Ghost of Tsushima (PS4/PS5)

[Julius]

Think I completely skipped over it looking through the next-gen and expansion details, but there is also an upcoming update for the game coming from Sucker Punch outside of this: new photo mode updates, new accessibility options for controller remapping, option to turn on lock-on during combat, option to hide quiver during gameplay. 

I loved Photo Mode so I'm all for more for that, accessibility options are always a good thing to have, the option of hiding the quiver is neat, but the biggest thing has to be being able to lock-on to enemies during combat.

Looking back at my original thoughts on the game when I played it last year...

On 18/07/2020 at 1:45 AM, Julius said:

But the most egregious thing I've noticed: who on Earth signed off on this game not having a lock-on target for combat? I swear I'm spending just as much time fighting the camera as I am the Mongols. Maybe even more! It's genuinely insane to me that this game doesn't have a lock-on. 

.. it's safe to say that's an update I'll be happy with  (but seriously, can't believe it's taken them a year to finally bring a lock-on)

[drahkon]

Interesting. I thought they'd have this announcement at a possible event soon.
Maybe there won't be an event soon?

Anyways, happy to pick up the PS5 version sometime around Christmas.

[Julius]

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

Interesting. I thought they'd have this announcement at a possible event soon.
Maybe there won't be an event soon?

Yeah, I thought the same, but that was more based on when it seemed like it would be a spin-off in the guise of Miles Morales or Lost Legacy. I think that with it being an expansion of the base game vs its own thing, it's probably best to share that now rather than at the next State of Play. 

I think there has to be one by the end of August, even if it's just one focusing entirely on Kena, because that's something they definitely leaned into for early PS5 marketing (I know it was as E3 briefly, but it wasn't one of the major events, and no stage is going to be as big for that game as a State of Play).

To be honest, I just want to see some more of XVI already, they've taken much longer than I had expected to show us more, at least considering that they told us right after the event in September last year that more news was coming in 2021. I know Endwalker is releasing for XIV in November, and once we learned that was the case I think it all but confirmed XVI wasn't coming out this year, but with that being an MMO I think it's hard to cross any wires when it comes to your potential audience (compared with something like VII Remake). 

I'm holding out hope for one this month, mainly based on Keighley saying during Summer Game Fest that more news would be on the way in the coming weeks for Death Stranding's Director's Cut. 

 

I rambled a bit there, so back to Ghost of Tsushima: is anyone else a bit concerned about the upgrade pricing structure?

I think it's great that we've had a free next-gen upgrade before for GoT, but that next-gen upgrade price if you supported the game at launch seems pretty steep, and I think it feeds a wider concern of mine that next-gen upgrades have been a scattered mess across the AAA board, ranging from free (Final Fantasy VII Remake) to £25 - £30 (for this).

It has me concerned for a potential upgrade to Horizon Zero Dawn, and maybe even more so for something like The Last of Us Part II - I don't even know what else you could do to add more to that game after the most recent update, but considering they've seemingly managed to squeeze more out of Ghost of Tsushima, it wouldn't surprise me; I could see it being bundled with whatever Factions has grown into. 

It was inevitable, obviously, it's just been bizarre. I don't think it's being handled as well - or consistently - as it could be. 

[Ganepark32]

New trailer for the Director's Cut:

Really interested to see where it goes, with it being a female Mongol leader this time by the looks of that.

August is already packed but think I'll most likely grab the upgrade to the PS5 Director's Cut when it launches. The way I see it is that I'm paying more for the Iki Expansion than an upgrade and if it gives me another 10 hours in the game, I'd say that's worth it in my eyes.

[drahkon]

Been playing Ghost of Tushima: Legends for a bit and it's really good.

Only tried Survival which is basically Horde Mode coupled with defending certain areas. If you lose one, the Ghosts have their max HP reduced.
It's a lot of fun, but most of the randos I've been matched with didn't seem to understand how to work as a team. Please, if two areas are under attack don't all come to the one I'm defending  

Will try to get some mates to play this in co-op. Also wanna give the Story mode a go soon.

[Julius]

9.73 million copies sold! 

Absolutely deserved for me, I loved it and Iki Island. It's a long way off but I'll be ready and impatiently waiting for the sequel whenever it arrives 

[Hero-of-Time]

I'd rather have another Infamous game.  

[Ronnie]

Good for them that it did well but I personally really hope they don't make a sequel. If any game makes me see @Glen-i's point about openworld games, it's this one. It bored me to tears.

[Glen-i]

40 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Good for them that it did well but I personally really hope they don't make a sequel. If any game makes me see @Glen-i's point about openworld games, it's this one. It bored me to tears.

I got real confused when I saw the notification that I was mentioned in a thread I've never looked in before!

[drahkon]

11 hours ago, Julius said:

It's a long way off but I'll be ready and impatiently waiting for the sequel whenever it arrives 

Same here. Ghost of Tsushima is an incredible open-world game and I can't wait for the sequel.  

11 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I'd rather have another Infamous game.  

I'd have both GoT and Infamous  

Sadly, the latter will probably never be back  

[Hero-of-Time]

8 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Sadly, the latter will probably never be back  

Given the recent comments from the studio, this does seem to be the case.  

[Sheikah]

Good for them that it did well but I personally really hope they don't make a sequel. If any game makes me see [mention=16048]Glen-i[/mention]'s point about openworld games, it's this one. It bored me to tears.

Completely agree. All style no substance this game, easily one of the most overrated games in years. It was like open world design from 2012.

[Ronnie]

Just now, Sheikah said:

15 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Good for them that it did well but I personally really hope they don't make a sequel. If any game makes me see [mention=16048]Glen-i[/mention]'s point about openworld games, it's this one. It bored me to tears.

