MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
You have no idea how many times I restarted because I mistimed the dance of wrath on those runs. He'd be left with a tiny bit of health, or it would kill him on the first or second strike.
And that just wasn't good enough for me. You will die in a way that pleases me!
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited August 2020
So the end of Norios tale really threw me for a loop.
Holy shit dude. Also it’s amazing watching someone else’s utter chaos for once.
Also the whole “I learned this from watching you!!!”
ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
edited August 2020
Turned the difficulty down to normal last night at the boss fight for heavenly strike. The bats or whatever made a bunch of his moves hard as hell to see and his damage was too high. That sword butt move is buuuuuuullshit
So the end of Norios tale really threw me for a loop.
Holy shit dude. Also it’s amazing watching someone else’s utter chaos for once.
Also the whole “I learned this from watching you!!!”
For some reason Norio's tragedy felt the hardest for me.
It's interesting because their relationship slightly echoes Jin and his Uncle. Norio does not mourn the loss of his purity of faith when he kind of falls from grace - it's Jin who's horrified by the change in his friend, just as Shimura is horrified by the change in Jin.
Like Jin, Norio sticks to his own sense of the right thing to do, and is willing to sacrifice the most tender and beautiful parts of himself in the name of his view of justice.
Chance on
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
I am closing in on the end of the game and while I knew going in that this game would not interrogate the idea of the samurai or landed nobility/the caste system much at all, it really feels like it wants to
Like, the whole first half off Masako's and Ishikawa's questlines
for Masako I was waiting for the turn, and it feels like they originally intended there to be one! But then all of a sudden they were like "naw can't make her or her family wrong in any way" and it leads to this total lack of ambiguity that feels at odds with the writing from before, where they were pretty clearly leading to "yeah she had all these excuses for what her family did, and you believed every one, why did you believe her and not us, maybe think about that"
I'm gonna finish Ishikawa's questline next but that also feels like someone had that whole thing planned out (Ishikawa had a fling with this chick and then attacked her when she wanted to leave) but then they decided last minute "naw can't make him a privileged asshole" and they're going to undercut their own story again
Honestly if the end of the main narrative doesn't end with Jin walking away from his life and literally leaving Tsushima to become a ronin I don't know what they're doing because that is everything they've been building up to for the whole game. Whole scenes have been devoted to foreshadowing that idea!!
I am closing in on the end of the game and while I knew going in that this game would not interrogate the idea of the samurai or landed nobility/the caste system much at all, it really feels like it wants to
Like, the whole first half off Masako's and Ishikawa's questlines
for Masako I was waiting for the turn, and it feels like they originally intended there to be one! But then all of a sudden they were like "naw can't make her or her family wrong in any way" and it leads to this total lack of ambiguity that feels at odds with the writing from before, where they were pretty clearly leading to "yeah she had all these excuses for what her family did, and you believed every one, why did you believe her and not us, maybe think about that"
I'm gonna finish Ishikawa's questline next but that also feels like someone had that whole thing planned out (Ishikawa had a fling with this chick and then attacked her when she wanted to leave) but then they decided last minute "naw can't make him a privileged asshole" and they're going to undercut their own story again
Honestly if the end of the main narrative doesn't end with Jin walking away from his life and literally leaving Tsushima to become a ronin I don't know what they're doing because that is everything they've been building up to for the whole game. Whole scenes have been devoted to foreshadowing that idea!!
To me it was less about the caste system - though it touched on it - than it was about perceptions of good and bad, and how your core values will serve you when put to the ultimate test (war).
Norio's core value - protect the innocent - which drives him to take part in war, is corrupted by the competing value that revenge is sacred.
Masako's core value - family above all - is also tied in to "revenge is sacred." Her story loops back around to where it does to show that she planted the seeds of her own destruction with a well-meaning hand. It's super-devastating.
Ishikawa's is basically arrogance - my way or the highway - same with Shimura. He says it himself, about his younger self - that he didn't listen to other people or care about their feelings, and was arrogant. And he never changed. We never learn why Tomoe first went in with some assassins - but given that Jin has been assassinating people all game, that's hard to be down on her for. Maybe she really was just trying to stay alive during the war, and she herself didn't really do all the war crimes..?
