'Ghost Of Tsushima' Has The Wrong Hero, And Boring Jin Knows It

Ladbible: "I will not remember Jin Sakai for a particularly long time. Ghost Of Tsushima is an open-world game that does what open-world games do, and Jin Sakai is a video game protagonist who does what video game protagonists do. He kills people, he helps people, he spends an extortionate amount of time chasing foxes, bathing and gathering wood - all despite the obvious urgency of his quest. It's difficult to identify any of Jin's strengths as a protagonist, but I think I've found his best one: he's boring."

[Jin_Sakai]

I wouldn’t describe myself as boring. A Samurai can do many things and still finish his quest.

[ChrisW]

Some people feel that doing the same thing over and over and then meditating for long periods of time about what they have done is boring. Sigh... But this is the world we live in today.

[shallowpoint]

Must have played different games...

[Rimeskeem]

Probably why the average person looks at social media a dozen times a day. People need to do everything so fast they forget to look at life.

[sampsonon]

But that's why the beauty, combat, and story are so important. Just ask 343 :)

[ChrisW]

Wow! All of the down votes are people that are super daft!

I'm alluding to the life and practice of a samurai. A real, actual samurai. A person who is 101% into the art of Bushido. And F' no! I do not need to put up a sarc/ or any other thing. Whatever. I wear the 30+ down votes as a badge of honor... Mostly because ya'll f'n dumb as shit!

[ChrisW]

@Johntruthful,

I have always been snarky towards pansy-assed Sony Sheep. It's just my reputation with them... Hence the majority of down votes. However, it's not that they actually make up the majority around here. It's that small few have multiple logins or (lame Reddit communities) so they can spam dislikes and whatnot. Which I find super funny because these sheep claim they have "good 1st party AAA games" to play, but spend a majority of their time trolling these forums. Pretty lame if you ask me.

Oh, and of course... other consoles have their trolls. But here at N4G, the Sony Sheep reign!

[Sonic-and-Crash]

While the game is very good from every aspect and the more you play it the more you like it... i would admit that the protagonist was a bit bland ...i would like he had better appearance (some japanese model for example) and a bit more tough or thug character (samurais were know for their brutality and head collecting)....though this is the only minus in unanimously beautifull game

[starchild]

No way that Jin Sakai is boring. At least not for me. I really love his character.

[Bathyj]

Same. I mean they could have went for the over-the-top flamboyant outlandish anime style character but they went for someone stoic humble and subdued more in line with samurai. I think they made the right choice and I actually really resonate with Jin because he's not this ridiculous over-the-top caricature.

[Jin_Sakai]

“No way that Jin Sakai is boring. At least not for me. I really love his character.“

Appreciate the compliment! It’s not easy being a samurai.

[InMyOpinion]

The way he changes with his actions, and needing to put his samurai honor aside for the greater good (or bad?), is some of the more intriguing character development I've enjoyed this generation.

Also, he's a feudal samurai warrior and is supposed to act like one. It's not Dude, where's my sword...

[TheKingKratos]

BOI !!!

[lazyboyblue]

You're not boring Jin. The article was probably written by jealous xbot's. Don't listen to them!

[PaleMoonDeath]

Ladbible, skip.

[RpgSama]

QUICK!!!! The Xbox Event was shit, let's talk bad about Sony!!!!

[solideagle]

I know what was boring in past few days. A certain showcase by a certain company :D

[bacrec1]

Play with subtitles/JPN voice acting on. That will change your perspective.

[King_Noctis]

Is it that much better? I gotta try it out.

[King_Noctis]

“ Obviously you gotta pick up the game first Noctis.”

Yes, contrary to what you believe, I do own a PS4 and I do have the game. I would bother to comment on something that I don’t own or have no intention to own.

[CWheatley]

Yes. I switched over to JP subs about 30 min in and it made a big difference.

I'm usually a sucker for English dubs (loving Judgment so far) but it just didn't feel right in Ghost. I feel all of the characters shine a bit more and leave a bigger impression with the JP subs. More authentic, I suppose

[mkis007]

My gut tells me sony has plans for these last few years' games on ps5, so I am going to save my second play-through for ps5 and turn on hard mode and Japanese audio.

