December 11th, 2020, hundreds of thousands of people have cast their votes for the Player’s Voice Award. Nominees feature two massive sequels in DOOM Eternal and The Last of Us 2, as well as a massively anticipated game of beloved superhero Spiderman, all fantastic games, however, Ghost of Tsushima wins via a 15% margin. In a landscape dominated by video game interpretations of popular movies and comics, Ghost of Tsushima stands alone as not only a fantastic original story but a game with an exceptional combat system and stunning visuals.

 The game is set in Japanese island Tsushima during a Mongol invasion and follows samurai Jin Sakai in his efforts to defend his homeland, this means you’ll see no guns or other modern weapons. Instead, the player will use traditional samurai weapons such as a katana, bow, and a tanto to defeat enemies wielding blades, shields, spears, and maces. The game perfectly captures the brutality of combat in that age, players and enemies alike can quickly be killed if hit a few times making the game quite challenging and providing a sense of realism due to the cost of mistakes the player can make.

 Much like the combat, developers deeply researched the environment of Tsushima island, making two trips to make an authentic recreation of the land and it paid off. Traversing through the island you’ll see various environments each displaying immense beauty whether it’s Japanese villages, burning settlements conquered by Mongols, or natural scenery. Stunning lighting and meticulous attention to detail take Ghost of Tsushima’s graphics to a cinematic level throughout the whole game. Simply traveling around the map is made all the better when you’re going through luscious, flowing, grass fields or riding under cherry blossom trees beaming with life.

 Beauty is not only on the surface of this game, as great as the game is mechanically the story is what pushes the game to the next level. In Jin’s quest to thwart the Mongol invasion, he seeks the help of others who are facing their own issues with themes of betrayal, revenge, searching for purpose, and redemption. Jin develops as a character right before our eyes going from a stoic warrior who continues to push forward vigorously no matter what to save his people and pride, to battling with personal demons that hinder what actions he takes. The despair and countless deaths suffered by the people of Tsushima push Jin to take extreme measures, fighting in ways that go against his morals and the strict samurai code that was engraved into his mind. Jin must choose between honor or underhanded tactics, tradition or salvation, death for his countrymen, or the death of his honor. 

For these reasons, Ghost of Tsushima stands alone as not only a fantastic story in a landscape dominated by sequels and video game interpretations of comics and movies, but as a game with an exceptional combat system, and stunning visuals.