Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island expansion can’t make up its mind about Jin Sakai
There is two Ghost of Tsushima. The first is an open-world, beautifully designed game that delivers one of the most enjoyable action-blockbuster experiences ever. It’s a beautiful, well-tuned adventure that provides endless rewards and minimal friction for those who keep playing. The other is the videogame version of a man who communicates only in movie references and becomes so attached to his film ideas that it becomes impossible for him to connect with anyone below. It is very flattering to think about the former Ghost. The second is embarrassing.
The title Ghost Of Tsushima Director’s Cut of the latest edition of this game increases tension between the two ways of looking at it. This title is the most popular version of the samurai epic, which made the 2020 PlayStation 4 exclusive a huge success. However, it uses a term that was taken from film and that breaks down completely when considered for more than a second. What is the difference between this and the original video game cut? Was it removed or restored? Why isn’t the original release worthy of this distinction?
Ghost of Tsushima was not the only game to be re-released using this nomenclature. It’s possible that the Sucker Punch developers feel the same about it as Hideo Kojima, who pointed out that Death Stranding’s “director’s cut”, although it is, is not his preferred term. Ghost of Tsushima is more appealing than any other game because it is an open homage to a very specific slice of samurai cinema. It’s the type that is loved in the West and lovingly reworked into Westerns and Star Wars.
Ghost Of Tsushima has found it difficult to get players to think outside the sandbox. The Kurosawa homage purports to be falling apart when the acclaimed filmmaker’s catalogue is seriously considered. Its status as a work of historical fiction is on similarly shaky ground, as its version of 13th-century Japan is one that appears to be steeped in propaganda more than actual history. Ghost Of Tsushima was an admirably personal story that saw Jin Sakai reexamine the samurai method. However, in practice, his examination was one based on methodology and not politics or culture. Jin, the samurai from Tsushima called his enemies to battle them on the battlefield in “honorable duels.” To save his home, Jin was forced to become a ghost by the Mongols.
The samurai way was a different concept in history than it was in the main campaign of Ghost Of Tsushima. That is what the Iki Island expansion starts to probe, if not briefly. Jin finds a village with a mysterious mental illness. Jin discovers that Anshar Khatoun is the leader of another Mongol clan, which she calls The Eagle. Jin Sakai holds this island a special place: He saw his father die on it.
This childhood trauma is the foundation of the expansion and the source of many of its most innovative ideas. The main Iki Island story shows Jin hiding his identity to be the new Lord Sakai to defeat The Eagle using the help of so-called raiders who killed his father. Jin has to recollect another time when the invading force was not Mongols but samurai and Jin’s father had committed the same violence against the raiders for which Jin hates.
According to the developers, this is all in service of “a story that heals.” Ghost of Tsushima’s Iki Island expansion introduces the ideas, but it doesn’t have the time to really dig into them. Nor does it acknowledge the suffering of the raiders. Jin’s alliance is a matter of convenience and makes amends. Ghost from Tsushima doesn’t believe in injustice. Instead, his vision of healing is the saccharine image that two people shake hands across the aisle. This reduces decades of violence to a simple disagreement that can be worked out with some sick group-ups. To be fair, the team-ups are sick.
