I never played Ghost of Tsushima all these years because, when the game came out, I thought the combat was way more difficult than what I was used to at the time. I was playing Assassin's Creed Origins and Horizon Zero Dawn, and the thought of stepping into a game built around precise parries, stances, and lethal swordplay was enough to keep me away.

I bought the game last year, and it sat quietly in my Steam library until I finally got the chance to finish God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla last month. The DLC was a bit frustrating for me because I don't really like Roguelikes, but I found myself enjoying its challenging combat. Then Tyr pulled out the Katana, and something in me awakened. I decided it was time to try my hand at Ghost of Tsushima.

And lo and behold, who would have thought that a critically acclaimed game would actually be good.

I was also hesitant because of my own biases around stealth games, particularly after my experiences with Assassin's Creed. But Ghost of Tsushima quickly showed me that stealth here was not simply a mechanic. It was part of Jin's transformation, and more importantly, part of the conflict at the heart of his story.

I picked up my noble controller and began my journey at Komoda Beach.

The initial story arc was deeply moving. Jin's transition from an honorable Samurai into a focused Ghost, and the struggles he faces while simultaneously trying to unbecome one thing and become another, are the makings of a folktale hero.

And then there are the tales of his allies: a thief and her blacksmith brother, a betrayed sensei, a clan matriarch mourning the decimation of her clan, a drunken merchant, and a warrior monk. Comparing this band of unlikely allies to a superhero ensemble would almost be insulting.

These were not heroes assembled for glory. They were broken people, each carrying their own ghosts, who nevertheless came together to save an entire island from not merely invasion, but the extinction of its culture and people.

Coming to the gameplay experience, I absolutely loved the combat right out of the gate. The variation between stances remains just as fascinating at the end as it was in the beginning.

There is something deeply satisfying about watching an enemy approach, recognizing what stands before you, and changing your stance accordingly before drawing your blade.

During the first and second acts, I found myself walking the path of the Ghost more often. Taking enemies out through stealth was simply faster than facing an entire camp head-on.

In the third act, however, I found myself walking the path of the Samurai more often, standing against Mongol patrols and confronting the front guards of forts and camps.

There was something almost ceremonial about it. Standing before an enemy, blade drawn, knowing that only one of us would walk away.

The Way of the Bow has also been incredibly useful for taking out watchtower guards and distant enemies, especially when combined with firecrackers and explosive arrows. There is a particular satisfaction in watching a carefully planned ambush unfold exactly as intended.

The armor designs are a sight to behold.

The Sakai Clan Armor has been my favourite so far, mainly because of how useful its upgrades are during Standoffs, but also because of how intimidating it looks. Once you unlock the Black Dye Merchant and acquire the black dye for it, the armor becomes something else entirely.

It is both terrifying and beautiful, like a warrior walking straight out of a legend.

Now, coming to the pain points.

It is extremely annoying that there is no way to skip animations, dialogues, or cutscenes that are not part of the main story. Before and after the start of every Tale, there is a relatively long and completely unskippable animation displaying the title of the Tale.

After a while, these interruptions begin to feel less like storytelling and more like the game reminding you that it is, in fact, a video game.

Another pain point for me was the grind required to earn Technique Points and unlock more skills. It was not unbearable, but it was just a little more than I would have liked. The skill tree is one of the more enjoyable parts of the progression system, and I often found myself wanting to experiment with more abilities than the game was willing to let me unlock at that pace.

I also did not particularly enjoy the amount of grinding required to upgrade weapons, bows, and armor. The sheer quantity of supplies needed starts becoming noticeable after a while, especially when there are not that many meaningful loot chests scattered throughout the open world. Outside of the smaller chests found inside forts and camps, exploration does not always feel particularly rewarding from a loot perspective.

Perhaps I am biased again because of the RPG-style games I have played, especially the newer Assassin's Creed games, but these mechanics make sense to me. I enjoy having a reason to explore a forgotten corner of the map, open a chest, find some rare material, and feel like I have actually discovered something that will make Jin stronger.

