In this episode of THE BURN, hosts Aviv Icel Manoach and Omer Timetwister Kaplan invade Japan in Ghost of Tsushima, an extraordinary work of media and Japanese culture. On the news some leaks from GeForce and upcoming PlayStation games.
Original recording date - September 17, 2021.
Game of the Show: Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut
Published by Sucker Punch Productions, MSRP $70, Buy on PlayStation Store
Ghost of Tsushima is an amazing free-roaming adventure game, set in feudal Japan during the first invasion of the Mongolian empire from Korea. We play as the last Samurai survive a catastrophic battle, fighting to reclaim the island of Tsushima and free its people from the Mongols.
The game is an extraordinary work of media, drawing from influences like traditional Japanese culture and films by Akira Kurosawa - the game even includes a "Kurosawa Mode", making the graphics black and white as well as adding film artefacts.
The game's world is very tight. The main missions and side content flow together and are firmly rooted in the Japanese culture and environment. You truly feel like a samurai, from your fighting styles, skills and behaviour.
Ghost of Tsushima kept me engaged from start to finish. It took me around 50 hours to complete on easy difficulty, including most side content. The game's structure and size are just right - I much prefer this length to Assassin's Creed 100+ hours experience.
The Director's Cut includes an expansion, Tales of Iki Island. On the one hand, since the base game was so great I wanted to play more of it. However, after the very emotional ending of the base game, moving over to a smaller scale story felt overdrawn and not as impactful.
As I expected, when Sucker Punch needed to introduce new side content for the expansion, the connection to the game's setting and the world started to unravel. As an example, the new Animal Sanctuaries include a mini-game that requires you to use the PS controller's motion sensor, an activity and interface design that are completely disengaged from the rest of the game.
On the News
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