Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The player controls Jin Sakai, a samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan. Jin must choose between following the warrior code to fight honorably, or by using practical but dishonorable methods of repelling the Mongols with minimal casualties. The game features a large open world which can be explored either on foot or on horseback. When facing enemies, the player can choose to engage in a direct confrontation using Jin's katana or to use stealth tactics to assassinate opponents. A multiplayer mode titled Ghost of Tsushima: Legends was released in October 2020 and made available separately in September 2021.
Sucker Punch began developing the game after the release of Infamous First Light in 2014, as the studio wanted to move on from the Infamous franchise to create a game with a heavy emphasis on melee combat. The studio collaborated with Japan Studio and visited Tsushima Island twice to ensure that the game was as culturally and historically authentic as possible. The team was heavily inspired by samurai cinema, particularly films directed by Akira Kurosawa, as well as the comic book series Usagi Yojimbo. The game's landscape and minimalistic art style were influenced by Shadow of the Colossus, and locations in the game were designed to be "the perfect photographer's dream". While the in-game landmass is similar in shape to Tsushima Island, the team did not intend to create a one-to-one recreation. Ilan Eshkeri and Shigeru Umebayashi composed the game's soundtrack.
Ghost of Tsushima was released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2020, and an expanded version for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, subtitled Director's Cut and featuring the Iki Island expansion, was released in August 2021. A Windows version of Director's Cut, developed by Nixxes Software, was released in May 2024. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the melee combat, story, characters, performances, and music, though it received some criticism for its implementations of stealth gameplay and open world structure. It had sold over 13 million units by September 2024. It was nominated for several year-end awards, including Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2020 and the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. A sequel, Ghost of Yōtei, was released in October 2025. A film adaptation based on the main game and an anime based on Legends are also in development.
Gameplay
Ghost of Tsushima is an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective. The player has a variety of gameplay options to reach objectives they are given. They can engage in a "standoff", a direct confrontation with enemies using their katana, which can result in a series of fatal strikes against a number of different enemies. In combat, Jin can use different fighting stances to defeat specific types of enemies: "stone stance" for hostile swordsmen; "water stance" for shielded enemies; "wind stance" for spearmen; and "moon stance" for brutes. Eventually the player unlocks "ghost stance", which makes Jin invincible and allows him to kill enemies with a single hit for a limited period of time. To activate ghost stance, players must kill a number of enemies without taking any damage or "slaughter" a Mongol leader. The player needs to stagger enemies or land a successful parry to break their defense before attacking to deplete their health. The player has access to bows, which can fire multiple types of arrows. At certain points in the game, Jin must duel against non-playable characters (NPCs) who act as bosses with unique offensive tactics and attack animations. The game's highest difficulty is a more realistic mode in which the player and enemies do large amounts of damage to each other, with all non-boss fights ending in one or two successful attacks.
Alternatively, using stealth allows the player to evade enemies and strike them silently with Jin's tanto. As the player progresses in the game they can unlock chained assassination, which allows Jin to strike several enemies consecutively. To this end, Jin has a large arsenal of ghost weapons. These include firecrackers and wind chime bells to create distractions, smoke bombs to disorient alerted foes, kunai for striking multiple enemies, and explosives to kill groups of enemies. Players will eventually unlock a blowgun that allows them to shoot poison darts and causes victims to hallucinate and attack their peers. When the player restores Jin's health or uses special combat techniques, they deplete their "resolve", which is gained by performing feats of finesse such as assassinating or parrying an enemy.
The game features a large open world which can be explored with or without guidance based on wind direction. The three major regions of Tsushima are unlocked gradually as the player progresses, with Izuhara unlocked first, followed by Toyotama, and finally Kamiagata. Access to Iki Island is granted to those who purchased the DLC after entering Toyotama. Players travel to different parts of Tsushima on horseback and can use a grappling hook to access difficult-to-reach areas. As the player explores the world, yellow birds will guide Jin to locations of interest. These include hot springs which increase Jin's maximum health, "Bamboo Strikes" which increase Jin's maximum resolve upon completion, "Pillars of Honor" which hold additional cosmetic designs for Jin's weapons, and locations in which Jin will meditate and compose haiku, with the playing choosing each line. By following torii gates and completing a platforming challenge, the player will find Shinto shrines that hold charms, which grant the player passive perks such as decreasing damage taken, reducing enemy detection speed, or increasing how much health is recovered when healing. Foxes will also lead Jin to Inari shrines, which increase the number of charms Jin can equip.
The game features side quests and NPCs with whom the player can interact. Players can also liberate Mongol-controlled villages and camps by eliminating all the enemies stationed in the area. Combat stances are unlocked after Jin observes or kills Mongol leaders. Completing side quests or helping NPCs grants players minor charms and gifts which can be collected at altars. In particular, completing "Mythic Tale" side quests will unlock unique armors and special combat techniques. Each armor set has different properties that provide various benefits during combat. Most sets of armor and clothing can be upgraded by collecting materials found in the game's world. Jin's appearance can also be further customized with masks, helmets and headbands.
