More: NBA Jam esports? Arcade1Up hopes to make it happen | Hyper Scape developers hope to create a 'spectacle' | Five wishes for Rocket League's fifth birthday It breathes life into an already gorgeously landscaped island and gives it an ethereal look. Depending on your surroundings, whenever the wind gusts it might swirl around colorful leaves from nearby trees, make waves across vast fields of pampas grass or blow up snowflakes, or embers from structures that are on fire. The wind doesn't just blow to act as a guide it also helps create a very distinctive look for the game. Wind enhances already beautiful landscapes I found it fun to turn on expert mode every now and then after getting used to the game and then seeing how I'd fare in locating items and locations. Your health bar doesn't show while in combat in this mode, either. Instead you'll have to rely on your instincts and knowledge of the game. There are no waypoints in this mode, and collectible items such as bamboo, yew wood, flowers and other supplies aren't highlighted to indicate you should approach and pick them up. You can play the game in 'expert' mode (not to be confused with one of the three levels of difficulty for the game) in which the heads-up display is minimized on screen.

These are just some of the ways in which Sucker Punch has endeavored to make the game as immersive as you want it to be. These can be tricky to reach, but getting to them will allow you to unlock charm slots to power up your weapons. Following a fox can lead you to a specific type of shrine called an Inari shrine. It's really a neat mechanism for making your way through this vast open world.īesides the wind, you'll often encounter golden birds that you can follow to locations that will lead you to characters who can unlock new tales and other useful locations for ability upgrades such as bamboo strikes, gift altars, shrines and more. If you happen to lose your way and don't want to refer to the map, simply swipe up on your controller and a strong gust of wind will point the right way to go. You can mark locations for missions (called tales in this game) as well as villages, shrines, hot springs and other locations of interest. After tracking a location on the map that you access through the game menu, the wind will blow in that direction. Instead, you have to rely on the 'guiding wind' to lead you. One of the unique aspects of this open-world game is the lack of a mini map to guide you as you're playing. These are just a couple of the cool features of this open-world game that I had a chance to play over the past couple of weeks.

There's even a Japanese dialogue option if you really want to immerse yourself in the world of feudal Japan. You might not want to play the entire game this way, but it's cool to try it out at times, especially when you're dueling with another samurai. The game might also appeal to fans of classic cinema because of the ability to play in 'Kurosawa' mode, a black-and-white filter that will make you feel like you're playing inside of a 1950s film by the acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, whose samurai films partly inspired this game. It's actually based on the real-life invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima by the Mongols in 1274, which is a cool starting point for history nerds like me.

In this game, you take control of Jin Sakai, a samurai who is trying to defend his home island against a Mongol invasion. Ghost of Tsushima, which Sucker Punch is releasing Friday, is the last major game exclusive to the PlayStation 4 before Sony Interactive Entertainment rolls out the PlayStation 5 this holiday season. Ghost of Tsushima: Impressions and tips for the final PS4 exclusive You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser

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