A competent but shallow and overfamiliar attempt to replicate Assassin’s Creed style open world adventure in the world of 13th century samurai.

The period atmosphere is excellent, with a beautiful open world and lots of attention to detail; Highly enjoyable combat, that feels authentic without being overcomplicated.

None of the gameplay elements, including the combat, have any real depth and they fail to properly support the main themes of the story; Very formulaic structure and mission design.

During the pandemic, I’ve found myself deeply engrossed in open world single player games. To that end, since March, I’ve played The Outer Worlds and Horizon Zero Dawn and now I’m playing Ghost of Tsushima. And by play, I mean sucking the life out of all those games.

Ghost of Tsushima is a beautifully crafted adventure that distinguishes itself as one of the great titles of this console generation.

Play in moody black and white

Stunningly beautiful game world; especially in HDR; Great; fluid combat system; In-depth character customisation; Scene setting in audio and attention...

Ghost of Tsushima is a wonderfully crafted tale that carries weight while being elegant

Ghost of Tsushima is an engrossing, blood-soaked and beautiful open world game, and a fitting swan-song for the PS4, even if it's lacking in some places in originality.

A beautiful world to explore; Exciting and engaging combat; Great variety in gameplay;

Sticks to open-world staples; Lead character is a bit dull

Ghost of Tsushima effortlessly combines solid swordplay with a compelling story. This new open-world RPG, exclusive to the PlayStation 4, takes samurai Jin Sakai on a daunting quest as he retakes his home island of Tsushima from the Mongols. His story is an interesting one, and it would be easy for developer Sucker Punch to use Ghost’s style as an excuse to phone in the mechanics. Instead, the game offers one of the best sword combat systems in recent memory. Ghost isn’t quite perfect, but my gripes pale in comparison to the joy I felt while playing the game. It, along with The Last of Us Part II, allows the PlayStation 4 to go out with a bang. Both games exemplify the best of late-generation titles, though in very different ways. The island of Tsushima is an open-world marvel. The world feels truly open, as you can enter each building, climb rooftops, and explore without fatigue. The world shows off varying landscapes, from rolling fields to snowcapped mountains. The varied environmen...

Stellar storytelling; Massively interactive open world; Well-executed combat; Unique tasks and side quests;

Awkward movement mechanics;

Looks and sounds gorgeous (especially in photo mode); Great attention and respect to Japanese traditions and culture; Epic one-on-one samurai duels;

Dated and generic open world and stealth design; Frustratingly linear in places; Messy and annoying mob combat;

It might be overshadowed by the other PlayStation exclusive this summer, but GoT's believable game world and superb combat system show that the PS4 has an embarrassment of riches right now.

Beautiful game world; Well-told story; Intuitive and intelligent combat system; Vast amount of character customisation; Kurosawa film mode is a great gimmick

Some open-world elements seem formulaic which makes it feel like a grind at times; Enemy types can lack variety