Ghost of Tsushima - a game filled with samurai action and animals

I finally got around to playing Ghost of Tsushima. I won't go into much detail about this game, since there are a lot of reviews and materials on the internet. I'll focus more on my feelings about the game.

The game is beautiful, and the music suits the game well. I find it quite funny that you can play the flute in the game. At first, I had no idea that it actually has a function. But you can apparently change the weather a certain way, depending on which tune you play.

The sceneries are impressive. The only negative thing I have to say about that is the fact that there is a lot of hopping around high mountains. It hurts my stomach to hop around and see just how high we are... or even worse and actually fail the jump and see the ground closing in. I don't like heights in games or in real life.

I like how the battle mechanics aren't overly complicated. There are a lot of options, stances, weapons, and such to choose from for each battle. But the implementation of the mechanics is excellent. At least for me, it is fairly easy to use. After a while you will actually remember how you change each of the weapon types... until then it's trial and error.

The story of the game is, of course, a little dark, can't be a super happy story with this subject. But the story is really good. I enjoyed both the main story and also the side stories. I've yet to try the legends mode.

If you haven't yet tried out the game, I cannot recommend it enough. I can also recommend another game series from SuckerPunch, Infamous. I really love those games.

My favorite weapon

I really like using the bows. Especially the heavy arrows, there is something really satisfying about those. You get the feeling that they are heavy and powerful.

I also like the Kunai. They're fun to throw around. Apart from those I rarely use the other weapon options, apart from the swords. I've only used the bombs when there has been a bonus objective from using them.

My favorite thing to do, though is to be a sneaky thief and assassinate people. Kind of reminds me of another game series I love, Batman. Sneaking behind buildings and various elements to try to find the perfect spots is the most fun.

Animals in the game

I had known about the foxes before starting to play the game. I obviously love the Inari shrines. There's nothing better than to follow a cute fox to the shrines. And occasionally you even get to pet the foxes. Adorable. I always like to be able to interact with animals in the game.

But when I got on the Iki island, oh joy! More animals to pet! And not just foxes!

And then there is of course the horse. I've noticed that if I take any other horse than my own, I always end up getting it killed one way or the other. I actually noticed a similar pattern in Red Dead Redemption 2. Whenever I would change from the default horse to a more expensive one, someone killed the horse.

The horse and my stupid humor

I named my horse Kage. It means shadow, and I like all things relating to shadows and darkness. After a while of playing it became obvious that the pronunciation is similar to how the basic rally Finnish pronunciation of Nicolas Cage's surname. And this made it possible for me and my fiancé to have our stupid humor while we play. Good horse, Kage quickly became Good Nicolas Cage. Really stupid. But for us, it has provided a lot of laughter.