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Unpopular Opinion...


zippydpt

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Here's my unpopular opinion for today: Ghost of Tsushima is not that good. I paid full price for it, and I was hyped about it ever since it was announced, but the game feels really underwhelming. The graphics are decent, the art and world design is fantastic, the story is better than most games, most the characters are absolutely horrendous, the combat is great, but it gets old quickly, and the collectibles feel like a chore, rather than a fun activity to work on.

 

Why bother getting every armor set when only one or two will ever be useful? Why collect all the sword kits when the majority of them look awful? Why explore off the main path of the game when much of the world is bare and filled with annoying enemy encounters? I REALLY want to love this game, and I do love it, but it really does not deserve the tons of praise being given to it. 
 

The amount of the game spent following an NPC through the middle of nowhere, being told to " Defeat All Mongols", or to speak to an NPC, is simply astounding. The side quests start off being really interesting, but quickly devolve into the same routine as I previously mentioned. The first act of the story is the best, the second is okay, and the third, despite it being the end of the game, feels drawn out and boring.

 

I am really frustrated, and I want to know if I am the only one who feels this way, or if others feel the same as I do. I'm interested in everybody's thoughts. :)

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I like this game but its not perfect by any means. 

 

Negs

 

The characters are absolute lifeless souls especially jin.

 

Im not kean on the horse travel. Pretty slow and not very smooth.

 

I appreciate the new waypoint system with the wind but imo it doesn't work. Especially when you get close to the target and the marker doesn't show up until your almost on top of it

 

Positives

 

The graphics are one of the best i have seen on the ps4. A stunning piece of art

 

The combat is really imersive although a bit repetative after a while

 

I like the collectables in this game. Most other games you just collect them but in GoT you have to do little challenges to collect them which makes it more worth while 

 

I cant comment too much on the story as im not too far into it

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It's a good game overall. Not perfect, but really good. The look and feel is fantastic and I don't know any game coming closer to the movie insprired samurai action they tried to portray.

 

But the game has some flaws...

 

- Following the foxes 50 times or so was just a waste of time... It became so boring quickly.

- Too much repetition in combat. After a while all combat feels the same without many changes.

- Forced stealth sections after they said you can decide on your own how you wanna play... At least this was the case only a few times.

- "open world syndrom". Just too much of everything... Too many camps, collectibles, foxes, ... It felt a bit like playing an Ubisoft game after a while.

- Some story and pacing flaws due to the open world system. I basically ignored the monk quest line so I only met the warrior monk once at the beginning of the 2nd (?) part of the Island but in the final missions Jin welcomed him like a BFF.

 

I wonder if it would have been a better game if they decided to do it more linear instead of open world...?

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This was one of my favorite gaming experiences of the last two console generations.  I enjoyed all of the combat and collectibles.  So much so, that I went ahead and collected/upgraded just about everything in the game even though it wasn't required for trophies.

 

Also, to the point made by the post above me.  I haven't played an open world game since Spider-Man and Red Dead 2 came out a couple years ago.  If I had just played a AC prior to getting this game I could have seen myself getting burned out towards the end maybe.

Edited by JaneAusten69
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I agree that the collectibles don't serve much purpose, but other than the foxes I never really got tired of them - and at least the foxes give you something for your effort.

 

Other than that I feel opposite of pretty much everything you said. I loved the game and I think so far that it's my game of the year. I played it right after TLoU2, and unlike most people who did that and seem to dislike Ghost because of it, I felt like it was the perfect "antidote" to the heaviness and negativity of that game. I loved the art style and the peaceful nature of the setting, I was interested in almost all of the character side tales (though I could have done without most of the random side missions), and I really liked the story - especially the ending (probably a top 5 game ending ever for me).

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I think it's good, just not as good as a lot of people are making it out to be. It follows the same tedious open world formula that we've seen in other exclusives like HzD and Spider-Man. I think this game would have benefitted more from a linear approach. Even the side stories drag on for way too long and like you said end up boiling down to kill the Mongols. That's not to say that side stories weren't interesting, but rather they had too much filler. 

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I agree I thought GoT was quite boring and the story really wasn't great. In my opinion it will win GOTY because so many reviewers praised it but i think the true GOTY for me is TLOU2. The visuals were the best part, but everything else was not great. From voice acting, to the characters not being interesting. But maybe Sucker Punch will go back to the best work they have done with Infamous.

