5/5 ★ – anomaly's review of Ghost of Tsushima.

GOT IN 2022 After beating the game on lethal mode, I really really enjoyed the art design and story-driven atmosphere of Tsushima. The lethal mode is just balanced in my opinion, it punishes you for a wrong press of a button and slower anticipation which gave the game a depth on gameplay. As I progress towards act 3, it becomes apparent that I already discovered what GOT has to offer. I'm conflicted if 5/5 is justifiable, but I can't help myself to really embody the rogue assassin and role-play throughout the game (changing my armor to suit a particular interest, for aesthetic). This is the only game that I know of that really captured the samurai without giving in too much to fantasy. The duels are surreal; I will never forget that I stumbled upon a straw hat at the marsh and It's like anime! God, it's magic. The Kurosawa mode and Japanese audio are so immersive, I can write a fucking haiku right now. There are flaws, the AIs are typical NPCs, nothing special. Dialogues are dialogues, not meant to change a course of an event (except the final act). These are nitpicks, I can't fool myself, this game deserves a 5 for a well-done Ubisoft formula done right. As I meditate, what does Sucker Punch take to the open-world formula? None. There aren't new mechanics, but I think we need at least to push the gaming industry one step at a time. And, SP did not even try to elevate the open-world genre. I guess, this game's intention is to replicate the tried-and-tested formula of open-world with elements of RPG in an action-adventure narrative system. I am all for Sony's videogame cinema and will be waiting for the next action-adventure whatever era they may come across.