Ghost of Tsushima, the other PlayStation 4 exclusive coming this summer, is steadily accumulating hype ahead of its July 17 release date.
I must confess, I was a little bummed when I first learned it would be an open-world title. I know open-world is all the rage, but my schedule is pretty tight these days.
After all, most open-world games are full of fluff. There are so many boring side quests and pointless extra content just so the marketing team can boast “100 hours!” – as if it were a good thing.
With upcoming games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla looking to be bigger than the 80-hour epic that is Odyssey, I can’t be the only one exhausted by the “open-world” trope.
Fortunately, developer Sucker Punch respects a player’s time. They’ve revealed that Ghost of Tsushima is only 40-50 hours with all of the side content. Those who just want to play the core story can do so in a shorter time frame.
Of course, the game’s director, Nate Fox, hopes players will branch out. Speaking to Voxel , he states:
But I would highly recommend that everyone get off the main route and get lost on the island of Tsushima, since there is a lot to discover there.
The crucial thing is that the game gives players a choice.
I can’t be the only one who shied away from Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Red Dead Redemption 2 because their scope was just too daunting.
No matter the approach, those titles require massive time investments. That’s great for gamers with time to spare – but what if I just want a good story?
It’s time to quash the tired narrative that bigger is always better. Games that respect our time absolutely earn our hard-earned dollars.