strategy and patience, but overall the combat is simple, satisfying, and just fun. Its about as casual as a Zelda game but with different mechanics that aren't really comparable. I'm fully into the ghost style play now. I just got the longbow with explosive arrows, and a few new armor sets. Smoke Bomb is my favorite quickfire since I have the assassination tree maxed. If I ever screw up in get caught I can just pop smoke and initiate chain assassinations to thin out big groups surrounding me.

The duels are visually stunning. I've done The Heavenly Strike and The Curse of Uchitsune so far and the imagery SP was able to pull off in this game is almost next gen worthy.

Also f*ck all the reviews that bashed the story. I'm loving this story so far. Its def an old school samurai tail with eastern influences when it comes to story telling.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I have to agree with DX, this game is checking all my boxes as well. Combat isn't difficult but can be extremely punishing if you fuck up (thank you spear gang bangs, you fuckers can die in a fire. Most of my deaths I can attribute to getting surrounded by 3-4 spear dudes all attacking as soon as I start laying into one). Luckily once you learn attack patterns and the right timing to parry attacks it's a cake walk. Not entirely to hip on the changing combat stances in combat as it's kind of clunky but I do enjoy how each has advantages over certain enemy types (I really love the attack patterns of basic Wind Stance, that kick at the end is so satisfying to watch connect on a spear enemy). I really enjoy sneaking around and sniping people with my half-bow or fucking with people by killing someone in the open and hiding and systematically knocking people out one by one. When Yong said it does Assassin's Creed better then Assassin's Creed he wasn't kidding (and I haven't even gotten into playing with Ghost Stance yet). Stealth in this game is extremely fun and isn't tedious at all (just wish you could assassinate Mongol leaders instead of critically damaging them, not that they're hard to kill it'd just speed up the liberating process).

I'm honestly not that far into it. I've put maybe 15-18 hours in but most of that has been wandering the visually stunning island doing side shit (like side tales, mythic tales (man were those duels stunning and difficult at the same time (this was before I mastered parrying attacks, got fucked up multiple times in both duels), liberating areas, and hunting down all those Sword Kits/Inari Shrines/Shinto Shrines/etc) and overall just fucking around (I've only done 4-5 actual story quests that's how much I'm just enjoying running around being a sneaky samurai). There's just to much shit to get side tracked on, really fucking with my gamer ADHD (so many shinies >.<).

I can't honestly comment on the story yet since, as I noted, I'm not that far but what little I've seen has been really good. I'm liking the whole dichotomy of watching Jin struggle between being a Samurai and becoming the Ghost, how he's rationalizing it is extremely interesting and I can't wait to see how it all plays out (sadly I already know how the game ends, damn my curiosity, but that's not deterring my enjoyment of the story so far).

Quite honestly this is by far one of the best games I've played in a long time and if it wasn't for Cyberpunk coming out this year would probably be my game of the year even though I've only put 15-18 hours into it. It's been a long time (since Nier actually) that I've really enjoyed playing a game this much (I'm enjoying it so much I'm going through withdrawals when I can't play it). SP really outdid themselves with this game.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

The story may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I get that, but to say its dull is just crazy. Yes its full of grim sorrow, but the emotion is heavy and real. The voice acting is phenomenal and the music is as beautiful as the visuals. Even the side quests and minor quests have depth for story to the point I forget its not the main story. Some of the missions manage to be action packed while being a cinematic show piece A Message in Fire and Ghost in the Smoke probably my favorite missions so far. Both drastically different from each other.

The combat hasn't gotten stale to me. Once you take the first castle. The enemies are stronger and fight differently. They do have more HP but its quickly negated once you get certain armor and upgrade your katana more. The enemies from the first section of the island stay the same and you'll see them around, they die even faster when you're stronger. They also throw in a new faction of enemies that fight much more skillfully.

But yeah, fuck spear guys. I've unlocked Heavenly Strike and Dance of Wrath. I spam it on those guys now because the newer ones have excellent guard, and stagger ability. To give you an idea how tough they are. Later you get a weapon with a certain ability to make enemies turn on each other temporarily. I've used it on several types but the spear guys are the best choice. I watched as one spear guy took out 2 brutes, a shield guy, and an archer before he was taken down by another spear guy. They are also the only ones I've observed take down bears and not get ragdolled everywhere until they die.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

 

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I beat this today. This is hands down the best game Sucker Punch has made, and falls just below God of War and Breath of the Wild on my favorite first party games this gen. I will say it did get incredibly easy at the end once I had all the skills maxed out and the best charms. Rarely did I ever have to fight head on. By the time you get to Act III  spear guys are annoying AF even more so. The only way to hit them is to parry, ghost weapon or do the shoulder ram and kill them. You'll never hit them straight up, and if they hit you it'll take 95% of your HP at the maximum. I'm sure its possible, to fight 100% honorably outside of the few times the game makes you otherwise in main quest lines.. but fuck that. Anyone that's not a masochist will resort to some sort of tactics... especially when the Act III Mongols are all fully armored, including the head. Headshots will the bow require a smaller window and they have to be facing towards you.

Act II was my favorite. It has all the watershed moments and turning points.  The ending was satisfying, even if the final two showdowns were the easiest. In the end I'd say my favorite NPCs were Kenji and Norio. My favorite side quest lines were Ryuzo's, Norio's, and Sensei Ishikawa's.

 

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I would assume if you actually max out your stance trees you'd probably have no to little trouble taking on Mongols in Act III (I'm just assuming, I'm basic bitch on all 4 of the trees). It pretty much seems if you want to be honorable you need to max out both Samurai trees and all 4 Stance trees. Then again it seems pretty set in stone that Jin isn't an honorable Samurai anymore no matter how you play him based on his actions (as I said I know how it ends I just haven't seen it yet). Well that and maxing out your stand off kill streak and making use of the fully upgraded Sakai Clan Armor (5 max kills in stand off with it on when it's fully upgraded).

Meh, I've pretty much resorted to smoke bombing now anytime spear guys are around if I'm out of kunai (my favorite ghost weapons, so cheap and instant stagger) so I can just chain assassinate three people at a time (had to use this very liberally when taking Castle Kaneda). That or I thin out there numbers with my bow but if they're fully armored in Act III I will have to adjust my strategy.

I finally made it into Act II yesterday but did nothing more then the beginning quest. Must say I really am liking the story but I can already tell which choice I'm going to make at the end when it comes to a certain duel (I'm sorry but I really don't like how Jin is being treated just because he's doing what he must just to save his people and his home). I love how I spent and hour yesterday looking for the last 6 points to liberate in the first part only to have them highlight and become available after I beat Act I, pissed me the fuck off knowing I didn't have to go through all that if they were going for a story/reason to go back tie in. Next time I get on I'll probably focus on finishing those before I continue forward (mostly because I know there are a few secrets I missed, I must find all those hot springs and fox dens).