i'd like to apologize to ghost of tsushima. i spent yesterday morning mocking its open-world shenanigans and decided to give it more time last night
yesterday
it is 4am
it sure does ape every single idea ubisoft's thrown at the wall but there's a rigorous dedication to understanding them, polished to a sheen. parkour is smooth and intuitive (this is the Sly studio after all), map icons are filtered through organic signposting to keep you immersed in the gorgeous environments, off-road distractions are direct and immediately gratifying and best of all, the swordplay is everything i ever wanted pre-Origins asscreed to be. dry writing aside, it's been some time since the AAA Open Formula's gotten hooks in like this.
tsushima's not got an original bone in its body, the structure's so old it's attracting flies, but there's that unique "late console generation release" sense where loads of issues big and small in the genre have been figured out.
the game's just, clean. expertly executed formula down to the tiniest detail. it's like getting pierre white to cook porridge.
