I superkicked a man off of a cliff
so busy checking off boxes to fulfill a AAA Gaming Experience™ that it excels at nothing while failing to carve out even the slightest semblance of its own identity. the sequel could end up being a Assassin's Creed -> Assassin's Creed II situation hopefully.
Ghost of Tsushima gets a lot out of polish and iteration on the mechanics of the genre and Sucker Punch's previous games. The core gameplay is fun enough to carry it for most of its runtime, which is more of a compliment from me than it might seem. The options for combat, especially at the start of encounters, are varied and enjoyable. Environmental level design compliments movement and is interesting enough to explore. The main issue is the writing, which is unoriginal in most respects.
I'm a sucker for open world games and this is a great one. The story is interesting and I really care about Jin's journey. The supporting cast is much better than usual and thankfully gets some real screen time too. The world is a joy to explore and the audio is absurdly good.
It is not an exaggeration to say that this is by far one of my favourite games. I love the setting, I love the combat system, and I love the stealth system. Especially the stealth system is what gives a big draw to this game for me. My only gripe is that the photo mode is basically useless.