For me the point of both Arrogance stories (Shimura, Ishikawa) is that such surety, such certainty of your own righteousness always leads to suffering in others, and a disregard for their pain in the face of your own clarity. In both examples, the Arrogant's inability to bend even the slightest ensures that while they are hardy, they will break when the time comes.
Finally we have Protect The Innocent - Jin, Yuna and ultimately Shinji.
Yuna does not have Jin's baggage of arrogance, but she shares his and Masako's devotion to family, and though she'd never admit it, helping others.
As the need to help others forces Jin to bend his previously-held beliefs and become less honorable (in his Uncle's eyes), Yuna and Shinji bend in the opposite direction. In the example of Yuna, she repeatedly risks or sacrifices of herself to help others, despite it being against her professed plans.
So when the test of this war came for each, some bent into their own destruction (Norio, Masako), some refuse to bend and will break (Ishikawa, Shimura), and some will bend without ever forgetting what matters, and stay true to themselves (Jin, Yuna, Shinji).
Edit: But I do wonder if that's giving it too much credit. I do feel this game does a great job of tying every side quest into either the samurai's (specifically your Uncle's) history of oppression in Tsushima or the war's current devastating toll - it's very focused, and mindful to stay on-topic - but at the same time it doesn't often feel like it's ever making an overt statement about any of it, beyond "what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity."
Tbh I spent the whole game hoping you'd find out (FINAL FINAL FIGHT SPOILERS)
The bandits that killed your father were hired by Shimura - it was an assassination, a tool he himself would of course use, just never openly.
But that would make the final confrontation with him far too black and white, and not enough "you fucking raised me and I don't want to kill you."
Chance on
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
No game has ever made me stop playing for a second, just to say to myself, "goddamn this is gorgeous" like this one.
Technical mastery in perfect synchronization with art direction to frequently make my jaw drop
PSN: ImRyanBurgundy
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
Yeah this game is a collection of handcrafted scenery intended to amaze.
They didn't even give a damn about actual seasons, there's plants and flowers growing out of season, or at the same time when they bloom at different times of the year.
They chased nothing but beauty, and to damn with anything else. It's great.
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I was sure that The Last of Us Part 2 was Sony's farewell love letter to the PS4. The facial animations and body language are quite literally the best I have ever seen. But holy shit is this game gorgeous to look at. The scene where you ride into the field of grass and then the name and developer appear on screen was fucking incredible.
Gamertag: KL Retribution
PSN:Furlion
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
I was sure that The Last of Us Part 2 was Sony's farewell love letter to the PS4. The facial animations and body language are quite literally the best I have ever seen. But holy shit is this game gorgeous to look at. The scene where you ride into the field of grass and then the name and developer appear on screen was fucking incredible.
I dunno if its scripted but when that happened he did the thing where he leans over from his horse and runs his hand through the grass and that's when I fell in love with the game.
Which is unusual because I'd hardly killed anyone yet! I normally fall in love with the combat.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
I was sure that The Last of Us Part 2 was Sony's farewell love letter to the PS4. The facial animations and body language are quite literally the best I have ever seen. But holy shit is this game gorgeous to look at. The scene where you ride into the field of grass and then the name and developer appear on screen was fucking incredible.
I dunno if its scripted but when that happened he did the thing where he leans over from his horse and runs his hand through the grass and that's when I fell in love with the game.
Which is unusual because I'd hardly killed anyone yet! I normally fall in love with the combat.
Yeah that sold me real hard. Seeing a developer care enough to put that kind of small but meaningful stuff in a game makes it much easier for me to get invested.
Gamertag: KL Retribution
PSN:Furlion
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Andy JoeWe claim the land for the highlord!The AdirondacksRegistered Userregular
I haven't even finished Act I and already I think if I were ever walking around outside and heard someone yell "Dhao sho!" I would reflexively try to murder them.
I haven't even finished Act I and already I think if I were ever walking around outside and heard someone yell "Dhao sho!" I would reflexively try to murder them.
Credits rolled on Lethal last night.
Platinum Trophy unlocked this morning.