Completely agree. All style no substance this game, easily one of the most overrated games in years. It was like open world design from 2012.

Definitely the most over-rated game, possibly ever imo.

For me, if any game sums up some AAA studio's priority of story and world-building over actual gameplay, it's this one. If a sequel is on the way, they need to work on the gameplay so that every mission isn't exactly the same. Almost everything was just 'go here, kill mongols, go here, kill mongols.', every time.

And you can't just introduce the concept of wind pointing the way to your objective and call it a day in the innovation stakes. It was cool at first but at the end of the day it's still just a yellow line directing you to your next cookie cutter objective. Same with the fox dens, there's no gameplay, it's just follow this marker that's moving on screen. Same with the haikus, no gameplay, 

Again, happy for those who enjoyed it, but yeah... 

[Julius]

8 hours ago, drahkon said:

Same here. Ghost of Tsushima is an incredible open-world game and I can't wait for the sequel.  

Well it's nice to know there are two of us  

Edited July 16, 2022 by Julius
Realised what I was responding to has absolutely nothing to do with the thread update

[Ronnie]

58 minutes ago, Julius said:

It's fine if it's not for you, but an extreme statement begs for an extreme response...which I don't have to give. I really don't think it's fair to give such an extreme take and then backtrack it with "Well, I'm happy if you did enjoy it", because the implication of your earlier statement is that those of us that did enjoy it are overrating the game. 

I put 'I personally feel', 'in my opinion' and 'for me' in the space of two posts, making it extremely clear this is all my opinion. My opinion that it's the most over-rated game ever (certainly in the AAA space), because I prioritise gameplay over story-telling. Probably why I enjoy Nintendo games most of all. But that doesn't mean I also can't mention that I'm happy for people who do enjoy it. They're not mutually exclusive. It was a genuine sentiment. 

I don't want to bring down a thread on a game for the people who do enjoy it so I'll leave it there.

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

Well it's nice to know there are two of us  

No idea what you wrote initially, because you edited your post

I kinda wanted to engage more after you posted the sales figures but it didn't take too long for negativity to arrive and derail the conversation, so I didn't bother.

[Sheikah]

No idea what you wrote initially, because you edited your post [emoji14] I kinda wanted to engage more after you posted the sales figures but it didn't take too long for negativity to arrive and derail the conversation, so I didn't bother.

There's really no need to be automatically defensive/dismissive. The fact I'm on Ronnie's side here goes to show this isn't a clear cut case of people just hating on a Sony game for the sake of it. As someone who has played a shit tonne of open world games, this was really disappointing for me.

I appreciate this side discussion happened after sales figures were posted, but in my case this such a weird game that to this day I can't fathom its popularity. It's such an enigma! In my opinion it's really just such a bad game.

[Ronnie]

5 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

but it didn't take too long for negativity to arrive and derail the conversation

Derail the conversation? The thread is about the game, which is what people are discussing. 

Sales figures > potential for a sequel > who does/doesn't want a sequel and why.

[Hero-of-Time]

It's a game I wouldn't mind give another go. Who knows, if there's time before my PS+ subscription runs out I may have a crack at the Directors Cut.

I'm not as down on the game as Sheikah is but for me it just didn't hit the right notes. I think part of it was when I did play it I was going through some personal stuff and my attention wasn't really on the game. Bigger things to deal with and all that. I didn't even buy the game but rather a friend lent me his copy to help take my mind off things.

I've had this happen before where I've not been in the right mindset and therefore not really enjoyed what I've played. Upon replaying these games I've certainly got more out of them.

Some of it may have just been open world fatigue. It's getting harder and harder to want to explore these massive games. One of the reasons why I have yet to play the sequel to Horizon is because I just can't be chewed with running around big, unfamiliar worlds at the moment. Same goes for the newest Assassin's Creed game which looks to be the very definition of a bloated video game.

[Hero-of-Time]

PC version has been announced.

 

 

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

PC version has been announced.

 

Awesome for PC players, loved Ghost of Tsushima. 

So by the time this releases, PC will have had more first-party developed releases (Horizon and this) than the PS5 itself (Part II Remastered, which is almost certainly coming to PC at some point in the near future) for 2024. You've also then obviously got their first day-and-date console/PC release in Helldivers II which is still going strong. 

That's pretty bonkers to think about. Nixxes has been putting in the work and then some with these ports and their support work, damn. 

Edited March 6 by Julius

[Julius]

On 7/15/2022 at 9:38 PM, Julius said:

9.73 million copies sold! 

Absolutely deserved for me, I loved it and Iki Island. It's a long way off but I'll be ready and impatiently waiting for the sequel whenever it arrives 

Per the New York Times, Ghost of Tsushima has now sold over 13 million copies – up a good bit over 3 million copies in the 2 ¼ years since the last sales update! 

Quote

Nate Fox and Jason Connell, creative directors on Ghost of Tsushima, had long envisioned a spiritual successor to the 2020 game, which brought players to the periphery of the Japanese shogunate period, with the Mongol invasion of the country's Tsushima Island in the 1200s. Critics applauded the game's historical accuracy, and the players who bought 13 million copies eagerly speculated about a sequel.

Fantastic stuff. 

 

Just reading back through the thread, forgot the reception to the game on here was a bit mixed, to put it lightly  @Hero-of-Time did you ever end up going back to give it another go? 

[Hero-of-Time]

4 hours ago, Julius said:

 

Just reading back through the thread, forgot the reception to the game on here was a bit mixed, to put it lightly  @Hero-of-Time did you ever end up going back to give it another go? 

Nah. Just auto popped the PS5 platinum and moved on.

[Julius]

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Nah. Just auto popped the PS5 platinum and moved on.