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Let's All Freak Out In The [Ghost of Tsushima] Thread

ChanceChance Registered User regular
edited July 2020 in Games and Technology
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Why aren't you freaking out about this? Sucker Punch, who gave us the awesome Sly and inFamous 1 and 2 and First Light, and the pretty-good Sly 3 and inFamous: Second Son, have spent nearly all of the PS4 gen working on... (drumroll please)... an open-world Samurai game! And not just another double-A Way of the Samurai or cartoon weirdness like Metal Gear Rising or Samurai Gunn - this thing's taking itself way serious, and is looking triple-A from tip to tail.

Let's watch its Japanese-language trailer that compresses a lot of its awesome into a bite-size chunk. And you might be like "whaaa they've already recorded a Japanese voice track for it?" But I'mma' blow your mind when I tell you that before you swing a sword in the game, you'll be able to choose between English VAs and no subs, or Japanese VAs with subtitles!

https://youtu.be/ZvF_dv5-aRI

Mm! That reminds me of Samurai movies, the same way Red Dead Redemption did an amazing job of capturing the spaghetti western vibe. You can actually play the entire game in grainy black-and-white. Sucker Punch went to the Estate of Akira Kurosawa, talked to them about getting the look right, and got their approval to call it "Kurosawa mode."

Care for the first eight minutes of sweet-ass gameplay they showed off? This footage is 2 years old, but demonstrates how mobile our dude is, with his grapples and his jumps, and it shows off how many leaf-particles the game can push mid-duel.

https://youtu.be/kSAvzeopPC8

A recent post over at the PlayStation Blog indicates the game will have over 40 different biomes - forests, mountains, snow, beaches, swamps - and there are "hundreds" of points of interest to discover. If you look at the horizon in the start of this video, you'll notice a bunch of black smoke plumes in the distance, and a bunch of pale white smoke plumes. I believe the dark plumes are enemy camps, and the white ones are neutral/side story stuff.

Buzz on Twitter from insiders is that this game has the best side quests since Witcher 3, but I'm a bit thrown that I can't seem to find evidence of a journalist going hands-on with it. TloU2's review embargo was like a full week ahead of its release, and for GoT, it's only 3.

Personally, I have to admit I don't care and I've already preloaded it. Ghost of Tsushima is a colossal open-world triple-A Samurai simulator, made by one of my favorite devs in the west. I have sunk hundreds of hours into Sucker Punch games, over the years. Fingers crossed this is an inFamous 2 and not a Second Son.

Here's 18 minutes of pure gameplay, demonstrating how foxes will lead you to shrines in the forests, and how you can approach combat as a noble samurai or the stealthy Ghost!

https://youtu.be/Ur0pQblaZcE

Personally, I'm freaking out about this. If you are too, post about it here and let us lament the lack of gameplay impressions together.

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'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
Chance on
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    -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Monochrome Kurosawa mode.

    Game of the fucking decade.

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    The Zombie PenguinThe Zombie Penguin Eternal Hungry Corpse Registered User regular
    I can only hope this comes to pc, as it looks amazing

    Ideas hate it when you anthropomorphize them
    Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
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    Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    So at what point do the giant robots show up? Dragons? Catgirls? Annoying anime tropes? Magic? Steampunk? Surely at least demons, Eastern or Western.

    You can't do just a straight samurai setting... can you?

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    metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    It definitely has fantastical/spiritual elements, and it is distinctly an ahistorical mishmash set upon a fictional amalgamation of Japan's various biomes.

    And you are the demon, in human form.

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    KoopahTroopahKoopahTroopah The koopas, the troopas. Philadelphia, PARegistered User regular
    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

    So excited for this game that I forgot that I already pre-ordered it. Stoked to play it!

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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    metaghost wrote: »
    It definitely has fantastical/spiritual elements, and it is distinctly an ahistorical mishmash set upon a fictional amalgamation of Japan's various biomes.

    And you are the demon, in human form.

