“Tradition. Courage. Honor.” These are the three words that the samurai of Tsushima live by. The Nixxes team also followed these words while porting Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Ghost of Tsushima to PC. The action-adventure game – which is already highly acclaimed in the PlayStation world – came to PC a month ago and is a memorable experience. The game was originally made for PS4 and later a PS5 version was released.

I didn’t play the PS4 version when it released, but I did play Ghost of Tsushima Legends on PS5 when a free trial was made available two years ago. The experience was so good that I wanted to buy the full game, but I couldn’t do so because of so many other games coming out. So, when the PC port came out and I got the chance to review the game, I was pretty excited.

I have spent about 25 hours in this game and I absolutely loved the experience. So, should you spend Rs 2,499 for this game? Read on to find out.

Ghost of Tsushima PC review: Story

Set against the backdrop of the Mongols’ first invasion of Japan in 1274, Ghost of Tsushima follows the harrowing story of the fall of Tsushima Island at the hands of the powerful Mongol forces. Following their victory on Tsushima, the Mongols extended their campaign to Iki Island, leaving nothing but devastation for the survivors. When all the samurai are believed to be gone, we take control of Jin Sakai.

Sakai survives a deadly encounter with the invaders with the help of a cunning thief. Mastering the arts of stealth and assassination, he transforms into the Ghost of Tsushima, and wages war against the occupiers. Throughout the game, Sakai constantly struggles between two choices—staying to the samurai code or breaking the rules to save lives.

The game has a great storyline that feels like a movie at times. The only “negative point” here is that the cutscenes cannot be skipped when you play the game for the first time. This can be a bit of a problem at times as every time I start a new game, I have to watch all the cutscenes.

Furthermore, Sakai’s story is told in a non-linear format. This is a double-edged sword because sometimes, it’s fun to go back in time and watch the protagonist learn the ways of the samurai from his uncle. But at other times, it can also distract you from the current plot that was going on.

That being said, there is a lot of thought put into this game. For example, when a non-player character (NPC) is on the verge of death by your blade, the option to “end the suffering” pops up.

Ghost of Tsushima PC review: Gameplay and combat

Overall, the gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima is impressive. You initially have four modes to choose from – Standard, Subtitled, Samurai, and Kurosawa. In Standard mode, the game has English vocals. Subtitled mode, like Standard mode, features an English dub track, with the only difference being English subtitles.

Samurai mode features a Japanese audio track with English subtitles. And in Kurosawa mode, a black and white filter is added to the entire screen along with a film-grain effect to replicate the classic style of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

I first tried playing in Kurosawa mode, because I was curious. But after an hour, I wanted to explore the beautiful places in the game to the best of their ability. So, I switched to Samurai mode. This remained my setting for the entire game because there is something about the Japanese audio that helps you become a part of the samurai world better.

Also, you will get the option to switch between modes only once. In the middle of gameplay, if you want to switch, you have to change the settings, and this can be complicated for a new player. I wish there was an option to toggle different modes within the gameplay.

The game moves at a slow pace and then picks up pace in the middle. The main story keeps you hooked and there are many side quests that keep coming up again and again. The game has many mythological elements (for example, the wind takes you in the direction of a quest). And these elements add to its beauty. However, the side quests could have been a little better. They seem repetitive after spending hours in the game.

Speaking of combat, it is fun and realistic but can be quite easy for an experienced player. I usually play on consoles and am not very used to the mouse and keyboard setup. Still, I was able to kill a large number of enemies quite easily on medium difficulty settings. Now, either I am a very good player or the game is quite simple. And I strongly feel that the latter is the case (confession time: I completely lose at games like Call of Duty or Counter-Strike when playing on PC).

Ghost of Tsushima PC review: PC performance and overall experience

This game is an aesthetic marvel, no doubt about that. It has many beautiful locations that you can easily wander around without worrying about what’s happening while you’re exploring.

In terms of performance, the game ran flawlessly and I didn’t notice any lag or stutter. It did take a while to load on my PC, but once it did, there was no looking back.

My PC uses an Intel i7 8700K CPU with 6 cores and 12 threads. The PC is equipped with an Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti graphic card with LPDDR4 16 GB RAM at 3200 MHz. In addition, the CPU and GPU are custom-cooled and each equipped with a 240 mm radiator.

On PC, at very high graphic settings, DLSS off and 1080p resolution, the game ran very smoothly with a steady FPS of 140. It even touched 180 at times. When I turned on DLSS (which enables the game to boost the frame rate), I got around 160-190 FPS. The frame rate did not drop even after long gameplay sessions.

The game has enough options for PC players to customize the experience to their liking. From the field of view to graphics and audio, everything can be customized.

Being a photography enthusiast, I have always loved experimenting with the photo mode in games. And Ghost of Tsushima’s photo mode does not disappoint. I managed to take some great pictures in the game and even made one of them my phone’s wallpaper.

Ghost of Tsushima PC review: Should you buy it?

With highly customizable gameplay and graphic settings, a great photo mode, and a balanced combat and story experience, Ghost of Tsushima can definitely be your next choice.

At Rs 2,499, it might seem a bit expensive as PC players need a PlayStation Network (PSN) account to play the Legends multiplayer mode. If you don’t have a PSN account, you can still enjoy the game but can only play the single-player story mode.

So, if you are one of those who enjoy games with story mode and can’t wait to play a samurai adventure game, then this is a game you must play.