Thanks so much for checking out the video! I adore Ghost of Tsushima and I really wanted to do it justice-what better way than an episode of The Real History? What are your thoughts on the game? Any historical elements that you think I missed? Let me know! If you'd like to support the channel, please feel free to share the video, or take a look at the benefits available on Patreon. If not, don't worry-your view is more support than I could ever ask for. Thanks again!
Gaijin Goombah made an excellent video on the subject highlighting how Ghost of Tsushima is the story of Jin Sakai's transformation from samurai to the first ninja. A shinobi. On the surface one thinks that the ninja is about stealth, but the true essence of a ninja is endurance. That's what Jin does, he endures. He does whatever it takes to defeat the Mongols and save his people. He studies their Leader's fighting styles to incorporate into his own. He steals and adopts their tools and tech like sticky bombs and armor to gain another edge. He discards his code and honor in order to get the job done, and not even once does the game call Jin a ninja. Jin Sakai is the purest form of a shinobi in media.
Wonderfully made video I really enjoyed. I actually watched this video twice because I thought it was just so well put together and you really know your history apparently so thank you for sharing that with us. I too love this game. I just started playing it last year. Put it down and picked it up again and I can't put it down. Now I have to finish it. It's a fabulous game and I hope they make a sequel
One thing I am surprised that you didn't mention is that the Game director and co director did such a good job that the local government of Tsushima made them honorary touring ambassadors to the island. I just think that is just something truly special.
Absolutely. This is even more noteworthy since media and journalist called the game out for cultural appropriation and lack of diversity, but the Japanese people themselves enjoyed it tremendously. While the new Assassin's Creed on the other hand, was praised by the same journalists for its diversity, while in reality Japanese people dislike it very much for all the disregard it demonstrates towards their history and culture.
The new Assassin's Creed is only liked by those people who either hate Japan or care about DEI more than anything else. Or both. 💀 The shitty wokeist mentality is ruining everything, but it sure as hell milks money out of American consumers.
Regarding the inaccuracy of Bushido for the time period, I think the developers knew exactly what they were doing. Notice that throughout the game, most characters talk to Jin of going against/violating "your uncle's code". I think that because Shimura was a very respected and well known warrior, his own personal code of honor was admired by other samurais who chose to honor it instead of being the norm among samurai, especially given Shimura's advanced age, meaning that he survived countless battles and duels, showcasing his combat prowess. But I could be wrong, who knows
One thing that people fail to mention; the way honor worked before the mongols. When the Mongols invaded, the Samurai would typically shout their family names and call out enemies. They were horse archers that would duel in spread out battles but the mongols didn't understand this and just killed them like a normal army would. This shocked the Japanese and they had to adapt to this new type of warfare.
Late to the party, But this is something the game itself actually addresses, In a pretty heavy handed way, Jins own father often went against Shimuras personal code and argued with him about it, And most if not all characters in the game who do talk about it, Do stick to it just being "Shimura's Code" infact, The only thing against the Samurai norm as Shown in-game as well as actual history, Isnt ANY of the Crimes Jin did, Hell, Shimura pats him on the back for it when he's first rescued but the actual Crime, the thing that would have been told to other Samurai to turn them against Jin isnt him doing any of this, But him doing it **AGAINST** Shimuras direct, uncompromising order, Which is the only universal code they must abide their lives by. The other samurai break it, bend it, ignore it all the time, Just consider the BUTCHER Of Ikki Ikki island, The only difference is they arent the next Jito, They arent the ones meant to take up the legacy of the man who invented this code for his little Island, Its all a Shimura ego pull for the most-part.
(spoilers) When you escape from Castle Shimura, you can hear the samurai talking about how horrible and dishonorable you are. So I think there's some unifying "honor code" to all of them at this point.
@@varangianguard7102 Problem being that we cant actually trust most of those words, As not only do a crap-ton of those Samurai later join us in Act III, But to Samurai theres only one thing that actually matters, Doing Exactly or Exactly what your Lord says not to do, And both Lords on that Island were PISSED with Jin that night, as he had JUST betrayed shimura by doing sneaky stuff when he had expressly been told not too, So of course their men are going to crap-talk Jin to try and look good. These are the guys who had to cut off heads to earn hazard pay, They're a bit rough.
@@chibipotate Nice! I was looking for someone who would mention this, a good thing to add is that Sakai Kazumasa was said to have butchered a group of soldiers so badly his own men were frightened by him, (Which hints at something similar to the ghost stance in game) since this happened when Jin was still young we know that Shimura remained friends and allies with Sakai despite his ruthless nature.
Historical inaccuracies aside, I actually really appreciate the way that bushido is used in the story. It’s clear that the concept of a samurai, and the code itself were developed only with a domestic application in mind. However we are shown that very little can/will stand in the way of the night of the Mongol army, and that traditional methods are not enough to counteract something completely unprecedented like the Mongol invasion.
There wasn't really any one code followed by Samurais. The Bushido way has been mythologized into some amalgamation of "Honor", "Humility", etc. When the reality is Samurai followed multiple codes over multiple decades, all the way from being honorable to just being thugs. It was created even more in Modern Japan to form some form identity as the country was modernizing, loosely taking ideas and creating a better image to aspire to rather than something that was actually followed.
True samurai honor was based primarily on giving loyalty to those you serve. For instance, if we look at the Warring States (Sengoku) Period of the 14-15th century, samurai served daimyo warlords by bringing them power to their domain. An honorable samurai during this period, would slaughter countless enemies who would pose as a threat to their daimyo, instead of showing mercy to their enemies.
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen.