[VariantAEC]

I'm playing in hard already but I'll play with Japanese audio and text (hopefully without subs and if I have to switch to Japanese language in PS4 system settings to do so then so be it) in my second playthrough.

[DigitalDaniel]

Unfortunately that doesn't help.
I (sadly) agree with Ladbible here. Jin is flat and boring. No I didn't expect an over-the-top Rockstar type of character, but I'd expect at least SOME personality. The game is good in terms of gameplay. But the story and characters are mostly extremely forgettable. One of the reasons why this game is more of a 7.5 to 8 game instead of a 9.5 to 10 game.

[-Foxtrot]

Jin isn't that boring. I've played plenty of games with boring main characters but Jin was not one of them.

The conflict he faces in this game and how it ties into the overall story is fantastic

If he lives by his code, the ways he's been taught and faces every enemy head on while sticking to the teachings he's lived his whole life by, it would get him killed eventually. There's too many enemies for one person to face alone and prisoners captured would get slaughtered if he just appeared at the gates raising the alarms. All this for what? To keep his honour?

However becoming the Ghost helps him fend off the invasion, save countless life's and allows him to fight another day so he can continue helping people, but in the end it's broken his code, dishonoured him and went against everything his Uncle taught him.

[zumlauf14]

can we please stop pretending like ghost has some great story and a cast of blockbuster characters. It just doesn't. Praise what ever else you want to but it's a fairly forgettable experience on that front. FORBES named this game their "GAME OF THE GENERATION". And, within that same article they openly admitted the game had an(and i quote) "uninteresting story" and that jin overall was pretty generic. I don't love this gamr which is why i'm having a hard time finishing it, but i'm 3/4 of the way through and jin is just as borring as he ever was. But, that goes for all the other characters. Especially the cliche/non-intimidating mongol antagonist who's name i can't remember because he's so forgettable.

[franwex]

Ok

[mkis007]

It does to me, but I love this genre.

[DrDeath]

Khan is so hard to remember...

[Seraphim]

the story was interesting. let's not forget interesting, like many other things, is subjective. was it pretty typical? yeah. was it great? absolutely not. but it was a good, albeit short, story and introduction into the world. I'm assuming they do a sequel. For which I hope they hire a writer to come up with a more robust story experience. Sucker Punch have never been one to develop strong story driven narratives. Sly Cooper & Infamous were both great series and games but storytelling just isn't their forte.

To call it game of the gen is to quickly toss aside the great games we've had and live in the moment. But isn't that what continuously happens. How quick we are to forget great games when a shiny new toy comes along. Ghost is a dam fine game and perhaps one of the games of the generation but it's easily outside the top 5, maybe 10 or more in my book. While a solid-great game it just lacks some things to throw it into that echelon.

As for Jin being boring. I think Sucker Punch could have given Jin more character and life. At the same time I wouldn't say he's boring. Like Fox said. That would imply that he stuck to the code instilled upon him and never became the Ghost. And food for thought. As a Samurai in this era should be flashy like Afro Samurai. I think giving him too much character, especially in the first game, just wouldn't work. There is likely a bigger picture here.

[Magatsuhi]

Well most of the praise for the game is its gameplay and scenery. Story is important but at the end of the day it's a game first. Imagine if people gave a negative score to games like pubg or fortnite for not having a story or a crappy one.

[GoodGuy09]

He does what Id expect him to do as a samurai and what he needs to do given his circumstances. He could be more interesting but is neither a bad or great character really. He is fine imo. There are other games with much worse protags, I find Jin interesting enough to keep wanting to see his journey. I do enjoy his struggle with honor and dishonor. And I mean come on, stop thinking optional sidequests get in the way of the main objective when obviously you can just do main missions back to back right away. At least its nothing like what AC has been doing and forcing you to grind side missions.
We've been too spoiled by sony's other first party for wanting an amazing protagonist and perfect game.

[fonger08]

I think I'm like 10 hours in, done a lot of side stuff, but personally I like Jin's quiet, self contained character. I do hope his own personality comes out a little more through the story, because so far, there's no real conflict within him, no personal growth outside of trying to be a noble warrior within the guidelines of the samurai code It's the first Sony open world game I've played where the protagonist doesn't constantly talk to him/herself. Deacon's character, to me, has been the worst, very one-dimensional. Alloy was cool, Drake has his ups and downs, Kratos, without his son there to play off the new calmer demeanor, would have been weird.

