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Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island Is a Lesson to All Game Developers Out There

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island is excellent.
by Adam Braunstein on September 20, 2021   

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island

When Ghost of Tsushima announced it would be getting a sizeable DLC, fans already knew they were in for a great experience. What the actual experience turned out to be though was more of the same great and gritty content that the game had already shown us 60 hours’ worth of. This might sound like a knock on the game, but it most certainly is not.

More Actually is Better

Iki Island fight

See, we have this notion that when DLC comes, it needs to rewrite the gameplan. Becoming something wholly different while keeping the spirit of the already super successful game intact is something that is not only difficult to do but also unnecessary. A DLC that works best is one that feels like it was part of the game the entire time. Sometimes you can go off script a bit when it makes sense to.

For example. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine managed to feel like a completely different game at times with the settings and length that it introduced. Iki Island is not a DLC like that, so don’t go in expecting that kind of adventure. Instead, it peels back further layers from a character that while endearing, was not exactly fleshed out in the main game. With this expansion, we got to see more of what was already there both in the story and in gameplay. Yes, you will be fighting the Mongols again, which is tough to accept at first, but perfectly sensible from the story’s standpoint. The enemies don’t change all that much except for a few variations with weapon changing and the new Shaman enemy who can rile up the crowd with an ancient hymn. It’s not going to bring you back into the game if you grew tired of its gameplay, but the story being told just might.

Don’t Go Forward, Go Backward

Iki Island Animals

Iki Island does something very intriguing with its story here as most DLC’s in today’s games will have a “mini-sequel” feel to it and here, that feeling is the exact opposite. Whether it is the flashbacks and trippy sequences when Jin was just a child or the focus on exploring who his father really was, this expansion felt in many ways like going backward to move forward from a story sense. By allowing us to see the view on the Samurai from other perspectives, we can further understand how Jin slowly drifted further and further away from the lifestyle he once pledged himself to in the main story.

It’s not the most amazing story ever told, but the way Iki Island slowly haunts and taunts you into the next story beat and how it slowly builds doubt and dread is nothing short of a master class in subtle storytelling, even if some of the reveals border on being a bit too over the top and the backdrop shifts to a more mystical and magical realm, it works regardless.

Highlight Your Strengths

Ghost of Tsushima Jin

It’s no secret that Ghost of Tsushima works best when it throws bombastic set-pieces at you and asks you to solve the puzzle of “how do I kill everyone here most efficiently?” while giving you the tools to do so. This is where Iki Island shines the brightest as it doesn’t so much introduce a whole additional way to play as it does highlight the type of scenarios that made the main story such a joy to explore. Gone are the low-level grunts that you can easily tear through in the main game and instead you will be facing off against highly armored and highly skilled Mongols.

When I say highly skilled, I’m talking about the AI that accompanies these foes. They seem to be far more vicious in Iki Island than in the main game and that’s not just because the Shaman gives them the ability to swing at you nonstop, although that does help. The enemies feel like they have a comradery to them that just wasn’t present in the main game and if you mess up your stealth moves here, you will properly pay for it in the open field. Speaking of which, the added Horse Charge ability turns that open field into something right out of Dynasty Warriors as you can now trample groups of enemies huddled together to create a hilarious and satisfying bowling pin effect. That one felt like a bonus to make the “there isn’t anything new here!” crowd shut up, but it does add a little wrinkle as well. 

If you own Ghost of Tsushima and are a little hesitant to throw down the $19.99 for the expansion, don’t be. There is a serious drought for big titles right now and this little under-the-radar gem helps fill that void as we head into the fall.  

 

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island is available now on PS4 and PS5.

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