One of my favourite bits of the game is the storm at the end of the game stranding the Mongols on land and the reinforcements out at sea that couldn’t get to them because that actually happened. The storm itself being called Kamikaze by the Japanese and literally saving them from more massacres
Absolutely love these videos, you don’t shout and put everything in our faces, you have a really good way of narrating these videos, along with the music and editing. You literally make perfect videos which are very enjoyable to watch.
Depends on the channel. I can't stand all the PewDiePie clones and don't get me started on Morgz. But channels like VaatiVidya is also good for his in-depth calm speaking style.
It's amazing what tech the Chinese/Mongolians were using at that age. Europe was still using sword and just learned to put some kind of protection on shoulders instead of using just chainmail. While at Asia they were shooting at each other with early gattling guns!
I dont like this notion. Its imensly common and somewhat a part of orientalism. The idea that Europe was technologicly backwards in the high middel ages. I reality by 1270s European metelurgy was starting to produce higher quility steel and more complex pices of armor crafts then most other places in the world. This is less to do due to simple technolgical matters however and has alot more to do with the warrior culture of most of europe focusing on the knigth and his armaments. By this time as well conflict between europeans and the mongolians had been going on for 30 years. At this time gunpowder weapons where started being used in europe. Already by the 1300s we know that cannons where being used in europe as well as early hand canons as well as rockets which where the prefeard gunpowder weapon of the chinese and koreans (who invented gunpowder) in turn then adopted by the mongolians following thire sucseful conquest of china and subjegation of korea. Btw one of the main resons chainmail was used for so long was its imense strength it was the prefeard armor of the romans simply cause it was much more effective then most other pices of armor. It coverd the body and protected it leaving no holes around the armpits groin or neck (provided that a chainmail neckgaurd was worn).
This is just… wrong. The Roman’s had plate armor, and Europe never lost that technology. Did the price of it go up after the fall of the Roman Empire? Yes. Did it go away? Not in the slightest.
My idea of ghost of tushima is Genghis Khan and kublai coming to tushima to invade, they kinda are characters in the game, khouton says in the beginning he's grandson of Genghis and cousin of kublai, and I guess after Genghis and kublai heard that khouton is dead, they both come to finish what they started.
One thing I found out myself about the haiku inaccuracy that you pointed out, is that if you play the game with Japanese audio, the 'haiku' are in fact 'tanka' (at least that's what I heard when the poems are recited) since it seems to be arranged in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern in the Japanese audio Which I think is a bit funny, because obviously tanka has been around in Japan for centuries by then. Makes me wonder why don't the whole haiku thing be turned into waka/tanka instead?
late reply, but I read an interview where the developers said they considered changing it to the tanka/waka instead, but ultimately decided on the haiku because they figured western audiences would know exactly what a haiku was without needing to be told, but the tanka/waka would have needed more of an explanation
On the japanese dub, they actually use period-correct names Samurai > Bushi Haiku > Waka Katana > Tachi Shamisen > Koto and many many others, i think they made a deliberate decision to use the more popular names instead of the historically correct ones, which is a shame, but understandable, since i doubt the regular normie would want to play as a "Bushi" without even knowing what it means
One thing I especially love with ghost of tsushima is the soundtrack, they use a perfect mix of violins (They sound like violins to me, correct me if I'm wrong) and various Japanese and other instruments, the theme of The Ghost is especially well crafted.
Wow!! This so underappreciated. The research, the visuals, I just love it. The subtitles should not go unnoticed. The quality is topnotch. Keep going this❤️
Great video! I am playing this game right now, will probably finish it soon. It's a great game, definitely one of my favorites on PS4 with RDR2, The Witcher 3, and Horizon Zero Dawn. I think those who did not appreciate Ghost of Tsushima were expecting more action, events in the open world, etc. They did not appreciate the history and characters, as well as the music, locations, and how this is such a different, fascinating culture. I think that's what I love the most about the game, it takes me elsewhere, but it's still realistic. I love it. It's one of those rare games I don't really want to finish, I have been playing for a long time and there aren't many like that. Ghost of Tsushima is truly special.
Ironically the most inaccurate thing about Ghost of Tsushima is the Ghost himself. All Jin Sakai does is accelerate the Khan's death by storm, which was fated to happen anyways. The "Ghost" techniques he learns along his journey are rejected by the samurai, but learned by the Mongols. And in reality they were Mongol techniques to begin with. It's kinda poetic in that sense. If the ghost hypothetically existed, he would have been lost to time, and we would have roughly had the same "true story" we have today. In the truest sense he would be a Ghost.
Hi I love your videos and all of them are amazing. However one thing I’d like to point out regarding the samurai code. In the Ghost Of Tsushima behind the scene, a Japanese historian actually stated that after the Mongol war, some samurais started to question whether their orders should be superior than civilian and they can’t protect anyone if they blindly follow orders. This actually caused a civil war between those samurais who only believe order above all else and those who believe protecting people is what samurai stand for. Sadly, the samurai who believe order superiority won the civil war and thus caused the distrust from the people and some riots started.
An excellent video as usual. The techniques behind the longbow were touched on in this, but what about the katana? Were the techniques used in the game accurate to real life techniques?
That’s a great question, and one that I’m not very qualified to answer. There are some great videos on RUclips about that from the perspective of experts, specifically from channels like Gamology and BuzzFeed. I’d recommend checking them out if you’d like to know more!
I think you, and of course ultimately Sucker Punch hit the nail on the head about this game. Be as accurate as you can, while not letting it get in the way of telling a great story, and creating a great game. While also being respectful about the place and time, looking at other historically accurate Japanese things and bring them into your game. It's a great beautiful balance they did. This has been one of my favorite games of the last several years.