[VariantAEC]

No conflict? Every time I do something new that his uncle said is wrong I get a flashback I also I'm told by his surviving family that The Ghost isn't Samurai. He is constantly saying "I'm doing what I need to to save my homeland." He is struggling with the invasion and his moral codes so obviously I can smell the fear in him when he's chastised by the inhabitants of Omi (his village) and his uncle! This guy is struggling internally and you get that when you write haiku and visit hot springs. These moments were written by the team you're just not paying attention and that's fine you don't have to to enjoy the gameplay loop but to say it doesn't exist just shows that you either don't care for the story or that you actually don't have the game.

[Masterchief_thegoat]

Jin boring lmaooooo

[TheEnigma313]

Projecting your insecurities about halo infinite?

[Masterchief_thegoat]

I’m laughing because I never found jin boring. Few games I can said main character is boring like example Ac3, Watchdog etc

[Hakuoro]

To quote The Dude "like, that's just your opinion man"

[Christopher]

***One such character is Yuna. She saves Jin right at the beginning of the game and teaches him how to be a thief, ultimately leading to him becoming the Ghost. She's with Jin every step of the way, and the story feels like it belongs to her as much as it does to him. While she doesn't have any real stake in the Khan's invasion and wants to escape to the mainland, the majority of the game is driven by her. ***

What?!?!

You have fewer missions with her than other side characters. You don't use her again until the end of Act I and after that is when she has a handful of other missions. All the while you get other missions, such as the Warrior Monk, that also have more parts to them.

Perhaps the author liked Yuna a lot or saw from her perspective more of what is "right" with the story. But in no way is she with Jin at every step of the way nor does it ever feel like the story revolves around her as much as Jin.

She's nowhere when Jin hunts the murderous student across 9 stories. Nowhere when Jin hunts the people who killed the Adachi family (9 stories). Nowhere when Jin helps the Warrior Monk (9 stories). Nowhere as Jin frees every outpost, farm, and more.Nowhere when Jin deals with Yuriko's tales.

And, even with these other individuals having more of a presence in the storyline, none of them are "beside" Jin on this journey. They represent different personalities and ideals at that time. They represent anger, revenge, honor, persistence, and more. They add to the story of how Jin sees things in comparison to them, and how he can still help people even though he finds faults in them that he never knew to be there or grows in his understanding of what it means to live their life their way.

She in no way has the drive to do the things that Jin does but sits behind him as Jin helps her to achieve her goals. She wants something and has to get it through Jin and has no other choice. None. Jin helps her out of respect and honor, but Jin drives what happens as a character who helps those around him to achieve his goals of what he thinks is right.

So, 100% no on that.

[VariantAEC]

Yuriko tales were really short (or am I thinking of someone else, Japanese names aren't familiar to me I'm having a hard time remembering Jin's father's name and I just played through those missions, in Act II currently, can't play right now).
If she is who I'm thinking I expected that ending, but my goodness I actually cried! Great character development too. We don't know much about Jin's past until we visit his village and they cover a lot in a very short amount of time.

[Christopher]

Yuriko's tales are short in number but long as you learn a ton from his backstory. Again, parts of the story in which Yuna, the author's opinion of the "main character" that isn't Jin, was never present or involved in any way and had nothing to do with defining how Jin is the way he is let alone his past with his mother/caretaker.

[Lore]

At least they didn’t go with the protagonist from that leaked cancelled Sucker Punch game last week. Yikes

[DrDeath]

It looked pretty good actually

[WillyC009]

Let me guess, they think Yuna was a better ‘protagonist’? I am enjoying my time with Jin. I like is quiet, more reserved personality. Not every character needs to be loud, obnoxious or ‘witty’ just for the sake of it. For the story being told, he fits it very well

[Bathyj]

It's a strange comparison but I keep thinking of Tom Hardy in mad Max road Fury where Max isn't really the main character in the movie he's more like a facilitator for the other characters around him to shine. Character wise he's actually pretty quiet and muted and gives room for a lot of the other characters to breathe.

I could be wrong of course it's just what I keep thinking of.