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I've never once cared about an NPC in a game (or even really my own character), but I found myself stopping and talking to people in the towns often. I don't mean talking to NPCs that were part of mission progression, but just random people who motioned towards Jin or spoke towards him. This, for me, was a major sign of my personal investment in a game that I otherwise have not experienced before.

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On 9/8/2020 at 8:30 AM, Elk_mistral said:

I think your frustration coming from the fact that you was Over Hyped for a new IP.

The marketing aroud this game was huge, so if the game is not exaclty what you was expecting = Huge deception. 

I agree. The marketing had me thinking of some kind of epic, Nioh-like adventure, which I would have loved. I am really disappointed.

On 9/8/2020 at 8:44 AM, dannyswfc9 said:

I like this game but its not perfect by any means. 

 

Negs

 

The characters are absolute lifeless souls especially jin.

 

Im not kean on the horse travel. Pretty slow and not very smooth.

 

I appreciate the new waypoint system with the wind but imo it doesn't work. Especially when you get close to the target and the marker doesn't show up until your almost on top of it

 

Positives

 

The graphics are one of the best i have seen on the ps4. A stunning piece of art

 

The combat is really imersive although a bit repetative after a while

 

I like the collectables in this game. Most other games you just collect them but in GoT you have to do little challenges to collect them which makes it more worth while 

 

I cant comment too much on the story as im not too far into it

The characters aren't lifeless, in my opinion. You say that you aren't that far in the story, which would explain why you don't see how (some of) the characters are very interesting. Sakai is fairly bland, but that helps the game when it comes to the whole "RPG feel". I forgot about how awful the waypoint system is, but I also forgot how awesome it is to not have ANYTHING on the screen (in terms of an HUD) for most of the game.

 

The graphics, as I previously stated, are not that good. I think that the art is what people mean by "good graphics". The actual textures and models are great, but nothing new. However, the trees, the falling leaves, the colors, the wind blowing the flowers and grass, etc. make the game much more beautiful. :)

 

What about the combat is immersive? I am genuinely curious, as I may have not realized something about it.

On 9/8/2020 at 9:00 AM, Helyx said:

Game is amazing. 

 

I liked the subtle touches, like Jin running his hand through tall grass. The waypoint system was implemented well and wasn't distracting while traversing the island.

Don't get me wrong, the game is great, but it was disappointing, in my opinion.

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18 hours ago, darkamdusias said:

 

I had the exact opposite experience as you, but it seem like you and I just have very different play styles, which is fine. Looking at your trophy list, it seems like you don't seem to have much interest in games that recreate history or are narratively driven. Your preferences seem to lean towards faster paced games and titles with quick Platinums (which is totally cool) - Ghost of Tsushima is not that. The game isn't meant to be played at a fast pace. It's instead a game that challenges you to simultaneously reflect on the island's pristine beauty and the human/environmental cost of war. Combat isn't something that's necessarily the focal point, in my experience - immersion in the recreated island's natural identity and the lives of its people was what kept driving me forward.

 

The collectibles were fun too, as it taught me about thirteenth century Mongol history and culture, and I enjoyed getting peeks into the thoughts of NPCs through collectibles - some of whom you never meet (the monk's gradual journey through "Conversations with the Khan" is a good example of this). Again, it's totally cool for people to not care about this stuff. For me personally though, I enjoyed petting foxes, taking baths, composing bad haiku, and educating myself a little bit - it made the island seem like a living, breathing place. 

 

As for your misgivings about the armor and the sword kits, that's also a matter of taste. I liked seeing all the crazy designs that existed for the sword kits, even if I didn't immediately utilize them. The ability to dye my outfits made sword kits that I previously would never have looked twice at suddenly become more appealing when I changed the color of an armor set. As for the armors themselves, I found that different armors were good for different situations. Did I feel like sniping a bunch of Mongols from a distance? Tadayori's armor. Did I want to annihilate and entire Mongol platoon in a single standofft? Sakai armor. Did I want to hang out in Ghost mode all day? Ghost Armor. Duel time? Gosaku's armor. Was I in the mood to be ridiculous and weird? Fundoshi. Could you realistically make it through the game with 1-2 armors? Absolutely. Making the most out of every armor kit that came my way was one of the best parts of the for me - though admittedly, it would have been nice if the developers had included a way to save setups so that I didn't have to change my armor every single time.

