I finished the main campaign and all the important side quests of Tsushima.
Let me just list some more reasons I love this freaking game:
- The story matches the gameplay. Or, the game mechanics reflect the narrative theme, and vice versa. It's such a simple thing but SO impactful that I'm angry when games don't do this. For those that haven't played or don't remember, the story is about a samurai who turns against his honor code in order to save people and fight off an invasion. So basically terrorism, and yes, they even use that word. This is how the game allows you to be both a samurai warrior where you fight duels and big battles, and also act like a low down and dirty assassin with sneakiness and backstabs and poisoning.
- All of the mechanics are equally well implemented. Most games, IMO, brag about "playing your way" but really there is one good way, or one bad way. Hence all the stealth archer jokes about Skyrim for example. But in Tsushima, the combat is brilliantly implemented and satisfying (y'all have read my many rants about what has happened to combat in the past couple years), but also the sneakiness is good. Sure, enemy AI can be idiotic and they have NO peripheral vision but that is I think just necessary to make stealth work in a game like this.
One of the most common map-clearing things is clearing a spot of enemies to take the territory. So it's your typical scoping an area and planning an attack and then getting caught in stealth and then murdering everybody, you know, like Far Cry or whatever. But you can also just walk up and challenge folks to stand off where you hold a button down and let it go when they attack, and if you have perks you can do a streak. Sometimes they try to fake you out. It's so freaking fun! Last night I worked on a trophy where you have to a streak of 5 in a standoff (requires all the right perks and such) and I chose a story mission in which to do it, and I can't believe I had fun just trying it over and over until I nailed it.
And all of this feels like the game looks. Like it feels like those samurai movies where two dudes start a duel! I love duels so much, btw, in any movie. Sword duels, fencing duels, gun fight duels in Westerns. Heck, I like boxing because it's a fist duel! There are quests in this game that have duels, including a side mission that is literally just half a dozen duels. So cool.
- The cut scenes are really well-paced. They are there when they need to be, they are not too long but also not rushed, and they are gorgeous. The facial expressions of the uncle character alone are the best, which is super impactful as he's the most tragic character in the game narratively. When I think about Final Fantasy 16, an actual Japanese company that put out that cluster-f*** of a narrative 3 years after this game, I go mad.
- Even the lame side stuff is not so lame. You know, the Ubisoft clearing a map thing. Chasing foxes around, taking baths, looking at scenery, platforming/environmental puzzles, and collectibles. It's all short and nice to put on a podcast and look at the pretty scenery. I know this is boring to many and it often is to me, it's certainly not the selling point, but it's the best map-clearing busy work of all these games because it feels smooth and looks pretty. Also the foxes are cute.
- The ending is good! Dear lord, why is this so rare in games, I can't believe it. Both in terms of gameplay and in story. Gameplay wise, sure you get a couple of hard fights, but they're just iterations of what came before. Certainly having done like every side activity I came across helped me make it easier, but that's as it should be. In most games the ending missions are slogs, just waves and waves of enemies, as if the game just doesn't wanna let you go and live your life. Tsushima invites you to finish it.
Narratively though- wow, awesome, I mean there's no like huge surprise, but that's what makes it work- it's a tragic and heroic story, and it delivers on the themes with actual sensitivity and care. Even my beloved Witcher 3 has an infamously rushed ending. Everything about Tsushima's final act feels right, you know?
This game is like Steely Dan or Wynton Marsalis- predictable, slick, quality performance may be boring to some and I certainly am glad there's crazy stuff and experimental stuff and "good jank" and all the quirks out there. But boy is nice sometimes to just enjoy some quality.
