Ghost of Tsushima is a polished masterpiece of Japanese feudal tourism, with my only real gripe being all those damn sword-wielding maniacs ruining my photographic experience for me. Straight out of the gate, Sucker Punch’s latest game ran smooth, looked great and nary a bug could be seen lurking about its graphical landscape.
Close to technical perfection, Sucker Punch has popped a few small patches into download queues since the game was released, enhancing it for an audience that can’t get enough of Jin Sakai’s epic adventure. Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest patch to date has just released, and between a number of improvements such as making the tiny text actually readable, the biggest addition is the inclusion of Lethal Mode.
It’s hard mode, but with a twist! While most games up the challenge by transforming enemies into attack-sponges who go through your best offense like a fat kid left unattended in a candy store, Lethal Mode also gives Jin a more dangerous chunk of steel to wield. Here’s a breakdown on those changes from the Sucker Punch blog:
- Enemy attacks are more harmful, but so are yours
- Enemies are more aggressive in combat, which means less standing around and waiting for you to come to them
- Enemies will detect you faster, though it will still depend on how far away and well hidden you are.
- You’ll have less margin for error when trying to Parry or Dodge attacks.
And here’s a sneak peek at me straight up getting my ass kicked in lethal mode bro, even with the playing field being balanced.
As for the rest of the patch notes, here they are in all their glory! Read on, and bask in the upcoming changes of an overt and a covert nature!
Lower Intensity Combat
Lower intensity mode is meant to maintain the heart and feel of Ghost of Tsushima combat while relaxing several timing-specific elements. Combat is less intense, giving you more time to react. Stealth settings are more forgiving, and enemies take longer to detect you.
- Most enemy attacks which are normally unblockable become blockable when Lower Intensity is enabled. Blocking with L1 will keep you safe from more attacks than standard combat, though some attacks must still be dodged.
- Enemies break off their attack combos after damaging you, giving you a chance to recover before the next wave of attacks. In addition, your heavy attacks will interrupt attacks from Brutes, giving you another way to stop their combos.
- Enemies will not attack you while you’re using Resolve to heal
- Enemy awareness builds more slowly, giving you more time to recover after being spotted
Text changes
- Large Text option: Increases text size of subtitles, mission objectives and interact prompts by 150% when enabled
- Added option to turn speaker name off when subtitles are enabled
- New subtitle text color options in addition to white: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green
Patch 1.05 also includes additional bug fixes.
Last Updated: July 28, 2020
