Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut

The game’s storyline is a 13th-century Japanese epic, with beautiful, detailed scenery including animals (songbirds including golden ones which lead you not-so-subtly when you get lost or distracted, crickets, and foxes which you can pet) torii gates, and Shinto temples.

You are samurai lord Jin Sakai, and you are tasked with repelling the so-far-successful Mongol invaders (under Khotun Khan, who is the grandson of the acclaimed Genghis) to reclaim your land and avenge the insult to your home which has been invaded and taken over.

However, in order to succeed, you have to make some hard decisions: adhere to the strict honourable protocols of samurai, or do the ‘right’ thing morally? As you morph from Jin, the upright samurai, into ‘The Ghost,’ you will gather a motley crew of allies about you, and as you travel, you will uncover their back stories and help them resolve their issues.

Your allies include Sensei Ishikawa, the renowned samurai archer searching for his missing student; Masako, a grief-stricken mother out for revenge on those who murdered her family; and Yuna, the thief who saved your life at the very beginning of the story, and will do whatever it takes to save her brother from the Mongols.

The Nitty Gritty

As you play along the story arc, side quests and NPCs (non-playing characters) give you some guidance in your meandering, inviting you to detour and enjoy even more of the wonderfully rendered scenery. There are even moments of restful tranquillity when you can just sit and enjoy nature.

For the less peaceful moments, you have a katana for self-defence (and attack) amongst other weapons. (More about the weapons below.) You will choose to play as one of the four available classes and you can play single player mode (which is actually for one or two players) or co-op mode (which is for two or four players) or you can try your hand at the multiplayer version.

You can play in English or Japanese with optional English subtitles – however, lip-readers will quickly note that the mouth movements are for English, regardless of your language choice. You can also opt for Kurosawa mode to evoke the black and white classics of classic film-maker Akira Kurosawa, who gave the world its abiding image of Japanese samurai with his films about that chivalric world.

Side quests are known as Tales: there are standard real-life (ish) based tales and also Mystic Tales which explore the more supernatural side of things. Combat is, as you might expect, mostly katana based, and you can take out an enemy with a few skilful strokes. But, you can be taken out the same way, so you must learn to block, parry and dodge as well as swing your sword about madly. High scores enhance your experience, making precise play worthwhile.

There is no map game on the screen, in fact there are no indicators in the open world at all. While this makes it an immersive gaming experience, it can also be frustrating: until you realise that the game is packed with hints and reminders: the wind subtly blows in the direction of recommended travel. Occasionally things like plumes of smoke, bird flights, swirls of leaves, etc, will give you a slightly more urgent call to move.

You will travel by horseback in the main, and can use grappling hooks when it is necessary for you to climb up or access something out of your easy reach.

What Weapons?

As you progress you unlock ever more impressive armour, costumes, charms, many of which can be upgraded. These benefits include reduced damage, reduced enemy awareness – it takes longer for them to notice you, improved health, faster healing, or boosted melee damage. The only exceptions are head and face customisations which are purely cosmetic.

Katana: your traditional samurai sword, which buffs as you find power-ups and boosters, giving you, literally, the edge in battles

Bows: bows and arrows were the go-to weapons of the time, but these have additional extra. Different types of bows have different effects on the enemy, so have fun trying them out and take care stocking up your quiver

Stealth: while not traditionally thought of as a weapon, players will quickly realise that this stealth is less designed to help you creep past your enemies, but is more to allow you to get into a great position from which to ambush your enemies

Firecrackers: if your stealthy tactics aren’t quite working, lob a couple of firecrackers to distract or decoy them while you sneak up on them and add to your body count

Smoke bombs: like firecrackers, but long-lasting, smoke bombs can help you set a set or, if you don’t feel like a battle at the moment, to sneak past an enemy encampment

Kunai: these fierce looking stabby darts were originally thought to be masons’ tools, adapted for self-defence. Now, and in this game, they are ideal daggers, throwing knives and generally sharp spikes which help you in taking down multiple enemies at once