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PS4

Review: Ghost of Tsushima

July 16, 2020 by T3 Gaming

Playing a samurai never felt this good
Rs. 3,999; PS4

All is fair in love and war says the adage but in Tsushima, it’s all about the latter than the former. Set in the year 1274 and inspired by a real-world event of the Mongol empire invading the Tsushima island, Ghost of Tsushima brings a fictional story of a samurai who goes all the way to save his homeland. However, there’s a problem. Not only the Mongols are brutal as revealed by the first few minutes into the game but are cunning too, who know the samurai ways and led by their capable commander, Khotun Khan.

Enter Jin Sakai. The protagonist and the samurai who almost gets killed in the battle and realises the only way Mongols can be defeated is by fighting less honourably or in other words, killing them silently like a “ghost”. This constant inner struggle of fighting honourably is evident in the first few hours of the game but as the story progresses, Jin gets comfortable in ghost’s skin as he is as a samurai. That said, the game never forces you to adopt one playstyle and players are free to adopt either or both ways while dealing with the enemies.

Combat has to be the highlight of the game considering at the heart of it, Ghost of Tsushima is still a samurai game, which brings us to the next question – how is the sword fighting? Oh, it’s good. It’s bloody good! Sucker Punch has nailed the sword fighting experience in the Ghost of Tsushima. The sword fighting sequences are well orchestrated with great audio effects to complement it. It’s easy to pick the controls that include a light attack, heavy attack, parry and dodge but button mashing doesn’t work here. Pressing the right button at the right time is equally rewarding. For instance, dodging away from an unblockable attack will retain your health or parrying at the right moment makes the enemy vulnerable for extra damage. Sword fighting also has some depth with the adoption of stances that get unlocked as you kill enemy leaders or observe them and learn their technique. A stance like Stone is effective against swordsmen whereas Water, Wind and Moon stances are effective against enemies with shields, spearmen and brutes. There’s a fifth stance too, that is revealed later in the game. Changing to different stances is fluid and can be quickly changed to better suit the enemy, even in mid-fight. However, the two best things about sword fighting in Ghost of Tsushima are Standoffs and duels.

Standoffs can be triggered when you or the enemy spots you, basically announcing yourself for the fight. A successful standoff results in one slash kill or if you fail, resulting in Jin’s health hanging by the thread. This is the honourable way to kill enemies but also results in other enemies baying for your blood after the standoff ends.

Duels are 1v1 fights with important NPCs in the game that help advance the story or achieve a particular objective. The fight is more or less similar to other fights, only tougher. But it’s the cinematic prologue with rustling leaves, panned shot of the opponents and that unsheathing of the sword makes the fight all the more exciting.

Fighting as ghost lets the player kill enemies stealthily but it is not as exciting and satisfying as defeating enemies after a sword fight.

In terms of weapons, Jin’s katana accompany him throughout the journey, there are other weapons he gains over time that enables a balanced approach of samurai and ghost combat during fights. The weapons are upgradable with various materials that can be collected in the game.
Similarly, there are armours to earn and upgrade as well. Complete certain missions or objectives to get the armour with each one giving a different set of advantages over others.

Ghost of Tsushima allows visual customisation too. In exchange of flowers, players can buy dyes to change the armour colour, buy headbands, katana sheath cover and masks.

Then there are skill upgrades that improve Jin’s ability. The skill tree is detailed and can be maxed out with the Technique Points one earns throughout the game.

Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world game and although there’s a story to follow through, the game gives the freedom to approach the main story (known as Jin’s Journey) at your own pace. There’s Tales of Tsushima, which is nothing but side quests. Some of these NPC quests feel run-of-the-mill but some add value who also appear in the main story. Finally, there’s Mythic Tales or special quests spread around the island of Tsushima that talks about the famous legends. Mythic Tales are useful as completing them gets you a better and improved armour or makes Jin learn new moves and abilities. In short, the game has a lot of quests, collectibles and locations to discover, in addition to the 25-30 hours of the main campaign.