    The most supernatural thing that's been shown is a bird leading the player to a point if interest, and a fox leading them to a shrine. No sorcery or magic or oni, from what I've seen.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    El FantasticoEl Fantastico Toronto, ONRegistered User regular
    They went out of their way to show the monochrome presentation style, but deep down, I wish more devs had fun with things and would allow a B reel of cutscene dialog like the PS2 Tenchu game had.

    Seriously though, I had no big interest in this when it was revealed at E3 a couple of years ago and it got pre-ordered shortly after the 23 minute deep look video got released.

    I am excited.

    PSN: TheArcadeBear
    Steam: TheArcadeBear

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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    I still dunno if I'm gonna do subs or dubs.

    Probably dub just because the script was probably originally written in English. For some reason that makes sense to me.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    I spent some time last night going back over other trailers and there are some very good ones. The Story Trailer and The Ghost trailer both had gameplay that I don't think the other trailers had.

    The 時代劇映画風 trailer, though, is hands-down my favorite.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    Genuinely curious how the swordfighting compares to Sekiro. Sekiro was going for a more aggressive thing, but the Posture and deathblow system did a pretty good job of getting players to learn enemy techniques. And enemy styles really matter and are super-distinct once you get to paying attention to them.

    This seems to have more of a move/countermove setup, where countering correctly is extremely damaging or even outright lethal. Not much gameplay footage, though, so it's hard to get a feel for what is going on with the combat.

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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Yep. And it's not like Sucker Punch are old hands at swordplay. After Sekiro's deliciousness - and how badly Jedi Fallen Order tried and failed to mimic it - I'm kinda' worried about that aspect of it. But it shore looks purdy.

    Edit: I will say that stances is a thing. During gameplay, Jin will switch to like a high stance to deal with a guy with a big weapon, or a low stance to deal with a certain type of enemy, et cetera. I'm kinda' worried about that aspect of it, tbh, because the only game with a stance system that I really enjoyed was the Shaolin guy in Virtua Fighter.

    I frickin' hated Ni'oh's system. So yeah. A point of concern.

    Chance on
    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    In NIOH I just learned to incorporate a stance change in combos without having to memorize whether I pressed R1+Triangle first; just became fluid after that. Also, I don't see JFO mimicking SEKIRO at all beyond having a parry system in place (games were developed at the same time). As for GOT, I am cautiously optimistic (we'll know tomorrow). SONY has a pretty good track record with their first party affairs and they seem to have long gone all in with GOT which means someone at the top likes the game. The other games that got this kind of attention have all done pretty well (well maybe not The Order, but I never played that; I think the lowest rated first party game I've played was DAYS GONE and that one was pretty damn fun).

    At not to dump a wall of text and bail: here's the "Japanese movie" trailer -

    https://youtu.be/ZvF_dv5-aRI

    ED! on
    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    The combat from the gameplay I've seen looks very much like more traditional Japanese swordplay. Pick your stance, watch for an opening and strike, or wait for an attack and counter with your own strike.

    it doesn't look as fluid and gamey as something like Nioh or Sekiro, but as someone who used to to Kendo until he got bum knees, it looks like they're getting close to the feel of how they actually fought.

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    FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    I'll be honest, it reminds me a lot of Assassin's creed, but with its own aesthetic. I do not think that is a negative.

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    cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Anyone else a little concerned that this game is just three days away and we don't have reviews yet? The review embargo for The Last of Us 2 lifted June 12, and the game hit June 19.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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    metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Anyone else a little concerned that this game is just three days away and we don't have reviews yet? The review embargo for The Last of Us 2 lifted June 12, and the game hit June 19.

    Reviews drop today and all pre-review blather has been extremely positive, minus concerns about cultural appropriation and the like.

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    H0b0manH0b0man Registered User regular
    Embargo lifts at 10 eastern which is in under an hour

    FFXIV: Agran Trask
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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    44 minutes.

    I am FREAKING OUT

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Anyone else a little concerned that this game is just three days away and we don't have reviews yet? The review embargo for The Last of Us 2 lifted June 12, and the game hit June 19.