 

Your argument that the game largely boils down to "follow an NPC and defeat all Mongols" is also purposefully reductive. Any game can be made to seem boring if you just reduce it to its basic component parts. If you described Tetris simply as a game where you "moved blocks for 90 levels" or Street Fighter as a game where you "punched some dudes and shot fireballs" or DOOM as a game where you "ran through levels shooting things and picking up keys, rinse and repeat", they'd all sound derivative and boring too, despite being some of the best games of all time. For me, again, Ghost of Tsuhima happens in the moments between Mongol fights. Jin's horror at "dishonorably" killing someone for the first time. The rich man who realizes in the most traumatic way possible that money doesn't solve everything. Taka gradual transformation throughout the game. Hell, even Jin's growing attachment to his horse in the downtime after missions were all wonderful little moments. 

 

To reiterate, I think you and I just play very different games. Ghost of Tsushima is my Game of 2020 (barely beating out Final Fantasy VII: Remake, which in a lot of ways, is its complete opposite), and that's cool. I think that some of the backlash to Ghost of Tsushima also comes from a general fatigue with open world games at this point, something that you're certainly not alone in. I however, last played an open world game in 2019 (Marvel's Spider Man), and before that, Final Fantasy XV's main campaign in 2018. I haven't been as burned out on the genre by playing Horizon: Zero Dawn, Far Cry. Assassin's Creed Origins/Odyssey, etc. in relatively quick succession like many others have, which might be one final reason I found Ghost of Tsushima so novel.

 

Also, I'm a history nerd and loved all the cool little touches - can't rule those out. 

I, too, am a history nerd, and I LOVED the setting. In general, I don't like movies, I don't like stories in video games, and I don't like cutscenes, but this game had me actively paying attention and enjoying most of it. The collectibles and combat are, as you stated, a matter of taste, which is totally fine. As for my "argument that the game boils down to 'follow an NPC and defeat all Mongols'' " is not reductive, let alone "purposely reductive". The game says, in almost, if not ALL of the missions, the phrase "Kill all Mongols", and "follow <insert NPC>".  That isn't my opinion, it is a fact, and if you enjoy it, that is totally fine, but I am not being dishonest or trying to make the game look bad. As I have stated in numerous posts, I bought this game at full-price (which I very rarely do), and I wanted to love it more than I did, but I became frustrated with it.

 

The whole "dishonorable" thing was very interesting at the beginning, but quickly becomes annoying. I already broke the samurai code or whatever, so who could care less if I break it again? The ending (not the one that you'd expect, the one after. If you played that far, you'll know what I mean.) is one of a few games' that had me feeling genuinely upset, and I couldn't do the "bad thing" to a specific character, despite my general lack of empathy for any character in any video game.

 

I tried FFXV, and I wasn't sure about if I liked it or not, but I am interested to try FFVII. I am not into the genre, but I often surprise myself by getting really into games that I would never have thought I would enjoy (recently, sports games). I am not burned out on the style of game, as I am still playing open-world titles, but this game just felt boring after a while. I started it and felt a weird feeling as if I wasn't going to enjoy it, but, because I paid full-price, I stuck with it. I don't think I would have completed it, had I picked it up on a sale or something.

 

On a side note, the Mongol Empire is perhaps my favorite empire to learn about. They were so brutal, so evil, yet they managed to spread cultures across Asia. It is truly marvelous how some few thousand soldiers could successfully defeat giant armies, and go on to conquer many others.

18 hours ago, JaneAusten69 said:

This was one of my favorite gaming experiences of the last two console generations.  I enjoyed all of the combat and collectibles.  So much so, that I went ahead and collected/upgraded just about everything in the game even though it wasn't required for trophies.

 

Also, to the point made by the post above me.  I haven't played an open world game since Spider-Man and Red Dead 2 came out a couple years ago.  If I had just played a AC prior to getting this game I could have seen myself getting burned out towards the end maybe.

I regularly play open-world games, so I obviously am not bored of the genre, though it may contribute to my frustration with Ghost of Tsushima. I am glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. I am going to try platinuming the game soon.

