Players who take on Ghost of Tsushima are compelled to talk about the overarching main story when the subject comes up. Jin Sakai has to balance his samurai values with his desire to protect his homeland from the Mongol threat. This all culminates in a showdown with enemies and friends alike.
Yet we are reminded by that age-old Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that, "Life is a journey, not a destination." Along the way, Jin Sakai has the ability to help his countrymen in both satisfying and less than satisfying ways. This article exists to bring attention to the highlights and lowlights that are experienced when deviating from the main path of repelling the invasion.
10 BEST:Â The Six Blades Of Kojiro
Every step of this mission involves doing combat with the Straw Hat Ronin. Each duel occurs on a beautifully designed and colored dueling ground. The expectation is to fight your old friend, their leader, Ryuzo, after dispatching these minions.
Surprise! Jin Sakai ends up doing combat with the mythical Kojiro and the fight is regularly ranked above Khotun Khan as the most challenging fight in the game. The stunning environment and the rewards more than compensate for this tough matchup.
9 WORST: A Place To Call Home
Give some credit to The Witcher 3, it took some time before modern society understood how badly some of the dialogue aged. In this mission, Jin passively chastises a peasant whose family is in danger, presumably because he was (rightfully) terrified.
Jin has to follow several clues, none of which the wind helps with and ends up finding nothing but blood and water. He anti-climactically assumes the family died and goes back to listen to the grieving father try to scold Jin for not arriving in time, which was never a possibility.
8 BEST: The End Of Suffering
One of the great successes of Ghost of Tsushima is that it accurately conveys the horrors of war. There are great video games about World War 1, for example, but they are often glamorized when compared to thirteenth-century Japan.
Norio and Jin wade through many obstacles before this to find and protect a sacred statue of the Buddha. In a gut-wrenching moment, Norio is forced to choose between defending this inspirational monument of the Buddha or saving his people and letting this priceless art be destroyed at the hands of his oppressors.
7 WORST: A Wealthy Man Has All He Needs
This game has an engaging narrative, but that doesn't mean it is devoid of fast-paced moments that get the player's heart racing. This quest is not one of those moments. Sakai is somehow talked into interrogating refugees because (apparently) samurai warriors are superior interview-givers.
Barring that ridiculous premise, Jin then shoots one who tries to run, finds out the man bribed the Ronin to get his family offshore, investigates only to find they've been murdered instead, and returns to tell the man to invest his money better next time. And no, there's nothing that can stop these events.
6 BEST: The Conspirator
Lady Masako Adachi makes it clear from the beginning that she is only along for the adventure so long as Jin Sakai helps her avenge her family. But when Jin tells her that she must exercise a bit of patience, he's in for the single most surprising duel in the entire game.
On top of this, the characters finally find out who the unexpected conspirator was from the beginning. This quest is full of unleashed feelings of vengeance on par with the story arc of Jack Marston.
5 WORST: Empty Baskets
There are several mechanics that MMORPGs like World of WarCraft need to improve on, but a game like Ghost of Tsushima should be able to avoid most of those pitfalls altogether. Unfortunately, this quest shows that some game designers have a hard time getting away from those boring, outdated quests.
Jin is sent on a fetch quest to get some rice. When he brings it back, he finds out the rice never belonged to the girl who told him to fetch it. And that's the end.
4 BEST: The Heavenly Strike
The game mechanic of mastering new moves is more associated more with WWE 2K20 than it would be with an action-adventure game, but learning this new move does not disappoint. After being treated to a story and some magnificent artwork, Jin seeks out the legend of an unblockable attack. Jin and the player agree; this concept must be an exaggeration.
Yet after journeying up to a mesa with beautiful white flowers surrounding upside-down swords, both Jin and the player are happily shocked to find the truth behind a technique that is useful for every serious confrontation in the game.
3 WORST: The Undying Flame
When describing Ghost of Tsushima to a friend, most people will exclude the word "platformer." To be sure, there are some exhilarating moments with the grappling hook, but during this quest, Jin is forced to try and climb a mountain where he freezes to death unless he finds campfires that he can't see because of the snow. That's right, he has to run into certain death and hope that he chose the right direction.
As the gamer wanders blindly into this fog of snow while trying to climb a mountain, Jin will constantly remind players that this won't be one of those platforming games that everyone wants to see rebooted in about fifteen years.
2 BEST: The Other Side Of Honor
In a land ravaged by war and amidst a suffering people, there is precious little time for fun. Death in Ghost of Tsushima feels solemn and is much less funny than it is in Dark Souls. Humor is not a thematic element of the game, but it is present if you do this quest.
Jin is shocked to find one surviving samurai of great renown who has drinks and women a-plenty. After he challenges the "great" Jinroku to a duel, the coward finally admits he's a nobody who put on the armor and pretended to be a samurai so that people would praise the accomplishments that he made up.
1 WORST: The Art Of Seeing
Between saving the lives of countless people and fighting off Mongol armies, there's an opportunity to go home and learn about Jin's heritage. It is utterly disappointing. Jin learns very little to help the gamer establish his character and childhood and makes no connection with the last living remnant of his past.
With Yuriko in a state of mental illness, Jin helps her go to various outdoor locations that trigger episodes of hallucinations in her mind. Eventually, the inevitable happens and she dies from the exertion which Jin saw coming and did nothing to stop.