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Ali Haider Yar Khan

Ghost of Tsushima - An Interactive Cinematic Experience


 

Video games and their beauty are one of the least talked about visual representations. The amount of work that goes into creating a single one takes years, with people working day and night to visualize the way the sun filters through the leaves of a forest through code. Teams work to tune the wind whistling through the grass, the birdsongs from the canopy, the crunch of the leaves underfoot, into audio to play along seamlessly with the players actions.


Ghost of Tsushima, is one of these games that perfectly delivers an audio-visual experience like none other. Set in 1274, you explore Japan's Tsushima Island as Jin Sakai, a samurai trying to reclaim the land from Mongol invaders. But beyond the narrative and gameplay, are the game's forests spread around the Island. Traversing those on either foot or horseback, it is amazing to see how the light, weather and time of day can change the feeling of a place. I remember fleeting moments in the game, walking through a foggy wooded area just as the sun rose and everything was painted in orange, surrounded by the sun's warm embrace. And then, just like that, it was gone. Each time I returned to those woods, they felt different. The long shadows of the trunks at sunset, the muffled roar of the thunderstorm above the branches. I kind of wish that these moments lasted longer, that the sunrise and sunsets gave me more of those beautiful golden hours. But honestly, I love how easy it is to miss. How it feels like I might have caught the forest in the light, in a way it has never looked before.


Ghost of Tsushima's forests are never still. Inspired by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, the game developers have tirelessly worked to recreate the feeling of movement present in almost every frame of Kurosawa films. There is constant motion in those, whether it be the wind blowing on tall grass in the background, or the characters themselves. There is even a "Kurosawa Mode" in the game, paying tribute to the legend where everything switches to old school black and white. The ever present wind in the game is a crucial gameplay mechanic that guides you to your next objective. But unlike a dotted line on a map telling you where to go, it effortlessly interacts with the weather patterns that can sweep in at any moment, and the grass and flowers that blanket the island. Going anywhere on Tsushima Island, guided by the wind feels like the player, and the many moods of this Island, are in sync.


The game provides us with a beautifully crafted cinematic experience, one that is seamless and interactive, always in motion like the films it takes inspiration from.

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10 Comments


Aasim Ahmed
Jul 10, 2021

Great to read about someone's experience of something like this. Have always been fascinated by these things. They're the future really

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Have always wanted to play this game but the limitations of the ability of my old console keep me from it. Great review!

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Taneer Jannat
Jul 08, 2021

I've never really grasped how video games can serve as a transportation to a different world but reading this really introduces me to a different perspective; to accept the game world as equally important to our real one

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Replying to

For me, videogames have always been works of art and this one especially transported me to the world it was set in. I could honestly just walk in this game, endlessly, observing the many things, from the beautiful sunsets to the random bird that guides you to a point of interest, all of which make the world feel alive.

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Sara Arif
Sara Arif
Jul 07, 2021

This sounds so intriguing, I'm not a big fan of games but this looks like a different world altogether! Wow

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Thank you! there really is much more to the medium than what we think

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safa.imran11
safa.imran11
Jul 07, 2021

This is so interesting and making me want to start playing video games

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Replying to

Hahaha, thank you, you should try honestly, won't be disappointed.


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