There’s little invention or imagination in the open world of Team Ninja’s action-RPG, but its core mechanics set it apart from other games.

It’s the season for samurai when it comes to video games. Medieval Japan is no stranger to video games. From Okami and Onimusha to Tenchu and Total War, the setting has been explored in poetic and powerful ways before. But a few popular games have recently rekindled interest in the sword masters and ninjas. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice established the spirit of modern action games set in Japan’s turbulent past, while Ghost of Tsushima refined the open-world action-adventure genre with a samurai tale.

Team Ninja’s latest action RPG, Rise of the Ronin, released on March 22nd, sits somewhere between these two titles. Set in the late Edo period, the game employs a deep role-playing system and challenging parry-based action combat reminiscent of Sekiro, presenting a vast open-world map littered with checklist activities and distractions. It’s a lot like Ghost of Tsushima, which itself follows the familiar open-world path established by the Assassin’s Creed games. But Rise of the Ronin, a best-of-both-world approach, loses the sanctity of the strong, unforgiving combat language established in Team Ninja’s previous games and fails to bring any new original ideas to the open-world formula.

That’s not to say that Rise of the Ronin doesn’t bring something completely new to the genre. The game’s combat is a good balance of approachability and difficulty, with a variety of melee and ranged weapons and stances to choose from. The companion system encourages you to indulge in side content and bond with your friends. And the accurate period setting gives it a more realistic portrayal of the era compared to other games set in medieval Japan. But despite striking a good, if somewhat shaky, balance between the hard-edged combat and serious systems of old-school games and the ambitious, vast scope of modern open-world titles, Rise of the Ronin can easily get boring.

The story is set in the mid-19th century, during the decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a time of great turmoil in Japan, where political and cultural revolutions steered the country in a new direction. Rise of the Ronin begins with the game’s protagonists, the Blade Twins, twin brothers who have grown up and trained together as part of the Veiled Edge resistance movement against the Shogunate. At the start of the game, you can customize the twins’ appearance to your liking and choose their gender, but you will only play as one of the twins, with the other appearing as an ally. An early assassination mission goes wrong, resulting in the loss of your partner.

You then embark on a bloody, decades-long path of revenge that will take you through Yokohama, Edo and Kyoto, navigating the changing political climate of the time. Along the way, you’ll encounter real historical figures who determined the fate of Japan. In Yokohama, the first city you explore in Rise of the Ronin, you’ll befriend Sakamoto Ryoma, a powerful samurai from the end of the Edo period. Join Sakamoto and his friends on a quest against the Shogunate, but you can also choose missions that favor the Shogunate.

The opening of Rise of the Ronin sets you on a path of revenge.

The element of choice remains a key part of Rise of the Ronin’s gameplay. How you approach quests will tilt and shift your loyalties and alter your interactions with people on both sides of the divide. Early in the game, I was faced with the choice of executing a minor antagonist or sparing his life at the end of the mission. I chose the latter, and he ended up becoming a powerful ally, aiding me in future main missions. Rise of the Ronin presents you with several such impactful choices throughout its story, and its narrative structure always feels like a piece of tailoring of its own making.

As you progress, the story branches and your objectives change. What starts as a tale of personal revenge soon becomes an epic tale of political intrigue and national interest across a Japan on the brink of revolution. Your initial adventure in Yokohama and the surrounding area will lead you to Edo (Tokyo’s former name) and Kyoto as you absorb allies and turn the pages of Japanese history. The setting is fascinating, but the meaty story, which spans years and involves dozens of major and minor players, suffers a bit under its weight. Like most RPGs, Rise of the Ronin approaches storytelling with a light touch, lacking the emotional thrust and narrative structure of character-driven action-adventure titles like Ghost of Tsushima.

Yokohama is the first city you’ll explore in Rise of the Ronin.

The main campaign is no cakewalk either. It can take 20+ hours to complete, with at least another 20 for side quests, activities, and exploration. Even if you focus solely on the main quest (and you probably won’t), it’s not that hard to lose track of what’s going on. There are multiple factions, side characters, allies, and enemies, all competing for your loyalty and attention. But over time, they all blend into one mass of exposition-guzzling NPCs, with only a few memorable standout characters. It also doesn’t help that the side quests remain poor throughout the game. The game map is littered with icons promising things to do soon, in true Ubisoft style, but these missions and activities don’t bring anything fresh to the formula.