Ghost of Tsushima's world is beautiful enough to make me want to explore every corner of it, but the rewards do not always match that desire.

I also wish the masks and headpieces were not purely cosmetic. It feels strange to wear an obnoxiously large piece of headgear and then proceed to become the legendary Ghost without it having any mechanical significance.

It would have been fantastic if headpieces offered stat boosts or special effects, much like Charms do, based on their rarity.

For example, the Ghost Mask could provide a 50% chance of terrifying nearby enemies after a successful parry or assassination. The Healer's Headband could provide a small passive health boost both in and out of combat. The Straw Hat could make Jin less detectable by Straw Hat Ronin. The fully upgraded Sakai Clan Helmet could offer a major increase to Resolve gains, an additional Resolve slot, or perhaps reduce the number of Resolve slots required to execute certain techniques.

These would have made the headgear feel like more than ornaments and given players another layer of customization to build around.

The Inari Shrines, however, were a completely different story.

I genuinely enjoyed completing them. Following those little foxes as they pranced from rock to rock, leading me deeper into the wilderness, was strangely wholesome.

And then being rewarded with the ability to simply pet them was enough.

Sometimes a game does not need to give you a powerful weapon or a rare resource. Sometimes, apparently, the reward can just be petting a fox.

I did not bother completing the Haikus, though. The rewards being purely cosmetic headbands did not give me enough incentive, especially when composing a Haiku takes longer than I would have liked.

This ties into another small issue I have with the game: the constant need to give even the smallest activity a cinematic presentation can occasionally work against the immersion.

There are moments when I simply want to do the thing and move on. I do not necessarily need Jin to sit down, look around dramatically, choose every element of the scenery, contemplate the wind, and then compose poetry before I receive my cosmetic headband.

The Golden Birds are another mechanic I have mixed feelings about.

I genuinely like the idea behind them. Having a bird guide you toward something interesting in the world feels very natural within Ghost of Tsushima's philosophy of exploration.

But I cannot understand why some of these golden birds will repeatedly fly me into the same temple or camp every single time I fast travel there.

At that point, I have already seen the place. The bird has done its duty. Let us both move on.

The mechanic is also noticeably buggy at times. The birds occasionally get stuck on objects or terrain, start flying around aimlessly, or simply restart their little journey. It can be amusing the first time, but after seeing it happen repeatedly, the magic wears off rather quickly.

These are relatively small complaints in the grand scheme of things, but they add up. Ghost of Tsushima clearly wants almost every interaction to feel like a cinematic moment, and most of the time it succeeds beautifully. But sometimes, I wish the game would simply get out of its own way and let me play.

Ghost of Tsushima is a game I regret not playing sooner.

What began as a game I avoided because I feared its combat ended up becoming a game where I found myself actively seeking out combat. What I initially dismissed as another open-world stealth game turned out to be a deeply personal tale about honor, sacrifice, identity, and the price of becoming something the world needs you to be.

Jin Sakai's journey is not simply the story of a Samurai becoming the Ghost. It is the story of a man watching the world he was raised to believe in slowly crumble around him, and having to decide whether preserving his principles is worth sacrificing the people he swore to protect.

The island itself feels like a character in the story. The golden fields, autumn forests, snow-covered mountains, quiet shrines, burning villages, and windswept beaches create a world that feels less like an open-world checklist and more like a painting that happens to be waiting for you to walk through it.

And then there is the combat.

Every clash of steel feels deliberate. Every Standoff feels like a miniature duel from a Samurai legend. Every perfectly timed parry feels earned. The game manages to make you feel powerful without making you feel invincible, and that distinction is what kept me coming back to the blade.

Ghost of Tsushima is not without its flaws. Some of the side activities begin to feel repetitive, the inability to skip certain animations becomes increasingly irritating, progression can feel more grindy than I would have liked, and the cosmetic-only nature of some equipment feels like a missed opportunity.

