Alright, so this is the portion of the list where I start to bend the rules a little bit. Technically speaking this was a game that came out in 2020. I’ll cop to that. But hey, this is our podcast, and we get to make the rules when it comes to a best of list.
To be fair, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut isn’t the only such release to come out on the PlayStation 5 this year- indeed it was followed not too far after by Death Stranding’s Director’s Cut (another fantastic game). What this new version of Ghost added however were some large quality of life improvements, including this incredible world rendered in 4k with that buttery smooth 60fps just humming away on the PS5. Also, they chucked in a whole fucking new island to explore so there’s that as well.
Ghost of Tsushima has never looked better. A game that I discussed in lengthy fashion last summer, this new version hit at exactly the right time for me. As an open-world game it has its obvious flaws. It’s a bit repetitive, the camera during combat sequences is more often than not a bit unwieldy, it’s not particularly culturally sensitive to a unique period in Japanese history, and it tells a story that for all of its drama, seems to fall more than a bit flat compared to some of the other huge AAA titles of the last few years. But there is just something so addictive to spending time in this world. It’s difficult to entirely describe the feeling that you get when you crest a hill and see a verdant valley of green, mixed with some of the most beautiful flower pedals you’ve ever seen blowing in the wind. This game is truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, and just walking around Tsushima Island stirs a feeling of peace and tranquility that it’s difficult to believe that a video game can bring to a person.
This is not to say that Ghost of Tsushima is a peaceful romp ala a Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing…. Quite the opposite in fact. This is an island that is under siege, with the invading Mongolian army just waiting for you around every turn. The combat in this game, in conjunction with its setting I believe is what truly sells you on this game. It’s SO much fun to master the various stances in this game, combine your heavy attacks with quick slashes of Jin Sakai’s katana, and just let rip a torrent of combos that will leave most small patrols of Mongolians you encounter dead within seconds. Then of course we have the standoffs, where the camera pans out, the game devs try their best impersonation of classic Samurai films and you face off with a Mongolian one-on-one. Flinch at just the wrong moment and you’re dead instantly. Get it right and you can mow down an entire company of your enemy without even giving them a chance to strike back. Nailing a standoff streak, no matter how many times in the game you execute it, is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had from any video game in recent memory.
Ghost’s story is potentially the only real area where this game falters (looking at you Haikus). Listen, it’s probably not a controversial take that most “stories” in games are kind of crap if we’re being honest. If you put your Read Dead Redemptions and Last of Us’s aside, most game writing is mediocre at best, and potentially offensive at worst. That’s kind of where Ghost of Tsushima falls. On its own it’s a decent enough and serviceable story that serves a purpose- it drives the plot forward. It gives Jin Sakai a reason to make the decisions that he does. The acting, animations and everything are more than adequate, but that’s all that it ever really amounts to. Adequate. This is not to say that it ruins the game for me in any way, you can see just how highly I’ve placed it on my list. I’ve played through this game twice now in the past 12 months, and as I look over my shoulder at the deluge of sleet and freezing rain outside of my window, I am strongly getting the urge to fire it up once again. I don’t ever think I can tire of Ghost of Tsushima’s world, no matter how much of this game winds up feeling so similar. It isn’t a complicated gameplay loop, but it’s a loop that you’ll enjoy repeating.
With so many open-world games in the past few years that have proliferated gamer’s time, Ghost of Tsushima gets right something very important about games- it’s fun to play. I’ve said many times on the podcast that I think Read Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece and there is a strong argument to be made that it’s potentially the best- made video game of all time. But if you were to ask me if I have fun while I’m playing it, I struggle to fully articulate my answer. I don’t have to with Ghost. Maybe that’s why it still occupies such a big space in my mind, and I can’t help but smile when I think about this game. Hell, it might just be time to fire the PS5 up and dive in again, that snow is really starting to pile up outside!