While Rise of the Ronin is lacking in terms of story, it is packed with mechanics. From weapon variety, combat stances, and an extensive skill tree to a deep bond system, gear bonuses, and soul-like inspiration, the game is packed with so much that it often feels overwhelming. Much of how the game plays and feels is similar to Sekiro : Shadows Die Twice, but without the crushing difficulty and complexity of the combat. Team Ninja’s games are known for their uncompromisingly tough combat. The company’s Nioh games and more recently Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty were firmly rooted in the Soulsborne ethos with their tough combat and complex level design. Rise of the Ronin opens that door by making combat much more accessible by implementing one-button combos, a forgiving parry window, and a wide variety of weapons and skills for every situation. The open-world design also brings it closer to modern action-adventure titles, allowing you to always turn around and explore in another direction even when you come across a difficult obstacle.

Rise of the Ronin’s open world gives you the freedom to explore beyond the main story.

Let’s jump into the combat. The masochistic difficulty of previous Team Ninja games has been wiped away, but it’s still pretty challenging. There are three sets of multiple stances for each weapon type, all of which are effective against certain enemies. The combat moveset is simple, with a single attack button to launch into combos, but the sheer number of weapon types at your disposal creates confusion. Though the controls are the same, the versatility of the Uchigatana is quite different from the speciality of the spear. The careful, blunt swings of the Odachi are a far cry from the agile swings of the Dual Blades. And the stiff, direct movements of the polearm contrast with the flexible flair of the Oxtail Blade.

Each weapon type has its own animations and set of fighting skills, which work like Weapon Art in Elden Ring, unleashing special attacks by pressing the right bumper and corresponding face buttons on the PS5 DualSense controller. I kept switching between weapons to get a sense of the different styles and break the monotony of the shallow combat mechanics. There are also plenty of ranged weapon options. Revolvers are quick and can stun close-range enemies for a second if you pull the trigger at the right time. Rifles, on the other hand, are more accurate and better for targeting enemies from a distance. Bows are a stealthier option and also allow elemental attacks, adding fire and acid arrows to your quiver.

Rise of the Ronin’s combat is easy, but difficult.

Melee combat itself is predicated on parrying, blocking, or dodging attacks and counterattacking with quick combos to defeat opponents. As in previous Team Ninja titles, all offensive and defensive actions are controlled by Ki, or stamina. Your health bar is accompanied by a Ki meter, which depletes while dodging, blocking, and attacking. Ki regenerates if you’re not performing these actions, but being too zealous will quickly drain your Ki and make you susceptible to heavy damage from attacks. The same goes for enemies: normal attacks, martial arts moves, and well-timed parries (called counter sparks in the game) chip away at your opponent’s Ki, eventually enabling critical hits that may one-hit kill weaker foes.

Despite ticking most of the boxes for a modern action RPG, Rise of the Ronin’s combat never feels as tight or powerful as Sekiro’s. The counterspark deflection, triggered with the Triangle button, feels out of sync with other actions, making the timing difficult to get right. The parry window isn’t narrow, but the action itself is accompanied by an exaggerated animation that feels out of place for a maneuver that requires dexterity. Inventory management in the heat of battle is also tedious. Switching between two equipped melee weapons, a third ranged weapon, and quick items for healing and status effects is never smooth, and it often feels like you’re drowning in menus and UI every time you want to tinker with your loadout. The custom loadout slots are helpful, but a more intuitive weapon swapping system would have improved the experience.

Stealth is extremely useful for clearing out enemy lines.

Combat in Rise of the Ronin may not be as responsive as you’d like, but it’s always fun. Trying out different weapons keeps it fresh, and fighting multiple enemies at the same time is also challenging, especially if you keep switching stances to fight different types of enemies. Clearing out enemy camps (which you do often in the game) always requires a thoughtful approach. I thought of them as reminiscent of camps and bases in the Far Cry games, where you’re given the freedom to clear out however you want. You can charge in and attack enemies head-on, or carefully rush through them and silently take down unaware guards one by one. Combat isn’t always fluid, but it does look smooth. Each weapon’s fighting skills often come with elaborate animations that add a touch of glamour to the combat. A skill tree spanning strength, dexterity, intelligence, and charisma traits adds meaningful abilities to your bag of tricks, bringing a bit more depth to the relatively shallow combat experience.

In the main missions, you will also be accompanied by two companions. You can choose your companions from among the characters you have met and bonded with over time. The level of your bond with your companions will determine their effectiveness on the battlefield. Companions are especially useful in difficult boss battles; they attract enemy attacks and give you an opportunity to attack. At any time during the main mission, you can also control your companion characters. Most companions are handled with great care, with well-developed personalities and clearly defined traits. Showing a personal favor to a companion will deepen your bond and they will reveal more to you. All companions are deeply tied to the overall story, and your choices may determine their fate. As a result, over time, you will come to care about them and their objectives.

