In 2020, at the height of everyone staying inside and away from others, one PlayStation exclusive promised a journey to a foreign land and ancient time, where you could play as a noble samurai with a sacred mission. It was a perfect release for the time. Playing as Jin Sakai, a man devoted to avenging his fallen allies, you were given a straightforward and compelling distraction. Even though the battles along the way were many and gratuitous, they didn’t demand perfect timing, and the quest indicators and large icons telling you where to go remind of every big flagship PlayStation title. Progression was super easy and straightforward, with no Elden Ring-like confusion to be found.
That in broad strokes is the enduring appeal of Ghost of Tsushima, developed by Sucker Punch as the final PlayStation 4 exclusive and one of the first titles to be played on the new console generation. Sure, the story was Hollywood blockbuster-level generic, lacking in romance, among other finer points. Yes, some people found the stealth sections far too obvious and the ways to climb walls had such conveniently marked ledges (similar to the sort of ledges you can see in Final Fantasy, for instance). But Ghost never claimed to be some great literary work, and its fulfilled promise was very simple: It gave us Assassin’s Creed in Japan, years before the franchise would catch up and actually give the fans what they wanted.
