Games
We tackle what could be fixed in the very, very excellent Ghost of Tsushima, assuming now this is a forever IP in Sony's exclusives camp. What could be changed to make it even better?
Look, Ghost of Tsushima is awesome. It ticks A LOT of boxes, and slices a few more. But some of those feel like Sony checklist KPI-driven boxes, and it has its biggest issues in some of its most important aspects by way of combat and a certain ‘camera-person’ apparently asleep on the job during the most important moments. It also has issues around structure and exploration.
Visual disparity and identity crisis loom large, and its world is both alive and dead, at once. And yet, still harder truths lie in wait -- is the game-world’s beauty (and the land of Tsushima is stunning) a mask for broken loops; a systemically borked AI and mission structure? And why, when lanterns, candles and fires exist across the islands, can I not light a simple torch? Why? Also, that golden bird needs to stop squawking at me, I know there’s something *over there*. It's the direction I was headed in. The visual POI is calling me, I don’t need you pulling me along as well. And oh, hey merchant bloke, there’s a damn flower right next to you! Stop robbing me dry of mine!
These questions and more infiltrate the gaming mind like so many invading Mongols with a game of this much promise, and leave us asking: “what can be done to right this (or these) wrongs?”
Seriously though, we’re not afraid of the feedback coming our way, so out of the gate: Ghost of Tsushima is amazing. Please make a mental note of that. It has all the hallmarks of a longstanding IP and speaks to so many of us still waiting on that Assassin’s Creed Ronin joint we know we want; Ubisoft knows we want, yet still doesn’t exist. But it’s also very much its own game, and that’s important here, because like Horizon: Zero Dawn before it, another game we weren’t afraid to call out for pitfalls, it has room for improvement. And hey, we wouldn’t even be making these suggestions if the game wasn’t important enough to us anyway, right?
Aziz, Light!
There’s some conversation around which TVs and monitors display Ghost of Tsushima better. Samsung owners appear to be the hardest hit, and the problem seems to lay within the PS4 Pro’s internal HDR settings which override any auto-detect settings from your TV or monitor. Moreover, blacks are ‘crushed’ against one another, washing out entire areas of the game (mainly interiors) due to the game’s natural light-sources. So, if you’ve walked into a homestead or an inn and had to analogue-stick ‘feel’ your way around it, you’re not alone, and you’ve done nothing wrong.
TV settings aside and the idea moving forward that no other games will only use a console’s internal HDR management, a simple fix here would have been to give the player a torch. There’s fire everywhere (you even light some with your own flint), and it seems ridiculous we wouldn't be able to pull up some sort of lighting device for dark spaces, ignoring the technical issues entirely. Contextually, it just makes sense, but compounded by modern technology not playing nice, it also turns out it’s a requirement for enjoyment. Our heart also breaks for all the artists who worked on detailing interiors no one can really see in such an open game with an historical lean.
A torch option next time please, Sucker Punch.
Rock, Paper, Scissors -- Rock Flies Right Through Paper, Nothing Beats Rock
Ghost of Tsushima is a long exercise. Like, reflecting in a hot spring on the days you played in the water as a child with friends, while your Mother and Lady Masako drank tea together, long. To this end, it takes the game a *long* time to allow for fluid combat to unsheathe itself. And, initially, the affair is a basic rock, paper, scissors one. This sets up a false set of tactics and doesn’t allow for a more fluid, running water-like approach to how this will eventually play out. Still, having entirely unblockable or parryable strikes in your direction is ridiculous. This is equally net negative because the game’s camera -- which we’ll get to in a minute -- is borked during the most heated part of the game, but luscious when out of stance.
The fix here is basic, as you skill up, have AI track your progress and adjust accordingly, and not in sponge-form. Rather in tactical formation and ‘who goes first’ levels (as discovered in the game’s second act). Match their skill to yours but allow for you to consider stances in a non-binary fashion -- a two-button press mid-fight to adjust between a shield-bearer and a brute is cumbersome and ruins flow. How you map this is your job, because you’re the creators, but as it stan(ce)ds, it’s not the best system out there, but more importantly it’s in detriment to the overall approach to the game as a samurai of skill, warranted respect and of the mind “knowledge is power” -- ie, always learning.