Companions Don’t Just Pose on the Battlefield

While you have companions in the form of friendly NPCs when completing main missions and actual players online in co-op mode, you’re alone when exploring the open world. To move around the world more quickly, you’re given a horse, a grappling hook, and a glider. The horse companion is perfect for the rolling countryside, while the hook and glider are useful when traversing dense cities. With two tools at your disposal, your character becomes more agile, and while you’d imagine you could easily parkour across rooftops a la the Assassin’s Creed series, the Blade Twin is surprisingly stiff. You can climb rooftops with the help of ladders, carefully placed boxes, and dangling ropes, and you can jump from rooftop to rooftop for some distances, traveling on foot never feels smooth.

The open-world elements of Rise of the Ronin are pretty much what you’d expect from the genre: a never-ending and ever-growing checklist of things to do and errands to run. When you defeat an enemy camp in an area, icons representing side activities appear on the map for that area. You can find and pet stray cats, ask your companions for favors, do NPC quests, take photos, find landmarks, shoot targets, or find “random” encounters. These get boring quickly, and the limited variety of quests means there’s little incentive to dive into the side content. Scaling up to an open-world design doesn’t really add much meaning to Rise of the Ronin, other than the freedom to waste time trying to finish the main story. Whereas Team Ninja’s previous games benefited from a linear level design that felt tense, this latest game loses tension by switching to an open-world approach. And unlike Elden Ring, it fails to justify the switch by digging up the carcasses of every open-world trick.

The bonds you forge in Rise of the Ronin shape the story.

Visually, Rise of the Ronin is also not a standout. If the game had stuck to a Nioh-style linear design, I wouldn’t have minded as much, but an open world needs great vistas and breathtaking scenery. It needs lush environments and a striking visual style. Rise of the Ronin looks boring, flat, and gray compared to modern open world games. The game’s environments are not diverse or vibrant, and the textures lack detail. Even the character models look poor compared to other games. The game looks good in certain moments, and the lack of graphical finesse can be ignored for the most part, but the bar has been set high by games like Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon Forbidden West. It’s unfair to expect a Team Ninja game to approach that standard, but Rise of the Ronin could have chosen a bolder visual style to make up for its shortcomings in visual fidelity.

Meanwhile, performance on the PS5 leaves little to be desired. The game offers a Performance mode at 60fps, a Graphics mode at 30fps, and a Ray Tracing mode at 30fps that enables ray tracing lighting. I stuck with Performance mode, as the graphical gains in the other modes weren’t enough to justify the drop in frame rate. The frame rate drops as expected in crowded sections and densely populated cities, but overall it’s stable. However, Rise of the Ronin, a PS5 exclusive, excels at taking full advantage of the DualSense controller’s capabilities, with responsive vibration and adaptive trigger feedback to in-game actions.

Rise of the Ronin looks good, but it lacks the polish of modern open-world games.

Rise of the Ronin is clearly Team Ninja’s most ambitious work to date. Known for its tense, linear, and challenging Souls-like experiences, the studio is aiming wider this time around, hoping to attract a wider audience more receptive to open-world games. It makes sense that a studio whose previous games were well-received by a niche audience would make their next project more accessible, and Team Ninja’s latest title largely succeeds in blending the specific essence of its games with the general familiarity of the open-world formula.

The problem, though, is that the formula has become stale over the past few years. And games that don’t add a unique twist to the genre tend to get lost in a pile of similar titles. FromSoftware also pushed the scale of its games with Elden Ring. But rather than adapting from an existing open-world blueprint, the studio chose to challenge established tropes at every step. That’s not the case with Rise of the Ronin. Its open world has little invention or imagination, but its core mechanics and compelling story are what set it apart from the rest.

The companion system adds meaningful decisions and choices, and seeks to add depth to each character in the game. The variety of weapons and tools at your disposal keeps combat fresh and engaging, while the game’s evocative settings and colorful cast of characters keep the story constantly evolving. Rise of the Ronin is clearly punching above its weight class, and you can feel your knees wobbly, but it’s worth praising it for never succumbing to the strain.