In the same way that the "knight in shining armour" was mythologised in Europe, I see no real issue with the Bushido legend being... a legend. I mean, it is pretty explicit in Ghost of Tsushima that the events are supposed to be a mythologised retelling.
Great job on the video. Would have been interesting to also have a comment or side note about the parallels of Shinobi Battle tactics during this era given that they are part and parcel of the players methodology in liberating the island.
@2:40 "Where they were pushed out by a large storm". Interestingly, that large storms were typhoons that became called the "Kamikaze", or the "god/divine winds". And that's where the word came from originally, before its usage in World War II.
Loved this game, everything AC valhalla wasn't, it's journey into Ninja territory was a bit on the nose and cheesy. I see this as more of an homage to samurai movies from the 60s and 70s as well as the fabulous Lone wolf and cub comic series than a historical piece.
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen.
I watched another video that talked the historic events pertaining this. Evidently, the Khan had sent two envoys to try and talk to then imperial lords of Japan only to be turned away. The Mongolians captured two unassuming fisher men, were treated in the hospitality customs of the court of the Khanate, and sent back to Japan that they’d share their accounts. Even the Japanese fishermen were spurned away. Japan wanted nothing to do with Mongolia or the Khanate and their silent protest is what prompted the Khanate to act against them. The fights were, needless to say, very brutal particularly the tactics that the Mongolian armies employed. What is also interesting is the Khanate did not send just Mongolians but a combination of Koreans, Chinese, and other captured people to fight against the Japanese.
the swords in the games are worn incorrectly. During the Kamakura period, the swords were worn with the blade side down, not up as in the game. Blade side up is not worn until several hundred years later, especially during the Edo period.
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen, people are so ignorant.
Its my favorite Single player story based game I have every played because of the the love and attention they put into the environment and combat as well as story and it really help that I love historical accuracy
amazing video ghost of tsushima is a game i was very excited for & pre ordered as soon as it opened on amazon i ended up switching my pre order to psn for the avatar but yeah & man it's such a good game definitely one of the best games that released since 2019 & if anyone happened to not played it yet go play it it's so so good i have not met anyone tell me that they did not enjoy it
Update October 20th, 2024: Sucker Punch is definitely saw Assassin's Creed: Shadows and went “Aight, hold my sake and my katana” before developing Ghost of Yōtei that will released on 2025
I love this, this scratches the itch of the gripes i have with Ghost of Tsushima and their obsessive western view of samurai honor that Inazo peddled. I love the game to death but this honor bullshit really ticks me off sometimes.
I don't think it's that hard to believe there were some people in feudal Japan that believed in honor in this way, just as it's not hard to beleive there are people who disregarded such notions. The real issue is simply if such values/morals were conceptualized as bushido in the way Inazo described (which is more than likely not the case).
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen, people are so ignorant. This dumbass ticks me off.
Not only the attention to historic and cultural detail, and then also the art (artistic landscapes) but I really appreciate the effort to polish this game to a much higher standard than most dross AAA titles who rely upon patches. A lot of thinking went into making this game and going beyond the 80/20 was worthwhile. It’s rare I play anything twice.
I just picked this up last week for PC. During my first break from the game I went to google earth to find Tsushima Island. It was right where I expected it to be - the closest island to the mainland. Now every time I see a map of the area, my eye is drawn to that point.
4:33 actually that is a "hwacha", it was a rocket propelled weapon developed during the late 16th century. Which is IRONIC to use in this game, since this was created by the Koreans in response to the Japanese invasions of Korea.
Man I’m so dedicated to this game since I bought it on PS5. The music, the story, the stealth, the action, the views, the way the characters speak, the history behind it…this game is a 11/10 it personally breaks the scale for me. Thank you for explaining what I had been wondering for some time after I beat the game and now I’m on my second playthrough on Game+. Just a wonderfully executed game.
Part of what made the game special for me was the fact of the split of opinion for the Samurai Code. It worked Domestically and in some cases during Wartime. But Armies evolve and it was apparent when fighting the mongols that things needed to be changed, or else there wouldn't be any hope for survival. It's what creates the rivalry between Shimura and Sakai, despite their love for one another Sakai knew that they to needed to evolve to counter the Mongols. Sakai ended up kind of like Batman in a way, He's whatever Japan needs him to be not necessarily what they want him to be.
Actually it doesn’t matter weather it’s historically correct or not. Nobody should care about it since this game, Ghost of Tsushima is still the best game about Samurais🇯🇵⛩️🌅❤️ it was created beautifully, with passion and hard work. Developers did it great👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
If they’re gonna make a sequel to this game, they should just use the 2nd invasion but make it to where Jin has left the island and went to stay at Iki. But since Jin is gone and Lord Shimura is dead, (if that’s the canon ending), Tsushima falls quickly. Jin hears about this and goes back to Tsushima and attempts to take back the island with his allies from Iki and new island he finds during his Journey to take back Tsushima. Now I know this just sounds like the first game all over again, but at the end of the game the samurai never took back Tsushima. Considering the mongols were still everywhere and still trying to take it over. But idk just what I think.
The way I see it, this game is much more a game about myth than about history, and this helps me enjoy it despite the minor inaccuracies and anachronisms. I think of it as someone telling a legend, highly exaggerating certain elements and putting fantastic things in there too, like the guiding wind, birds and foxes, as well as including elements in the story that didn't necessarily exist in the real version of the events, but that existed in the time where the story was being told, and these changes started to stack overtime, creating the web of cultural aspects that are taken from different cultures and time periods and mixed together.
The banners are the wrong type. I thought you were going to touch on this since you even showed pictures of the different types of banners from the different eras. The old one hangs from the top, and the newer one is attached to a frame (side and top).
