Ghost of Tsushima

[devpool]

Absolutely fantastic game so far. Fantastic fighting mechanics, absolutely beautiful world, and a nice story so far. Aside from the main story, there are tons of sidequests, specifically a lot tied to secondary characters. Each side character has their own little arc, it's fantastic.

By the end of it this might be up there with Horizon Zero Dawn for me in terms of greatness and enjoyment. It's definitely already well worth $60 and I might be a 3rd of the way through the story 

[opengeo]

Good to know. Thanks and keep us posted. 

[JBENT87]

wow nice in depth review compared to everything else thats out there, which seems to only focus on the visuals. Good to know. 

[devpool]

23 minutes ago, JBENT87 said:

wow nice in depth review compared to everything else thats out there, which seems to only focus on the visuals. Good to know. 

It definitely is not perfect, yet. Stealth is a little wonky, and you aren't able to move or hide bodies so it can be hard to stealth if there are a lot of enemies constantly finding bodies. I think there will be an update to tweak the stealth aspect and make it a little smoother. 

In game progression is amazing as well. There is no leveling so I'm not doing these side quests for better gear or even experience (they offer much smaller XP gains than main story) I do them because they sound interesting and I want to make this guy look like a hero. So unlike the last two assassins creed games this is not a grind, I can just play the game. I think one of my friends has done mostly story and he is progressing at a good rate as well in regard to getting the technique trees filled. 

Here's the IGN review that kind of pushed me over the edge to buy it. I was already like 85% sure I would get it but this solidified it

A funny thing happened to me last night, I was getting ready to clear a camp and I was sneaking up to it and 2 bears came in and started absolutely Fing wrecking everybody in the immediate area. I just sat and watched for a solid minute and they killed most of the little camp lol

[jrsu37]

Samurai Assassin's Creed, but better. Loving it so far.

[Green Dog]

Game is awesome.  Talk about total freedom of exploration and sandbox gameplay with some of the best combat design I've ever seen.

This is me the last 48 hours:

[Green Dog]

omg the combat in this game...

The chained strikes in stand off mode may be the coolest thing ever in a video game.

[Mike030270]

Was going to wait until the PS5 for this

[Machine]

I like this game a lot

[devpool]

On 7/26/2020 at 9:32 AM, Mike030270 said:

Was going to wait until the PS5 for this

The only difference is gonna be graphics, which are still fantastic even on a normal PS4. There is virtually zero load time when fast traveling, saving, etc.

[c_u_in_tampa]

So far so good. My only issue is the lack of camera lock-on while fighting. 

[Green Dog]

I finished this game exactly 1 month after installing the night it released.  This was one of the best games I've ever played.

I'd say I played roughly 2-3 hours a day.  Since I immediately fell in love with the environment, the beauty of the island, just the total experience of walking around, I made the decision I was gonna search and loot 100% of the map, see every little nook and cranny of what they made.  And that's exactly what I did.  Except for the first couple quests, I basically cleared the entire island of the fog of war, and did every single non-quest activity (Fox Dens, Pillars of Honor, etc) before doing the quests in a given area.

Kind of how I play AC games I guess.

By the end, I had over 75k in supplies, had maxed out all my materials many times over (500 is the limit for things like Steel, Iron, Bamboo, etc), had every single outfit, dye, sword kit, vanity gear, obviously unlocked every skillpoint - they set it up that way, you get exactly enough XP to do it.  In fact, I think I was maxed out (Legend of the Ghost) level wise before the final chapter of the game even started.

My preferred setup was the Clan Sakai armor (1st visual skin), dyed black with just a white and black headband (Preservation, I think).  In the middle I liked using the Kensai armor with the Betrayer's Hat (Ryuzo's) - kind of liked the idea a wandering badass.  Though for the like the whole first section before you rescue Lord Shimura, I rocked the starting (broken) Armor.  Just liked the look better than anything else.  I looked at all the sword kits.  Liked some more than others.  But I don't think I ever un-equipped the Sakai blades.  Just didn't feel right.

As for the combat OH MAN I loved the stances.  I THOUGHT I was gonna spend most of the game using the Water stance.  It just worked so much, and that 5 hit Strong attack combo was just so effective.  HOWEVER, about midway through the month they released the Lethal difficulty in a patch, and boy I fully embraced the concept of switching stances PER OPPONENT.  You had to, otherwise you waste any time on even a weakling enemy and he tags you once, you're spending the rest of that fight struggling to keep up.

