I played Ghost of Tsushima years ago when it came out, and looking for something to scratch that open world itch I had after playing Cyberpunk, I saw the PS5 upgrade was on sale and here I am over 50 hours later just as much of a fan of the game as I was 6 years ago. Maybe even more so after having played the DLC this time around.
Ghost of Tsushima doesn't break the wheel, it doesn't re-invent the wheel, it just hands you a really nice wheel with a new coat of paint. It doesn't pretend to be anything it's not, it's every bit a Ubisoft collectathon but it's so good at it it's probably better than anything Ubisoft has put out since AC Black Flag. It's biggest strength is knowing where it's biggest strengths lie, it delivers polished gameplay in a beatiful world with solid story with some very well done moments that elevate to be more than the sum of its parts.
The combat is excellent, the standoff mechanic gives it a unique feel to any other game in the genre. There's really few games where swinging a sword feels quite as satisfying as it does in GoT. The 1 v 1 cinematic duels are always a treat, the tension of trying to parry/dodge every shot really does make you feel invested in every fight. The stealth is solid if not a tad too familiar 'hide in x place, press y to take down an enemy'.
If I had to critique the gameplay in anyway I would say as good as it can be it is not perfect, you'll be parrying and dodging your way through encounters with no damage and an enemy will pop out and hit you from off screen with an attack that you cannot parry or effectively dodge. Likewise during the standoff sequences you can be frustratingly caught out by an enemy who's weapon is concealed by a piece of the environment or even a floating body that has stayed their during the cinematic. The game probably hands just a few too many tools to the point I wouldn't even think to use half of them during combat, just stuff like all the extra throwables and Ghost weapons can make combat messier and more unorganised than it needs to be when your cycling through menus in the bottom of the screen because you forgot where you keep the flaming arrows.
Like I mentioned earlier, the story itself is solid and hits the emotional beats where it needs to but I think there's some really high highs that drags the story up into being more memorable than it actually is. People like Lord Shimura, Yuna and the villain Kotun Khan provide a strong cast for Jin to play off of. The dramatic moments between Jinn and Shimura really are a highlight. The story actually does have a little more nuance than I remember, before replaying I'd entirely forgotten that Lord Shimura did actually at times kind of have a point about Jin's tactics. And maybe had they come together to find a way to take the mongols together they'd have find a way that wasn't as foolish as Shimura's head on assault or gave them access to Jin's methods.
The open world itself is absolutely incredible, I don't quite think the game is as much of graphical powerhouse like games released around the same time like TLOU Part 2 or God of War 2018, but the world design is so beatiful I couldn't disagree if you said you thought it was the best looking game on the PS4. The world itself is littered with side content with varying degrees of quality. You've got your ubisoft collectathon check mark style maguffins to find like hot springs to improve your health and shrines to find additional power up charms. Some of the major side missions in the game have some really strong storytelling with characters like Lady Massako and Norio, and those are definitely worth your time. However the game is also choc full of fetch quests and follower missions and outposts which do pale in comparison to something like the contracts in the Witcher 3.
Overall Ghost of Tsushima is a very 8/10 video game, it takes everything that the Open World Genre was already doing and wraps it up in an immersive feudal Japanese presentation with some really slick gameplay. After 55 hours I still have the itch for more so if that score isn't enough of an endorsement I think this will be the first game I ever attempt a new game+ save on.