Sucker Punch, producer of titles like Sly Cooper and more recently Infamous, brings us a new game completely outside the context of what it has released so far.
Undoubtedly they took a risk but as far as my humble opinion is concerned, the risk was worth it, Ghost of Tshushima is a game that captivates us from the start with its gleaming graphics and above all breathtaking landscapes and full of color, from an era and time of a feudal Japan obviously linked to the time of the Samurai that fascinate everyone.
Well, very briefly and without spoiling the main historical content of the game, this is an adventure in open-world on the island of Tshushima, which throws us right from the start for times of war with the imminent Mongol invasion of the island.
The game in terms of exploration brings us about everything, from objects and lore to familiarize ourselves with geography and culture, both Japanese and Mongolian, which above all rewards us for the "lost" time we spent exploring and trying to find certain places.
From shrines to visit and pray to evolve certain attributes, to spas where we can heal and increase our lives permanently, we are undoubtedly thrown for many hours of exploration without even touching the main point that is history. What also makes us more involved in this part of exploration is undoubtedly side-quests, random situations on the extensive map, such as rescue situations or simply a patrol that goes on the road, which throws us into an approaching situation, or not. Throughout the game, by exploring and completing missions and other tasks, we gain points that we can use in the development of our character, this will allow us to gain better attack and defense against the various types of enemies that appear, and will allow learning new ways of fighting and using new weapons against it.
As for our character, it is not customizable or its background, since it is related to the story, which in my opinion is the best, since it conveys a greater realism and attachment to Jin Sakai, our character's name, a samurai who is the nephew of Lord Shimura, leader of Tshushima island, how much the rest of the game allows us to do everything, from changing the color of the katana and its sheath to the different uniforms we pick up in the course of it, to hats and bandanas that we can equip, we have a range of things that we can modify and customize to our own way.
Speaking now of one of the most important topics, the combat system, this one undoubtedly has flaws but I think that in general it does not disappoint, it is somehow challenging, we can have several combat approaches, like that of a shadow assassin, or going from facing the enemy, as the samurai code dictates, with honor, or killing from a long distance with the bow, but whatever our approach the game will eventually throw us into a face to face fight, at that point everything is based in defense and in parries to enemy attacks, but mainly in the choice of the most appropriate style to fight against a certain enemy, having said this it is necessary to bear in mind the different types of enemies and our best style to quickly and effectively defeat them.
Finally, what transports us and takes us to the end of this journey through feudal Japan is undoubtedly the soundtrack and the sounds that are here wonderfully replicated.
Ghost of Tshushima is undoubtedly a game that I recommend, especially to anyone who has a huge fascination and admiration for this culture for this historical period of feudal Japan.