Review of Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut

"Ghost of Tsushima *FIRST SEGMENT IS SPOILER FREE* Ghost of Tsushima is a hefty investment. The game is compacted with hours and hours of gameplay and story; however, it is worth it if you are a person who can immerse yourself within the character you control. The game is absolutely beautiful, with serene, detailed and illustrated landscapes. Dynamic environments from weather to the petals of a tree falling down during a fight. The game is made to be an art piece. The lore, or dualistic nature between Myth and Reality is incredibly enjoyable. It is tasteful to anyone who may believe in the myths while not confirming anything out right. It follows reality, some believe higher intervention, others don’t. The facts are to be interpreted however someone views them. It’s refreshing and honestly all of the myths told are a refreshing break from the reality of playing the game. Following that, is the combat itself. Which is honestly super fluid and so fundamentally accessible mixed with flair that, I’d be shocked to hear anyone dislike it as a whole. The combat itself directly influences the story, and vise versa. *None Important Context Spoiler* The context of your character is multifaceted and deep with history, influences and trauma. You are Jin Sakai. Son to Chiyoko and Kazumasa Sakai, heir to the Sakai Clan. Your mothers brother, is Lord Shimura, the Jito of Tsushima. Your mother passed away from an Illness when you were seven, and your father was slain during a Raider Ambush on the island of Iki when Jin was in his early teens. Lord Shimura, your uncle. Takes you under his tutelage, and raises you as his son; while training you to become to strongest samurai the Sakai Clan has ever known. *THIS SEGMENT CONTAINS SPOILERS* The story of Ghost of Tsushima is an example of, “realistic exaggerated story telling” and I want to paint this picture clearly because, whatever shape or form this style of story telling presides in. It functions the same way. Grounding a character of fiction to the perspectives, realities, feelings, situations of the average person. On your Journey, you find bands of Mongols traveling Tsushima and with the abilities granted to you and earned by you, you can slay them with demon like speed and efficiency. As you evolve, you go from a Samurai defeated in gruesome battle to a Ghost who can take on hoards of enemies with intellect, clever tactics or superior ability. Then, you Journey on until... You hear a women screaming, and you spike your horse and speed towards the sound. You find a women, dressed in red, weeping and screaming “no no NO!” under a tree. You look up to see a body strung up by a rope, limbs dismembered. They were cut apart and hung while alive. You can only console them for there lost, you could not save them. That is what I mean, the exaggeration of storytelling comes from the fictitious nature of the story, I.e the ability to dodge, slice, gut and kill a group of heavily armored and trained warriors without a sweat. Which collides with the reality of the world, the death, the mourning, the fear, the braking of spirit that War brings. This is atleast how Ghost of Tsushima combines realism and the exaggeration, an the fantasy of the world. You are a trained warrior and you could try to ignore everything and just fight, fight, fight but eventually, you will see what the ramifications of War are, death and loss. However, even with countless examples and expressions of suffering, pain, loss, sadness. Ghost of Tsushima is also about hope, and surviving what life throws at you. You gain friends, lose friends, gain trust, lose trust, but what stays is your impact on the island, on your people. The hope you inspire, was it the right thing, to become the “Ghost of Tsushima” and to forgo your Samurai basics. Your honor.? Can you handle the ramifications of the decisions you make? Can you inspire people against the mongols, and to protect themselves when no one else can? Can you stay stead fast down your path, even when you break the hearts of those who care about you most? Are you certain? and does it matter? All of those questions will be asked when you follow the path of becoming the Ghost of Tsushima."