Jin Sekai, age thirty, sits atop his horse at Komoda Beach looking down at the hoards of Mongols pouring out from the docked ships. He is prepared to die for his homeland, Tsushima, and kill every Mongol he can before he does so. When the first blood is shed, he charges alongside his allies, storming down the hill towards the foes that threaten his people, his home, his culture, his everything. All is proven for naught, as his uncle and Jito of the Tsushima, Lord Shimura, is taken hostage by Khotun Khan right in front of him as the arrows shot into his back seep out his consciousness. Yet his life is not stolen, as a stubborn and assertive woman, Yuna, nurses him back to health and he is once more given the chance to fight, willing to use whatever methods possible.

Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020, open world video game created by Sucker Punch Productions that is available on the PS4 and PS5. The game follows a lone samurai who attempts to drive the Mongols that have invaded the island he resides on. As he begins his journey, he forces himself to go against the code of honor he swore to and become the very thing he once fought against. He jumps from the rooftops and sneaks around enemy camps, taking down Mongols quickly and quietly in what he deems necessity. 

The game allows the player some choices that do not ultimately define which way the game goes. You are not obligated to do any side quests or find any additional items, as well as stick to a certain fighting style. Players can choose their own difficulty and in what way they would like to play in order to make the game enjoyable for them. It is not similar to other games such as Detroit: Become Human or Undertale in which you receive different endings based on the choices you make during the duration of the game. You will have the same ending no matter what path you follow.

What catches most people’s eye in this game however, is the stunning graphics and attention to detail. The views and cutscenes are wonderfully animated and look as if you’re watching a movie. The high mountain tops and natural landscapes make the world visually pleasing and peaceful despite the fires spread throughout the scenery. I personally loved doing the shrines. The calming but treacherous route taken in itself is beautiful but the warm-toned colors and backdrop of the sky is one of the reasons I found myself doing those shrines more often than not.

 The overall game has a recurring theme of beauty in the chaos, with the thrillingly gruesome fights and tactics used to complete your goals clashing against the natural and stunning views you’re given. The two components make up for what the game lacks in storybuilding, as side quests and main quests are not connected, instead serving entirely different purposes. Side quests are for the development of other characters within the story and the main story line only follows Jin and a bit of Yuna. Its split dynamic is the only flaw I found that bothered me repeatedly, but if you’re purely playing for gameplay it isn’t an issue.

Overall, Ghost of Tsushima is able to find common ground between the preference of exhilarating gameplay and a surface level story with a deep meaning and theme, introducing a broader variety of games to a player that’s looking to expand beyond just simple fighting or simple plot-based games.