Pros:

• Challenging Combat
• Engaging story and setting
• Likeable characters
• Diverse weapons and tools
• Companion System

Cons:

• Uninspired open-world design
• Lack of visual sophistication
• Repetitive side activities
• Troublesome inventory management

Rating (out of 10): 7

• Rise of the Ronin was released exclusively for PS5 on March 22nd.
• The price of the PS5 standard edition on the PlayStation Store will start at Rs 4,999.

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The animated spin-off series is a prequel to the Baahubali film starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati.

It’s been nearly nine years since Rajamouli’s epic period series Baahubali, set in the fictional kingdom of Mahishmati, hit Indian screens but it still feels fresh amongst its fans. Magnificent sets, a gripping storyline, impressive VFX, subtle performances and addictive songs make Rajamouli’s epic unforgettable.

So when Hotstar announced the animated spin-off, fans of the franchise like me couldn’t help but get excited, especially when the storyline promised an unexpected twist from what we’ve come to expect from the familiar characters. Kattappa, a loyal guard of the Mahishmati kingdom who has vowed to serve royalty all his life, chooses to fight against the kingdom and faces off on the battlefield against two princes whom he himself trained.

The actors from the film reprise their roles, making an equal impact with their distinctive voices. For the Hindi version, the makers chose Sharad Kelkar as Baahubali, Samay Thakkar as Kattappa, Mausam as Sivagami and Manoj Pandey as Bhallaladeva. For the Telugu version, Prabhas and Rana Daggubati provide the voices.

Though the creators had the advantage of betting on an already established blockbuster, the animated series is a toned-down, watered-down version of the franchise that seems tailored for a younger audience.

The series is set in a time long before a successor to the throne was chosen, when Prince Bhalla Deva was jealous of the affection Prince Baahubali received from the people of Mahishmati and feared he might usurp the throne. But when a new threat to the kingdom emerges in the form of a masked villain, and of course, Kattappa, the two stepbrothers are forced to join forces for the sake of Mahishmati.

The original Baahubali film featured similar storylines like the Kalakeya raid, which were epic and gripping to the audience. However, the series feels like an oversimplified version of those stories, Amar Chitra Katha, with the morally nuanced characterisation and emotional complexity of the film nowhere to be found. It seems the makers were hesitant to add depth to the storyline lest the series become too complicated for the target audience. Similarly, despite the entire premise of the series being based on suspense, the thrill and excitement of what will happen next is delivered only sporadically. Despite having beloved characters and a familiar storyline, the show is inconsistent and somehow fails to hold the audience in stitches.

The series is a prequel to the Baahubali Film

What irritated me the most was how the dignity of Baahubali’s character, which forms the backbone of the franchise, has been compromised. In one scene, he is depicted as a helpless Panchatantra character, chasing people trying to tell him what is right and what is wrong, and getting reprimanded by everyone. For that matter, even his mother Sivagami seems to be leaning towards the villain, moving away from Ramya Krishnan’s iconic portrayal. In one scene, she is seen convincing her son to ignore his promise to the slave and focus on his royal duties. Hmm, what? Or maybe Rajamouli was trying to hint that there was always a hidden villain side to Sivagami and the way she treated Baahubali’s wife Devasena in the film was not just an isolated incident.

However, the show does a great job of capturing the shrewdness of Bijjaladeva’s character. He remains the loathsome scoundrel he was portrayed to be in the film – poisoning his son’s thinking and being cruel, heartless and selfish at heart. In fact, one of the major premises of the show revolves around Bijjaladeva’s corrupt nature, which brings misfortune to the entire clan.

On the technical side, the animation is pretty good, with all the characters looking strikingly similar to the original star cast, and the animators have even experimented with giving each character clear boundaries and even having a sunlight or moonlight glow in some scenes.

I wish the same could be said for the cartoon-style backgrounds. Apart from a few impressive scenes in the royal palace, the screen is filled with boring backgrounds. In some scenes set in the royal courtyard, the emptiness gives off an eerie feel rather than a royal aesthetic. With more detailed animation beyond the characters, this show could have easily received a higher score.

From “Baahubali: Blood and Blood” to “Bridgerton” Season 3

Given that the number of quality Indian animated shows is already pretty slim, I had high hopes for Rajamouli’s latest effort. He has previously collaborated with the creator of Hotstar’s Hanuman, a popular series about a Hindu god, but Baahubali pales in comparison to the creator’s previous work in some ways. If the intention was to introduce Indian superheroes to kids, Rajamouli should have done more research on how to outdo their Western counterparts. But that may be too high a bar to clear. Baahubali 2: Blood and Blood may not live up to the standards of Rajamouli’s best works, but it can add variety to kids’ viewing lists.