Some thoughts on the whole experience:
Tsushima island is, frankly, jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I know this gets brought up every other page, but I can't praise the graphics / art direction highly enough. Everything from the sway of the living world, to the combat animations, to the vibrant color palette, etc are just absolutely spot on. Outside of maybe Shadow of the Colossus, I can't think of any other game ever, that's made me stop to just take in the beauty of the environment as often as Ghost of Tsushima has. I didn't know that graphics like this were even possible in this console generation, and the fact that loading times are as quick as they are (whether we're talking fast-travel, or respawns after death) is, as far as I'm concerned, literally the work of black magic.
I was also consistently impressed with how natural and fluid movement through the open world felt. I appreciate that my horse will gently alter course to avoid head-on collision with a tree as we're passing through difficult terrain, because that's what a horse would do, and because I'm so sick of open-world games having my mount ram head-first into obstacles and throwing me forty feet forward constantly when I'm just trying to get from Point A to Point B. Platforming also never felt like much of a chore, because the game assists a little with some of the tighter jumps. For example, leaping off of a roof onto a rope could have potentially been a massive pain in the ass, but the game's really forgiving about it, which makes traversal feel really smooth most of the time.
Being an open-world, Tsushima is full of collectibles, but I was happily surprised to find that I didn't need to collect every Mongol Artifact or Singing Crickets to unlock every Achievement, and that praying at various Shinto Shrines, and especially composing haiku, felt really immersive. These are things I wanted to do, because I enjoyed them, rather than being things I felt repeatedly forced to do (Riddler Trophies, for example). But I'd be lying if they didn't all feel pretty stale by the end, though. I enjoyed maybe the first 6 or 7 haiku, the first dozen or so Inari Shrines, the first X number of Bamboo Strikes, etc. But then they kind of lost their magic. The same can be said of other things in the game, like Stand Offs; this was a mechanic I absolutely loved at first, I mean I'm here for that shit, but by the end of the game they really did end up feeling like something I'd done a million times and now I'm only doing it to get my Resolve back after a tough fight I'd had down the road or something.
Stances could be a bit better balanced, as far as I'm concerned. Stone Stance is pretty standard, and gets used the most frequently. And Water Stance feels overpowered, even against enemies it isn't intended to be used against. Wind Stance is gimmicky, and immediately renders Spear-fighters into non-threats, but is otherwise pretty useless. And then Moon Stance, unlocked at the very end ... is pretty trash. It looks flashy as hell, but the heavy special attack isn't super viable (you can still be damaged during the spin, meaning it basically just kills you on Lethal half the time), and the stance itself is meant to be used against Brutes, of which, there are very few compared to other enemy types. Lots of big guys with Shields, sure, but those are dealt with in Water Stance. It's basically just the big exploding tetsubo guys that you'd even bother swapping to Moon Stance for, and how often do those show up? Almost never.
And as much as I enjoyed the look and the feeling of the open world of Tsushima island, it wasn't long (Act II?) before I realized there was actually nothing out there to find. Sure, there's Iron, and Supplies, and occasionally things of a collectible nature (hats, masks, etc), but nothing I'd categorize as truly worthwhile: I'm talking special cutscenes, optional bosses, hidden techniques, etc. I absolutely loved spending time on Tsushima (and I'm gearing up to start all over again on Kurosawa Mode), but a lot of the magic and sense of adventure fell away from the world once I realized there wasn't actually anything out there.
I didn't have many technical problems with the game, but there were occasional frame pop-ins (textures appearing white briefly as they loaded, which can be distracting because collectibles also flash white like that), and I did frequently find that I wasn't doing things in the order the game wanted me to do them. For example, multiple times I would be guided toward a Quest location, but I'd see a Watchtower up on the horizon and I'd think, "Before, I grab this next quest, I'm gonna go light that Watchtower." So I'd go do that, then go pick up the Quest, which would ask me to go to that same Lighthouse and, wouldn't you know it, now it's unlit, and the area's crawling with Mongols again. Or, just this morning as I was finishing up the last few Tales I needed for Platinum, a quest wanted me to search a town for clues, so I found some blood on the ground ... found some dead bodies piled up in a house ... found another body in a cauldron, etc and wasn't able to click on any of it. None of this shit counts as clues? Turns out, the game wanted me to go talk to a guy on the outskirts of town, who then told me he saw some suspicious shit further up the road, and he led me to the exact same clues I'd already found. And now I could click on all of it. That kind of shit pisses me off.
