By Roland Martinez
Ghost of Tsushima is a game I originally wrote off as forgettable back in 2020 because it just didn’t click with me the first few times I played it. For whatever reason, I loaded up my save from last year’s attempt to enjoy the game, which loaded me into the beginning of Act 2. Suddenly, I understood everything. This is by far one of the best single-player experiences you can play, and I genuinely wish I had played it sooner.
This game is based on the first Mongol invasion of Tsushima in 1274. The game opens with all hell breaking loose during the Battle of Komoda Beach, which plays a big role in setting up specific parts of the story. You play as Jin Sakai, a young samurai who is sent along with the Jito (Jin’s uncle, Lord Shimura) to spearhead the battle against Khotun Khan’s forces. In the opening cinematic, the tone is quickly set when one of the Adachi samurai is set on fire by Khotun Khan himself after the latter challenges the former to a duel. It’s gruesome and enrages the samurai, leading them to charge towards the Khan forces. The battle is more of a massacre than an evenly matched fight. Jin nearly dies at the hands of archers and an explosion, but is nursed back to health shortly after by one of his new allies, a thief named Yuna. Jin becomes one of the last remaining samurai on Tsushima, and his moral and samurai code come into question as he defies the odds to save his home.
The gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima focuses on both melee and ranged combat, as well as allowing you to take a head-on approach or a stealth-based one. Either approach works in most cases, unless the mission you’re taking on specifies otherwise. I’ll briefly touch on the melee combat as it’s divided between four stances that coincide with an enemy type you’re facing. Stone for sword users, Water for shield bearers, Wind for spearmen, and Moon for brutes. Each of the stances has four upgrades that bolster their effectiveness. Ranged combat is self-explanatory; a shortbow is unlocked during the main questline, and a longbow is unlocked via one of the game’s many mythic tales that award unique abilities and armor.
Jin is an honor-bound warrior who would rather die than face a disgraceful end as a prisoner or coward. That directly impacts gameplay due to his unwillingness to use unconventional tactics to fight the Mongols, including things like stabbing an enemy in the back when he’s unaware. It’s frowned upon in samurai culture, so Jin is originally against such “cowardly” methods. Eventually, during Jin’s story, he comes to embody everything the Mongols fear and is more shinobi than samurai, but that’s later in the game. I think one of my favorite experiences with Ghost of Tsushima was using the Standoff feature to eliminate a few enemies preemptively to cull the herd a bit. Standoff is a minigame where Jin faces off against one (or more) of the Mongols in, well, a standoff. It takes some getting used to, but you’re meant to hold triangle and release the button when they go in for an attack so Jin can draw his sword and deal a lethal blow. It looks really cinematic, and eventually you can upgrade it to have a max of 3 Mongols rush in for consecutive attacks, which in turn require consecutive presses of triangle.
Honestly, it would have been much more useful to just target a specific enemy you want to face off against because I genuinely cannot stand fighting brutes in this game. Not only can they hit like a truck, but they’re super tanky in the beginning. I will say that I didn’t unlock the Moon stance until I was in Act 2. This is due to the fact that you can either kill enemy leaders or observe them from a distance to learn the style slowly. They’re not littering the map like most of the other Mongol types, so it takes much more detouring around the map to learn the last stance. Even when you unlock it, the Moon stance’s spin attack is super underwhelming, but other than that, it’s great for interrupting brutes mid-attack.
My favorite tools at Jin’s disposal are the quickfire tools (R1). Kunai are so unbelievably useful in this game because not only do they interrupt attacks, but they also do great crowd control when upgraded. Sticky bombs are great for the same, but with the additional benefit of staggering foes around the blast. I think the least used Ghost tool by me was the wind chimes. I literally used them like twice throughout my game time; the thought of them just never crossed my mind much. The throwables in general were just really…meh. Quickfire saw much more use from me.
I’m a little disappointed by the number of times you get to use the grapple hook in this game. I understand it was originally designed for one purpose and that Tsushima isn’t super mountainous terrain, but I genuinely think more grapple points around the map would have made stealth way cooler. But it was awesome to use when I was able to implement it into the strategy.
Yuna and co. are some of my favorite supporting characters of all the games I’ve played recently. I don’t like that Norio was really the only person who had what felt like an actual ending to their side quests, but everyone had good stories regardless. Sensei Ishikawa’s clashes with Jin were intense, and the same can be said for Lady Masako. The writing for the two samurai was great at highlighting Jin’s relative lack of experience in war. Yuna is a great grounding character and helps keep Jin focused and mission-oriented. Initially, Yuna is portrayed as a thief who’s selfish and will likely double-cross you, but she ends up being the most dependable ally Jin can call upon. She’s written incredibly well, and so is her brother Taka.
Of course, we have to talk about the man Jin himself. He is a fantastic example of inner conflict and desperation. Throughout Jin’s journey through Tsushima, he repeatedly has to call his with the samurai into question and cope with becoming the Ghost. At the beginning of the story, Jin still clings to the hope that the samurai of Tsushima can be rallied and that with his uncle’s help, they could drive the Mongols off the island. While great in theory, the brutality and effectiveness of the Mongolian invaders challenge samurai tactics and often prove far more effective. While the Ghost and samurai are opposites and do a great job at challenging everything he’s been taught throughout his life, Jin manages it well and keeps his composure even after some of the twists and turns of this wild ride. Jin is definitely one of my favorite protagonists in recent years.
The Island of Iki expansion doesn't disappoint when it comes to delving even deeper into Jin's story and more interestingly, his fear. On the island of Iki, members of clan Sakai are known to the primarily pirate population as ruthless leaders that wont hesitate to cut down their own citizens due to the history Jin's father had with the island. It presents an intriguing challenge for Jin, who is regarded as a hero on Tsushima. On top of this, the new Mongol antagonist, The Eagle, causes Jin to relive his troubled past with his father. With an unlikely ally found in a man more significant to Jin than one may think, the expansion is short and sweet. It doesn't overstay its welcome and introduces a few new elements like Mongol shamans that cause their allies to fly into a frenzy. This expansion is significantly harder than base game even with a good amount of upgrades. I found myself dying constantly when going in without stealth. The new shaman enemies make even a regular foot soldier a force to be reckoned with on Iki.
FINAL VERDICT
Ghost of Tsushima's delivers on all fronts in one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of this decade. With every mission, I grew more and more attached to Jin and his allies as they fought to liberate Tsushima from the Mongol Invasion. Throughout his fight, Jin must contend with the honorable warrior code instilled within him and do what he must to survive. With fluid and enjoyable gameplay that evolved alongside his character, Jin’s journey is nothing short of epic. Four fighting styles that grow with your legendary exploits, mythical tales of heroes whose techniques you can add to your own, and a soundtrack that’d make Mozart himself shed a tear.
Ghost of Tsushima - 10/10 - MUST BUY