End Of Ghost Of Tsushima

Ghost Of Tsushima Ending Explained

The primary moral dilemma in Ghost of Tsushima is Jin Sakai walking a path that toes the line between a samurai's code of honor, and the grim pragmatism of guerilla warfare. Unlike the understated, ambiguous narrative FromSoftware tells with Sekiro, or the frenzied activeness of Ninja Gaiden, Tsushima attempts to make players wrestle with the reality and consequences of their actions through cinematic storytelling.

Tsushima follows a three human activity structure, with each human action final with a grand set-piece battle that teases the content of the adjacent. This is fitting for a game that pays homage to filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa was heavily influenced by the three human action structure of traditional westerns and despite the lack of cowboys and vi-shooters, Tsushima has the same narrative DNA. All of the story's major turning points are driven by Jin's growth equally "the Ghost," a near-mythological avatar of Tsushima's resistance.

The Mongol invasion and subsequent war transforms Jin and his allies into versions of themselves they never would have imagined, though the culmination of this transformation is left for players to decide. And while the game is ultimately a romanticized ninja and samurai fantasy, it tells a remarkably mature narrative with a surprising corporeality of nuance for adult gamers to capeesh.

Jin'due south Journeying

The core of Jin'southward arc is his gradual transformation from honorable samurai into an infamous assassin and guerilla fighter. In many ways, Jin becomes Tsushima's Kamakura-era Batman. Every bit his fable grows in each human action of the game, Jin is known as a revenant, a giant, and a demon, amongst other things. More than a human, he inspires a motility that frustrates the Mongol invasion while also unintentionally destabilizing the traditional ability structure of Tsushima's leader — Jin's uncle — Lord Shimura.

The game'southward greatest narrative triumphs are the moments when the player is forced to reflect on the wholistic merit of Jin's actions. Ultimately, the game comes down on the side of pragmatic, existential survival, as players are forced to prefer the drapery of the ghost, over a samurai's bushido, at that place are times when Jin's methods have consequences that spiral out of his control, like when Taka is inspired to try and save Jin from certain death, only to become himself in trouble.

Jin's growth is illustrated through the personal stories of his companions. Jin's allies use his decisions equally justifications for the measures they accept, while others will lookout his transformation with business organisation, offering both guidance and warnings. Equally noted past Mitchell Saltzman of IGN, "these sidestories reflect an attribute of Jin'due south ain journey," with his actions influencing his companions and visa-versa.

The New Guardian of Cedar Temple

In a game full of heartbreak, Norio'south story missions provide some of the most traumatic scenes and developments. His tales arguably do the all-time job of illustrating the furnishings of PTSD, survivors' guilt, and other horrors of war, providing context and justification for Jin'south extreme methods. The climax of Norio's story occurs when he is reunited with his brother, Enjo, whom he believed was dead, though the meeting is far crueler than he could accept imagined.

Virtually of Jin's allies accomplish their goals, or at to the lowest degree achieve a measure out of closure at the end of their tales. Norio, however, succumbs to the rage he has wrestled with throughout the invasion, and goes on an unspeakable rampage through a Mongol occupied base, exacting revenge on the Mongol commander who tortured his brother. This change is startling, as Norio is 1 of the warmest and most emotionally open characters in Ghost of Tsushima.

Players are left to ponder whether Jin's bloody examples catalyzed the warmhearted monk embracing vengeance, and while Jin reassures Norio that he has fairly earned the championship of Cedar Temple's new guardian, i gets the sense that he will always live nether the shadow of his brother'south defeat and torture.

Instructor and Students

Ishikawa Sensei'south mission to hunt downwardly his treacherous student, Tomoe, is role personal grudge and part mission of atonement. Tomoe learned devastatingly effective archery skills from Ishikawa, and passed them on to the Mongols in turn. Tomoe claims she was doing what she did to survive, by any means necessary.

Ishikawa depends on Jin's aid in his job, and teaches him new archery techniques in return. Just as the two fight together, Ishikawa becomes concerned that his tutelage will advance JIns transformation into a guerilla fighter and an assassin who may end upwardly existence more monstrous than Tomoe.

Tomoe's human relationship with Ishikawa mirrors Jin's relationship with his uncle, every bit Ishikawa planned on making Tomoe into his heir, albeit by a different degree of extremity. While Jin never actively betrays his people in the fashion Tomoe did, he does suspension his code of honor — repeatedly.

Tomoe remains catchy and clever until the end of Ishikawa's story, simply her decision to repent (and exploit an opportunity to escape) ultimately persuades Ishikawa to give up his vendetta besides. Despite escaping consequences for her crimes, Tomoe's retreat is presented every bit one of the game's more than hopeful notes.

A Widow's Vengeance

Lady Masako's story begins with her appearing to lose everything, only to suffer more than equally her quest for revenge deepens. Unlike Ishikawa and Shimura, Masako seems more permissive of Jin's unorthodox methods. In fact, their dynamic serves as an inversion of well-nigh of Jin'due south relationships, with him urging Masako to use restraint when seeking revenge.

