Ghost of Tsushima: Jin – The Last Samurai

Release date: July 17. 2020
Genre: Action / Adventure
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer(s): Sucker Punch Productions

The game begins without a hint of the event that triggers the dramatic starting point in the first place: The Mongol attack on the Japanese island of Tsushima in 1274, which is said to have actually happened. Just 80 samurai oppose tens of thousands of Mongols – a deliberate “suicide mission” with almost no survivors. One of the supposedly “lucky” is Jin, who has to watch Mongol leader Kublai Khan capture his great mentor, Prince Shimamura. Jin himself is almost fatally injured but is saved at the last moment by Yuna, who in turn asks him to free her brother from Mongol captivity. But Jin has other plans: he wants to act according to the samurai code and save his uncle first. But honor and the traditions of the samurai have almost no meaning on Tsushima, as he must quickly determine. Driven by the trauma of his father’s death and his uncle’s imprisonment, Jin wants to use allies to free his homeland from the Mongolian superiority.

The plot of “Ghost of Tsushima” is relatively simple at the core and often drawn in black and white. But to be honest, it is not a big surprise, after all, Sucker Punch has often emphasized that with “Ghost of Tsushima” they want to pay homage to the Japanese samurai films of the 1950s around Akira Kurosawa, whose main stories weren’t exactly subtle either. Instead, “Ghost of Tsushima” presents us with a believably torn protagonist – between traditions and modernity, codex and cleverness, loyalty, and love of the fatherland. In addition, Sucker Punch enriches the plot with great supporting characters, all of whom have to struggle with the Mongolian armed forces themselves and their fatal effects, and who grow dear to us in the course of their sometimes extensive side quests. This already shows that “Sucker Punch” chooses a very western approach to the over-theme of the Japanese Middle Ages, at the same time thematic complexes such as Bushido, Japanese folklore, mythology, or, for example, weave the essence of Haikus incredibly cleverly and stylishly into the game world.

Platform(s): Playstation 4

Mode(s): Single-player