And while we’re on AI, open up their borders. I mean, the enemy is a conquering type anyway, right? The fact I can game their active distance to my approach is alarming; just run to their contact zone border, watch them resume position, with damage still in effect, then game them back out. Shooting fish in a barrel has never been more apt an expression than how this plays out in Ghost.
Pick a Lane, Sucker Punch
We’ve already mentioned the game’s length, but what’s problematic amidst its brilliant, brilliant story, and the options available to you, is it’s all very confusing from an approach standpoint. The game is called “Ghost of Tsushima”, you learn the ways of a thief, but you’re effectively becoming a ninja. However, your uncle does not approve of that approach and Khotun Khan uses it as a cerebral way to get into his head and berate you for, you know, saving his life.
All good from a story perspective, but it made this particular writer/player approach the game on, for lack of a better description, a sword’s edge: did I want to be stealthy but disrespectful to samurai culture and the teachings of my father and uncle? Or did I want to Standoff with every single enemy in the game (taking into account the aforementioned issues with combat, and the upcoming mentions of poor camera work)? To what degree does this brilliant, brilliant (again) story dictate my own actions as a player and, importantly, does it reflect at all in said story’s outcome?
That I’m even questioning any of the above is the point, because at the end of the day, it sort of doesn’t have an impact but the game’s narrative *makes* you consider this. It’s not a bad thing, historically speaking where storytelling is concerned, but it is when it affects how you approach the game from an interactive perspective. Just… let me play my way, Sucker Punch. And don’t scold me for hiding in the tall grass you created.
Lights, Camera… Boom in the Shot?
It’s been mentioned, but we need to talk about *that* camera. In the world, it’s a bit slow but that’s not really an issue. In combat, however, boy do we have a problem. I’ve lost full-on boss battles because of a piece of bamboo blocking the visual of evade versus parry. And it happens all the time. Our forever ‘go to’ is the Batman: Arkham series’ camera system, which pans out just enough to make sure you’re able to track the action around you and use the environment accordingly. It wouldn’t be needed in like-for-like fashion here but some of its brilliance wouldn’t go astray, either. And even the most ardent of Sony elitists can recognise ‘no game’ here.
So, how could it be fixed?
First, pan back, a bit. Second, either feature a soft lock-on system, or a hard player-activated one with the ability to switch targets. The way the game manages target switching as it stands is actually very good, so not much needs to change there, but consideration needs to be taken for those of us who enjoy swapping stance for the ultimate combat experience. And this couldn’t be more important now that there’s a harder mode available as part of the game’s most recent update.
Additionally, the camera needs to be able to factor in the environment. The number of times a Standoff had a rogue horse, enemy, tree or building in the way was simply too much. The Standoff is designed to at least eliminate two random enemies up front if you pull it off properly, and if not being able to do that is the game’s fault, then that’s just bad design. Sorry.
Let Jin Rest, Eat and Sleep, Damnit - Alert: Spoilers ahead
One of the game’s other issues is in the contextualisation of time, exhaustion and ‘need versus reality’. It’s a videogame, I get that. But, when a game uses starvation as a carrot (sorry) for missions and world-building, but the character we’re playing as has no need for even a Snickers, you build a disconnect. Now, factoring in the darkness mentioned earlier, and the lack of any ability to forward time in the game, yet having entire missions structured around such things, causes fractures.
We’re not suggesting Lord Sakai needs to play full-on Prepper here, but if one of the game’s key characters is drafted in the Baddie camp because he’s hungry, and we’ve failed to find food for him and his mates, but go for seeming weeks on end without even nibbling on some rice ourselves… well, it just doesn’t add up. We find hot springs and reflect, but they’re empty stations (yeah, you get some extra health, but…). So, they’re cool, but they’re also redundant. Even just being able to Fast Travel to one, get in the nud and think about oranges AND LET TIME PASS would have been helpful.