Multiplayer A multiplayer mode titled Ghost of Tsushima: Legends was released in late 2020. Players can access this mode from the menu or by reaching the NPC Gyozen the Storyteller in the single-player campaign, which will transport the player to Legends multiplayer lobby. Unlike the single-player campaign, Legends is based on Japanese mythology, featuring otherworldly realms and supernatural enemies. Legends features four classes: The samurai is the group's tank character who can deal and sustain a large amount of damage, the hunter is the group's sniper who specializes at using ranged weapons such as bows and arrows, the rōnin has the ability to summon dogs to aid combat and revives the group, and the assassin can deal a massive amount of damage with one attack and has the "Shadow Strike" ability which allows them to teleport short distances. As the player plays more matches and progresses in the game, they will earn "rank" which allows them to unlock class-specific upgrades and cosmetic items. A player's combat performance is dictated by the "Ki" level of their gear. The higher the player's overall "Ki" level, the more lethal they are, making them better at completing missions with higher difficulty levels. Legends features a variety of game modes:
Story: In story mode, two players can complete narrated quests and objectives together. As the player progresses in the game, they will be able to unlock additional difficulty levels, new objectives, and rewards. In October 2020, the team introduced "The Tale of Iyo", a three-chapter raid mode described as the "culmination of the story" in Legends. Designed for experienced players, this mode supports a squad of four, stresses teamwork and coordination, and introduces puzzles that need to be solved cooperatively. Survival: In survival mode, four players can work together and fight against 15 waves of enemies. As the player's squad survives and completes objectives, they may gain access to powerful abilities which include summoning a spiritual bear to assist in combat and igniting enemies. Rivals: In rivals mode, two teams of two players each must compete against each other in survival mode. The objective is to progress faster and kill more enemies than the other team. As a team defeats enemies they earn "Magatama", an in-game currency which can be used to purchase perks and curses that disrupt the progress of the other team. Once a team has spent enough "Magatama", the final wave is unlocked and the team must complete it faster than the other team in order to win the match.
Synopsis Characters The protagonist, Jin Sakai (Daisuke Tsuji / Kazuya Nakai), is a gokenin, the lord and sole remaining member of Clan Sakai. He is the nephew and ward of Shimura (Eric Steinberg / Akio Ōtsuka), lord of Clan Shimura and the jitō of Tsushima. He meets several friends and companions, including a thief named Yuna (Sumalee Montano / Yu Mizuno), her blacksmith brother Taka (Eddie Shin / Kappei Yamaguchi), a female warrior and widow named Lady Masako Adachi (Lauren Tom / Mabuki Ando), renowned kyūjutsu archer Sensei Sadanobu Ishikawa (François Chau / Shigeru Chiba), merchant and con artist Kenji (James Hiroyuki Liao / Setsuji Sato), Buddhist warrior monk Norio (Earl T. Kim / Mitsuaki Kanuka), Clan Sakai's elderly caretaker Yuriko (Karen Huie / Yuri Tabata), and Jin's childhood friend and leader of the infamous Straw Hat rōnin, Ryuzo (Leonard Wu / Youhei Tadano).
The main antagonist is the ruthless and cunning Khotun Khan of the Mongol Empire (Patrick Gallagher / Tsutomu Isobe), cousin of Kublai Khan and grandson of Genghis Khan.
Plot In 1274, a Mongol fleet led by Khotun Khan invades the Japanese island of Tsushima. The jitō, Lord Shimura, and his nephew, Jin Sakai, lead an effort by the five ruling clans of the island - Shimura, Sakai, Adachi, Nagao, and Kikuchi - to repel the invaders as they land at Komoda Beach. However, the battle ends in disaster, with the samurai forces decimated by the superior weapons of the Mongols, Shimura captured, and Jin severely wounded and left for dead. He is found and revived by the scavenger Yuna, who informs him the whole island has fallen to the invaders. Jin storms the Khan's stronghold at Castle Kaneda to rescue Shimura but is defeated by the Khan in personal combat and thrown off the castle bridge.
Realizing that he cannot fight the Mongols in the way of the samurai, Jin learns assassination and guerilla warfare tactics from Yuna. He recruits Yuna, her blacksmith brother Taka, sake merchant and swindler Kenji, archer Sadanobu Ishikawa, female samurai Masako Adachi, and his mercenary friend Ryuzo along with Ryuzo's Straw Hat rōnin to form a resistance against Khotun. As Jin disrupts Mongol activities and liberates villages, the islanders revere him as "The Ghost," a samurai spirit that has risen against the Mongols.