17 hours ago, Fish613 said:

 I'm going to guess that you're in the early to mid-20s. 20-27-ish years old. Right around the age where you start realizing that it's a bad thing to get hyped for games. You've played enough games at that point in the your life to notice how repetitive games are. I'm not talking about a game being repetitive, I mean how every game has essentially the same formula.

 

My suggestion is to only watch 10-15 seconds of a trailer for a game, to see if you're interested in it or not. Stop reading reviews on games. Stop reading previews for games. You're at a point where you should have a decent idea what you do and don't like in a video game, and 10-15 seconds (maybe a little more) of a trailer should tell you in you're interested or not.

 

I played the first God of War the first day it came out, and played all the other God of War games. I didn't watch a single second of any trailers for the latest GoW game. I didn't read anything about it, nothing. Because I already knew I was going to play it. I didn't want to spoil or hype anything about the game for myself.

 

I know my comment is a little all over the place and might seem confusing. But hype can kill a good game for players.

I totally understand. You came close (I am nineteen), but I have realized that hype is almost always going to result in me being incredibly disappointed. I can't understand the fans of The Last of Us, the latest God of War, or Horizon Zero Dawn, but I feel like I should. Hype and peer pressure work very well in terms of marketing, but I should know better.

17 hours ago, ONUOsFan said:

I agree that the collectibles don't serve much purpose, but other than the foxes I never really got tired of them - and at least the foxes give you something for your effort.

 

Other than that I feel opposite of pretty much everything you said. I loved the game and I think so far that it's my game of the year. I played it right after TLoU2, and unlike most people who did that and seem to dislike Ghost because of it, I felt like it was the perfect "antidote" to the heaviness and negativity of that game. I loved the art style and the peaceful nature of the setting, I was interested in almost all of the character side tales (though I could have done without most of the random side missions), and I really liked the story - especially the ending (probably a top 5 game ending ever for me).

The foxes give you something valuable at first, but by the time you find all of them, their rewards are not worth the effort, in my opinion.

 

I haven't play The Last of Us, as it seems like a game I wouldn't enjoy, but I have been meaning to try it out. I can't comment about whether or not Ghost of Tsushima is a good "antidote" or not, but your opinion is interesting, and I enjoyed your contribution. :)

17 hours ago, ObliviousSenpai said:

I think it's good, just not as good as a lot of people are making it out to be. It follows the same tedious open world formula that we've seen in other exclusives like HzD and Spider-Man. I think this game would have benefitted more from a linear approach. Even the side stories drag on for way too long and like you said end up boiling down to kill the Mongols. That's not to say that side stories weren't interesting, but rather they had too much filler. 

I agree with you, whole-heartedly. I think the game was over-hyped, and that the game failed to meet expectations. Again, the "Kill all Mongols" thing is a direct quotation from the game, not me reducing the game to something boring and simplistic. The side-quests, as I mentioned, started out on a high-note, but they had a LOT of crap to extend the length.

17 hours ago, PhantomFear94 said:

Ghost of Tsushima was brilliant IMO, but one thing I was very disappointed in were the visuals. I thought the graphics were pretty mediocre for a title so close to the end of the generation. Also don't like the look of the new mode, but I'll judge when it comes. 

I think, as I previously stated, that the graphics weren't that great, but the art direction was fantastic. The new mode has potential, and I look forward to trying it (looks like I am getting hyped again lol).

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17 hours ago, kdogg_gamer_ said:

I agree I thought GoT was quite boring and the story really wasn't great. In my opinion it will win GOTY because so many reviewers praised it but i think the true GOTY for me is TLOU2. The visuals were the best part, but everything else was not great. From voice acting, to the characters not being interesting. But maybe Sucker Punch will go back to the best work they have done with Infamous.

I played with the Japanese voice-overs, as I wanted a more Kurasawa style experience, and I enjoyed the voice acting, but that's just my opinion.

17 hours ago, Helyx said:

I've never once cared about an NPC in a game (or even really my own character), but I found myself stopping and talking to people in the towns often. I don't mean talking to NPCs that were part of mission progression, but just random people who motioned towards Jin or spoke towards him. This, for me, was a major sign of my personal investment in a game that I otherwise have not experienced before.