Now, on food. Let’s consider the game’s ecology, which is also empty (a bit of theme here). There are deer, birds and more, but outside of an annoying canary, they mean nothing. You can gain from pigs, dogs and bears, but that economy also feels false. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the full world ecology had its own systems and, without any input from you, functioned by itself. In Ghost of Tsushima, this side of the game is effectively smoke and mirrors. Which is odd, because Sucker Punch has embraced Japanese storytelling and culture to the nines, but cooking and eating has been forgotten, despite Japan being a place of food *everything*. Just look at other games that focus on cooking from the Land of the Rising Sun: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Yakuza, Final Fantasy etc. And we see people fishing and empty camps with fires still burning… it doesn’t take much to put two and two together, gang.
The East Face
If one area of Ghost of Tsushima annoyed me most (combat camera aside), it’s in the game’s climbable surfaces. Why? Well, for one, getting down off them is a task, using them feels superfluous and in the world, they seem scattered haphazardly without purpose.
Hear me out…
Games need hooks. They need things you understand and things that serve purpose. Getting a heart in a game to level up your overall HP, no matter where that heart is hidden; trees, under houses, inside rocks... it’s all par for the course. In Ghost of Tsushima, we’re sold the idea of an open-world, but we’re served infractional moments of what that means. Specifically in this instance is the option to climb, or descend. So far, in more than 100 hours of play, we’ve found more use for climbing down than up, and not even in a fun way. We’ve spent 90% of the game on foot as we did with The Witcher 3, but parts of Ghost’s world just feel rushed, for lack of a better way to put it.
IF less than half of your climbing options, highlighted by colour-coded ledges more at home in a procedurally-generated world, lead to gain, then what is the point? Assassin’s Creed wins here hands down because you know what you can and can’t climb, but also the reason behind it is clear -- escape, movement, gain or discovery.
In any future instalments, either remove it, or make it more meaningful. Honestly, it’s not a hard ask, nor are we waxing anti, because the game-world should be physically scalable, just choose a better way to represent it.
Gaming the Gamification of Gaming
While we’re at all of it, Sucker Punch, don’t scold me for going off mission -- I’ve got flowers to pick! But really, the game does itself an exploration disservice; don’t create so beautiful a game-world and make me Johnny Cash a line. What adds to this is seeing penned-in AI having to tow themselves into routine, but routine I can game (or cheese).
To be clear, there’s more than a number of moments where I’ve found an AI boundary, as mentioned earlier where, despite any level of difficulty, I can chip away at the baddy and get on with it, without being hit. It’s not a bad thing, I mean I too swam underneath the battleships in Super Mario Bros. 3, but here it negates difficulty entirely. We’ve all ‘gamed’ a broken system before, but when we’re absorbing so much grief for hiding in the shadows and using Kunai at every post, you kind of start questioning design inaccuracies and decisions. In fact, being able to do this at all negates the sheer concept of growth and learning in the game’s skill and upgrade system:
Sheathed, I see a way
An enemy trapped in time
My blade waits for code
The fix here isn’t hard -- I’ve watched a Mongol run beyond his box for over 15 minutes out of sheer terror until I did him through. Make combat more dynamic and confronting from a systems and tactical perspective, especially if you’re arming us with tools to truly feel like a Sanjuro or Yojimbo badass.
/End
We can't reiterate enough: Ghost of Tsushima is incredible. It is a refreshing entry in the open-world space, and one we're more than happy to now chalk up as mainstay. Like, as long as they keep making them, we WILL be playing. But as with any new foray into new worlds, oversights and mistakes happen -- it's how we learn. So please consider this a loving nudge to Sucker Punch to just, you know, fix a few bits here and a few bobs there.
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