More Unique Boss Battles
If you’ve played any of Ghost of Tsushima yet, you’ll already know that the combat remains very much the same throughout. While its boss battles tend to add a bit of cinematic spectacle to proceedings, the actual gameplay largely remains the same. That’s something a Ghost of Tsushima sequel would need to address.
Sure, a boss may have one or two slightly different or ‘unique’ moves, but we’d love to see Sucker Punch Productions double down on boss battles by adding in more unique moves to each one, and giving them attack patterns that must be read and countered by the player.
We’re not looking for a complete overhaul of the system that’d take away from its Kurosawa stylings, but just something to help spruce up these undercooked set-pieces.
Greater Quest Variety
Improvements We Need in a Ghost of Tsushima Sequel
The isle of Tsushima is a true joy to explore and adventure around, but the problem is a lot of the quests end up feeling very repetitive and samey. Go to this beautiful location in the world, take out some Mongols, interact with an item or an NPC, rinse, repeat.
Sucker Punch Productions have excelled in making menial collectibles and character upgrade quests fresh and exciting for players to undertake. Be it following a fox to reach a Shinto Shrine, or looking out for the towering landmarks that house a charm for you to obtain.
It’s a typical fetch quest but done in a way that makes them feel wholly unique and perfect for the stunning world that the developer has created.
We’d love to see them push the boat out a little more when it comes to quest design, finding ways to show more sides to our protagonist than just ‘serious business’ Jin.
Perhaps he has to visit a Geisha house controlled by Mongols and must sneak them in and take them out one at a time. Or maybe he’s just got to help save his furry fox friends from a Mongol hunt or use them to his advantage during a mission.
QOL Updates
If there’s one thing that drove me mildly insane during my Ghost of Tsushima playthrough, it’s the sheer number of very short cutscenes to introduce you to something.
Whether you’ve beaten a Mongol leader, found and bow to a Shinto Shrine, complete a quest, or challenged an enemy to a Standoff, Ghost of Tsushima goes all out with its cinematic presentation. You’ll get close-ups of a Mongol leader brandishing their sword, or the fox sitting delighted next to you as you bow to a Shinto shrine.
They’re all very nice and solid immersion-enhancing moments but during lengthy sessions, they can get real old after the 10th time you’ve seen them. Particularly if you keep dying and are forced to rewatch them over and over.
What makes this whole thing a little bit worse is the inability to skip cutscenes and dialogue. While we’d never advise you skip the story beat cutscenes (during your first playthrough, at least), all of these shorter ones should definitely be skippable with a quick press and hold of the X button.
Just having the option would certainly help make the game feel that little less sluggish during lengthy sessions. Is this a little nitpicky? Absolutely, but it’s something that detracted from my enjoyment of the game, so mentioned it must be.
There’s also the painful task of having to change your entire loadouts every time you want to take on a combat scenario like a Mongol camp in a slightly different playstyle to your default.
For example, say you wanted to take out a camp entirely stealthy. You’d be able to use a loadout quick select option to change a ton of your gear that you choose and add to that loadout, in a flash. That right there, that’s the dream.
More Open-World Exploration Excitement
Improvements We Need in a Ghost of Tsushima Sequel
After getting through the introduction of Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll then be given free rein to explore the open world as you see fit. You can dive right into the main quests, but you’d be missing out on some of the incredible secrets that the developer has tucked away in its world.
The first time you come across a fox den, or stumble upon a hot spring thanks to the billowing steam rising from it into the sky, it feels special. It scratches that itch and sense of discovery that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so expertly mastered back in 2017.
Get about halfway through Ghost of Tsushima, though, and that sense of discovery begins to burn out. That’s not to say that what’s here in the original game isn’t already good, but give us rogue or hostile clans to take out, legends of the land to challenge to a battle, treasure hunts to find secret relics or artifacts.
The open world could do with a bit of a face-lift, too. While it was home to plenty of side missions and distractions from the main quest, it was all rather safe. Compared to Breath of the Wild that had us interacting with the world and featured some exceptional and intelligent world design, Ghost of Tsushima feels all too safe.
You get the point. The more to randomly come across in the world, the more reason to explore after that initial period of getting to grips with everything.
Improved Enemy AI
If you’ve played Ghost of Tsushima for a good while, you’ll eventually begin to notice something. The enemy AI is a little bit dumb, particularly when it comes to taking on Mongol camps or a mission stealthily.
There’s a lot of leeway here in being detected. In my current playthrough, I’ve accidentally jumped down into a Mongol camp, only to be stood right in view of one of the inhabitants. The detection meter appears and begins to fill, but I quickly dart behind a tree and crouch. The enemy stares my way for a little bit before returning to its predetermined patrol path.
Ghost of Tsushima isn’t alone in this fairly dopey AI. Lot’s of games have it, but it takes something like The Last of Us: Part II to remind us that enemy AI can be so much more intelligent. The way enemies in TLOU2 hunted you down and worked together to pin you into a corner is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Ghost’s rather lackadaisical AI. Hopefully, with the power of the PS5 likely running Ghost of Tsushima 2, Sucker Punch Productions will knock it out the park next time.
Sequel Setting / Premise
Improvements We Need in a Ghost of Tsushima Sequel
The most obvious question when talking about a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima is “But what’s the story premise given Jin’s actions in Ghost of Tsushima?”
Well, there are two options here, and we’ll make a quick spoiler warning now for those who have yet to finish the game and don’t want to run the risk of having anything spoiled for them.
The first option would be to follow the second invasion of Tsushima by the Mongols, taking place in 1281, seven years after the first invasion. This would allow enough time for things to, realistically, change on the isle of Tsushima, allowing the gameplay to get a touch-up.
The alternative would be to position Jin as a sort of a true cross between Samurai and Assassin following his blending of the two combat styles in the original game.
Now a hired sword, Jin would be tasked with toppling nefarious circles within the Shogunate to help restore peace and protect the people of Kyoto and mainland Japan.
That way, Sucker Punch Productions would have ample opportunities to give the open world exploration and the quest gameplay a complete overhaul, addressing two of the points we’d mentioned above.
What would you like to see improved or added in a Ghost of Tsushima sequel? Let us know down in the comments below.
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