On October 16, Washington-based developer Sucker Punch Productions released an entirely free expansion for their most recent game, Ghost of Tsushima. In addition to new cosmetics, gameplay changes, and a New Game+ mode, Sucker Punch also added multiplayer to the game.
Fans have known for several months now that the devs behind Sly Cooper and Infamous had a multiplayer mode up their sleeves for Ghost of Tsushima. As it turns out, Ghost of Tsushima: Legends had been part of their plan since they started development on the base game. This is especially evident now that the expansion is finally available to players. Legends takes the fundamental elements of what made Ghost of Tsushima's story and gameplay so enjoyable, but instead of being primarily realistic fiction, as the single player was, Legends is rooted in Japanese folklore and mythology, and applies the same gameplay mechanics in a class-based, cooperative system that feels like a natural extension of the single-player experience.
All of Jin Sakai's abilities and tools are adopted from the base game and divvied up between Legend's four distinct classes. The classes themselves are based on four primary strategies that are available to the player in the base game. The Samurai class, for instance, has special abilities specifically geared towards open melee combat. Likewise, the Hunter, Ronin, and Assassin are geared towards archery, healing teammates, and stealth gameplay respectfully. However, each class is still capable of these playstyles to some degree, since they all have a sword, a bow, a dagger, and a grappling hook.
How Ghost Of Tsushima's Multiplayer Works
The story of Legends takes a distinctly different approach to the Feudal Japanese setting of Ghost of Tsushima. Now, instead of playing as a single "Ghost," players take control of Tsushima's spiritual protectors. These literal Ghosts' journey takes place at the same time as the base game, and follows their battles against both the Mongols and the evil spirits that threaten Tsushima.
This overall switch in focus from historical fiction to mythology brings a new perspective to a familiar setting, and lets Sucker Punch take advantage of some of the motifs they already put to use in Ghost of Tsushima's side content. The storyteller side quests has some of the most Ghost of Tsushima, and Legend's story is told in a similar fashion, with the same ink-brush artwork and voiceovers (though this time with a different storyteller).
The core story of these ghosts is explored in the story section of Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, but if the player just wants some pure combat fun with as many friends as possible, the survival mode is the choice for them. This is like any other wave-based cooperative game mode, although there are still checkpoints for players to capture while they battle Mongol hordes of increasing difficulty.
Ghost of Tsushima: Legends will also feature raid missions that have not yet been released, but are planned to come soon. Not all of these missions are viable to be played from the start, however, and it may not be a good idea to play them even if they are available.
How Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Leveling Works
Every mission, whether survival or otherwise, is graded with a number of Ki points. The player's current character is also graded by this Ki system, and they raise their Ki level by acquiring item and weapon drops after completing missions and daily challenges. Drops come in different levels of Ki, and have many different effects. A sword drop, for instance, might give the player access to another of the four sword stances available to Jin in the single player. Likewise, this is how the player acquires charms and other consumable abilities like smoke bombs and kunai.
The Ki levels of these items adds to the overall Ki of the players, allowing them to judge when they're equipped well enough to take on a certain mission. There is still an experience-based ranking system which is also increased by completing missions. In addition to granting the player experience points with which they can purchase new techniques for their ghost, it allows them to unlock a new ghost after every seven levels.
In total, the Ghost of Tsushima: Legends shapes up to be quite a substantial expansion on the base game. At no additional cost it provides hours of extra challenge and content to be enjoyed with friends. Even once the player is done with the missions, there are still unlockable cosmetics via daily challenges and collectibles that can make the game fun past the point of receiving tangible rewards.
