Ghost of Tsushima

 ... is very good.

The gameplay is solid. The lack of a lock-on in combat might take some getting used to for some, but I barely noticed most of the time and adapted. It's not super-difficult (at least on normal mode), but can definitely punish a player for getting in over their head. It moves well and looks gorgeous. The lovely scenery can arguably get to be a little much at times, but the only area that I actually got bored of was the Act 3 zone due to the comparative monotony of being snowy - it was unique compared to the rest of the map, but there's a lot of it.

I'm not really an expert when it comes to feudal Japanese stories, but this one feels very appropriate and maturely-told. As a story that centers on a samurai surviving against incredible odds and adopting non-conventional strategies against a greater foe, it fits for there to be a conflict between tradition and effectiveness told around a central cast who are all imperfect. Lord Shimura is, perhaps, the only one of the samurai caste who adheres to their code of honor wholeheartedly and that is, in fact, his flaw. The main character, Jin Sakai, embraces stealth and a number of other tactics that prove effective. It's shown, in a couple very notable ways, that this way may not be good in the long run even if it does win the current war. Neither side of that central thematic question is shown to be absolutely right. And that's part of what I love about the story.

A different game would have built up a paragon/renegade system and branched the story depending on how many times you use certain tactics or which way you go about certain missions. That would have leveraged the strength of the game genre. I'm not sure, however, if a development team could have really managed to walk that line without watering down the branches, making for a less impactful story overall, or become overly preachy in each direction. It's possible this story could have been told in that fashion and been better, but I highly doubt it.

The story of Jin and those around him may be linear, but it's told very well. I'm not sure I would call moments in the story tear-worthy, but there are many that are definitely emotional and poignant. One death in the story actually changed the way I played for a few hours (which is a little odd to say, considering the details). And toward the end of the game I was equipping the outfit that felt most appropriate to me (am I doing this act as Jin Sakai or "The Ghost"?) rather than for bonuses. That is more involving and affecting than a lot of games can manage.

Unless you absolutely hate open world games or lack a Playstation 4, it's absolutely a game I would recommend. And as much as I'm looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077, Ghost of Tsushima is easily a contender for any sort of game of the year award.