I love Ghost of Tsushima, it's a one of the best games of the last 25 years imo. Sucker Punch nailed it especially the NG+, it was on parr with Witcher 3 imo. I loved it so much I spent 60 Hours running around killing the ever spawning Mongols and collecting everything I could before I even did first mission lol. If my math was right my first play through was around 320 hours but I can't say exactly bc for some reason the game stopped keeping track of my play time after the time hit 249 hours
Another small detail. Japan had unusually large periods of its history with no "proper" monetary system, aka coin. Thats why the in game currency is "supplies" instead of the typical "gold" or "silver" coins/units.
I think that Shimura is actually not a historical inaccuracy in terms of "honor." Shimura is a prideful man who won't budge from his ideals, even if it means disgracing his nephew and scorning him. Hell, Shimura was more than happy to throw bodies at his own castle only to take the glory for all of Jin's work. Shimura isn't some bushido-loving noble warrior. He's an old dog who loves glory hunting and shattered as soon as an enemy who didn't care about his "code of honor" fought him. It's even noted in the game that Kazumasa Sakai, Jin's father, would regularly be at odds with Shimura because Kazumasa knew what had to be done to win battles (against the Yarikawa rebels), but Shimura was too idealistic to yield.
I just finished the game on PS5, great game. Some of the side missions were a little repetitive, but over all this game is a 8.5-9 outta 10. Can’t wait for part 2
While the bushido was not a thing at this period, the Japanese did uphold some standards in their way of fighting that put them at a disadvantage against the Mongols. Here's an account of the battle of Hakata bay: "According to our manner of fighting, we must first call out by name someone from the enemy ranks, and then attack in single combat. But they (the Mongols) took no notice at all of such conventions; they rushed forward all together in a mass, grappling with any individuals they could catch and killing them."
Talking about honor I can't stop laughing comparing two games (Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro). In the first one you can see that using some kind of unfair methods are almost taboo. And then there is final boss in Sekiro Isshin the Sword saint who bring a freaking glock-17 to a sword fight when he starts losing))) And every time you die to Isshin you hear "Hesitation is defeat", so I am convinced that Isshin and Jin are the same characters) You can't hesitate defending your land so let's poison everyone!
Thanks so much for checking out the video! I adore Ghost of Tsushima and I really wanted to do it justice-what better way than an episode of The Real History?
What are your thoughts on the game? Any historical elements that you think I missed? Let me know! If you'd like to support the channel, please feel free to share the video, or take a look at the benefits available on Patreon. If not, don't worry-your view is more support than I could ever ask for. Thanks again!
Maybe the real Ghost of Tsushima was the friends we made along the way
I love you Pixels
@A GOAT would you recommend this game? (I like RDR2, GTA4, Hitman series)
Gaijin Goombah made an excellent video on the subject highlighting how Ghost of Tsushima is the story of Jin Sakai's transformation from samurai to the first ninja. A shinobi. On the surface one thinks that the ninja is about stealth, but the true essence of a ninja is endurance. That's what Jin does, he endures. He does whatever it takes to defeat the Mongols and save his people. He studies their Leader's fighting styles to incorporate into his own. He steals and adopts their tools and tech like sticky bombs and armor to gain another edge. He discards his code and honor in order to get the job done, and not even once does the game call Jin a ninja. Jin Sakai is the purest form of a shinobi in media.
Wonderfully made video I really enjoyed. I actually watched this video twice because I thought it was just so well put together and you really know your history apparently so thank you for sharing that with us. I too love this game. I just started playing it last year. Put it down and picked it up again and I can't put it down. Now I have to finish it. It's a fabulous game and I hope they make a sequel
One thing I am surprised that you didn't mention is that the Game director and co director did such a good job that the local government of Tsushima made them honorary touring ambassadors to the island. I just think that is just something truly special.
Absolutely. This is even more noteworthy since media and journalist called the game out for cultural appropriation and lack of diversity, but the Japanese people themselves enjoyed it tremendously. While the new Assassin's Creed on the other hand, was praised by the same journalists for its diversity, while in reality Japanese people dislike it very much for all the disregard it demonstrates towards their history and culture.
He should have also mentioned that the storms which destroyed the Mongol fleet are where the term Kamikaze (godly wind) comes from.
The new Assassin's Creed is only liked by those people who either hate Japan or care about DEI more than anything else. Or both. 💀 The shitty wokeist mentality is ruining everything, but it sure as hell milks money out of American consumers.
@@dxpawn lol ok loser, go back into your moms basement now
@@dxpawn Everybody needs to boycott ACS, we need to show them how annoyed we are at this nonsense.
Regarding the inaccuracy of Bushido for the time period, I think the developers knew exactly what they were doing. Notice that throughout the game, most characters talk to Jin of going against/violating "your uncle's code". I think that because Shimura was a very respected and well known warrior, his own personal code of honor was admired by other samurais who chose to honor it instead of being the norm among samurai, especially given Shimura's advanced age, meaning that he survived countless battles and duels, showcasing his combat prowess. But I could be wrong, who knows
One thing that people fail to mention; the way honor worked before the mongols. When the Mongols invaded, the Samurai would typically shout their family names and call out enemies. They were horse archers that would duel in spread out battles but the mongols didn't understand this and just killed them like a normal army would. This shocked the Japanese and they had to adapt to this new type of warfare.
Late to the party, But this is something the game itself actually addresses, In a pretty heavy handed way, Jins own father often went against Shimuras personal code and argued with him about it, And most if not all characters in the game who do talk about it, Do stick to it just being "Shimura's Code" infact, The only thing against the Samurai norm as Shown in-game as well as actual history, Isnt ANY of the Crimes Jin did, Hell, Shimura pats him on the back for it when he's first rescued but the actual Crime, the thing that would have been told to other Samurai to turn them against Jin isnt him doing any of this, But him doing it **AGAINST** Shimuras direct, uncompromising order, Which is the only universal code they must abide their lives by.