Overall, though? Absolutely loved Ghost of Tsushima, and I can't wait to start it all over again on Kurosawa mode.
Sucker Punch didn't sand down the rough edges, and I mean that as a compliment.
Seriously, I love it... I'm having a conversation with a guy I saved while a not-quite-dead-yet mongol crawls between us. The discussion ends and I basically downstab him while not breaking eye contact with the peasant I saved. Is he happy, scared shitless, who knows?!
I don't like that the perks behind the Traveler's gear is tied to the Traveler's gear. It leads to awkward switching between fighting through an encampment in one set of clothes, then changing to find all the collectibles afterwards. The extra winds and vibrate on proximity should have been technique points
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MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited August 2020
Big guys with shields can be stunned with moon stance. Its more effective than water since itll stunlock them and still breaks their guard. Its also faster.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
I don't like that the perks behind the Traveler's gear is tied to the Traveler's gear. It leads to awkward switching between fighting through an encampment in one set of clothes, then changing to find all the collectibles afterwards. The extra winds and vibrate on proximity should have been technique points
I can understand they want meaningful benefits tied to outfits but I have to say I found switching between them a problem for reasons like this
Also because there’s so much cool fashion in this game that I couldn’t decide, but mostly the former
I don't like that the perks behind the Traveler's gear is tied to the Traveler's gear. It leads to awkward switching between fighting through an encampment in one set of clothes, then changing to find all the collectibles afterwards. The extra winds and vibrate on proximity should have been technique points
I can understand they want meaningful benefits tied to outfits but I have to say I found switching between them a problem for reasons like this
Also because there’s so much cool fashion in this game that I couldn’t decide, but mostly the former
Yeah switching gear and such when the gear is purely based on combat is fine because most of the time the game allows you opportunities to scout and get a feel for what kind of situation you're heading into, so it's just basic battle prep. But the Traveler's stuff doesn't really do that, it's your 'so you're not fighting right now? Use this' which just meant that you were encouraged to swap it out everytime you WERE fighting which just became tedious
Started the second playthrough. I've only just passed the epilogue, but already loving Kurosawa mode. Dramatically changes the tone of the presentation. I tried to get a shot of Jin and Shimura sparring with wooden swords beneath that nice tree in the combat tutorial flashback, but wasn't able to get exactly what I wanted. I'll likely start another game here soon to get the shot I want, because I definitely think it's in there somewhere; you just don't get a lot of time in that tutorial to really play around with angles.
I change outfits all the time, typically just to better immerse myself in the story. For example, when I'm doing sidequests with Lady Masako, I wear Samurai Clan Armor with the Adachi colors, or throughout most of Act II, it felt thematically appropriate to wear the Sakai Clan Armor. Throughout much of Act III, I wore whatever looked the warmest.
No game has ever made me stop playing for a second, just to say to myself, "goddamn this is gorgeous" like this one.
Technical mastery in perfect synchronization with art direction to frequently make my jaw drop
A lot of games have done that to me - where I'm constantly, repeatedly agog at it.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (kind of a deep cut - anyone remember?)
Dragon's Crown
The Last of Us 2, to be fair
But none of those had me stopping as often as this. You kind of grow accustomed to it, it a lot of games. In ITSP I remember each time I took a break, walked away and came back to the game I'd be momentarily-surprised by how gorgeous it was, but not as often in the playing.
Same with TloU2 - you kind of develop a tolerance for it, as you play. Like a drug. Ghost of Tsushima's presentation is the rare drug that gets you as high as it did the first time, every time, no matter how much you smoked earlier today.
And I can never take a screenshot that looks as good as those moments feel.
I was sure that The Last of Us Part 2 was Sony's farewell love letter to the PS4. The facial animations and body language are quite literally the best I have ever seen. But holy shit is this game gorgeous to look at. The scene where you ride into the field of grass and then the name and developer appear on screen was fucking incredible.
I dunno if its scripted but when that happened he did the thing where he leans over from his horse and runs his hand through the grass and that's when I fell in love with the game.
