Just getting to the “what we played” section of the show, and I gotta disagree with you Frank— Ghost of Tsushima is only just a pretty good game. It’s just tough coming down from the high that was TLOU2 for me, also, I feel like Horizon: Zero Dawn has set a bar for first party Sony developed open world games and this one is definitely falling short in terms of gameplay and presentation. The world is obviously gorgeous, the music is just phenomenal, but the stealth feels a bit dated–it’s giving off a very Assassin’s Creed vibe to the dumb enemy AI and rigid mechanics. I’m playing with Japanese dialogue and subtitles, but haven’t delved into the B&W “Kurosawa Mode,” mainly because this is such a beaut in HDR. It’s definitely a game I’ll peck away at over the summer and try to clear the map as I progress (much like how I organically Platinum’d their previous title without even knowing I did it, Infamous: Second Son), but it’s a bit of a disappointment for me, as I was hoping this was going to deliver a super satisfying stealth experience, which it ultimately falls short in that regard.

Also, the clipping in this game is EGREGIOUS. I want to love the cloth physics, but when my character’s elbows and belt is constantly clipping through, it’s vomit inducing. I had the same problem with Kratos’ blades of chaos clipping through his back man-purse, it’s a huge pet peeve for me in video games. When we’re staring at our protagonist’s back the entire time in a 3rd person game, clipping is simply inexcusable!