Game Debate #215: Samurai

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

(I'm aware Wolf himself is a Shinobi, don't @ me)

[TDIRunner | 2,871]

I kind of want to try these games, but I know I'll never get around to it.  

[Webhead123 | 736]

Now that Ghost of Tsushima is available on PC, I'm hoping to get around to it before too much longer (although I'll probably wait for it to go on deep Steam sale). Very interested in the setting, tone and gorgeous visuals. Hopefully it stays interesting and compelling throughout.

I have a hard time rating Sekiro. I personally got very frustrated with it very quickly and eventually abandoned my playthrough. There is something about it (probably, again, the setting and visuals) that makes me want to like it but I think I'm just too old and impatient to tolerate the "die 30 times until you finally power through, repeat for 20-40 more hours" hook of the Souls-like genre. And I think maybe the time-commitment is the pain point, here. I don't mind a challenge. Hell, Contra Hard Corps is a damn tough game (which I'm still working to beat someday). But the required investment to mentally get in and out of that game, and the particular way in which it tests your skills and memory don't seem as exhausting as Dark Souls or Sekiro. I think I've also kinda discovered that I don't like these kinds of timing-intensive games in a modern 3D space. Movement, animations, reaction speed and pattern memorization just seem so much more fluid and responsive (and thus make the player feel more "in control") in 2D. That's how it works out for me, at least.

Thus, I can appreciate that I think Sekiro is objectively a better game than my personal experience would suggest...but at the end of the day, that experience is what matters most in terms of informing my opinion. So, I struck a middle ground and called it a 6/10. Maybe, one day, I'll fire it up again and see if something has fundamentally changed in the level of enjoyment I can get from it but, at present, it's a game I have no particular attachment to or longing for.

Edited July 24 by Webhead123

[Sumez | 3,134]

Might have been a bit harsh in my ratings of these, dunno.

A controversial(?) 7/10 for Sekiro. This is really subjective. It has a lot of the hallmarks that I really love about modern FromSoft, and I do have some fond memories of it. But the combat never clicked with me, and I never enjoyed fighting stuff in the game - even when I did pull it off well, it still felt annoying to me. I'm sure it's a really good game, but I could re- or re-re-play Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, or Elden Ring instead of ever playing Sekiro again, so it's probably never going to happen.

Tsushima gets a 5/10 despite being a game that I largely enjoyed playing. But it's such an uninspired game, tying into all the basic compulsions of modern open world AAA games. It does nothing to set itself apart, and nothing to remain memorable at all. It's just a whole bunch of nothing, even if the horizon tends to look pretty.

My writeup about the game: 

 

I gave it a 6/10 right after finishing it, but the fact that it left me with a feeling of never wanting to play these sorts of games again (kids call it "the ubisoft game" nowadays) I guess I could say that it's definitely "not something you'll go out of your way to play".

[Kguillemette | 1,593]

Never never never never

[RH | 5,194]

I gotta say, Ghost of Tsushima looks really rad, but I don't know when I'd play it.  I'd need to do it when my kids aren't around which is... never.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

I think I gave Ghost an 8.5 last year.  For all its shortcomings, it is pretty beautiful, and has very effective world building.  I got a rare platinum with it, which must say something about drawing me in.

 And I have a major soft spot for the theme.

Sekiro is a 9.5 or 10 for me.  Maybe not my favorite FromSoft game, but definitely has a place in the conversation.  Arguably one of the best boss lineups in gaming history. A potential Sekiro 2 would be one of the most exciting announcements in gaming for me.

[JamesRobot | 6,011]

Mild interest.  If they show up on PS+, I'll dedicate a good 15 minutes.

[koifish | 588]

No interest really. Think I'd probably look up some samurai movies instead.

[Webhead123 | 736]

34 minutes ago, koifish said:

No interest really. Think I'd probably look up some samurai movies instead.

Plenty of great choices out there. I love me a good samurai flick.

[AstralSoul | 522]

I don't feel right rating either one, I played Sekiro for like 20 minutes but I'm counting it as a never played but want to .

Ghost of Tsushima I played for a few hours but given the scope of the game feels like nothing..I definitely want to play more but big open world games are not really for me these days. But I liked what I played. 8/10

[NostalgicMachine | 323]

Never played but I'd try.

Never played but I'd try.

Super C!