[FlavorLav01]

He’s a vengeful samurai during the Mongolian invasion, not Jacky Chan from drunken master. Lol. What gives? I never expected Jin to be “laughing it up” or be super bright and cheery at any point, THAT would have been more out of character given the context of the game IMO

[ApocalypseShadow]

It would be a waste of time and internet bandwidth to worry about countering these nonsense articles as well as that other trash articles with low review with 5/10. Or the articles that had no problem with open world games but now have a problem with open world when it comes to Sony's first party games. It's not going to work.

We all know what's going on and why this nonsense comes up during a Sony AAA release. Jin is fine for a character and the game and gameplay is awesome. Don't give crap like this any heat.

[Silly gameAr]

"Don't give crap like this any heat."

That's the smart thing to do.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Whatever some of these people can think of to try to pull Sony's outstanding first party releases down. They can't pick on the graphics, the controls, the gameplay, the length, etc. So, they pull nonsense out of a hat and call them opinions that are worthless to read. And nope. Didn't read the article. They don't deserve the click and the poster doesn't deserve the comments heating this nonsense up.

[Elda]

Jin was a badass & he was ok in my book. GoT rocks!

[Bathyj]

By the time I got all my moves and stances including ghost stance I felt so powerful.. you could jump down in a group of 9 guys stealth kill 3 kill 3 more with that dashing special move and then kill the last three with ghost stance before they could all blink. Fricken awesome.

[VariantAEC]

I'm just not fast enough to do all that.
Have all the moves DoW, Sakai Armor, the assassination streak Ghost skill maxed out last night.

[fitofficial]

This writer has the wrong profession.

[talocaca]

He is a Samurai 🙄 sorry if he ain't sassy enough for you.

[LucidIllusion]

Jin might not be the typical protagonist you encounter in entertainment. His “ boringness”, to me, shows he's an incredibly matured man that actually took the time to learn from his rash behavior of his past. Taking the wisdom of the elders and embracing different perspectives of all people. He's suffered through wars and constant death. The man is torn inside, but he keeps his emotions in check for him to remain strong enough to protect the weak. He's honorable and became a beacon of hope for life on a war-torn island. He may not be too exciting compared to others, nonetheless, he's a pretty solid lead.

[ironmonkey]

Love the game and it shows in sales everyone agrees to so happy to add this to the best ps library collection. Thank you sucker punch

[ANIALATOR136]

Ew it's Lad Bible. Pass

[BlaqMagiq1]

He wa never boring for me. Dumb article.

[DVAcme]

What? Did this guy play past the first five minutes? Yuna is just one character with a quest line in the game. Yes, she was essential to the plot in that she was instrumental in Jin becoming the Ghost, but she is nowhere near a main character. She has as much spotlight as Jin's other allies like Lady Masaki and Sensei Ishikawa, and she's only reallybprominent in the first map. By the second map, she's entirely secondary.

[Darkborn]

He's a stoic samurai. They weren't known to be like Thor in the avengers movies cracking jokes all day. They were soft spoken and very serious.

[Darkborn]

I'll even respond to my own comment. It just baffles me. This has bene going on for years.

The fans : we want an authentic assassins creed game in Japan.

Sony : develops the most beautiful authentic samurai game ever made with an authentic hero and story pretty akin to assassins creed but with much more engaging gameplay and combat.

The fans : this game is boring.

What do you really want? I guess to just complain about everything.

[VariantAEC]

The fans aren't saying it's boring it is the media is doing that.

[WelkinCole]

Totally agree. He should be roid up and say fuckyeah everytime he kills.Should have pet name sammy that will die which will make him go on a killing spree. He should have been able to sleep with as many women as posible. Would have make him a more interesting character. Oh forgot. Jin should also be non binary and raised by a gay samurai.

[DafunkyRebel]

Play it in Japanese dub you goof. The English dub version is dry and emotionless. The voice actor for Jin in JP is the voice for Zoro and Hijikata and has a good emotional range on his delivery

[GreatSako2020]

Anyone who likes Manga/ anime/ Samurai movie will appreciate GoT.
The game is good and far from boring. I hate open world games but GoT is different. The side quests are as good as the main quests. Tel me about a game that balances main and side quest quality? Nothi g like GoT

[OB1Biker]

We know what sort of protagonist she wants. Well no, video games dont always need to take themselves so seriously. Jin is great and humility is a nice trait.