Ghost of Tsushima has been a source of controversy even before its release. While there has been a storm of discussion surrounding Sucker Punch Productions, the history of the samurai code, and what the game’s story implies about the modern-day Japanese political scene – there is no denying the Ghost of Tsushima’s visual appeal.
Some fans have taken to social media to document some of the amount of detail that has gone into the game, including Redditor u/spoonman25, who posted a video of Jin strolling through a field of grass. This would not be particularly noteworthy, were it not for the fact that spoonman25 noticed Jin reaching out to feel the grass as he walked.
The video demonstrates Jin moving between two fields of grass and temporarily passing through an open road. While walking, he holds his hand out to the side and lets it brush against the grass. When Jin steps out of the field of grass, he brings his arm back in and clenches his fist, proving beyond a doubt that the aforementioned animation will only trigger in tall grass.
This small detail serves to emphasize Jin’s affinity with nature, but also demonstrates Ghost of Tsushima’s tenuous relationship with the concept of bushido. Sucker Punch Productions has described Ghost of Tsushima as an homage to Akira Kurosawa’s films, but as Polygon journalist Kazuma Hashimoto noted, the Western-based studio has instead packaged and sold an understanding of samurai that is insidiously weaponized by center and alt-right Japanese politicians today.
Hashimoto’s article goes into depth about the history of Kurosawa films, their reception by overseas audiences, and how they have been mythologized to serve the current Japanese administration’s political agenda. With that in mind, this little detail gains a new meaning.
While Jin expressing an appreciation for nature and reaching out to touch the grass as he passes is an incredibly cool detail to add to the game, it’s hard to separate this fictionalized portrayal of samurai from what’s happening in reality.
Source: Reddit, Polygon
