In the wake of Sony’s latest and last offering on the Playstation 4 console, the thing that happened was unprecedented.  On the heels of the release of the much anticipated survival adventure game The Last of Us 2, Sony released “The Ghost of Tsushima.”  Between what occurred with The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima is one story worth noting and it has everything to do with the woke social justice warrior clownfest that we continue to see day in and day out.

Comparing Stories

From here on out, there are spoiler warnings so proceed with caution if you have not played the game.  The thing that upset fans the most about “The Last of Us 2” was the blatant disregard and treatment for beloved characters from the first game.  What was once a survival game became a revenge story that didn’t give the players the pay off.  Between the killing off of a beloved main protagonist to being forced to play the antagonist of the game creating a disjointed experience that confused and angered fans, this became one of those games where word of mouth killed it.  The story went nowhere and ultimately people who played the game who were former fans of the first one expressed their frustration.  Leave it to the woke jokes like the director Neil Druckman to pull a Rian Johnson and call the fans “toxic” and “misogynistic,” especially when a pre-release press conference about the game had him assure fans that the characters will be respected.  That didn’t happen.

On the other hand, “Ghost of Tsushima” follows the tale of Jin Sakai, a Samurai who is on a quest to liberate his island home from Mongolian invaders.  A take on a historic event of the first Mongol invasion of Japan though the characters are fiction, the event is rooted in history.  

Comparing Controversies

With “The Last of Us 2” Naughty Dog, the company who developed the video game kept such a hush and a dictatorial tightness to the game that they would pull a DMCA strike on any content creators who would post content regarding the game.  Another point that needs to be made is all of the “journalism” the game had drummed up for them in order to protect the game.  Everything from Forbes to IGN to Metacritic all wrote up pieces to try and make “The Last of Us 2” game of the year and you had about every soyboy game journalist write up glowing reviews about the game and how “progressive” it is.

With “Ghost of Tsushima”, the only real controversy was from the woke crowd who pulled the whole “cultural appropriation” nonsense to drum up outrage at the game.  Plot twist, the game isn’t just succeeding, it is thriving!

Execution Samurai Style

The thing about how media consumption works now in terms of the success of an intellectual property (IP) is based entirely from word of mouth.  The reason why people went to see Disney Star Wars The Last Jedi is because people everywhere spoke out about how bad it was.  The reason why “The Last of Us 2” suffered so much is because people who played it expressed their disdain for the game.  Even the biggest YouTuber we all know, PewDiePie, reacted on his channel at the sheer disgust he had with the game and the direction it went.  

Yet on the flip side, word of mouth also dictates and communicates to others just how good an IP is.  What worked against The Last of Us 2 is actually what drove the success of The Ghost of Tsushima.  The game released on July 17th and in the three days of its release, it has already garnered 2.4 million units sold.  Some would argue that “The Last of Us 2” was a success based on it selling 4 million units. But in terms of reception of the game, those 4 million units were garnered built upon fan momentum and sales did drop 80% by the second week. On the flipside, “Ghost of Tsushima” broke ground for an unknown IP and banked on a 2.4 million unit sold in the three days after its release. By this metric, the game has shattered records for Sony and many are claiming that this game will be game of the year.  Some are expressing that because of the devastating response that the Last of Us 2 has garnered, Ghost of Tsushima is overshadowing it to the point that people have already forgotten about the dumpster fire The Last of Us 2 is.  People are loving the story of Jin, the gameplay is noted to be great, the graphics are beautiful, and everything about the game people are saying is game of the year material.  The story and plot lines alone are worth grabbing and if the sales of this game has already achieved that amount, the notion that Sony will be releasing the Playstation 5 means that this game and the graphics this game will show on the new console will ensure the sales will skyrocket. 

Reviews are also pouring in praising this game by gamers and Twitch streamers alike and the best thing is, there is nothing woke about this game, but just a historical nod that builds characters and has players invest in the characters and drives home a story that people are enjoying thoroughly.  At 2.4 million units sold in just three days, that’s saying something, and what it’s saying is that woke games should just commit seppuku because there is just no honor in being “woke.”