Ghost of Tsushima review, review or cultural appropriation?

Could an American studio develop such a Japanese game?

And I can really write a review of Ghost of Tsushima, I European white male? That ofcultural appropriation it's a specter that has hovered over entertainment for unsuspecting times. But in a period that is pushing the pedal-to-the-metal on politically correct, whether it's feminism or homophobia, Sucker Punch walks on thin ice. Like the blade of a katana or the border between a just battle and a fanatical crusade. As far as I'm concerned the answer in any case is yes. An American studio can develop a video game so why it is not cultural appropriation. Rather. It is a desire to give something back to an imaginary that has given so much, to the myth of Kurosawa and to what he has done, has meaning.

And I can write a Ghost of Tsushima review for the same reason: I want to tell what Sucker Punch did for me through Jin Sakai

Ghost of Tsushima doesn't want to be accurate. Definitely not from a geographical point of view, since the island of Tsushima has been reimagined by the developers. They have been boot on the ground in place, but nature has been bent to level design. And that's right, since (fighting aside) Ghost of Tsushima shuns the on-screen indicators and tries to use the game world to talk with the player. There is not only the wind seen in the first few hours of live play. That's the basic mechanic, the one that guides you from point to point on the map. Need knowing how to read Ghost of Tsushima during these journeys, watching and breathing it. And you need to know how to read this Ghost of Tsushima review, without squawking about cultural appropriation regardless.

Following the flocks of birds that pass in the sky, the smoke that comes out of the pyres lit by the Mongols when they attack a farm. Following the foxes to find the altars, but learning to deduce and anticipate its path because the elements of level design are repeated, they are consistent. In a way this is the only cultural appropriation in Ghost of Tsushima, or at least the only one I can admit in this review. Sucker Punch took a corner of the world that wasn't his and rewrote it, redesigned it.

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But that's fine, the motivation goes beyond the artistic one and embraces that technique. There is a reason why some areas have flowers of one color rather than another, behind the shape of some rock formations. It is part of that world and that mood, and one inevitably ends up immersed in those logics, learning to look for patterns once you understand the reasoning behind it. It is not unique, an embryo of the same idea can be found (for example) in the first Mirror's Edge. But Hellblade also adopted something very similar, at least in the consequences. Because after a few hours all the Jin in front of the screen start to look for symbols who are behind it, exactly as they did when they were called Senua at the registry office. It is a work done in the name of art, how can it be wrong?

Likewise, history is rewritten to fit the design

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Now, it is clear that those of Ghost of Tsushima are not the Samurai of the history books. And that even the Mongols are not actually them, but a fictionalized version adapted to the game mechanics. Which invading army would agree to decide a battle by single combat, bowing to the sacredness of a rite and a God that is not theirs? Tradition, courage, honor… The game opens with these three words and their matrix is ​​immediately clear. They are not the Samurai of flesh and not even those left on paper in some articles. They are those of film, those that Akira Kurosawa gave to the world, influencing an imagination forever. From Kurosawa you get to the Western ed it is only right that from the far West we go back to the East.

Yes, as usual when it comes to Sucker Punch there is a double soul, in Ghost of Tsushima. Jin is also a ghost, he can also kill his enemies (and with them his honor) by resorting to darkness, some tricks and stealth. But it is not the correct way to play Ghost of Tsushima, because faced in this way is the practically slavish copy of Assassin's Creed II. Put the kunai in place of the throwing knives, remove the gun from Ezio's Hidden Blade, and there you are. There are even smoke bombs, and the island of Tsushima shrouded in that smoke has the same connotations as the Venice of the 400th century. Specter mechanics are handy when you want to cut it short, but the real charm lies in the blade. It is in honor.

Ghost of Tsushima is at its best where it can be accused of cultural appropriation

Ghost of Tsushima
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Because samurai gameplay mechanics are daughters of the samurai iconography itself in the West. Of those warriors who embody the typical Japanese, stubborn and stubborn, and who in principle would be ready to throw their own life. It is by becoming a real sword master that you understand the charm of Ghost of Tsushima. The forms including compulsively switching depending on the opponent and the situation. The best techniques, dodges, parries and counterattacks to perform at the right time for minimize the number of blows necessary for killing. The trivial fascination of violence combined with reverence for the blade. And anyone who has been even vaguely exposed to Japan told by films, anime and manga can only stay under it. He can only dream and yearn to be Jin Sakai.

Here, the biggest compliment that can be given to Ghost of Tsushima is this. Makes you want to believe it. To believe that one can be a samurai and can fight with honor, knowing that others are also by the rules. That a place like Sucker Punch's Tsushima can exist, and it doesn't matter if the animations aren't great and there's some technical flaw.

Because in the end what matters are you and the blade ...

Verdict 8/10 How come nobody called it haiku simulator? Comment Ghost of Tsushima is an amazing title. He is not given two lire after the first two hours. But it takes another 30 minutes to fall in love with it, because once you have unlocked some skills and understand some mechanics it is impossible not to stay under them, not to feel the desire to excel on the Mongol invader using only your skills and the katana. No tricks, no stealth, more duels possible. Ghost of Tsushima wants to be played like this, and played like this gives really a lot. Pros and cons ✓ Addictive samurai gameplay
✓ Talk through level design x Some playful anachronisms
x Technically crude