The other samurai break it, bend it, ignore it all the time, Just consider the BUTCHER Of Ikki Ikki island, The only difference is they arent the next Jito, They arent the ones meant to take up the legacy of the man who invented this code for his little Island, Its all a Shimura ego pull for the most-part.
(spoilers) When you escape from Castle Shimura, you can hear the samurai talking about how horrible and dishonorable you are. So I think there's some unifying "honor code" to all of them at this point.
@@varangianguard7102 Problem being that we cant actually trust most of those words, As not only do a crap-ton of those Samurai later join us in Act III, But to Samurai theres only one thing that actually matters, Doing Exactly or Exactly what your Lord says not to do, And both Lords on that Island were PISSED with Jin that night, as he had JUST betrayed shimura by doing sneaky stuff when he had expressly been told not too, So of course their men are going to crap-talk Jin to try and look good. These are the guys who had to cut off heads to earn hazard pay, They're a bit rough.
@@chibipotate Nice! I was looking for someone who would mention this, a good thing to add is that Sakai Kazumasa was said to have butchered a group of soldiers so badly his own men were frightened by him, (Which hints at something similar to the ghost stance in game) since this happened when Jin was still young we know that Shimura remained friends and allies with Sakai despite his ruthless nature.
Very quickly becoming one of my favorite games of all time...
Same
It’s already my favorite, passed God of war by a small margin lol.
Yes plz
@@coldwolf7014i can relate......
It’s a great game. It’s up there for me with Deus ex and kingdom come deliverance
Historical inaccuracies aside, I actually really appreciate the way that bushido is used in the story. It’s clear that the concept of a samurai, and the code itself were developed only with a domestic application in mind. However we are shown that very little can/will stand in the way of the night of the Mongol army, and that traditional methods are not enough to counteract something completely unprecedented like the Mongol invasion.
The code did not exist in the 13th century. You will find no written mentions of it from anything older than year 1616.
@thebanned2807Sums it up quite accurately.
There wasn't really any one code followed by Samurais. The Bushido way has been mythologized into some amalgamation of "Honor", "Humility", etc. When the reality is Samurai followed multiple codes over multiple decades, all the way from being honorable to just being thugs. It was created even more in Modern Japan to form some form identity as the country was modernizing, loosely taking ideas and creating a better image to aspire to rather than something that was actually followed.
True samurai honor was based primarily on giving loyalty to those you serve. For instance, if we look at the Warring States (Sengoku) Period of the 14-15th century, samurai served daimyo warlords by bringing them power to their domain. An honorable samurai during this period, would slaughter countless enemies who would pose as a threat to their daimyo, instead of showing mercy to their enemies.
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen.
One of my favourite bits of the game is the storm at the end of the game stranding the Mongols on land and the reinforcements out at sea that couldn’t get to them because that actually happened. The storm itself being called Kamikaze by the Japanese and literally saving them from more massacres
Absolutely love these videos, you don’t shout and put everything in our faces, you have a really good way of narrating these videos, along with the music and editing. You literally make perfect videos which are very enjoyable to watch.
Depends on the channel. I can't stand all the PewDiePie clones and don't get me started on Morgz. But channels like VaatiVidya is also good for his in-depth calm speaking style.
Oh my god, I have been rewatching your other vids waiting for the next one. Literally, such an underrated channel, keep up the amazing work!
+100
❤
It's amazing what tech the Chinese/Mongolians were using at that age. Europe was still using sword and just learned to put some kind of protection on shoulders instead of using just chainmail. While at Asia they were shooting at each other with early gattling guns!
Doubt they were used actively in combat.
I dont like this notion. Its imensly common and somewhat a part of orientalism. The idea that Europe was technologicly backwards in the high middel ages. I reality by 1270s European metelurgy was starting to produce higher quility steel and more complex pices of armor crafts then most other places in the world. This is less to do due to simple technolgical matters however and has alot more to do with the warrior culture of most of europe focusing on the knigth and his armaments. By this time as well conflict between europeans and the mongolians had been going on for 30 years. At this time gunpowder weapons where started being used in europe. Already by the 1300s we know that cannons where being used in europe as well as early hand canons as well as rockets which where the prefeard gunpowder weapon of the chinese and koreans (who invented gunpowder) in turn then adopted by the mongolians following thire sucseful conquest of china and subjegation of korea.
Btw one of the main resons chainmail was used for so long was its imense strength it was the prefeard armor of the romans simply cause it was much more effective then most other pices of armor. It coverd the body and protected it leaving no holes around the armpits groin or neck (provided that a chainmail neckgaurd was worn).
This is just… wrong. The Roman’s had plate armor, and Europe never lost that technology. Did the price of it go up after the fall of the Roman Empire? Yes. Did it go away? Not in the slightest.
@@nathanbunney3604 Roman’s used mail armor Also
Lmao another weeb who thinks Europeans were some backwards morons. No they were not.
I believe that the sequal will continue onto Iki and Finally mainland japan with Jin finishing off the mongols.
I think it’s more likely that the sequel will be set in 1281, during the second invasion of Tsushima.
@@RealPixels Yeah. The expansion covered Iki.
My idea of ghost of tushima is Genghis Khan and kublai coming to tushima to invade, they kinda are characters in the game, khouton says in the beginning he's grandson of Genghis and cousin of kublai, and I guess after Genghis and kublai heard that khouton is dead, they both come to finish what they started.