    Sony has let embargoes go up a week ahead of Spider Man, God of War, Last of Us 2 and Horizon - the 2 days def says to me they're less confident in Tsushima...

    But perhaps worth noting - I absolutely loved Days Gone lol.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Chance wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Anyone else a little concerned that this game is just three days away and we don't have reviews yet? The review embargo for The Last of Us 2 lifted June 12, and the game hit June 19.

    Sony has let embargoes go up a week ahead of Spider Man, God of War, Last of Us 2 and Horizon - the 2 days def says to me they're less confident in Tsushima...

    But perhaps worth noting - I absolutely loved Days Gone lol.

    That one got a 71 on Metacritic, so some expectation lowering may be in order.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    I know that's what I'm sayin' lol.

    But again, I suspect if this thing turns out to be a 70, I'll still love it.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    TEN MINUTES AAAAAAAAAAAA

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ReznikReznik Registered User regular
    9 from IGN.

    I don't know if that's worth anything but after getting burned by FF7R I'm definitely waiting on reviews before getting too excited about any games.

    Do... Re.... Mi... Ti... La...
    Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
    Forget it...
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    cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Polygon says it's beautiful and stylish, but the combat is extremely similar to other games and it feels like an open-world Ubisoft game full of icons that continually drag you to the next point of interest rather than have you stumble onto them yourself.

    A bit disappointing, but sounds great if you want to really immerse yourself in a cool setting (like me).
    Reznik wrote: »
    9 from IGN.

    I don't know if that's worth anything but after getting burned by FF7R I'm definitely waiting on reviews before getting too excited about any games.

    Tell me about it. I'm still gunshy after every reviewer drooled over FF15 but I ran into annoying flaw after annoying flaw leading to a wet fart of an endgame.

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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    ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    Just listened to FightinCowboy do a review on youtube and its his hands down game of the year, which he previously believed Nioh 2 was going to be. Says the only thing that he can compare it to that comes close is Witcher 3, which he played into the ground.

    His only criticism is that eventually when you clear out bases, that doing this is going to become monotonous as such things always do in open world games, you're going to see a base, know what to do, clear it out, and then go on with your day.

    EDIT: That's an odd criticism for Polygon to make seeing as how the game specifically does not use map icons and instead uses animals out in the world that you have to come across that will then point you in the general direction of things.

    Viskod on
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    It's MIGHTY on Open Critic but the devil is in the details. I'm seeing that combat isn't as technical as some of the gameplay trailers suggested it might be, a few people writing the story off and one describing the overworld as kind of lifeless.

    I'm absolutely playing this but I hope those are just contrarians.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    ReznikReznik Registered User regular
    The AC comparisons seem to be coming up a lot which is making me a bit reluctant because I'm so damn bored by that whole series. But the style and the showdown combat is really tempting. I think this is probably the closest thing that could satisfy my need for a new Bushido Blade.

    Do... Re.... Mi... Ti... La...
    Do... Re... Mi... So... Fa.... Do... Re.... Do...
    Forget it...
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    cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    ED! wrote: »
    It's MIGHTY on Open Critic but the devil is in the details. I'm seeing that combat isn't as technical as some of the gameplay trailers suggested it might be, a few people writing the story off and one describing the overworld as kind of lifeless.

    I'm absolutely playing this but I hope those are just contrarians.

    That's Kotaku's take. The reviewer implied the first time you find a shrine or an area that lets you compose a haiku is cool, but the 47th time isn't.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
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    El FantasticoEl Fantastico Toronto, ONRegistered User regular
    edited July 2020
    I don't understand combat criticism.

    To compare apples to apples for Sucker Punch, Infamous gave you various ways of dealing with enemies in the form of different powers. You could snipe. You could grenade. You could rocket launcher. You could go semi-automatic. You can punch. Combat did feel good in Infamous because of the variety of ways you could beat up mans.

    I'm to understand that GoT gives you a very direct samurai approach full of iai strikes and precision cuts, or you can be sneaky and use smoke bombs, kunai and stealth. There might not be as much variety as Infamous had, but it seems like you have some choices.