Masako is the only character who pursues her goal so single-mindedly that she comes to blows with Jin, earnestly meaning to impale him so she can have her revenge. This provides a rare opportunity for Jin to demonstrate mercy in a game where that is seldom an option.

The nature of Masako's story is a familiar revenge narrative: no thing what a person has lost in life, they stand to lose even more in the pursuit of revenge. Simply in a mode, the extremity of Masako'south losses and the zealotry of her revenge provide baby-sit runway for Jin's own desire for vengeance. Even though he shows the Mongols no mercy, her example reminds him to draw a hard line when it comes to protecting potential innocents in absence of evidence.

The Adult female Behind the Ghost

Yuna is arguably the single strongest influence on Jin, and the person who is responsible for the creation of the Ghost. Stacey Henley of Gaming Bible argues that Yuna should be the protagonist of Tsushima equally she is, in many ways, more nuanced, unconventional, and compelling than Jin Sakai. As a thief and an abuse survivor, her upbringing was far harsher than Jin'due south, even bearing in listen his own childhood trauma, and it would be interesting to see the war from her perspective.

With Lord Shimura, Ishikawa, and others cautioning Jin against a path that runs reverse to samurai accolade, Yuna encourages Jin to fight smart, fifty-fifty if it ways fighting muddied. From the start, she is his greatest ally, pulling him from the shores of Komoda Beach in the aftermath of the samurai's disastrous stand up against the initial invasion. Even after her brother loses his life attempting to emulate Jin, she stands past him as a constant companion.

There is a spark betwixt the ii characters; information technology grows as the game continues, with Yuna even considering running away with Jin. Ultimately, this human relationship is left unresolved, though given the characters' common guardedness, the lack of closure feels appropriate. Whatever's between them doesn't need to be detailed by a lengthy confession.

A Villain of Civilisation

Khotun Khan succeeds equally a villain non because he is monstrous — after all, most villains are — only rather considering he studies and understands Japanese culture, and frames offers of submission every bit a pathway to peace. Information technology is Khotun Khan's power to make surrender seem seductive, or even noble, that makes him a compelling adversary.

But his true nature is best articulated through inference. Players run into starved, impaled, and burned peasants throughout Tsushima as bloody reminders of the war'south cost. This brutality forces Jin to adopt similar, culturally-aware tactics. Throughout the game, Jin also collects and studies Mongol artifacts.

It must be said, however, that this attribute of the game could stand more development, and feels somewhat half-hearted. The artifacts are optional, accept no mechanical bearing on the gameplay, and as such, practice trivial to humanize or enkindle respect for the Mongol enemies. In dissimilarity, Khotun Khan at to the lowest degree maintains the veneer of a healthy respect for Lord Shimura and Jin, despite failing to impale Jin on several occasions.

Tsushima's final act concludes with Jin decapitating the Mongol commander, finally triumphing in a duel afterward his initial defeat. The Khan's expiry does not magically fix Tsushima withal, and the consequences of Jin'due south victory fall heavily in the game's epilogue.

A Father'due south Heartbreak

Lord Shimura is Jin'due south uncle by blood, but given the early death of Jin'southward begetter and mother, Shimura is unquestionably a begetter effigy. The game drives home this point repeatedly with periodic flashbacks of his Jin'southward youth, including one of Shimura's eventual offer to make Jin his heir and officially adopt him. These sunny plans are scuttled when Jin does the unthinkable to retake Shimura Castle.

Despite his tremendous influence on Jin, the thespian rarely has the opportunity to fight alongside Shimura, and sees relatively petty of him in the third act. It is clear, however, that Shimura is enraged and wounded by Jin'due south disobedience, based on the mission where Jin must infiltrate Shimura castle and appeal to his uncle for help in the last boxing against the Khan.

It is a tribute to Sucker Punch that Shimura is presented as a paragon of samurai, whose deportment simultaneously correspond both the good and bad of their ethos. Shimura refuses to retake his castle through a covert attack, just his noble intentions come up at the cost of his soldiers' lives. His distaste for subterfuge extends to being dismissive of those doing everything they can to survive. He repeatedly denigrates Yuna's contributions to the war effort, referring to her assist at Castle Kaneda as a lark.

The Poisonous Turning Bespeak

The catastrophe of the game'southward second act, where Jin uses wisteria toxicant to retake Shimura castle, is his point of no return. He deliberately defies his uncle's orders to retake the castle via subterfuge, deciding to toxicant the Mongols, and the ramifications of that decision ready the course for the rest of the game.