@@MuteSurvivor Genghis Khan died 47 years before the invasion of Tsushima started.
Mongols never conquered mainland Japan so a sequel like that would make no sense.
One thing I found out myself about the haiku inaccuracy that you pointed out, is that if you play the game with Japanese audio, the 'haiku' are in fact 'tanka' (at least that's what I heard when the poems are recited) since it seems to be arranged in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern in the Japanese audio
Which I think is a bit funny, because obviously tanka has been around in Japan for centuries by then. Makes me wonder why don't the whole haiku thing be turned into waka/tanka instead?
Haiku is just better known.
late reply, but I read an interview where the developers said they considered changing it to the tanka/waka instead, but ultimately decided on the haiku because they figured western audiences would know exactly what a haiku was without needing to be told, but the tanka/waka would have needed more of an explanation
On the japanese dub, they actually use period-correct names
Samurai > Bushi
Haiku > Waka
Katana > Tachi
Shamisen > Koto
and many many others, i think they made a deliberate decision to use the more popular names instead of the historically correct ones, which is a shame, but understandable, since i doubt the regular normie would want to play as a "Bushi" without even knowing what it means
One thing I especially love with ghost of tsushima is the soundtrack, they use a perfect mix of violins (They sound like violins to me, correct me if I'm wrong) and various Japanese and other instruments, the theme of The Ghost is especially well crafted.
Wow!! This so underappreciated. The research, the visuals, I just love it. The subtitles should not go unnoticed. The quality is topnotch. Keep going this❤️
Great video! I am playing this game right now, will probably finish it soon. It's a great game, definitely one of my favorites on PS4 with RDR2, The Witcher 3, and Horizon Zero Dawn. I think those who did not appreciate Ghost of Tsushima were expecting more action, events in the open world, etc. They did not appreciate the history and characters, as well as the music, locations, and how this is such a different, fascinating culture. I think that's what I love the most about the game, it takes me elsewhere, but it's still realistic. I love it. It's one of those rare games I don't really want to finish, I have been playing for a long time and there aren't many like that. Ghost of Tsushima is truly special.
Ghost of Tsushima = a MASTERPIECE
Ironically the most inaccurate thing about Ghost of Tsushima is the Ghost himself. All Jin Sakai does is accelerate the Khan's death by storm, which was fated to happen anyways.
The "Ghost" techniques he learns along his journey are rejected by the samurai, but learned by the Mongols. And in reality they were Mongol techniques to begin with.
It's kinda poetic in that sense. If the ghost hypothetically existed, he would have been lost to time, and we would have roughly had the same "true story" we have today. In the truest sense he would be a Ghost.
Cringe
@@Loquacious_Jacksonwe already know what you are, tyvm
Hi I love your videos and all of them are amazing. However one thing I’d like to point out regarding the samurai code. In the Ghost Of Tsushima behind the scene, a Japanese historian actually stated that after the Mongol war, some samurais started to question whether their orders should be superior than civilian and they can’t protect anyone if they blindly follow orders. This actually caused a civil war between those samurais who only believe order above all else and those who believe protecting people is what samurai stand for.
Sadly, the samurai who believe order superiority won the civil war and thus caused the distrust from the people and some riots started.
What civil war was this? Out of curiosity
do you mind tell what year of this civil war taken place ?
An excellent video as usual. The techniques behind the longbow were touched on in this, but what about the katana? Were the techniques used in the game accurate to real life techniques?
That’s a great question, and one that I’m not very qualified to answer. There are some great videos on RUclips about that from the perspective of experts, specifically from channels like Gamology and BuzzFeed. I’d recommend checking them out if you’d like to know more!
Samurai were more adapt to range and horse combat, when in melee, they preferred spears and if all else failed, they would use the katana.
Another great video, thanks!
Great content like this is why I've become a patron.
I think you, and of course ultimately Sucker Punch hit the nail on the head about this game. Be as accurate as you can, while not letting it get in the way of telling a great story, and creating a great game. While also being respectful about the place and time, looking at other historically accurate Japanese things and bring them into your game. It's a great beautiful balance they did. This has been one of my favorite games of the last several years.
In the same way that the "knight in shining armour" was mythologised in Europe, I see no real issue with the Bushido legend being... a legend.
I mean, it is pretty explicit in Ghost of Tsushima that the events are supposed to be a mythologised retelling.
Great job on the video. Would have been interesting to also have a comment or side note about the parallels of Shinobi Battle tactics during this era given that they are part and parcel of the players methodology in liberating the island.
@2:40 "Where they were pushed out by a large storm".
Interestingly, that large storms were typhoons that became called the "Kamikaze", or the "god/divine winds". And that's where the word came from originally, before its usage in World War II.
Loved this game, everything AC valhalla wasn't, it's journey into Ninja territory was a bit on the nose and cheesy. I see this as more of an homage to samurai movies from the 60s and 70s as well as the fabulous Lone wolf and cub comic series than a historical piece.
Damn, what a good video. Especially the production side. Actually got chills when the credits rolled.
Very impressive, please keep these coming!!!!!
To me accurate representation is nice but true love and respect for the culture is the most noticeable
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen.
I watched another video that talked the historic events pertaining this. Evidently, the Khan had sent two envoys to try and talk to then imperial lords of Japan only to be turned away. The Mongolians captured two unassuming fisher men, were treated in the hospitality customs of the court of the Khanate, and sent back to Japan that they’d share their accounts. Even the Japanese fishermen were spurned away.
Japan wanted nothing to do with Mongolia or the Khanate and their silent protest is what prompted the Khanate to act against them. The fights were, needless to say, very brutal particularly the tactics that the Mongolian armies employed.
