Ghost of Tsushima Catch All

r013nt0 wrote:

I have like 17 upgrade points banked at this point because I've already upgraded all the stances and Samurai abilities, and I don't like the Ghost abilities enough to bother. I want a trophy for having 20 unused points!

Maybe you should spend them on a new GWJ tag!

r013nt0 wrote:

I have like 17 upgrade points banked at this point because I've already upgraded all the stances and Samurai abilities, and I don't like the Ghost abilities enough to bother. I want a trophy for having 20 unused points!

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.

zeroKFE wrote:

I still haven't pushed into act 2 yet, so maybe changes there will limit the effectiveness, but it's wild how powerful that combo is.

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.

Shadout wrote:
zeroKFE wrote:

I still haven't pushed into act 2 yet, so maybe changes there will limit the effectiveness, but it's wild how powerful that combo is.

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.

Yeah, I'm interested to see how it goes. For now, I'm enjoying lethal mode, but I won't hesitate to drop it back down if it gets unfun once I move on to act 2.

Funny enough, though, since I was already living that block/parry/archery/tools lifestyle, in some ways lethal mode actually made the game a bit easier.

vypre wrote:
r013nt0 wrote:

I have like 17 upgrade points banked at this point because I've already upgraded all the stances and Samurai abilities, and I don't like the Ghost abilities enough to bother. I want a trophy for having 20 unused points!

Maybe you should spend them on a new GWJ tag!

Haver of 20+ Unused Points

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

Just finished this over the weekend, also got the platinum. Absolutely loved it from start to finish. I had so much fun it started me thinking that I needed to take another stab at Sekiro, or possibly get back to Nioh 2, then I came to my senses. Both are great games, but I just don’t have the patience or temperament right now.

Tonight I finished Act 2 and got into Act 3. The game gives you a warning, but the transition is about 90 minutes of missions that keep you from open world activities. Also (no story spoilers):

Spoiler:

At least at the beginning of Act 3, you are cut off from the lower 2/3 of the island.

I'm quite enjoying the story.

Goshaku armor or Sakai?

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

I bounce between the Traveler's Attire and the Sakai armor.

Balthezor wrote:

Goshaku armor or Sakai?

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.

For those of you who have finished / platinumed, how long did it take you?

Once I got the Sakai armor fully upgraded it was my go to for Act 2. For Act 3 you automatically get a new armor that has been my favorite if I don't want to bother changing.

I feel like I've been playing about 30 hours. I've not seen an in-game timer. I have finished up the main side stories, I have collected most of the upgrades, bought all the techniques, have 5 active tales, 7 places to liberate, and the main story seems to be wrapping up.

I'm approaching 40 hours and am barely into Act 2. I have been doing everything I come across, though.

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

Just bought this game.

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.

Finally finished it. What a beautiful and amazing game. I loved it all. So good. Really needs a new game + though!

Done and Platinumed.

I really enjoyed my time with this game. Yes, it is another open world adventure game, but I felt the mechanics and story were better than usual for these types of games. This past year I bought an HDR TV and the game is just beautiful.

For those of you who like to get a Platinum there was not too much I had to do after the main story. It was just some clean up things I missed that I could have completed earlier.

The most annoying parts were some investigation missions where you had to find just the right place to look to continue the story. In other games, when you are stuck for several minutes, the game will offer some sort of hint, but that is not the case here.

Thumbs up!

Just started ACT III

I am not pleased.

Spoiler:

You jerks just had to kill the horse didn’t you...

JC wrote:

Just started ACT III

I am not pleased.

Spoiler:

You jerks just had to kill the horse didn’t you...

Spoiler:

There is a hidden trophy with a description of "Play the "Lament of the Storm" at a friend's grave." I thought it was referring to my horse's grave.

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.

Spoiler:

I tend to play games like this with a lot of stealthiness, but the Warrior's Code mission establishes pretty firmly that this is a significant personal dilemma for Jin. I started avoiding stealth where I could, but still rely on it sometimes. In a recent instance, when I assassinated a guard from stealth, it played a quick flashback/narration reminding Jin that this is not the samurai way.

So, the question: Is there a different progression/ending for the story if you avoid breaking the samurai code except when story missions require it? Am I already messing up the later portions or ending of the game by allowing myself to use sneaky tactics when a samurai wouldn't?

Farscry wrote:

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.

Spoiler:

I tend to play games like this with a lot of stealthiness, but the Warrior's Code mission establishes pretty firmly that this is a significant personal dilemma for Jin. I started avoiding stealth where I could, but still rely on it sometimes. In a recent instance, when I assassinated a guard from stealth, it played a quick flashback/narration reminding Jin that this is not the samurai way.

So, the question: Is there a different progression/ending for the story if you avoid breaking the samurai code except when story missions require it? Am I already messing up the later portions or ending of the game by allowing myself to use sneaky tactics when a samurai wouldn't?

Spoiler:

No. Play how you want.

Duels on lethal make Dark Souls look like Mario

I am playing on easy. Thinking of bumping it up to normal.

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.

Finished this morning, along with the platinum trophy. Enjoyed the ride, played through on Easy. Overall, I'd say it's a solid action/adventure entry with the open world bent. I thought the game locales were interestingly designed, and I liked that each area had some distinct biome/appearances. There were a few railroaded aspects for some of the gameplay which made it seem like there might have initially been a far more ambitious scope (kind of a dark/light scenario; "YOUR actions decide the outcome!" thing), but was perhaps scrapped in view of expense or time (or both).

I also noticed that after I achieved the trophies for the various collectables (records, artifacts, etc), I stopped seeking them out. The modicum of story info gleaned from their acquisition was interesting, but not enough of a draw to keep me on the hunt. Same with uncovering the entirety of the map. I didn't really NEED to seek out the rest of the fog of war, because there was not likely to be something that I would use or need underneath it.

Same with ranking, once I maxed out the legend (somewhere in Act 3), I started avoiding incidental encounters if I was headed to a new destination. This REALLY became true once I'd freed the settlements in each region.

As is often the case for me, I'd have enjoyed more things to upgrade. That said, the game does give you a lot of upgrade options (armors, weapons, skill improvements, charm slots, etc). I'd hoped for some way to use the extra resources you keep acquiring (wood, metal, cloth, "supplies"), perhaps to feed/clothe/aid refugees, but no such opportunity is built into the game.

Combat is lots of fun. I liked the perfect-parry/dodge additions to the arsenal once I unlocked them. Some of the special moves were great to use. Mixing ghost weapons / swordplay while fighting hordes of Mongol troops or bandits really shone through. As a side note, the standoff mechanic is really awesome once you get used to it (and upgrade some, allowing for additional enemy defeats), but the timing seems to REALLY tighten up in Acts 2 and 3. I was not nearly as successful in those events in the later game (getting old, I guess. ).

All in all, 2 thumbs up. It's a fun game with lots to do. Might feel like it's starting to outstay its welcome in the 3rd act (activity repetition), but the individual side quests (both one shots and chains) are a decent break from the main story. Also worth noting that there is no time-pressure for any event, even despite certain quests seeming as if they were centered around a specific timed thing happening. This was a plus for me, as I loathe being forced into gameplay sequences outside of my preferred pace.

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

Finishing tales will often get you 100 supply at the gift alter.

I always kept the Charm of Inari equipped which tends to double supply pickups. It is found on the first part of the island

Spoiler:

At Arrow Peak Shrine

staygold wrote:

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.