Which is unusual because I'd hardly killed anyone yet! I normally fall in love with the combat.
It's scripted and it's contextual.
Jin's ride through the pampas grass in the opening cards of the game? Scripted. You regain control just after he touches the grass.
Elsewhere in the game, though, Jin will do it if you're riding through grass at the right speed or if you're just walking at a comfortable pace. If you're not running through the grass, I've had Jin reach out and let it tickle along his palm I've strolled up to the next group of Mongols I'm going to kill.
A wonderful little touch.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
For most of Act I, the outfit I primarily used while playing was a polo and slacks but now that I’m deep into Act II it’s usually just boxers.
Omfg it took me 12 hours to actually read the second paragraph you sneaky minx.
Dress shirt and black jeans.
Always.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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Andy JoeWe claim the land for the highlord!The AdirondacksRegistered Userregular
Finished Act I. Apparently clearing out the castle made all the remaining Mongol-controlled areas appear on the map, which will make cleanup a lot easier.
Posts
And that just wasn't good enough for me. You will die in a way that pleases me!
Also the whole “I learned this from watching you!!!”
For some reason Norio's tragedy felt the hardest for me.
Like Jin, Norio sticks to his own sense of the right thing to do, and is willing to sacrifice the most tender and beautiful parts of himself in the name of his view of justice.
Like, the whole first half off Masako's and Ishikawa's questlines
I'm gonna finish Ishikawa's questline next but that also feels like someone had that whole thing planned out (Ishikawa had a fling with this chick and then attacked her when she wanted to leave) but then they decided last minute "naw can't make him a privileged asshole" and they're going to undercut their own story again
Honestly if the end of the main narrative doesn't end with Jin walking away from his life and literally leaving Tsushima to become a ronin I don't know what they're doing because that is everything they've been building up to for the whole game. Whole scenes have been devoted to foreshadowing that idea!!
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
To me it was less about the caste system - though it touched on it - than it was about perceptions of good and bad, and how your core values will serve you when put to the ultimate test (war).
Masako's core value - family above all - is also tied in to "revenge is sacred." Her story loops back around to where it does to show that she planted the seeds of her own destruction with a well-meaning hand. It's super-devastating.
Ishikawa's is basically arrogance - my way or the highway - same with Shimura. He says it himself, about his younger self - that he didn't listen to other people or care about their feelings, and was arrogant. And he never changed. We never learn why Tomoe first went in with some assassins - but given that Jin has been assassinating people all game, that's hard to be down on her for. Maybe she really was just trying to stay alive during the war, and she herself didn't really do all the war crimes..?
For me the point of both Arrogance stories (Shimura, Ishikawa) is that such surety, such certainty of your own righteousness always leads to suffering in others, and a disregard for their pain in the face of your own clarity. In both examples, the Arrogant's inability to bend even the slightest ensures that while they are hardy, they will break when the time comes.
Finally we have Protect The Innocent -
Jin, Yuna and ultimately Shinji.
Yuna does not have Jin's baggage of arrogance, but she shares his and Masako's devotion to family, and though she'd never admit it, helping others.
As the need to help others forces Jin to bend his previously-held beliefs and become less honorable (in his Uncle's eyes), Yuna and Shinji bend in the opposite direction. In the example of Yuna, she repeatedly risks or sacrifices of herself to help others, despite it being against her professed plans.
So when the test of this war came for each, some bent into their own destruction (Norio, Masako), some refuse to bend and will break (Ishikawa, Shimura), and some will bend without ever forgetting what matters, and stay true to themselves (Jin, Yuna, Shinji).
Edit: But I do wonder if that's giving it too much credit. I do feel this game does a great job of tying every side quest into either the samurai's (specifically your Uncle's) history of oppression in Tsushima or the war's current devastating toll - it's very focused, and mindful to stay on-topic - but at the same time it doesn't often feel like it's ever making an overt statement about any of it, beyond "what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity."
Tbh I spent the whole game hoping you'd find out (FINAL FINAL FIGHT SPOILERS)
But that would make the final confrontation with him far too black and white, and not enough "you fucking raised me and I don't want to kill you."
