Quick brain farts on Ghost of Tsushima: probably my front runner for GOTY. There's a lot in the narrative that can be tightened up, but it has a good foundation mainly through its core premise and cast and, more importantly, the gameplay loop is superb. Beautiful presentation.

It takes lessons from the Arkham's series best moments; encounters that support remarkably flexible player engagement through buttery smooth combat and stealth, and seamless transition between the two, alongside a wide variety of tools, equipment, stances, and toys.

Sucker Punch nailed a satisfying combat loop so well in an open world game it might legitimately be the best in the business. There's enough depth and layers to both the stealth and fighting to encourage player agency and emergent strategy, but simplicity for responsiveness.

Narratively it's uneven, like there's some missing substance to many of the arcs. But their core is almost always, at worst, good enough to keep pushing through. The actual characters are lovely, and distinct between each other. Pretty solid performances all around too.

I can see why others grew tired of the loop. It's a bunch of open world tropes mangled together. But SP's seamless accessibility in finding and engaging with the content, and the charm, elevates the moment-to-moment experience. Probably has the best QoL open world features ever.

And that's what makes the game so addictive. Yes, it's all basic open world stuff, but it's very easy to find, approach, and satisfying to complete. Yes every mission ends with "but it was Mongols/Bandits", but the combat/stealth is satisfying it's still fun to get in the scuffs.

Visual design needs no more praise than what others have said. The islands are distinct and the topographies within surprisingly varied. It's an exceptionally calming visually striking title. And I really loved the soundtrack too, particularly the use of traditional instruments.

So yeah. All in all I really couldn't put it down. It's not perfect across the board, but it's brilliant where it matters most, and even at its worst still holding its own and setting an amazing foundation for what I can only assume will be an improved sequel. First platinum too.