History is repeating itself after more than seven centuries, the Typhoon of Tsushima stops the Mongol invasion of Japan again, but this time as a warrior.
Even before its release, Ghost of Tsushima was labelled as one of the most beautiful samurai combat games ever and I have to tell the truth, it is. The last samurai of the Tsushima island is the ultimate warrior that will wipe out the Mongol invasion of the 1270.
From Cinema to Videogame
The game developers Sucker Punch Productions creates Ghost of Tsushima inspired by Akira Kurosawa movies. In fact the various missions of the game integrate the plot of the Kurosawa movies in some way. The eagle-eyed gamers and lovers of the chanbara genre (samurai movies) might have recognized Seven Samurai tribute when Jin (the protagonist) starts to recruit Ronin from all over the island, or Sanjuro tribute for the main character loneliness and cunning spirit. The jidaigeki (Japanese history dramas) are constantly a source of inspiration also for non-Japanese artist, the Spaghetti Westerns genre for example was the first to follow their teachings. And that is really fun, because if once Westerns and Samurai movies were inspired one from the other, the game industry is living the same with western developers paying homage to the East (with Ghost of Tsushima) and eastern developers honoring the west (with Red Dead Redemption 2).
Samurai or Ninja? Why not both?
What kind of Typhoon of Tsushima are you? In this game you can decide if follow the ancient way honoring the katana or become a ghost and live in the shadow. Maybe the protagonist is both a samurai and a ninja, so it is up to you to keep the balance between the two warriors or let Jin getting of the fence.
In Ghost of Tsushima you will develop your own techniques in order to create your own style of combat. The three main techniques categories are:
- Samurai; focus on deflection, evasion, mythic and exploratory techniques,
- Stances; combat styles that allow you to fights against different opponents successfully, divided in Stone, Water, Wind and Moon stance
- Ghost; dedicated to ninja weapons and twenty evolving tactics like chain assassination or far hearing…
Your weapons…
The weaponry of Ghost of Tsushima is pretty accurate considering the historical period. Samurai believe that their souls were living in their swords, so it is mandatory to enhance the katana as the most important weapon of the game, giving it the possibility to upgrading in appearance and stats.
Bow and arrows were very present in all over the world since ancient times, Japanese warrior art for this weapon is called Kyudo, and our protagonist can choose between two of them: the half bow and long bow.
Sticky bombs and smoke bombs are pretty much Ninjutsu weaponry. The shadow warriors are nowadays legend thanks also to a masterful use of these explosives.
Kunai are the iconic knives of the ninja, their ability to use them in short range attacks or to throw them makes their style unpredictable.
Blowguns were used a lot between ninja to poison or inhibit the enemy.
A cinematic scenery
Maybe the last but not least component of the game that really deserves to be discussed is the visual element. The cinematic quality of the game is maybe the strength of the whole project. The impact of the colorful seasons, the play of lights and the Edo period environment is without any doubt powerful. It is exactly what the samurai movies have to offer, the landscape and the visual component are one of the protagonists of the Akira Kurosawa films and this game follow his teachings. So what are you waiting for? Become the Typhoon of Tsushima, and experiment the way of the Japanese warrior!