What is also interesting is the Khanate did not send just Mongolians but a combination of Koreans, Chinese, and other captured people to fight against the Japanese.
Yes, in fact, there were very few mongol footsoldiers. The majority of actual mongols were officers and generals
the swords in the games are worn incorrectly. During the Kamakura period, the swords were worn with the blade side down, not up as in the game. Blade side up is not worn until several hundred years later, especially during the Edo period.
Why was it like that by the way, do u know?
The swords in the game are worn correctly. The problem is that they are wrong types of swords which did not even exist yet.
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen, people are so ignorant.
God I love this game. Totally an Assassins Creed killer.
Thank you for all of your work on this video!
Amazing video essay!! Love the content, and as a fan of the games I could agree on that last part
Beautifully made video 👍🏻I enjoyed this one very much
I wish I had a PS5, the game is just so great looking
one can only hope sony will port it to pc in a couple years
I actually won a ps5 from the Mountain Dew sweepstakes. This game looks orgasmic on the ps5
Looks great on ps4pro as well, smoother on ps5 though
@@UnimportantAcc Or play it on the much better PS4 where it belongs. Fuck PC Gaming.
You can play the game on PS4…
I like your videos and hope the channel keeps growing :D
Its my favorite Single player story based game I have every played because of the the love and attention they put into the environment and combat as well as story and it really help that I love historical accuracy
amazing video
ghost of tsushima is a game i was very excited for & pre ordered as soon as it opened on amazon i ended up switching my pre order to psn for the avatar but yeah & man it's such a good game definitely one of the best games that released since 2019 & if anyone happened to not played it yet go play it it's so so good i have not met anyone tell me that they did not enjoy it
Thanks for the spoler alert... i'll be back 🤖
Best content on you tube. Wish u had more videos.
Man I love this channel so much, I get to learn stuff and hear about some of my favourite games this channel deserves to blow the f up!!!
Thanks for this great video!The more I see of this game, the more I'm wanting to get it. Liked and subscribed!
Update October 20th, 2024: Sucker Punch is definitely saw Assassin's Creed: Shadows and went “Aight, hold my sake and my katana” before developing Ghost of Yōtei that will released on 2025
About to start my first play through of this game on the ps5 version time to see what’s up
How Historically Accurate is Vice City? You gotta do that next
I love this, this scratches the itch of the gripes i have with Ghost of Tsushima and their obsessive western view of samurai honor that Inazo peddled. I love the game to death but this honor bullshit really ticks me off sometimes.
I don't think it's that hard to believe there were some people in feudal Japan that believed in honor in this way, just as it's not hard to beleive there are people who disregarded such notions.
The real issue is simply if such values/morals were conceptualized as bushido in the way Inazo described (which is more than likely not the case).
The game was never meant to be extremely historically accurate but people don’t do their research, just look up what the directors said about the game and their inspirations, it was more so focused on capturing the style of the Kurosawa films and it is a historical fiction it takes a real time and setting to tell its own story that didn’t happen, people are so ignorant. This dumbass ticks me off.
Not only the attention to historic and cultural detail, and then also the art (artistic landscapes) but I really appreciate the effort to polish this game to a much higher standard than most dross AAA titles who rely upon patches. A lot of thinking went into making this game and going beyond the 80/20 was worthwhile. It’s rare I play anything twice.
This makes me love the game even more. It is definitely one of the best open world games out right now.
Great video!
how does everybody know im replaying GoT
Been playing this game for the past few weeks and been loving it. Seeing this video made me appreciate the game even more!
I just picked this up last week for PC. During my first break from the game I went to google earth to find Tsushima Island. It was right where I expected it to be - the closest island to the mainland. Now every time I see a map of the area, my eye is drawn to that point.
Even tho i cant play the game cause i got an xbox i still gotta watch it for your watchtime
He should have mentioned that the storms which destroyed the Mongol fleet are where the term Kamikaze (godly wind) comes from.
Have put over 100 Hours in GoT recently and it still stuns me how beautiful this game is.
4:33 actually that is a "hwacha", it was a rocket propelled weapon developed during the late 16th century.
Which is IRONIC to use in this game, since this was created by the Koreans in response to the Japanese invasions of Korea.
Man I’m so dedicated to this game since I bought it on PS5. The music, the story, the stealth, the action, the views, the way the characters speak, the history behind it…this game is a 11/10 it personally breaks the scale for me. Thank you for explaining what I had been wondering for some time after I beat the game and now I’m on my second playthrough on Game+. Just a wonderfully executed game.
How don't you have more subs? def deserve them
The Hwacha was not available until the early 15th century, and was mostly used by Koreans during the Imjin War against the Japanese invasion.
Part of what made the game special for me was the fact of the split of opinion for the Samurai Code.
It worked Domestically and in some cases during Wartime.
But Armies evolve and it was apparent when fighting the mongols that things needed to be changed, or else there wouldn't be any hope for survival.
It's what creates the rivalry between Shimura and Sakai, despite their love for one another Sakai knew that they to needed to evolve to counter the Mongols.
Sakai ended up kind of like Batman in a way, He's whatever Japan needs him to be not necessarily what they want him to be.
Wish games like this stilled exist. Work of Art.
GREAT video bro!! Love it!! 👍
The most accurate historical moments in ghost of tsushima is how I die the first few minutes into the game.
Just finished the main game and got the Platinum. Now on to the expansion.
This game has a very underrated soundtrack 😮💨
The lack of "flexibility" and "adaptability" is a large part of why the samurai fell.
