2010s Archives - Intensive Gaming Diary

Trying to Beat Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

Posted on September 8, 2026 by Viljami

I have recently spent some hours playing Ghost of Tsushima on PS4. This game is actually a PlayStation exclusive game. It is also available for PC through Steam. Ghost of Tsushima was originally released in 2021. There is also a “Director’s Cut” version available that is a bit newer release.

To this day I haven’t bought PS5. This wasn’t actually a decision from me. I just happened to pick Xbox Series X instead of PS5. I have thought about buying a PS5 but really haven’t. And now when game console prices are very high I don’t feel like spending hundreds of euros to buy another console. And of course I have to say that I don’t have any room left in my gaming setup for a PS5.

So, I am playing some video games still on my PS4. Ghost of Tsushima is a great PS4 game. I have some games that I would very much like to play on PS4 but haven’t just had enough time. I have played Ghost of Tsushima for about 17 hours. The game takes about 25 hours to beat. It didn’t cost a whole lot. I bought it for 20 euros as a used copy from a local gaming shop.

I have been thinking about a topic that I would very much like to write some more about. That topic is buying and selling used video games. I think that at here in Finland we have a bit under ten gaming web shops that have been functional for several years. There is clearly a market here for used video games. I have thought about writing a whole blog post about this. I would also like to write about abandonware and copyrights. Maybe I’ll write a post about this later. Lets see and find out.

While Ghost of Tsushima offers some challenge it isn’t a brutally difficult game to play. There are also some difficulty adjustments that can give you some challenge if you need some. Also I think there is some replay value here if you want to play the game through with a higher difficulty level over again after you have beaten the game on a lower difficulty level. The story is very nice to follow. Also the scenery and the characters are interesting and can keep you concentrated while you advance through the game.

I did buy my PS4 back in 2014. I have to give some props for Sony for releasing such a good quality gaming console. I haven’t had any issues with the console. I did upgrade the storage HDD from a 500 GB to 2 TB HDD back in the day. I had to make this upgrade since 500 GB is such a low space for video games today. This operation was easy. I really don’t remember how much this HDD did cost. It wasn’t an expensive upgrade after all.

So, Ghost of Tsushima offers you melee and also some ranged fighting action. You also get to take down enemies in a sort of a stealth mode. There is a lot of strategy to consider in this game. The main character keeps getting some upgrades and you can unlock some special moves while you keep progressing in the game. The story is also an interesting one. You actually appear in this game as a samurai soldier. So, there are also some dialogs and you even have to make some choices while having these conversations between the characters.

I would prefer playing this game with a PS5 instead of a PS4. I prefer also playing video games from a sharp television screen while sitting on a sofa instead of sitting really close to the screen playing on a table of some sort. I am talking about PC gaming and that I don’t like it as much as console gaming. This can be a matter of taste and not so much something that I would like to have a debate on.

I have bought some more games. I hope to be able, soon, to write some more about my achievements in this matter. I am still waiting to get my hands on the new Onimusha gmae that was released last Friday. The new Metal Gear collection is also waiting for me on the list of what to play next. See you in another blog post. Lets hope that this will be sometime soon!

Playing Some Mafia (Definitive Edition)

Posted on May 31, 2026 by Viljami

I started this morning spending two hours of my time playing Mafia – Definitive Edition. As you can see from the featured image I have now a new controller for my Xbox Series X. It is the Microsoft Elite Pad 2. Yes, it did cost some money but I am very pleased in its performance. At least I am for now.

It has battery and I keep it connected with the cable that came with it when I am not playing. When I am playing I do take the cable off. The cable has to be connected before I shut down the console. Otherwise the console gets powered on again. Also for taking a screenshot you have to first press Xbox button and after that you have to press Y button. Regular game pad offers a screenshot with one button press. Elite game pad did cost me something like 155 euros I think.

Mafia has been on my list of games to play since I read about it from a gaming book. The book was “Pikselipölyä” that was written in Finnish. The name can be translated to something like “pixel dust”. I don’t think this book has been translated or even available outside Finland but it was an interesting book that I borrowed from a library. In where I live we have very nice libraries. There are many of them and they have lots of new and good books to borrow. I like it a lot.