Ghost of Tsushima is visually impressive. The world is gorgeous, serene and picturesque that offers breathtaking views. Luckily, the game comes with an equally potent photo mode with lots of customisation options. Complementing the visuals is the music, sound effects and voice acting. I played the game with English audio but for samurai fans out there, the game also allows to choose a samurai cinema experience that includes Japanese audio with English subtitles or the Kurosawa mode that adds a black and white filter, little grain with Japanese audio, taking inspiration by filmmaker Akira Kurosawa movies.

There are a lot of things to love in Ghost of Tsushima but the game comes with its share of drawbacks too. During my playthrough, I experienced minor graphics flaws like armour cutting in Jin’s body during a cutscene or some characters getting stuck to a position a couple of times. As I said, these are minor issues and doesn’t hamper with the playing experience. The frustrating thing, however, is the inability to skip cutscenes. For example, seeing Jin unsheathing his katana with his thumb before the start of the duel is exciting the first few times but gets repetitive. There’s no New Game+ that would entice for a second playthrough, possibly with Kurosawa mode on. Finally, a wishlist item but I feel it’s a missed opportunity for limited multiplayer. Imagine sword duels with your friend to settle an argument!

Nevertheless, Ghost of Tsushima is a strong new game from Sucker Punch and delivers on the promise of a good open-world samurai game. Sure, the stealth combat can be improved but the Ghost of Tsushima offers a good experience with cinematic visuals, music, story and hours of content.

RATING 4/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Gameplay, Melee combat
WE’D IMPROVE Skippable cutscenes
THE LAST WORD Sony has built this console generation on single-player experiences and Ghost of Tsushima is yet another game that delivers on that front with a good story, visuals and enthralling gameplay.

Filed Under: Gaming, Review Tagged With: Ghost of Tsushima, PS4, review

New release dates announced for the highly-anticipated PS4 titles

April 28, 2020 by T3 India

Sony has finally announced the release dates of two much-awaited PS4-exclusive games, The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima. Both these games have been pushed due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, but now, the studios have finalised the dates and have confirmed that both games will be released this summer.

Naughty Dog confirmed that The Last of Us Part II, sequel to the award-winning The Last of Us – hailed as one of the best games of all time and one of the top 50 best-selling games of all times – will be released on June 19, 2020. Initially, The Last of Us Part II was supposed to release in February 2020, but it was delayed to May 29, 2020. Unfortunately, much to the disappointment of fans, it was delayed yet again due to the ongoing pandemic when earlier in April, Sony mentioned that they were facing logistical constraints.

But finally, Naughty Dog – the developers behind the fantastic Uncharted game series – have sorted everything out and the game is greenlit to launch on June 19 with a 19-year-old Ellie fighting off in what is set to be yet another emotion-evoking stellar game. If you’ve missed them, which is highly unlikely, you must view the release trailer and the gameplay trailer revealing the details of the post-apocalyptic world Ellie journeys through.

Ghost of Tsushima is yet another promising PS4-exclusive game which was supposed to be released on June 26, 2020 but due to the ongoing pandemic and restrictions for developers to work from home, Sucker Punch Productions have confirmed that their game based on a samurai saga will be released on July 17, 2020. The story trailer of Ghost of Tsushima shows the open-world adventure gamers will experience through the journey of a lone warrior across the historical landscape of Japan.

“I want to personally congratulate and thank both the teams at Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch Productions on their achievements, as we know it’s not an easy feat to reach the finish line under these circumstances. Both teams have worked hard to deliver world-class experiences, and we can’t wait to see what you think of them when they release in just a few short months”, says Hermen Hulst, Head of Worldwide Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Both, The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima are also rumoured to be available on PS5. But, given that the PS5 is backwards compatible, they should be playable on the next-gen console regardless. Both the games seem to be violently gripping, with the former being much more violent and sexually explicit than its award-winning predecessor. The Last of Us Part II is also a much larger game where its ambitious adventure will be spread over two discs!

