008
The Big 10
STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
occupied Tsushima. Which, of course,
puts you right at the top of the
Mongols’ most-wanted list. Their
forces are led by Khotun Khan, a
fictional analogue of Kublai Khan
(who led the Mongols at the time of
the real invasion and went on to
become first Yuan emperor of
China). As Jin carries Tsushima’s last
shred of hope, if the Khan and his
forces can snuff him out, Tsushima
will fully fall to despair.ISLAND GETAWAY
Again nodding to realism, you
explore the island’s lush
environments without the help of
waypoints, choosing where to
explore next using landmarks and
your knowledge of the world. Sucker
Punch is no stranger to creating
open worlds, but the fairly minimalist
nature of the environments is a bit
of a departure for the developer.
Time in the story will pass as you
explore, with titles telling you how
much time it’s been since the
invasion began.
Exploration might be pretty free
and easy, but once you reach groups
of enemies things become much
more focused. Clashes are swift and
decisive, whether you choose to
tackle a situation head-on like a
samurai or sneakily like a ghost.
Quick iaijutsu strikes with your
sheathed sword can spill enemy
blood. Likewise, you can use agrappling hook to sneak through
enemy camps unseen, dropping
down to attack people or sneaking
up on them from behind (even
stabbing them through closed folding
screens). Jin also has his gadgets:
sticky bombs and fire arrows that
can help him spread disarray
through an enemy camp.SETTLING THE SCORE
Just as the way the world unfolds
depends on what you want to do,so
does the story – to a point. As you
wage your one-man war on the
Mongols you ally with several
characters, and how you decide to
deal with situations can determine
the strength of your bonds.
Shimura’s none too impressed with
your spectral approach. Makoto, an
expert archer and just as handy with
a sword, can be one of your best
allies, helping to spread the legend
that you’re a vengeful ghost, but if
she disagrees with your actions you
may end up crossing swords.
So far the plot looks tense and
gripping, with some fantastic tech
behindthecutscenes(we’vebeenespeciallyimpressedwiththeblood
splatter– Ghostis goingtobea
grimygamein thebestofways).As
he’stornbetweenhisupbringingas
anhonourablesamuraiandthe
guerillawarfareapproachofthe
WayOfTheGhost,Jin’sexperience
is goingtobereflectedin morethan
differentskilltrees.A realconflict
goesoninsidehisheartoverthe
courseofthegameashestruggles
withdoingwhatis rightforthe
peopleofhisisland,andwhatit
meanstobetheirprotector.SAMEURAIBUTDIFFERENT
Whileplayingasa samuraiis hardly
a newconceptfora videogame,few
havereallycapturedtheideaofwhat
it meanttobeoneofthenoble
warriorsbeyondcombat.Byallowing
youtofollowyourownplansand
comeupwithanglesofattack,in
GhostOfTsushimatheexperience
willfeela lotmorelegitimatethan
simplyplayinga characterwhohas
samuraifightingskills.Yourjourney
acrosstheislandandyour
iterations,arejustasmucha partof
beinga samuraiasthefighting.So
farit’slookinglikeeveryone’s
journeyis goingtofeelliketheirown,
whichis exactlywhatwewantfrom
a samuraigame– andwedon’thave
towaitlongforit.CLASHES ARE SWIFT
AND DECISIVE, WHETHER
YOU TACKLE A SITUATION
HEAD-ON OR SNEAKILY.
QTheMongolsaren’tjustsettingup
camps,they’vecapturedsomecastles.QFlashbackswithyoursamuraimaster
showwhatJinwaslikeasa youngster.GhostOfTsushimalandsonPS4’s
beaches 26 June.It’salmosthere.TIME TRIAL
Feudal Japan is the setting of lots
of games, but the Sengoku period is
the one lots of games use (Nioh and
Sekiro both do). Set in the late 1200s
Kamakura period, Ghost is much earlier,
near the start of Japan’s feudal era.Khotun Khan himself will
be around to taunt Jin.
Villainous monologues were
in vogue even in the 1200s.