So, Mafia was recommended in that book. The game was first released on PlayStation 2. Also, in the book, it was mentioned that the Definitive Edition, the remake, would be a better opportunity if you can choose the version that you want to play. I didn’t have the game for PS2. So, I just bought the whole Mafia Trilogy collection of Mafia games. I have only played Mafia – The Old Country.

Mafia – Definitive Edition offers straight from the beginning some driving, shooting and very much discussion between the other characters and the main character. From the beginning you are starting to wonder why would a person like to work in a mafia. Well, there are some reasons why the main character just ends up on a mafias payroll. So, the plot starts to form from the early moments in this game.

There might be some other games that many gamers are playing right now. Forza Horizon 6 was released under two weeks ago. There was the new Bond game released just some days ago. The game is titled “007 – First Light”. I just yesterday watched some content on YouTube about the new Bond game. It was said that it is very good as a video game. Many of us are already also waiting for the next Grand Theft Auto Game – GTA VI. Well, I don’t care so much about actually playing games that are somewhat straight from the oven so to say. I just like to play any good game that I have missed and haven’t put so much time in. This makes my mind pretty much why would I want to play a game like the first game in the Mafia series. I might play the second or the third game next. I really don’t know yet.

Since there are so many good games out there you really have to try and think what to play next. I do, as you might notice from the blog post that I wrote yesterday, play some retro games also. I like to play some PS2 games and also Mega Drive games. I end up casually playing some good games also for NES and SNES with not forgetting PS1 games. Sometimes I like to escape the limitations and when I feel that kind of a sense I turn to some more modern games. In this way I can really see how the technology and also the design of video games has improved.

I could go on about some movies that are going to be available soon in 4K disc format (the next Avatar and also the Silent Hill movie) or tell you about how it uplifted my moods to see Finland win Canada yesterday in ice hockey’s World Championships but I think this is enough from me right now. See you next time my dear reader!

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Viljami

Shadow of the Tomb Raider joins my list of finished games in the year 2026. I have beaten already several games this year. What did this Tomb Raider game have to offer and how it was like to play it? These are the questions I am right here trying to answer to you so you can decide if you want to play it also at some moment.

I have to say that it took some time for me to finish this game. I spent almost sixteen and a half hours playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I played it on my Xbox Series X. The game was released already in 2018. It is the third game that we saw on this series of games that started with “Tomb Raider” back in 2013. This game I do remember very well because it was the first game I bought for my PS4 when I got it back in 2014.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider includes some very neat graphical experience. The scenery looks very beautiful. There is a lot of playing with some light effects that makes the screen look amazing at times. The game includes lots of puzzles and also thinking. There are some action and also role-playing elements. You actually get to update your different weapons and your character gets updates too. Everything in this game seemed to work well. The game has received good reviews on Metacritic. The overall rating for Xbox One game is 82 out of 100.

The game isn’t perfect. Some puzzles are frustrating to try to figure out. You easily can get stuck for even some hours to some puzzle that you must figure out to proceed in the game. I felt frustrated also at times in some climbing scenes. I felt down many times and the character died. I have to say that saving a game works decently and you don’t have to replay a part over and over again a lot. This makes the game a smooth one to play.

I can say that I do prefer to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider over playing any of the remakes that have been released just recently. There was the first three Tomb Raider games and also the collection of fourth, fifth and sixth game. I really think that these games were neat back in the day but I really don’t miss the way you had to play them.

There are tens of Tomb Raider games that have been released in the course of the history. The first game that started it all was released in 1996 for PC, PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was among some of the first games that offered us gamers a truly three-dimensional experience. This was the time in the history of the video games when the games started shifting towards three-dimensional presentation and experience more and more.

There have been already tens of games released in this series since everything started back in 1996. There have been some discussions about the future of the series. We are going to see some Tomb Raider content in a form of some TV series and movies, soon. We are going to see what kind of a future this franchise does actually have. Are we going to see some more games? Time will definitely tell.

Also this game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, is currently available for a very cheap price as it isn’t the most newest game. It is also available for PC and PlayStation 4 and 5. I think it offers a solid gaming experience and I do recommend getting into it if you like modern Tomb Raider games. It also reminds me of the game Uncharted 4 that I played through earlier this year. They do have some similar elements.