Simply put, we cannot wait to get our hands on both these titles.  

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Ghost of Tsushima, Naughty Dog, PS4, The Last Of Us

PlayStation’s ‘Play At Home’ initiative is offering celebrated games for free!

April 16, 2020 by T3 India

As a gift of gratitude towards everyone who has co-operated and abided by the need of the hour, which is to stay at home and practice social distancing, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) President and CEO Jim Ryan announced that PlayStation will be providing free games to all users and establish a hefty fund to support independent and smaller gaming studios under the ‘Play At Home’ initiative.

Through this initiative, PlayStation hopes to brighten up a few hours at home by offering free games such as the entire Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection and Journey. These games are now available as free digital downloads for a limited time from Thursday April 16, 2020 from 4:30 a.m. IST up until Wednesday, May 6, 2020. This is surely, more than a generous offering to those who have missed out on playing and to those who wish to take a stroll down memory lane through these breath-taking games, which have been digitally remastered for the PS4.

The award-winning Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection consists of the three fantastic titles created by developers at Naughty Dog, namely, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the great Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and the rich Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Nathan Drake’s inclination to go off-the-beaten-path in these gripping action-packed and treasure-hunting games will keep you stuck to your couch for hours.

Released on the PS4 in 2012, Journey is a wonderful game that will keep you hooked throughout the protagonist’s adventures and also succeeds in teaching the player a lot about life. Seasoned players will know. This is too good a game to miss out on, especially since it’s free.

Additionally, realising the trouble faced by independent and smaller gaming studios during the pandemic, SIE have also earmarked $10 million to support them. More information with the details will be out soon.

It’s great to see that during such uncertain times, people are coming out to support each other in every way possible and PlayStation’s ‘Play At Home’ initiative has definitely created more than a few smiles around the world.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: PlayStation, PS4, Uncharted

Sony reduces PlayStation Plus subscription prices in India

March 4, 2020 by T3 India

Good news for gamers is sporadic and often in slight but good doses. Well, recently, PlayStation announced that they’re going to decrease the prices of various subscription plans for PlayStation Plus – which is PS4’s widely used online community, essential-to-play multiplayer, download games, and much more.

From May 1, 2020, prices of PlayStation Plus will decrease accordingly:

  • The Playstation Plus annual subscription will reduce to Rs. 2,999 from the current pricing of Rs. 4,439 (as displayed on PlayStation Store)
  • The PlayStation Plus 3-month subscription plan will reduce to Rs. 1,199 from Rs. 1,869 (as displayed on PlayStation Store)
  • The PlayStation Plus 1-month membership plan will reduce to Rs. 499 from Rs 599 (as displayed on PlayStation Store)

Any payment occurring on or after May 1, 2020 will be at the new prices listed above. PlayStation mentioned that the prices have reduced due to market conditions. Anyway, this is good news for those who found PS Plus prices pretty steep and will encourage more people to play online.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: PlayStation, PlayStation Plus, PS4

The Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo is now live on PS4

March 4, 2020 by T3 India

Hailed as one of the best games ever made and recipient of several ‘Game of the Year’ awards in 1997, Final Fantasy VII will make its reentry on the current generation of PS4s as Final Fantasy VII Remake. And if you can’t wait to get your hands early, Square Enix has released the game they recently announced that PS4-owners can now download a playable demo of the game.

Through the demo, gamers and fans can experience the opening chapter of Final Fantasy VII Remake along with the Mako Reactor 1 bombing mission. Those who download the demo before May 11, 2020, will receive an exclusive PS4 theme once the full game launches next month.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is for RPG players who love the intensity and abilities of each character they control through a compelling storyline. For those interested in details, the game is set in a world controlled by the dark Shinra Electric Power Company, whose tyranny is challenged by an rebel organisation called Avalanche, helped by a former elite Shinra soldier-turned-mercenary, Cloud Strife.

Final Fantasy VII Remake will make its way to PlayStation on April 10, 2020.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: final fantasy, final fantasy vii, PS4

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