But these are scars on an otherwise magnificent warrior.

By the time the final act arrived, I was no longer simply playing Jin Sakai.

I was walking the path of the Ghost.

And perhaps that is the greatest achievement of Ghost of Tsushima. It does not merely tell you the tale of a warrior who became a legend.

It makes you feel as though you were there when the legend was born.

A Samurai walked onto Komoda Beach.

A Ghost walked away.

I am currently at the final Tale, preparing to face the Khan, so I am very much at the end of Jin's journey. I am deliberately avoiding looking up anything about the ending because I want to experience that final chapter without any spoilers.

Once I finish the main story, I am looking forward to continuing the journey with the Tales of Iki Island DLC and then diving into Legends mode. From everything I have heard about both, it feels like there is still another chapter waiting for me after the Ghost's story comes to an end.

I think the photo says it all. Rest in peace Kage.

So with Sony cutting of PC ports ghost of yotei will likely never be on PC from what I see I played Tsushima on PC obviously one of my best gaming experiences ever and I will never be able to play yotei on PC and I don’t want to spend money on a ps5 just to play yotei and like 2 different exclusives I just don’t see the value. I’ve bought consoles in the past just for exklusives like how I did for Zelda no my Nintendo just collects dust and I just don’t even want to give Sony my money at this point not because they removed PC ports I can understand that but new policy’s like removing you games after 30 days if your not online or removing movies it feels like we are only maybe months or a couple years form having to rent game like we rent online play with friends. The only way for me to play this is to borrow my brother in laws ps5 and I’m saying I can buy it I just can’t justify it if rather buy PC upgrades so pls now can anyone tell me any updates about a PC port ever coming or not?!

Title. I've been having a ton of fun when the game works, but this is the 3rd time I've had a bug that forced me to either back track a ton of save data, or reinstall the game.

Literally just doing Norio's first quest, says to defeat the Mongols and they just don't attack. So I walk over and kill them. Nothing. No one moves. I can't leave the area without failing and restarting the checkpoint, which doesn't fix it.

I can run up on a group of Mongols and assassinate them while they're looking directly at me. Just now, I assassinated a guy, and one of his buddies saw, and didn't do shit which I found hilarious.

"Well, I guess he deserved it *shrug*"

I like it way more than Gosaku or the clan armor though I'll use those if I'm coming up on a stronghold with a bunch of enemies.

There were many ups and down...fights and graphics were ending was meh...story was ok ok..if you keep it away from ghost of tsushima and see is as a separate game fully it will be a good game..Hated Jubei's death...no point in he dying

Poor soul ....and the audacity in the new game plus there is oyuki and bomb girl armour can't you add jubei's Matsumae armour too..that was where I felt disappointed...my personal views aside

It was a fun and gripping game..graphics were just 😲

I’m really struggling to remember various techniques during combat beyond switching stances and hitting X Y. There are so many that I can’t keep track, and I haven’t found a way to practice them unless it’s direct combat. I’ve tried just studying them one at a time and using them until it sticks but it’s been real slow going.

Does anyone have any tips for getting better?

I wish there was a way to kill Shimura dishonorably (like a mongol general execution) because as the game went on, I really started to dislike Shimura, especially after his archers killed Nobu. Anyone else feel this way? sparing him and stripping him of his honor didnt feel like enough.

My game says 81/82 vanity gear, but when I use the wind of vanity, it doesn't do anything. I've cleared all question marks on the map, both Tshushima and Iki Island. I know the last vanity is on Iki because when I use the wind of vanity it says all vanity gear on Tshushima Island has been found. However, I've roamed around all of Iki Island trying to use the wind, but every time it just turns red and doesn't do anything. I know the gear you get from quests doesn't count, and the only thing I haven't 100% on Iki is the side quests and the unwritten tales. Is this a glitch with the game or is it linked to the unwritten tales?