Anyway, as for the story.  Kind of rambled a little in the middle, but once the 3rd act kicks off, I loved every bit of it.  That northern 3rd of the island was just awesome.  And the bigger set pieces worked.  I freakin LOVED how they ended it.  I won't spoil it but I will say I was pissed at somebody going in, and it didn't change.  Great game, great experience.  Fantastic final send-off for the PS4.  The sooner the PS5 gets here the better, as it means no more gimped ports for the real gamers, the PCMR!

[Green Dog]

 

[devpool]

Old news but there will be multi-player! Not sure what it'll entail but the announcement trailer is cool

 

[Green Dog]

Wow.  Talk about your tonal shifts.

[Dwide Schrude]

This game makes me really mad I bought a XB1 years ago

[Agent23]

6 hours ago, Dwide Schrude said:

This game makes me really mad I bought a XB1 years ago

last of us, last of us 2, uncharted 1-4 + lost legacy, god of war 1-3 + GOW, FF7 remake (the list really goes on and on and on and on) didn't do that already?

[jrsu37]

On 8/25/2020 at 8:58 AM, Agent23 said:

last of us, last of us 2, uncharted 1-4 + lost legacy, god of war 1-3 + GOW, FF7 remake (the list really goes on and on and on and on) didn't do that already?

Seriously...Ghosts isn't even in the same league as the games you mentioned. It's good, but it's no masterpiece. 

[Agent23]

55 minutes ago, jrsu37 said:

Seriously...Ghosts isn't even in the same league as the games you mentioned. It's good, but it's no masterpiece. 

I still love inFAMOUS Second Son from back at launch, but its just not something I am going to go back and play at this point in time and with my backlog of titles. PS got them bangers tho

[Machine]

1 hour ago, jrsu37 said:

Seriously...Ghosts isn't even in the same league as the games you mentioned. It's good, but it's no masterpiece. 

Eh. I would argue ghost is up there when you factor everything in.  

[jrsu37]

19 minutes ago, Machine said:

Eh. I would argue ghost is up there when you factor everything in.  

Do not agree at all, and that's ok. My negatives on the game:

Ghosts got REAL repetitive, really fast. Story and characters were very forgettable, some forced angles in combat were maddening at times, and the water physics.graphics were just...Horrible. Like, low tier PS3. Which was unexpected from Sucker Punch for me. Game was beautiful visually, and the first act and a half were really fun, but it just drug out with too much small, inconsequential stuff to do with minimal, if any, rewards...It's literally an Assassin's Creed game, with a Samurai skin...Which isn't a bad thing, but there is nothing original about it. It was a really good game, but to call it great, or on par with the others mentioned I think is a bit much.

Just MHO.

[Machine]

Graphically terrible? Lol.  

What?

I also thought it absolutely did original things.  The entire UI and navigation system was a breath of fresh air, as well as lack of BS side quests that were pointless fetch quests.

The combat while not unique had enough to keep things interesting.

[jrsu37]

47 minutes ago, Machine said:

Graphically terrible? Lol.  

What?

I also thought it absolutely did original things.  The entire UI and navigation system was a breath of fresh air, as well as lack of BS side quests that were pointless fetch quests.

The combat while not unique had enough to keep things interesting.

THE WATER is graphically terrible, like, last gen bad. Everything else is beautiful.

 

And it's not just me:

 

I mean, it probably stands out more due to how well everything else was done, but still it's quite noticeable. 

[Agent23]

Batman was talking to a rando "fetch quest" cop in Arkham Knight (the one with ghost Joker?) and the water crashing in the ocean behind him in the background looked GREAT. I played that game living in Connecticut. I haven't been in that Dallas state since 2015. TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN!!!! If they had water look that good 5+ years ago then I expect it too look as good as my mans @jrsu37 thinks it should look in 2020. 

 

[jrsu37]

31 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

Batman was talking to a rando "fetch quest" cop in Arkham Knight (the one with ghost Joker?) and the water crashing in the ocean behind him in the background looked GREAT. I played that game living in Connecticut. I haven't been in that Dallas state since 2015. TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN!!!! If they had water look that good 5+ years ago then I expect it too look as good as my mans @jrsu37 thinks it should look in 2020. 

 

I'm just saying it was so stark...The difference in detail between the water, and everything else. My kid even bished about it. "Don't take any screenshots near a coast. The water just ruins it."

It's really a minor gripe, but it's really noticeable.