Technical mastery in perfect synchronization with art direction to frequently make my jaw drop
They didn't even give a damn about actual seasons, there's plants and flowers growing out of season, or at the same time when they bloom at different times of the year.
They chased nothing but beauty, and to damn with anything else. It's great.
Into the dirt you belong.
Your stylish armor mine.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
PSN:Furlion
I dunno if its scripted but when that happened he did the thing where he leans over from his horse and runs his hand through the grass and that's when I fell in love with the game.
Which is unusual because I'd hardly killed anyone yet! I normally fall in love with the combat.
Yeah that sold me real hard. Seeing a developer care enough to put that kind of small but meaningful stuff in a game makes it much easier for me to get invested.
PSN:Furlion
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
I hear it in my fucking dreams now.
Blades flash amidst autumn leaves
The victor, alone
https://youtu.be/y4MbLWzTThw
Platinum Trophy unlocked this morning.
Some thoughts on the whole experience:
Tsushima island is, frankly, jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I know this gets brought up every other page, but I can't praise the graphics / art direction highly enough. Everything from the sway of the living world, to the combat animations, to the vibrant color palette, etc are just absolutely spot on. Outside of maybe Shadow of the Colossus, I can't think of any other game ever, that's made me stop to just take in the beauty of the environment as often as Ghost of Tsushima has. I didn't know that graphics like this were even possible in this console generation, and the fact that loading times are as quick as they are (whether we're talking fast-travel, or respawns after death) is, as far as I'm concerned, literally the work of black magic.
I was also consistently impressed with how natural and fluid movement through the open world felt. I appreciate that my horse will gently alter course to avoid head-on collision with a tree as we're passing through difficult terrain, because that's what a horse would do, and because I'm so sick of open-world games having my mount ram head-first into obstacles and throwing me forty feet forward constantly when I'm just trying to get from Point A to Point B. Platforming also never felt like much of a chore, because the game assists a little with some of the tighter jumps. For example, leaping off of a roof onto a rope could have potentially been a massive pain in the ass, but the game's really forgiving about it, which makes traversal feel really smooth most of the time.
Being an open-world, Tsushima is full of collectibles, but I was happily surprised to find that I didn't need to collect every Mongol Artifact or Singing Crickets to unlock every Achievement, and that praying at various Shinto Shrines, and especially composing haiku, felt really immersive. These are things I wanted to do, because I enjoyed them, rather than being things I felt repeatedly forced to do (Riddler Trophies, for example). But I'd be lying if they didn't all feel pretty stale by the end, though. I enjoyed maybe the first 6 or 7 haiku, the first dozen or so Inari Shrines, the first X number of Bamboo Strikes, etc. But then they kind of lost their magic. The same can be said of other things in the game, like Stand Offs; this was a mechanic I absolutely loved at first, I mean I'm here for that shit, but by the end of the game they really did end up feeling like something I'd done a million times and now I'm only doing it to get my Resolve back after a tough fight I'd had down the road or something.
Stances could be a bit better balanced, as far as I'm concerned. Stone Stance is pretty standard, and gets used the most frequently. And Water Stance feels overpowered, even against enemies it isn't intended to be used against. Wind Stance is gimmicky, and immediately renders Spear-fighters into non-threats, but is otherwise pretty useless. And then Moon Stance, unlocked at the very end ... is pretty trash. It looks flashy as hell, but the heavy special attack isn't super viable (you can still be damaged during the spin, meaning it basically just kills you on Lethal half the time), and the stance itself is meant to be used against Brutes, of which, there are very few compared to other enemy types. Lots of big guys with Shields, sure, but those are dealt with in Water Stance. It's basically just the big exploding tetsubo guys that you'd even bother swapping to Moon Stance for, and how often do those show up? Almost never.
And as much as I enjoyed the look and the feeling of the open world of Tsushima island, it wasn't long (Act II?) before I realized there was actually nothing out there to find. Sure, there's Iron, and Supplies, and occasionally things of a collectible nature (hats, masks, etc), but nothing I'd categorize as truly worthwhile: I'm talking special cutscenes, optional bosses, hidden techniques, etc. I absolutely loved spending time on Tsushima (and I'm gearing up to start all over again on Kurosawa Mode), but a lot of the magic and sense of adventure fell away from the world once I realized there wasn't actually anything out there.