Lord Shimura's prohibitions against poisonous substance aren't merely sentimental. Even though Jin was hoping to save lives, he ends up inspiring Khotun Khan to apply poisonous substance as well. Innocent peasants, rather than samurai, dice horribly in large numbers, all to send Jin a bulletin that actions take consequences, and he has crossed a line. Fifty-fifty though Jin manages to defeat Khotun Khan before he sails to Japan'south mainland, the use of poison added a dangerous weapon to the Mongol arsenal, making them an even greater threat.

The true damage that Jin does to Tsushima, however, is his example of defiance. By defying the Jito and achieving results through his actions, he demonstrated a philosophy that runs contrary to the traditional dominion of law. And as the epilogue shows, his actions have inspired regular people to rally around a legend that has become too big for Jin to manage.

Harsh Mercies

The culmination of the game'due south theme, standing by a code of honor or choosing pragmatism in the face up of brutality, arrives at the game's terminal sequence where Jin must duel his uncle, Lord Shimura, and choose to grant him an honorable death equally he wishes, or to spare his life and live as the object of his hatred.

The former choice is ultimately a kindness to both Jin's guilty conscience and Shimura's nobility, demonstrating that Jin still deeply respects his uncle, and the traditional samurai values he represents. But sparing his life is arguably healthier for Tsushima, as the region will maintain its Jito among the aftermath of a state of war, when the governing class has already been devastated past the initial invasion forcefulness. Losing the leadership of samurai is more a symbolic loss, too. The game repeatedly hints at the dangers of lawlessness with the numerous side quests where Jin must slay bandits and thieves rather than Mongols.

Whether he makes a concession to sentimental tradition, or completely embraces the mantle of the ghost, there is ultimately no "make clean" ending where Jin walks abroad wholly unscathed past his decisions. Everything from the animation to the music is calculated to make the scene as impactful as possible.

Ghost of Tsushima as an Akira Kurosawa Tribute

Information technology is no cloak-and-dagger that Ghost of Tsushima was intended as a love alphabetic character to the films of Akira Kurosawa, as the game features a mode that bears the famous manager'southward name. Simply does the game thematically succeed equally a tribute to his films?

Kurosawa's films are known for their samurai expressionism, merely they also blend tragedy with triumph, and emphasize "the ambiguity of truth," as mentioned pastMultifariousness. Even though Kurosawa shot in blackness and white, the morality of his films oftentimes held shades of gray. While the characters lack the same kind of gripping charisma as Kurosawa's works, the theme of subjective truth appears in full force in Tsushima and its catastrophe, equally Jin's cardinal struggle is to strike a residue between dutiful, honorable behave, while waging a war he has virtually no promise of winning.

Some other mode Tsushima is a fitting tribute is the game'due south sheer beauty. Even writers who found the game's narrative wanting, like Factor Park of The Washington Post, accept praised the game's gorgeous animation, besides as the almost poetic quality of fight scenes, likening them to "a beautifully blithe ballet of blood and clanging blades." This is a notable homage to Kurosawa, not only for his use of stylized violence, only for his lavishly produced sets.

Missed Opportunities

Ghost of Tsushima does not offering whatever secret endings for players who complete everything or meet special criteria, and the many dialogue choices Jin is presented with do not take whatsoever begetting on the last outcome of the game.

A black and white "honor meter" would accept washed the game a disservice. It has been argued that reducing complicated moral dilemmas to arithmetic feels like gross oversimplification. Just the fact that Jin'southward choices in combat, and his responses in dialogue have no bearing on his fate, or the fate of those effectually him, begs the question of why they were included.

One way Sucker Dial may have navigated these challenges would be to take Jin's choices affect the behavior of other characters, allowing Jin to save some allies at the expense of others. Though, one could argue that most players would attempt to follow an "optimal," artificial path through the narrative rather than experiencing information technology organically.

The characters' motivations are besides muddled compared to those in a Kurosawa motion picture. The game's harrowing opening provides ample motivation for Jin'southward entrada against the Mongols, but he and his allies appear to have no vision for a future post-obit the invasion, and the game provides the histrion with fiddling levity, right up to the catastrophe.

Looking to the Time to come

Tsushima'south historical setting means that a follow-up to the title featuring the aforementioned characters is unlikely, though it is not difficult to imagine a spiritual successor set in another time period or office of Japan. Later on all, Sucker Punch has recently posted conspicuous chore openings for a new project that sounds a lot like a Ghost of Tsushima sequel.

A directly sequel could exist intriguing, particularly if it presented Jin with enemies aside from Mongols, like the samurai charged with hunting the Ghost, and the bandits that are plaguing Tsushima in the wake of the war. If Jin has truly turned his dorsum on redemption and honor, is he willing to kill his own people if it means protecting Tsushima?

Ultimately though, no follow-up feels strictly necessary, which is refreshing in an era where every new game is intended to lay the groundwork for an epic franchise. Tsushima stands on its own as a solidly built, self-contained story virtually the horrors of war and the high cost of honour. And those who are sad to see the journey come to an end will be comforted to know at that place are a wealth of other compelling samurai titles to cheque out.