Ghost of Tsushima Catch All

While I also ended up with lots of unused points over the game, I was the opposite. All into Ghost abilities, didnt bother much with the parry/reflect/stances. Other than 2 points in each stance, which is quite useful.
You can get all upgrades at the end however.

It felt like there is a reasonably large difficulty increase in each act. Though you keep being overpowered through the sheer amount of tools at your disposal.
I certainly died/failed more in the later acts than the first, despite being quite thorough in exploring and doing all side quests. Which was pleasantly surprising. Often these games only get easier and easier over time.
Although I didn't min-max my charms, that felt too annoying to switch out between activities. Loadouts could have been nice.

Haver of 20+ Unused Points

Too bad I can't add them to my charisma stat.

I change outfits more than a teenager getting ready for a date. Leave town change, see enemies change, want to sneak change.

IMO, if you want to optimize, you switch to Sakai for standoffs; Goshaku for large mobs; and Clan for duels. (And obviously you're mixing in other outfits as appropriate.) There's an argument for the Ronin outfit and its damage increase, but it's an argument made by people who get hit less than I do.

If this is a hypothetical "CHOOSE ONLY ONE" and I can't choose Clan (which I think is most versatile) I guess I go with Goshaku, but that's a question of playstyle and what you're good at.

This game is going to make me go watch Mongol again.

I finally finished the first third of the game.

I can't believe they held out stabbing someone through a paper door for that long and that's how the mechanic is introduced to the player.

Just started ACT III

I am not pleased.

Glad I listened to you folks and picked this up; beautiful and runs great on a base model PS4, completely happy with it!

I do have one question that's early-game spoilery and I'm not even going to try to dig through this thread to find my answer at this point. Someone please have mercy on me and answer.

Duels on lethal make Dark Souls look like Mario

I discovered the ability to press right on the D-Pad on the map screen and just let the wind guide you to the next destination. It's yet another example of that compromise between traditional Ubi-formula and Breath of the Wild's freedom, where the game has a bunch of collectibles scattered about the world, and it will help you locate them, but it will only take you to the general vicinity of that object. It is up to you to look around and observe your surroundings to find it.

At the same time, it begs the question of "why"? Why am I collecting banners? Just to change the color of my horse's saddle? The answer is "because video games", and while I'm never one to object to a video game being unashamed of the fact that it is a video game, there's still the question of unnecessary padding in a game that's already pretty massive. Artifacts and records enrich the world in which we occupy. Inari Shrines are given a pragmatic purpose by rewarding the player with charm slots and powered up charms. Bamboo strikes are brief and increase resolve. Hot springs allow Jin the chance to think, which helps develop the character (even if only by millimeters) while simultaneously boosting maximum health. The haiku are a bit of a mixture. I love the idea behind them, but all they reward are cosmetics. Perhaps instead of locking the ability to follow the wind to other collectibles behind skill points, Jin's taking in of his surroundings to compose a haiku could have "helped him get in touch with the world around him" and unlock the ability to track a different collectible. It would have been a completionist task for the sake of completionist tasks, but it would at least impact gameplay.

That said, I don't find such things too offensive, but I certainly understand how some critics weren't as receptive to it. This is a game that offers a lot for the sort of personality that looks for games that serve a more "simulationist" bent, where the mechanics are just an excuse to be in a virtual environment that's enjoyable to be in. The sort of game that I once-upon-a-time referred to as a "Stuff to Do Simulator" because that's the core of its design: giving the player stuff to do. And Ghost of Tsushima does plenty of that.

But it at least does it with a respect for its setting that you don't often get in the Ubi-world formula, where they want to capture that essence of Shinto spirituality that characterizes so much of Japan. They didn't just put in hot springs, they made them an opportunity to reflect. You don't just find landmarks, you compose a haiku. You don't just find a shrine, you follow a fox to it as if guided by Inari's messengers themselves.

To that end, the critics really did do a disservice by chalking it all up to being "just another open-world". It's like when Holly in Die Hard calls Hans Gruber a "common thief". No, he is an exceptional thief, and while I may still prefer the freedom of Breath of the Wild, Ghost of Tsushima is more than a common open-world.

Really, though, I believe it's the combat mechanics that elevate the game. Those have their own flaws, however, and I've written a long enough novel as it is. So maybe I'll save those praises and gripes for later.

Is there any way to easily get loads of supplies? I just got the Gosaku armour and the Sakai but now I need 1500+ supplies to upgrade both. It’s weird because I have 2-3x more than I need of every resource other than supplies

The charm Aristophan mentions was probably the biggest reason I had plenty through most of the game. Having it equipped when looting camps was particularly useful, since it would double the pickups of all the supplies, linen, bamboo. yew, and whatnot. I also tended to ride around the roads and take out the various patrols, which would reward minor legend xp and usually a decent supplies reward from the courier caches or wagons.