    It really isn't like say, Rocksteady's Batman games where engaging face-to-face meant mostly mashing a button to rack up combos and occasionally a timed press to counter the mook attacking you from behind, and yet, people praise the hell out of it (to be fair, it did have a really good weighty feel).

    Do reviewers expect the wheel to be reinvented every time an action game drops?

    El Fantastico on
    PSN: TheArcadeBear
    Steam: TheArcadeBear

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    ChanceChance Registered User regular
    1 - every time I load IGN on my phone, the site loads, I see the review for a second and the page crashes. Wtf.

    2 - read Eurogamer, Kotaku and Destructoid - STILL HYPED.

    'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    To SUCKER PUNCH's credit, I don't know of any game where the "take over this. . ." type of missions don't get old after awhile. Even the TW3, after awhile, I stopped doing the monster hunts in favor of the narrative.

    In terms of combat, yeah it does feel odd some of the complaints. I'm personally glad it's not SEKIRO based and more BATMAN; though Easy Allies does say that if you go the alternate stealth route the game gets a bit easy - which it should I think.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    milk ducksmilk ducks High Mucky Muck Big Tits TownRegistered User regular
    My body is ready.

    I've rewatched Yojimbo / Sanjuro just to help set the mood.

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    PhillisherePhillishere Registered User regular
    Sucker Punch has always had great combat systems and decent storytelling layered over a formulaic and repetitive open world. In the inFamous games, especially, the open worlds were more stages for combat than settings meant to be explored on their own merit.

    Which is okay. I'm down for an old-school, super-polished Sony original open world-fest.

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    ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    The game also has multiple sword stances and you have to switch stances to more effectively counter different enemy types.

    Skill Up's review on youtube is like 25 minutes and they absolutely loved it. He even said he's not a big fan of open world type games and is getting tired of them, but since Ghost doesn't have any kind of level gating or requirements to do its main story mission, you can just bee line the main story and dabble in as much open world as you want to.

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    OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    I’m kind of in the middle of playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the poster child for “game that is absolutely massive and chock full of The Same Things To Do” and I’m for whatever reason super excited to play this

    The reviews are tempering my expectations some (and my expectations for the narrative part were always pretty low) but so far the only thing I’ve heard that is well and truly egregious is that there are instant-fail stealth sections

    In the year of our lord, 2020, how did that make it into a game with this budget

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    PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
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    ViskodViskod Registered User regular
    I'm still listening to it and he specifically notes about the exploration
    "Its NOT all about map markers in Ghosts of Tsushima, its NOT all about following icons on your screen. It's about genuinely exploring, and genuinely discovering things and I just found that really refreshing in a genre that has become way way too dependent on the UI to move things forward."

    Talking about how a golden bird may swoop into view in his screen and he could choose to follow that bird and it would lead him to something, or he could just ignore it and do whatever he wanted. It really is about just exploring in the open world and not looking at a map, finding a marker, and setting a waypoint for everything.

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    ED!ED! Registered User regular
    ACO, as much as I loved that game (particularly on PC with everything turned up), the territory system I just gave up on after awhile. The more unique stuff (finding all the beasts for example) were more interesting. Clearing out bandit camps though did feel fun when trying different ways of getting it done and I'm hoping this is more of that in GOT.

    "Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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    GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    edited July 2020
    GONG-00 on
    Black lives matter.
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    metaghostmetaghost An intriguing odor A delicate touchRegistered User regular
    Sucker Punch has always had great combat systems and decent storytelling layered over a formulaic and repetitive open world. In the inFamous games, especially, the open worlds were more stages for combat than settings meant to be explored on their own merit.

    Which is okay. I'm down for an old-school, super-polished Sony original open world-fest.

    Certainly some criticisms at work here are that the world design/aesthetics merit exploration for the sake of taking in new vistas, but that the developers are not confident enough to let that be true, and instead badger you with wind swells and bird calls to tell you "here's a new doodad, and over here's an upgrade!"

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