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Season 1 of TVF’s hit social comedy was released in 2020.

TVF seems to have the secret magic formula up their sleeve for making shows that feel like a warm hug. The third season of TVF’s social comedy series Panchayat, which launched in 2020, has that same feel-good feeling in it. The new season features beautiful writing, sensitive acting and, surprisingly, a more realistic portrayal of rural India, surpassing the already high bar that Panchayat set in its previous two seasons. It will make you smile, cry, laugh, think and probably Google the government’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana!

What makes this season stand out is that the rose-tinted glasses have been removed this time. Though the protagonists still share a warm friendship, we discover their eventful personal stories, emotional baggage and crises, making room for a paradigm shift. Political conflicts intensify and their consequences become more threatening. To put it bluntly, the third season of Panchayat bursts some of the glossy bubbles of utopian illusions and hits home with some harsh reality.

Sanvikar’s story arc is getting more screen time compared to the previous seasons.

It sees Prahalad Chacha (Faisal Malik) turning to alcohol to cope with his grief, Vikas (Chandan Roy) silently enduring the horror of financial strain, Abhishek (Jitendra Kumar) trying to shake off his obvious love for Pullera and Brij Bhushan Dubey (Raghubir Yadav) humiliated by all his opponents on the political front and embroiled in domestic strife.

At various points in the season, you will sympathize with them all, but especially with Prahalad, who is devastated by the loss of his son. Something has changed inside him forever, and Malik’s brilliant performance embodies that loss. There is a scene in the third episode where he shows someone the horrible state of his house, full of mud, empty bottles and scattered dreams, to make them understand the importance of having a family, and the two of them shed tears in silence. The scene is delicately written and guaranteed to bring you to tears. In an equally exhilarating sequence, he provides a large amount of funding for the construction of a road in Pulera so that Pradhan can win the election and simply because “what would a man without purpose do with so much money?”

As the episode progressed, I was feeling nostalgic for the foursome’s “Baithak” sessions, when life seemed simpler over a few drinks. The emotional beats of the story make those few light-hearted yet substantial scenes more impactful than in the previous seasons. Through the characters’ relationships, the show made me think about friends I had unwillingly lost touch with.

This season sees more of the slowly brewing romance between Rinki (Sanvikar) and Abhishek. There’s plenty of eye talk, shy smiles, wordplay and awkwardness. Thankfully, both Jitendra and Sanvikar deliver stellar performances without relying on typical Bollywood melodrama, cheesy dialogue, violins and fluttering chiffon saris.

Apart from the expected great performances from the main cast, what really caught my attention was Abba Sharma as Jagmohan’s grandmother. Her performance is so tasteful and she feels fresh every time she appears on screen. From the spot-on accent to her playful facial expressions to her silly body language, Sharma nails her role and captures the essence of a quintessential Uttar Pradesh ‘Dadi’.

Over the course of the eight episodes, we meet a host of colorful characters, including a few familiar faces, such as the groom and his rambunctious friend from season one. Despite the many storylines, the series never feels overstuffed, with each episode unfolding in the show’s signature leisurely style.

The filmmakers did a fantastic job with the set design, props and costumes.

What I particularly liked was the production design of the setting. It is relatively rare for rural landscapes to be portrayed authentically in Indian films and television. The usual portrayals are often marred by a romanticized image of villages and are full of counterfactual content in the name of creative freedom. But Panchayat not only manages to do just that, it also surpasses the previous two seasons in its context. The showrunners have managed to narrow the huge gap between commercial and arthouse cinema. From real homes and everyday items to real local brands and festive snacks, Phulera’s portrayal is beyond impressive. It is clear that rigorous work has gone into faithfully portraying India’s hinterland.

If you watch the show carefully, you will also notice plenty of visual metaphors and gags – like when Pradhan loses control of his usually affable buffalo when he is accused, or Abhishek always spills the tea when things are about to get out of hand, or Vidhayak, who is accused of killing and eating a dog (yes, I know, gross!), casually keeps pictures and decorations of camels in his living room.

The best scene is when two enraged groups face off against each other, ready to take on the other with batons, guns and whatever else they can get their hands on. Officials try to calm the excited crowd. Just when things are about to explode, a phone ringing loudly with “Sarah Jahan Se Acha” interrupts the proceedings.

Bhushan is trying to capitalise on the animosity between Pradhan ji and Vidhayak this season.

