Ghost of Tsushima has undoubtedly been one of my favourite game this year and the new Legends co-op multiplayer mode makes a fantastic game even better. In this Ghost of Tsushima: Legends PS4 review, I’ll share my thoughts on what makes this update so great.
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Review – A Free Update That Makes A Great Game Even Greater
As far as single-player games go, Ghost of Tsushima was already a pretty amazing game. With the addition of the Legends mode, an already amazing game is made even better.
Probably one fo the only downsides to the Ghost of Tsushima single-player game was its lack of replayability. Once I had finished the game and done all the other side-activities to earn the platinum trophy, there wasn’t much else to do. Sucker Punch has added a new game+ mode alongside Legends, but aside from a couple fo extra trophies, there’s not much that I gain from doing another entire playthrough.
Thankfully though the Ghost of Tsushima Legends mode lets me experience the superb combat mechanics of the single-player game in an exciting mode I can re-play again and again and again.
The Best Things In Life Are Free
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is an extremely enjoyable and replayable co-op multiplayer experience. Not only does it bring nine new two-player story missions but also a pretty addictive four-player survival mode.
Perhaps one of the best things about Legends is that it is a completely free update. Legends is so good that Sony and Sucker Punch could have easily made this a paid DLC and people would have bought it. Making it free really shows Sony’s commitment to making amazing game experiences for its players ahead of making profits at every opportunity.
Four Ghosts
When you start up Ghost of Tsushima: Legends for the first time, you taken through four short tutorial missions showcasing each classes abilities. There are four classes to choose from; Samurai, Hunter, Ronin and Assassin.
Each class has its own specific abilities and strengths they can bring into the story missions and the survival mode. Each class also has its own ultimate ability and these are all brand new and created specifically for Legends.
After the tutorial missions, you can choose which class you want to play as. Which class you pick will depend on your own personal playstyle and you can unlock the other classes simply by levelling up whichever class you choose to play as first.
I went with the Samarai class because I like being in the thick of the battle/ But I’ve recently started playing with the Ronin class which is a very useful healer class that is definitely needed for the tougher Survival modes.
Stories of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends has nine two-player story missions (you can also play them solo if you want.) The stories are narrated by Gyozen, a new character that was introduced with the Legends update.
The story missions change things up a bit from the single-player game in that they are more rooted in fantasy, rather than history.
The stories told are probably not as memorable as the campaign stories. But that is probably because there is a tendency to just rush from one objective to the next, especially when playing with matchmaking.
The stories, like the survival mode, have three difficulties. Bronze, Silver and Gold. You start off with the bronze difficulty and unlock the higher difficulties as you earn more gear that increases your Ki power level.
The story missions in Legends get more difficult as you progress through them and get even harder when playing on a higher difficulty. The enemies hit harder and take a fair bit of damage to down. Definitely expect to die a few times.
Overall the two-player story missions are very enjoyable and are even better when played with a friend while having a bit of banter on the mic.
Survival of the Fittest
The four-player survival mode is without a doubt the standout of the Ghost of Tsushima: Legends update. Survival is a four-player PvE mode that pits four ghosts against unrelenting waves of enemies.
There are four survival maps and to survive in survival you have to become pretty familiar with them. Where the enemies spawn from, where the healing drums are and the best and quickest routes to travel between the three different defence areas on each map.
Like the story mode, survival has three difficulty tiers, Bronze, Silver and Gold. You start at Bronze and can unlock the other two difficulties as you increase your Ki power.
The Bronze and Silver difficulties are fairly reasonable to deal with and pit you and three other ghosts against 15 and 20 waves of enemies respectively. The Gold difficulty, however, is pretty solid and increases the number of enemy waves to 25. Gold requires some persistence and a team consisting of a Ronin for their revival ability and healing insense technique.
There also an even tougher nightmare difficulty which you can unlock once your Ki power hits 90. I’ve only managed about four waves on nightmare but did manage to get my first Gold completion a couple of nights ago with a matchmade team.
Survival Is Addictive and Very Replayable
Survival is a very addictive game mode. It’s tough, especially on Gold and nightmare difficulties but it’s an absolute adrenaline rush when you beat that final wave.
The survival mode is also full of very tense, nailbiting moments, particularly in the higher difficulties. When you’re down to your last sliver of health with no healing drum in sight, knowing that if you get downed it could mean failure for you and your team.
Ghost of Tsushima: legends survival mode offers brilliant replayability as you play to earn more and better gear and increase your Ki power.
Gear of Legend
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends feels like a proper, fully-fledged co-op multiplayer mode rather than a quickly tacked on bit of multiplayer just for the sake of it. Legends has it’s own gear and levelling system which makes playing the game even more fun when you know you are getting rewarded with some sweet loot.
Your ghosts main source of power comes from the gear you earn at the end of the story missions and survival. Each difficulty awards gear with a Ki power up to a certain maximum, depending on the difficulty. So you want to be grinding through the difficulties to earn the most powerful gear.
The different gear you earn can even be re-rolled for a chance to get different perks. So if you’re not happy with the perks, you can just go in and re-roll and hopefully get something better.
The Ki power system is similar to that of Destiny, the more you play, the higher gear you will earn. Increasing your Ki and making you able to take and deal more damage.
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Review – A Legend in Its Own Time
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is an amazing free update. I’ve enjoyed writing this review and talking about the mode just as much as I’ve enjoyed playing it.
Legends is the most fun I’ve had playing a multiplayer game since the original destiny.
Survival is by far one of the best multiplayer modes I’ve played recently. The only downside to survival is the length of the matches. Fighting against 20 waves in silver difficulty and 25 waves in gold can sometimes feel a bit too much and long drawn out. There’s a danger that this may, in the future put people off from playing thus making matchmaking longer.
Overall, Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is a great addition to the amazing single-player game. The co-op and multiplayer modes have been well designed and thought out and aren’t just tacked on gimmicks.
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends was developed by Sucker Punch Productions and is out now as a free update for all Ghost of Tsushima players. Don’t own Ghost of Tsushima yet? Why not buy it on Amazon?
Ghost of Tsushima - The PSF Verdict
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is an amazing free update. I've enjoyed writing this review and talking about the mode just as much as I've enjoyed playing it
