When I bought my PlayStation 5 back in December of 2022 there were two games that I was very excited about playing. Those were God of War: Ragnarok and Ghost of Tsushima. Since I had recently played the first God of War I wanted to get the continuity of playing God of War: Ragnarok first. Ghost of Tsushima was a new IP that I'd heard good things about but had no connection to outside of this.
Back then Ghost of Tsushima was a disappointment to me. After having played God of War: Ragnarok which had an enormous story with strong and memorable characters Ghost of Tsushima felt like a big step down. The main character Jin Sakai felt like a really shallow character and the story didn't have any kind of depth to it. I played the game for around 8 hours and ended up dropping it after completing the first out of three acts.
The world however is one of the most beautiful I've seen in a game. Accompanied by a fantastic and extensive photo mode the game really is a unique visual experience. When playing I felt like no matter where I was in the game I could stop and appreciate unique vistas. That's something special in its own but back then it wasn't enough to keep the game going for me after experiencing something grand like God of War: Ragnarok.
Ultimately that's what brought me back to the game this time around. I've been enjoying visual experiences more and more lately and this game just hits that spot. At 4-5 hours in I still feel like te main character is shallow and the story lacks depth but I was prepared for it this time around. Instead of letting these things drag the game down I'm focusing on the things that I do like about it. The stunning visuals.
I'm not sure if I'll complete the game this time around either. If I don't them that's completely fine. I'll take the enjoyment I can get from it and then move on to something else. The game isn't able to grab my attention for more than 1-2 hours at a time so it's going to be a slow grind in any case. Especially since I spend so much time in photo mode playing around with the settings. I could probably have progressed the story way more if it wasn't for that.
All images in this post are screenshots taken by me.