I otherwise loved the show, but am a little worried by the slight change in tone of the series this time around, with a spotlight on boring political issues. We meet other elected members of the panchayat, there’s lots of election banter, official meetings, etc. Even Uttar Pradesh’s notorious gun culture is touched upon.

The change is not very dramatic and does not cloud the storyline, but as the cliffhanger of the final episode suggests, more political drama may come to the fore in future seasons. Hopefully, even if the show does take on a political overtone, it will not compromise on its raw emotional appeal and sincere portrayal of nuanced human relationships (what Panchayat has done best since its inception).

All eight episodes of Panchayat are currently streaming on Prime Video.

The post Panchayat Season 3 Review: Still entertaining but now more politically charged appeared first on Review Products.

Nixxes Software’s finely tuned PC port of Ghost of Tsushima is better than ever.

Just when vast open-world games were starting to become noticeably tiring, Ghost of Tsushima arrived like a summer breeze. Sucker Punch’s Japan-set action-adventure game didn’t reinvent the wheel by any means, but it did deliver a memorable samurai tale that reshaped familiar open-world tropes into original ways of player interaction. Ghost of Tsushima and its massive success on PlayStation consoles demonstrated that the open-world playbook (largely written by Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry series) had become so stale that a small but clever new idea could be enough to create a meaningful experience.

Through its simplified quest design, narrative approach to map markers, and evocative visuals and music, Ghost of Tsushima set the standard for what a modern open-world action-adventure title should be. And now the game is coming to PC in a package that amplifies what it already did well on PS4 and PS5. First released on PlayStation consoles in 2021 and now available on PC from Steam and the Epic Games Store, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut comes with a host of improvements, including the Iki Island expansion, improved graphics, and a faster framerate. But does a four-year-old game still hold up to the rapidly changing standards of modern video games?

The answer to that question may vary depending on how much open world you’ve played. If you’re tired of running around seemingly endless maps chasing the same objectives without any payoff, Ghost of Tsushima may feel boring, especially if you’ve tried the game on consoles. But if you’re new to the game, Sucker Punch’s stirring tale of revenge and samurai honor, expertly ported to PC by Nixxes Software, is definitely worth your attention. I got the Platinum for Ghost of Tsushima on PS4 and played the Director’s Cut and its included Iki Island expansion pack on PS5, but I still happily spent time with the Steam version of the game.

Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of a samurai, Jin Sakai, who embarks on a path of revenge when a brutal Mongol army led by Khotun Khan invades his homeland, the Japanese island of Tsushima. Khan and his merciless warriors eradicate samurai resistance, destroy villages, and capture Jin’s uncle, Lord Shimura, the land steward of Tsushima. Jin, a young samurai who grew up under Lord Shimura’s protection after his father was killed at an early age, barely survives the battle but sets out to find his uncle and save Tsushima.

Bound and broken by the samurai code of honor, Jin eventually enlists the help of his allies and adopts guerilla tactics to gain the upper hand against his brutal enemies. As it turns out, the samurai tradition of fighting the enemy head-on in a just battle doesn’t hold up so well against the Mongol army, who have no qualms about using any dirty means to seize control.

Jin reluctantly abandons the rules his uncle drilled into him and becomes Ghost, a warrior who uses deception, distraction and stealth to resist the Mongol invasion and free his uncle. His unconventional methods are aided by unconventional friends – commoners far removed from the shackles of straitjacket-wearing samurai morality. Having lived his whole life in black and white, Jin walks the grey path for a higher purpose. Ghost of Tsushima’s story, like its systems, treads familiar territory. We’ve all seen and read revenge stories in which the protagonist is confronted with the rigidity of his values and forced to think in unnatural ways. But the sophisticated presentation of the game’s ideas trumps its reliance on tried-and-true tropes.

Visual Presentation

Ghost of Tsushima’s biggest selling point on PC is its graphical fidelity. The action-adventure title is one of the best-looking games on PlayStation, and the new PC port allows the game’s visual presentation to shine in a way that consoles just can’t. If you’ve got the right system, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut can go toe-to-toe with some of the most graphically impressive games on PC. While the character models and facial animations look a bit dated in 2024, its rich, diverse environments are still some of the best in the medium.

Ghost of Tsushima features some of the most impressive environments in video games.

However, animation quality remains high across the board. Jin controls smoothly whether he’s riding his trusty steed or using his grappling hook to scale tall cliffs and towers. Combat animations may be some of the best ever seen in a third-person action-adventure title; each sword stance comes with its own unique set of animations and moves, adding individuality to your play style. Animated with the help of actual Japanese sword experts, Jin’s sword movements flow like a river of deadly slashes and thrusts, all the while retaining the weight and impact of a high-stakes duel.