I love these type of videos ❤❤
Actually it doesn’t matter weather it’s historically correct or not. Nobody should care about it since this game, Ghost of Tsushima is still the best game about Samurais🇯🇵⛩️🌅❤️ it was created beautifully, with passion and hard work. Developers did it great👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
The music of ghost of tsushima will always make me sad cause of how impactful it is and sad the ending is of game.
the tachi is a type of katana the katana we know is called a uchikatana
If they’re gonna make a sequel to this game, they should just use the 2nd invasion but make it to where Jin has left the island and went to stay at Iki. But since Jin is gone and Lord Shimura is dead, (if that’s the canon ending), Tsushima falls quickly. Jin hears about this and goes back to Tsushima and attempts to take back the island with his allies from Iki and new island he finds during his Journey to take back Tsushima. Now I know this just sounds like the first game all over again, but at the end of the game the samurai never took back Tsushima. Considering the mongols were still everywhere and still trying to take it over. But idk just what I think.
The DLC covers Iki and according to the devs, the canon ending is that Jin spares Lord Shimura
@@gunnerjr3396 cool, good to know. Thanks.
Hey thanks for ruining the ending
@@samrowe2889 games been out for 4 years. This video also goes into spoilers. Maybe don’t read comments if you’re not trying to get spoiled?
@@pcbphantom4336 I'm just now collecting the last piece of the Khan's armor don't want things to end don't want the credits
I actually would have like if the called the swords Tachi and not Katana. Would've given the people something to look up and learn.
The way I see it, this game is much more a game about myth than about history, and this helps me enjoy it despite the minor inaccuracies and anachronisms. I think of it as someone telling a legend, highly exaggerating certain elements and putting fantastic things in there too, like the guiding wind, birds and foxes, as well as including elements in the story that didn't necessarily exist in the real version of the events, but that existed in the time where the story was being told, and these changes started to stack overtime, creating the web of cultural aspects that are taken from different cultures and time periods and mixed together.
The banners are the wrong type. I thought you were going to touch on this since you even showed pictures of the different types of banners from the different eras. The old one hangs from the top, and the newer one is attached to a frame (side and top).
how this game is not compared to red dead i will never know
And then there is AC Shadows
yea we don't talk about that bro
💀
imagine getting mad at a game that hasnt been out yet
The gameplay was revealed and boy it was garbage@@Guanyan-kt2kk
Yaah it's dookie water
I love Ghost of Tsushima, it's a one of the best games of the last 25 years imo. Sucker Punch nailed it especially the NG+, it was on parr with Witcher 3 imo.
I loved it so much I spent 60 Hours running around killing the ever spawning Mongols and collecting everything I could before I even did first mission lol. If my math was right my first play through was around 320 hours but I can't say exactly bc for some reason the game stopped keeping track of my play time after the time hit 249 hours
Great game I just got the platinum now onto the DLC
I wish more game devs can make more games connected to world history like this. Truly epic
Ubisoft used to do this with ac, but then they started fantasizing it and it just didn't work
@@WhatAMoron-007 Yep. Someone has to take over. Next gen graphics wouldve been amazing to see.
Can you make how history Accruate of Mafia game.
Another small detail. Japan had unusually large periods of its history with no "proper" monetary system, aka coin. Thats why the in game currency is "supplies" instead of the typical "gold" or "silver" coins/units.
That makes so much more sense why samurai were so absent in the game, usually found dead.
I think that Shimura is actually not a historical inaccuracy in terms of "honor." Shimura is a prideful man who won't budge from his ideals, even if it means disgracing his nephew and scorning him. Hell, Shimura was more than happy to throw bodies at his own castle only to take the glory for all of Jin's work.
Shimura isn't some bushido-loving noble warrior. He's an old dog who loves glory hunting and shattered as soon as an enemy who didn't care about his "code of honor" fought him.
It's even noted in the game that Kazumasa Sakai, Jin's father, would regularly be at odds with Shimura because Kazumasa knew what had to be done to win battles (against the Yarikawa rebels), but Shimura was too idealistic to yield.
Top five favorites for me, currently replaying
I'm still wondering about the story of the Egyptian artifact carried by the mongols ended up in Tsushima and how accurate this is 😂
Just completed my second playthrough with the directors cut. One of the most beautiful games ive ever played.❤
Underrated
I just finished the game on PS5, great game. Some of the side missions were a little repetitive, but over all this game is a 8.5-9 outta 10. Can’t wait for part 2
While the bushido was not a thing at this period, the Japanese did uphold some standards in their way of fighting that put them at a disadvantage against the Mongols. Here's an account of the battle of Hakata bay:
"According to our manner of fighting, we must first call out by name someone from the enemy ranks, and then attack in single combat. But they (the Mongols) took no notice at all of such conventions; they rushed forward all together in a mass, grappling with any individuals they could catch and killing them."
this game is easily in my top 5 of all time games
im upset that i didn't finish this game
I’m playing the game RIGHT NOW!
I love this guy
No way, you deserve so many more subscribers
Amazing video thank you.
Talking about honor I can't stop laughing comparing two games (Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro). In the first one you can see that using some kind of unfair methods are almost taboo. And then there is final boss in Sekiro Isshin the Sword saint who bring a freaking glock-17 to a sword fight when he starts losing))) And every time you die to Isshin you hear "Hesitation is defeat", so I am convinced that Isshin and Jin are the same characters) You can't hesitate defending your land so let's poison everyone!
Sekiro is such an amazing game honestly. The combat is unmatched by GOT or Any modern sword fighting game
Dude you are so fuckin good! Keep it up you're on ur way
nice video, expected it to be longer on the real tale
the game look so good @ 60fps. GREATVIDEO!
I love love love this game I find myself immersed in it and playing for hours. I can’t wait for the sequel
This is the first game I have done complete 100% playthrough beyond main story. It is simply a marvel in art direction.