One of the most important aspects of Ghost of Tsushima when it first launched on PS4 was the overarching story between Jin Sakai (the aforementioned Ghost of Tsushima) and the father figure in his life, Lord Shimura. The main missions and plot of the story featured the push and pull of the samurai code that Lord Shimura held dear and Jin doing whatever it took to help free Tsushima Island from the wrath of the Mongols. Through the main game, the samurai code is giving this “honorable” status as the only way to live by and any other way is unbecoming. While he was able to drive out the invasion, him becoming the Ghost fractured the only family that Jin had left, going from a honorable samurai, to a dishonorable Ghost. I mention all of this to setup where we are going in the Iki Island expansion.
Childhood family trauma becomes the main focal point for Jin on Iki Island. That area holds deep regret for Jin as it is where his father, Kazumaza Sakai died in his campaign to take Iki Island back from the raiders for the Shogun. We learned about what happened to Jin’s father in the base game, but it was more used there to help inform us of the relationship that Jin had with Lord Shimura. Now with this expansion, Sucker Punch is able to get into more depth into Kazumaza, his relationship with Jin, a little more about Jin’s mother, and how her passing away impacted both Jin and his father. This trauma is brought to the forefront by the Eagle, a mongol Khan that is trying to control Iki Island through her special “medicine” which does not actually kill her victims, but drives them to a fractured mental state were they are unable to escape their greatest fears, trapped in a horrific nightmare and unable to function.
This campaign that Jin wages is different rom the one that saved Tsushima. Where with Tsushima, the people were used to samurai leadership and a lord saving the day. Iki island is not open to a samurai coming in and trying to save the day. Because of past history that his father, Kazumaza helped create, Iki Island is not trusting and outright hate any samurai, especially a Sakai. We learn more about his father’s campaign through memories that Jin starts to remember that are scattered to different points of the island, and Jin starts to confront his idea of the person his father was, and how the Iki Island sees him. Because of this, the “medicine” that Jin is forced to take by The Eagle early on, and other missions that Jin has to go on, he is forced to confront this part of his past that even through the main game/mission he tries to move past and ignore.
While the story is solid, it is really bolstered by what an amazing looking game this is. It was already a great looking game on PS4 when it came out last year, but with the PS5 upgrade it is one of the best looking games I have ever seen. There were multiple times throughout that I would just stop and look across a cliff just to see the sunset, or just take a leisurely stroll through Cloud Forest just to look at the trees or watch the fog roll in. Of course this game has an incredible Photo mode that was brought back from the PS4 version, which led to me taking way to many screenshots and posting them to Twitter.
I also want to shoutout the new type of shrines in the Iki expansion called Wind Shrines. Unlike the Shinto shrines in the base game, which were more of environmentally puzzle, the Wind Shrines are more riddle based. You pick up a scroll that has a poem written on it that if you read carefully, explains what to do near the shrine. For example, one shrine might tell you to wear a specific armor and heal yourself near it. Doing this unlocks new armor colors for existing armor that are all themed after different Sony first party games, like God of War.
On the more personal side for me, this story hit me in a way I was not expecting. While I have not gotten used to my father not being alive anymore, it is something that I don’t think about everyday anymore since it happened on June 14th. I was not expecting for the constant mentions of Jin’s father, his death and how it affected Jin to get to me so much. I though since it had been a little over 2 months since it had happened that I would not be thrown for a loop when it appeared in media like this. I think it has to do with how similar Jin’s father was to mine, knowing that they loved you while also staying emotional unavailable and not really connecting, or knowing how to connect with you. This story is about Jin’s healing and reconciling with who he is and who his father was. While that happened, it also helped me along my own journey of healing, making me think about certain things now that I am a little further removed from his death.
If you are coming to this Iki expansion expecting them to have changed the DNA of Ghost of Tsushima, then you will be disappointed, but if you want more of that classic open world gameplay then you will love the new expansion. What the expansion does do a good job of is making the story more personal and reflecting on samurai culture in a more historically accurate manner, and making Jin Sakai a more well rounded, interesting character has me extremely excited were they could take him on his next adventure.
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