On PC, Tsushima comes to life at higher graphics settings. Whereas in other open-world games, persistent markers and HUD elements actively ruin the immersion, Ghost of Tsushima encourages you to interact with the natural environment to discover interesting items and treasures. Chasing foxes or chasing golden birds through tranquil pastures and rolling grasslands is a meditative experience because everything looks so beautiful . The game’s evocative visuals are anchored by a vibrant art style that finds a sweet spot somewhere between the natural realism of Red Dead Redemption 2 and the saturated fantasy of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t try to look realistic, instead opting for poetic romanticism as its visual identity.

Horses are the best way to get around Tsushima.

PC Features

Nixxes also prioritizes performance across a wide range of hardware capabilities, from high-end PCs to handhelds like Steam Deck. The game features unlocked framerates on PC and plenty of graphics options that can be tweaked to get the performance and image quality you want. There are also options to support upscaling and frame generation technologies such as Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS to improve the game’s performance. Unfortunately, Ghost of Tsushima does not have ray tracing support. While the inclusion of ray-traced reflections would pose technical challenges and may impact the game’s performance, the feature is a given for modern PC titles that boast impressive visuals.

The game supports ultrawide monitor setups on PC and the PS5 DualSense controller. Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is also the first Sony title to come with the new PlayStation Overlay on PC. At any point during the game, you can press Shift + F1 on your keyboard to bring up a window overlay that displays your PlayStation account, friends list, and trophies. Note, however, that you will need to connect to your PlayStation Network account in-game to access this feature.

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is the first Sony title for PC to feature the new PlayStation Overlay.

PC Performance

I played Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on the HP Omen 16-xf0060AX provided by HP for this review. As such, the resolution was limited to 1080p, but I got stable performance even at very high settings. According to the game’s system requirements published before release, you need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU to achieve 60fps at 4K resolution. With DLSS frame generation turned on with an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, I was able to achieve stable frame rates of over 100fps at 1080p resolution. There was very little stuttering during gameplay at various graphics settings.

Reviewing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on the HP Omen 16

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU (8GB GDDR6 dedicated).

Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600Mhz RAM

Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD

With DLSS upscaling set to Quality and the graphics option set to Very High, the average frame rate was an excellent 114.5 fps, with the 1% and 0.1% low averages well above 70 fps. Lowering the graphics settings to High caused a slight visual degradation and raised the average frame rate to 146.8 fps. Adjusting the DLSS upscaling option to Performance gave even better results, with average frame rates of 128.7 fps and 159.8 fps at Very High and High settings, respectively. Of course, you’ll need a more high-end system to run the game at a stable high frame rate at 4K resolution. But as Nixxes promised, Ghost of Tsushima is optimized to run smoothly on a wide range of hardware.

Ghost of Tsushima uses vibrant colors in a variety of ways.

Verdict

Sony has had a strategy of delaying the release of PC ports of its first-party PlayStation titles. The success of the PC versions is a testament to the strength of the company’s exclusive single-player games, such as God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remaster, which continue to generate interest years after their initial release. Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut perhaps highlights that phenomenon better than most other releases. The game is the largest single-player release for PlayStation on Steam, surpassing God of War’s all-time player count on Valve’s platform. This is despite a PlayStation Network account linking controversy that led to pre-orders being cancelled and the game being removed from Steam in over 170 countries where PSN is not supported.

PC players have clearly been waiting for a port of Ghost of Tsushima, and Nixxes Software has released a finely tuned package that looks better than ever, plays smoother than ever, and has some nifty PC-exclusive features that enhance the experience. Of course, the game itself remains unchanged, so its flaws are present on PC; the open-world idea opts to recycle existing tropes rather than reinvent them, and the core gameplay loop isn’t all that different from Assassin’s Creed titles. But when it comes to presenting those familiar ideas in an exciting way, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut goes a step further than most.

Pros:

• Strong Points
• Amazing visuals
• Consistent PC Performance
• Advanced Graphics Settings

Cons:

• A formulaic open world
• Lack of ray tracing support

Rating (out of 10): 8

• Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut was released for PC on May 16. The game was tested on an HP Omen 16-xf0060AX laptop provided by HP.
• The price for the PC version starts at Rs 3,999 on Steam and Epic Games Store.

The post Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut PC Review: A masterpiece that stands out from the rest appeared first on Review Products.

