Ghost of Tsushima review: The PS4’s Breath of the Wild

Ghost of Tsushima is a beautiful samurai adventure filled with marvelous treasures to discover.

As I rode my horse through the sprawling landscape of feudal Japan in Sucker Punch’s new open-world adventure, Ghost of Tsushima, a small red fox caught my attention off to the side of the road.

Immediately, I jumped off to follow the fox, and it led me from its den to a small crack in the wall where I was able to slip through to discover an “Inari shrine.” Honoring this shrine granted me a charm that I would be able to use throughout the remainder of my adventure. It’s little moments like these that make Ghost of Tsushima, such a pleasant experience.

These moments are jam-packed throughout the game’s breathtaking world, which made exploring it so incredibly entertaining. I often found myself stopping to observe the view off of a beautiful cliffside or listen to the sounds of a nearby waterfall. I felt at peace while playing Ghost of Tsushima, which is rare in games of similar nature, where the over-abundance of quests or collectibles can often feel daunting, especially for completionists. That’s not to say Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t have these elements, but the game never felt as if it was forcing in me in one direction or another.

Despite the brutal backdrop of a Kamakura period Japan, invaded by the Mongol empire, the game is at it’s best when you choose to go off the beaten path every so often, to explore and take on side activities. You could relax in a hot spring, practice your poetry by composing haikus or help the dozens of citizens of Tsushima whose lives have been uprooted by the ongoing war.

In Ghost of Tsushima, you play as a Jin, who is a member of an elite group of samurai, tasked with defending his home from the invading Mongols. The odds are immediately stacked against you, which carries through the remainder of the game. Being one of the last warriors on the island, Jin must bend his honorable Samurai code and do whatever it takes to help his people.

The story was gripping enough to keep me engaged throughout and feel the obligation to completely rid Tsushima of the Mongols. The overarching narrative is what drove me to capture every outpost and rescue every peasant from danger. The incentive to fully experience everything Ghost of Tsushima has to offer is something I haven’t felt in a game in a very long time. Even being a die-hard fan of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I never felt the incentive to collect every korok seed or upgrade every piece of armor.

Ghost of Tsushima also touts an impressive combat system, one that is both punishing and satisfying. There are four different stances of combat that you can unlock throughout the game, which are obtained by observing and killing Mongol leaders. Each stance is effective against a different type of enemy, and it becomes imperative that you use the right stance on the right enemy, or you will be at a significant disadvantage.

Thankfully, a katana is not the only weapon at Jin’s disposal. You quickly unlock a bow and a variety of other useful weapons to help you in your battles. I appreciated the freedom to choose to go in swords blazing and fight every soldier head-on or take a more stealthy approach and take them out silently.

More from PlayStation 4

• PS5 Slim Bundle with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or Modern Warfare 3 still on sale
• PlayStation Store Black Friday 2023 sale: Best PS5 deals
• Bungie’s layoffs and Destiny 2’s uncertain future
• Amazon Black Friday 2023: PlayStation Gift Cards on sale
• Walmart Black Friday 2023 sale: PS5 and PS4 game deals

Unfortunately, Ghost of Tsushima is not perfect.  I did experience a few glitches here and there, but nothing game-breaking. The AI is also incredibly lack-luster and often took me out of the experience completely. I could frequently pick off several enemies from the same spot over and over, without them noticing me at all, and partner AI was mostly unhelpful.  For a game that does so much right, I wish Sucker Punch had been able to polish it a bit more before release.

Despite those few hiccups, I fell in love with Ghost of Tsushima. The sense of discovery, beauty, of supporting a noble cause, incentive of completion, and numerous other factors make Ghost of Tsushima one of the best adventure games I have ever played, and I can only hope that Sucker Punch will inevitably make an even better sequel.