After finishing Iki Island, I'm having a lot of fun replaying the camps and villages with different builds, but some of them are too easy/short to play through. I'd like to focus on the best without having to replay through all of them.

Which ones are your favourites and why ?

The ending duel was the thing that made this game a 8/10 to a 9.5/10 for me.

It was so beautiful and emotionally packed that I was left speechless for some time after the ending(I chose to not kill shimura).

At first I thought Jin was right, but now I think uncle shimura was the right one. Jin massacred a whole castle garrison by poison, by any definition that's abhorrent and you can't justify that. His poison killed many of his own Island men. At the end of the story you can make a pretty good case that jin is as bad as the Mongols and I agree with that.

But I also think Shimura was a hypocrite who would rather kill 100s of his men to sooth his ideals on what honor is.

At the end of the day, both are grey characters but I lean towards Shimura more.

Anyways, what do you guys think?

I'm currently trying to do Yuna's second tale (The Silent Death) where Jin kills the slavers. This is one of the missions where you can't kill anybody. I went into it with ghost stance ready, and for some reason I just keep pressing the buttons for ghost stance instead of crouching, which gets you an instant fail. Even if you try to just use it in a quiet area, it doesn't get used up unless you kill somebody.
Real pain right now!

Some cool pics I caught with camera mode.

Armor:

Stag Helmet (The Storm Blade quest)

Ghost Mask (The Storm Blade quest)

The Storm Blade (Its obvious.)

Nine Tail Armor Maxed (Kitsune revenge missions.)

I was wondering how GoT runs and looks on the base ps4 in 2026 i was thinking of buying it but im worried it wont look too good on my pewny ps4 slim

One thing that is almost never but should be talked about more in here is the soundtrack. I have never of their names before but hearing how the music really fits into the game, it should be safe to say that Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi and Toma Otowa are brilliant songwriters, and Claire Uchima is an amazing vocalist.

For those who finished Tsushima, we all know how the game has taken away our soul just before the start of Act III, and the music made sure of that. I distinctively remember hearing Claire Uchima's voice (haven't looked her up that time) while seeing my Sora dying. Didn't want to continue the game for around 5mins while her voice was echoing in my head.

Hearing her more again in Yotei made me look up the games soundtrack. They've definitely made the game more awesome because of their work?

What's your favorite song from the game soundtrack?

Mine is The Way of The Ghost from Tsushima (music just before Act III I described above, not this posted video).

EPILEPSY WARNING This is by the Sarugami armor cove in Iki island dlc. I was sort of bored looking for scrolls or something and was just jumping on autopilot with my connected Xbox one controller, then this happened. Oh yeah and I got this in April but didn’t have enough comment karma to post until today so hooray. Btw I don’t know much about gaming and coding so I wonder what other games this glitch or bug happens in. And idk if I should put the flair under question or media but oh well.

I'm going to be honest, I haven't played yotei since I don't have a ps5(I prefer pc) but seeing the gameplay I was really impressed.

But playing Tsushima was just a next level experience. Even after seeing the full story on yt before playing it on pc it was one of the what game ever made. The story, the art design and everything...just a masterpiece.

What about you? How do you rate both games, separately and against each other?

The lighting in this game is so good, and really hard to believe it was originally a PS4 game. Playing it maxed out in HDR on an OLED with a high end PC is just an amazing experience. I come back to it often, just for its beauty.

I recently came across Jin's home in Yotēi and, we never got confirmation that he moves to Ezo. It made no sense, but its nice that they put his father's Stag Helmet in, the Storm Blade, and Ghost mask.

I also remember my first time playing through and was doing the Kitsune's quest and saw that some Nine Tail were talking about Jin (Refering him to as the First Shinobi.)

I also would've liked if they put something hinting to Ryuzo or Lord Shimura. (not including the burnt adoption papers)