The show is set in Mumbai in 2013, a time when Article 377 of the Constitution was still in force and homosexuality was a criminal offence.

Based on Jerry Pinto’s novel of the same name, GeoCinema’s new original series, Murder at Maahim, is a crime thriller that revolves around the brutal murder of a gay prostitute in a public toilet at Mumbai’s Maahim station. Starring popular characters Vijay Raaz and Ashutosh Rana, the series blends a traditional crime thriller narrative with social commentary, placing their performances at the heart of the unfolding investigation.

Over the course of eight episodes, a police inspector played by Raaz and a former journalist (now estranged friend) played by Rana each try to solve this gruesome case in their own way. Their investigation takes us to gay clubs, queer parties, gatherings and, by night, the forbidden back alleys of Mumbai, where the bleak and terrifying world of gay prostitution unfolds. The series delves deep into the lives of sex workers, portraying their plight and tenacity in stark detail.

While “Murder in Mahim” may seem a bit forced and predictable at the outset, with its mundane plot, familiar loopholes and heavy-handed social commentary, it soon develops into a must-see piece of art with strong performances. If you are patient enough with the series, at least until the third episode, you will enjoy the pleasure of a film that tackles complex themes with ease.

Shivaji Satam in a still from ‘Murder in Mahim’

The show exposes the many layers of homophobia and abuse, from nasty name-calling and bigoted cruelty to honey-trap crimes where threatened queer people have nowhere to turn for help, including the police. Murder in Mahim explores the impact of homophobia across social classes. From penniless queers being forced into prostitution to people in positions of power fearing people from coming out, the series takes a broad look at the concerns of the LGBTQ community. The portrayal of queer life is also done in a natural tone and doesn’t feel forced, overly dramatic or pompous.

In one scene, two lesbian lovers in a room panic when their parents, who are not yet aware of their sexual orientation, arrive unexpectedly. The reactions of all the characters are thankfully understated and innocent, normalizing queer life.

But Murder in Mahim does try to play it safe in a few scenes, especially when Peter Fernandes (played by Rana) and his wife are worried that their son might be gay. With no idea what the “cure” for this “symptom” is, the couple at some points give the impression of being textbooks of what’s wrong with parents of a queer child, only to later grow up thinking this is what an ideal parent should be like.

But the show is not just about homosexuality. Murder in Mahim also deftly tackles the conflicts and complexities of father-son relationships. What a beautiful portrayal. It is very rare for the Indian film and television industry to take up this theme and do it justice. Be it the estranged relationship between Siva, played by Vijay Raaz, and his difficult father, played by Sivaji Satam (best known for playing ACP Pradyuman in the CID), or the gradually estranged relationship between Siva and his teenage son , the show handles relationships with tenderness. Many scenes in the latter half of the show brought a smile to my face, some of which reminded me of the hilarious relationship between the dour father played by Amitabh Bachchan and his headstrong daughter played by Deepika Padukone in Piku.

One scene that will probably stay with me for a long time is when a young police officer finds pornographic magazines in his teenage son. One would expect a reprimand to follow, but the comical character wisely handles the situation without sending his son into the depths of guilt and shame. It is a simple yet powerful scene that depicts an unspeakable tenderness between father and son.

Vijay Raaz and Shivani Raghuvanshi in stills from ‘Murder in Mahim’

“Murder in Mahim” also takes a satirical stance against the sensationalist media and indifferent police authorities, who conveniently distort facts, chew over “great news stories” and “official statements” without reliable sources, and add fuel to the already burning flames of homophobia. In one scene, the media accuses an old man of being a pedophile and homophobic monster on weak evidence. As the media interrogations pile up, the characters helplessly stare at angry protesters outside their house. This fictional scene is not far from the truth and highlights several similar real-life cases where reporters conveniently ignored ethics for the sake of clicks and views.

Though Murder in Mahim has many tense scenes capturing the nuances of human psychology and emotions, the makers have struck a perfect balance by frequently including comedy elements to ease the tension. This is often necessary for films and shows with tough social messages to appeal to a mass audience who would otherwise not be willing or even able to watch select critically acclaimed films. The makers have made a decent attempt at conveying a complex and important issue in an easy to understand and accessible manner without sacrificing the complexity of the subject at hand.

“Murder in Mahim” starts off a bit dull in the first few episodes, but slowly but surely the series shines thanks to a compelling storyline, strong acting and stunning cinematography.

The post Murder in Mahim Review: JioCinema Original Explores Homophobia Through Crime Drama appeared first on Review Products.