Sekiro and Ghost of Tsushima
Thoughts on these two games that have often been mentioned together due to their setting.
Sekiro, released in March 2019, was developed by FromSoftware, which, if you've played any of their other games, should tell you almost everything you need to know about it. It's grueling, punishing, incredibly difficult, and very rewarding. I played on PC, and have completed enough playthroughs to get all of the endings.
Ghost of Tsushima, released July 2020, was developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the PS4. It's also a third-person, combat-heavy, sword- and tool-wielding game with combat and upgrades etc., etc. They have many things in common, including the fact that the player is playing as a sword-wielding man in Japan, gaining upgrades, and doing a lot of killing.
Warning: mild spoilers.
World
Sekiro is far more linear: the game is divided into a handful of different maps, and progressing through them, while there are opportunities to explore side areas, have a few different paths that eventually get to the end. This isn't something I hold against the game, though, as maps are interesting, diverse, and big enough to fit the content without feeling either too sparsely filled or too cramped. Well, some areas feel cramped, but I attribute that to the game's purposely difficult gameplay rather than running out of space to put NPCs. The player spends a lot of time in settled areas: castles, villages, etc. There are areas where the player ventures to more natural areas, but isn't often far from something built.
Ghost is open world, with a expansive world with varied terrain, scattered settlements and villages, and many points of interest to find and investigate. Think more of an Assassin's Creed game, but without tons of collectibles existing just to extend gameplay. The majority (so far, for me) of Ghost's time is spent in nature, which is something that is supported by the design of the settlements and villages, with heavy use of plants and trees inside even the man-made areas, the player never feels far from nature. This works well for the game, as everything is very pleasing to the eye.
Difficulty
As only surprising to "game journalists", Sekiro is hard. Remember that this is from the same developers who made Dark Souls, so the player should be ready to be punished hard and frequently. In Sekiro, the player is punished for both resurrecting and actually dying. When the player resurrects, they contribute to a hidden value that controls which allied NPCs in the world are sickened by a story-tied mechanic, meaning that some of their dialog options are not available. This doesn't keep the player from progressing the main story, but they will be locked out of optional content. Additionally, as more NPCs get sick, the percentage chance of the player not being punished for dying decreases. Yes, as the player utilizes the game's resurrect mechanic, their future deaths will hurt even more. When the player dies, there is a chance that they will not have their money halved and their experience progress toward the next level slashed. So dying hurts, but resurrecting to avoid death, while very helpful and something that the player will be doing a lot, makes dying hurt even more.
In Ghost, the first thing to say about the difficulty is that it's configurable. Ghost sports a familiar Easy/Normal/Hard setting in the game options that can be changed at any time. As I wanted something that I'd have to work at, I set it to, and have kept it at, hard. When I was first starting the game, I definitely felt it. I would frequently die to multiple assailants, and getting the hang of the different attackers and their movesets took me a while. Despite this challenge, there are a number of things that make Ghost easier than Sekiro.
Next, Ghost doesn't punish failure. If the player fails an objective or dies, they simply start before whatever went wrong. There's no experience or money reduction, or long treks back to the area. The player simply gives it another shot. In many ways, this was very refreshing - I could take the time to learn the game mechanics without feeling like I need to look up a guide on the basics of the game, which is something that I definitely did for Sekiro (many times). Enemy encampments have "leaders", which are armored-up versions of normal enemies, but also sporting a more advanced moveset and invulnerability to being assassinated. These aren't really the equivalent of Sekiro's bosses, though. Ghost has various duels, where the player faces off against a named combatant in one-on-one combat, while limited to just using the character's sword. These duels are incredibly cinematic, and, while challenging, are like the rest of the game - the only thing that dying does to the player is make them try again. I've only spent a few deaths per each of these duels, and enjoyed the experience each time. Like Sekiro, each "boss" has a moveset that the player needs to learn and react to. Unlike Sekiro though, since the stakes aren't nearly as high, these fights aren't as impactful solely based on the combat. Thankfully, the developers made each of these fights impactful in other aspects, often involving the story, environment, and even weather. Because of this, I can tackle one of these "boss" fights in Ghost and feel accomplished, even though it didn't take me 30 deaths to get past it.
Both games are attempting different things. Sekiro is intended to be grueling, and Ghost isn't. Both offer a challenge, and for the most part, neither is unfair.
Game loop
In Sekiro, the main game loop is:
- Get into a level
- Clear normal mobs until you get to a boss
- Die dozens of times trying to get past it
- Take a break
- Come back and clear the boss in a few more attempts
- Clear more normal mobs
- Unlock a new weapon/tool
- Goto #2
Again, this more-linear nature isn't something that I hold against the game. Due to it's incredible difficulty, each bit of progress the player makes (that isn't immediately undone by dying) is inherently rewarding. Additionally, although the options available to the player start off simple, there is a wealth of upgrades to collect that offers improvements, changes, and additional options to the player. While the character starts with little more than a sword, they end with many different tools for taking on various combatant and environmental challenges.
Due it being an open world based game, Ghost's loop is less structured, but the game organizes progress in the story through "tales", where each storyline/quest is a tale, and some can be multiple chapters/quests/events long. In between (and sometimes in the middle) of these tales, the player can be pleasantly distracted by the environment and go off chasing some animals, saving some peasants from the invaders, going off to get cash in some upgrades (something that it has in common with Sekiro), or just taking advantage of the game's built-in camera mode to take incredible screenshots. Skyrim has come to mind when thinking of Ghost's structure. In Skyrim, the player has any number of quests that they're working on, and they can work on them in various orders, though some are chains that have to be done one after another. In between these, the player can go and one of many, many caves or find things in the environment.
Graphics
First, remember that Ghost was released a little over a year after Sekiro.
Sekiro's world is drab, and this is reflected in what the player sees. There are very few bright colors in the game, and most of the game is various shared of brown, green, blue, and black. That doesn't mean the game isn't well-presented, though, as the textures and effects are well done. The visual look of the game fits wonderfully with the rest of the game's mood.
Ghost is a totally different story. The world is vibrant, colorful, expressive, and, especially when compared to Sekiro, basically fantasy in some places. Ghost's world is beautiful, and this too is captured wonderfully in the graphics. Ghost's trailers were often very cinematically centered around the combat, but when reviewers started releasing their thoughts on the game, many people saw how gorgeous the world is. I have been shocked by the graphics on many occasions, and have certainly stopped progressing the story to just stare at the environment.
Enjoyability
When talking about whether Sekiro is enjoyable, the reader must keep in mind that the game is very difficult, and the player will be frustrated on many, many occasions. This is just part of the game, and a hallmark of the Souls/Bourne-style games. The high difficulty curve that doesn't really ever let up means tha the player will struggle for even the smallest bit of progress. If the player accept this core aspect of the game and continue on, then I think the game is enjoyable. It's certainly not something I pick up when I want something "clasically fun" to play, but looking back at the game, I enjoyed it, as demonstrated by the fact that I went back and played through multiple times to get the various endings.
Ghost is a blast. The world is interesting and beautiful, the combat is difficult without punishing me for failing, the world is huge and rewards exploration, and there are many progression and customization options to keep me interested between events.
Recommendations
For me, I'm glad I've played (and am playing, for Ghost) both games. Sekiro has been as low as $33, and goes for around $40. As Ghost is brand new, it's $60. Just be aware that Sekiro is hard.