"WHO ARE YOU? I HAVE NO TIME TO CHAT"

 

"BE OFF WITH YOU"

 

Most NPCs remind me of life in Philadelphia.

 

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT"
"I BOUGHTA CUT YOU"

 

anyway

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39 minutes ago, zippydpt said:

I agree. The marketing had me thinking of some kind of epic, Nioh-like adventure, which I would have loved. I am really disappointed.

The characters aren't lifeless, in my opinion. You say that you aren't that far in the story, which would explain why you don't see how (some of) the characters are very interesting. Sakai is fairly bland, but that helps the game when it comes to the whole "RPG feel". I forgot about how awful the waypoint system is, but I also forgot how awesome it is to not have ANYTHING on the screen (in terms of an HUD) for most of the game.

 

The graphics, as I previously stated, are not that good. I think that the art is what people mean by "good graphics". The actual textures and models are great, but nothing new. However, the trees, the falling leaves, the colors, the wind blowing the flowers and grass, etc. make the game much more beautiful. :)

 

What about the combat is immersive? I am genuinely curious, as I may have not realized something about it.

Don't get me wrong, the game is great, but it was disappointing, in my

Have you seen jins face. Zero expression, always talks exactly the same and no emotion. Compared to games like rdr2 and the last of us 2 its very dissapointing it that aspect. 

 

The combat is brilliant imo. Maybe immersive was the wrong word to use but the different stances against certain enemies are a nice addition

 

Yeah the waypoint sucks ass. Constantly swiping the touchpad to see where your going is frustrating. Good they tried sonething new but does'nt work

 

Nothing new about the graphics? Have we played the same game. Ive not seen a game with this kind of art and only horizon zero dawns world looks as stunning. Of course its not going to be perfect because it runs on a 7 year old console. 

 

But hey different opinions make the world go round

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Just now, dannyswfc9 said:

Have you seen jins face. Zero expression, always talks exactly the same and no emotion. Compared to games like rdr2 and the last of us 2 its very dissapointing it that aspect. 

 

The combat is brilliant imo. Maybe immersive was the wrong word to use but the different stances against certain enemies are a nice addition

 

Nothing new about the graphics? Have we played the same game. Ive not seen a game with this kind of art and only horizon zero dawns world looks as stunning. Of course its not going to be perfect because it runs on a 7 year old console. 

 

But hey different opinions make the world go round

Fair enough, lol.

 

The stances are only valuable at all if you are playing on the harder difficulties.

 

You read me correctly. I played the game on PS4 Pro, on better quality setting, and the graphics were disappointing. Again, I use the word "graphics" to describe the technical aspect, such as Jin's stroke-victim facial expressions, the meh textures, and the better than most lighting.

 

No, they don't. See what I did there? :)

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18 hours ago, ONUOsFan said:

I agree that the collectibles don't serve much purpose, but other than the foxes I never really got tired of them - and at least the foxes give you something for your effort.

 

Other than that I feel opposite of pretty much everything you said. I loved the game and I think so far that it's my game of the year. I played it right after TLoU2, and unlike most people who did that and seem to dislike Ghost because of it, I felt like it was the perfect "antidote" to the heaviness and negativity of that game. I loved the art style and the peaceful nature of the setting, I was interested in almost all of the character side tales (though I could have done without most of the random side missions), and I really liked the story - especially the ending (probably a top 5 game ending ever for me).

 

I pretty much agree and feel the same way you do. Only difference is I am having a hard time on which of the two would be GOTY for me. I did manage to get one game in between TLOU part 2 and GOT. 

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I just finished the first part of the game and it's been pretty repetitive and boring so far. If they aren't going to out anything interesting in the huge open world, make it smaller.  Im tired of running around across a huge map just to find a few supplies or a small group of enemies. If I make my way out to an island and then climb to the top, I better find something worthwhile. 

The combat and camera combine for one of the worst fighting experiences I've ever had. Why in the hell is there no lock on feature? Do you know how many times I've been hit from behind because Jin just refuses to turn his ass around? Or hit from off screen because the camera is too tight? Or had a tree or shrub block my entire view of the fight? 

I usually clear the map and all objectives in my games, but this one doesn't require it for the plat so forget it. I just hope the story gets better as I go.

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