I didn't have many technical problems with the game, but there were occasional frame pop-ins (textures appearing white briefly as they loaded, which can be distracting because collectibles also flash white like that), and I did frequently find that I wasn't doing things in the order the game wanted me to do them. For example, multiple times I would be guided toward a Quest location, but I'd see a Watchtower up on the horizon and I'd think, "Before, I grab this next quest, I'm gonna go light that Watchtower." So I'd go do that, then go pick up the Quest, which would ask me to go to that same Lighthouse and, wouldn't you know it, now it's unlit, and the area's crawling with Mongols again. Or, just this morning as I was finishing up the last few Tales I needed for Platinum, a quest wanted me to search a town for clues, so I found some blood on the ground ... found some dead bodies piled up in a house ... found another body in a cauldron, etc and wasn't able to click on any of it. None of this shit counts as clues? Turns out, the game wanted me to go talk to a guy on the outskirts of town, who then told me he saw some suspicious shit further up the road, and he led me to the exact same clues I'd already found. And now I could click on all of it. That kind of shit pisses me off.
Overall, though? Absolutely loved Ghost of Tsushima, and I can't wait to start it all over again on Kurosawa mode.
It was a fun time!
This year, jidaigeki
Now we are all weebs
Seriously, I love it... I'm having a conversation with a guy I saved while a not-quite-dead-yet mongol crawls between us. The discussion ends and I basically downstab him while not breaking eye contact with the peasant I saved. Is he happy, scared shitless, who knows?!
For most of Act I, the outfit I primarily used while playing was a polo and slacks but now that I’m deep into Act II it’s usually just boxers.
For my current lethal playthrough, for some reason? Traveler's.
I can understand they want meaningful benefits tied to outfits but I have to say I found switching between them a problem for reasons like this
Also because there’s so much cool fashion in this game that I couldn’t decide, but mostly the former
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
Yeah switching gear and such when the gear is purely based on combat is fine because most of the time the game allows you opportunities to scout and get a feel for what kind of situation you're heading into, so it's just basic battle prep. But the Traveler's stuff doesn't really do that, it's your 'so you're not fighting right now? Use this' which just meant that you were encouraged to swap it out everytime you WERE fighting which just became tedious
I change outfits all the time, typically just to better immerse myself in the story. For example, when I'm doing sidequests with Lady Masako, I wear Samurai Clan Armor with the Adachi colors, or throughout most of Act II, it felt thematically appropriate to wear the Sakai Clan Armor. Throughout much of Act III, I wore whatever looked the warmest.
How did you get out of my head and become your own independent existence?
If I ran into a random combat in Traveler's I never swapped.
A lot of games have done that to me - where I'm constantly, repeatedly agog at it.
But none of those had me stopping as often as this. You kind of grow accustomed to it, it a lot of games. In ITSP I remember each time I took a break, walked away and came back to the game I'd be momentarily-surprised by how gorgeous it was, but not as often in the playing.
Same with TloU2 - you kind of develop a tolerance for it, as you play. Like a drug. Ghost of Tsushima's presentation is the rare drug that gets you as high as it did the first time, every time, no matter how much you smoked earlier today.
And I can never take a screenshot that looks as good as those moments feel.
It's scripted and it's contextual.
Jin's ride through the pampas grass in the opening cards of the game? Scripted. You regain control just after he touches the grass.
Elsewhere in the game, though, Jin will do it if you're riding through grass at the right speed or if you're just walking at a comfortable pace. If you're not running through the grass, I've had Jin reach out and let it tickle along his palm I've strolled up to the next group of Mongols I'm going to kill.
A wonderful little touch.
Tadayori’s armor, dyed black. You’ll thank me later.
Omfg it took me 12 hours to actually read the second paragraph you sneaky minx.
Dress shirt and black jeans.
Always.
I didn’t even really bother making a bow build although it’s pretty strong. I just wanted that sweet sweet shoulder cape.
What, you don’t have a set of the mythical archer Tayadori’s threads in your closet?
Also Jin reaching out to touch grass:
https://youtu.be/9K7TnpQw-o4
STORM SHADOW MOTHERFUCKERS