Even when I choose a game, I prefer it to have some content which can teach me something valuable, therefore I like games that reflects, culture, historical events and most of all the story has valuable life lessons and quotes in it.

A friend of mine then suggested I would enjoy playing Ghost of Tsushima, and I have to admit that it is so far the best game I have played.

Personally, I loved the storyline, meditation and poems along the way and most of all the journey Jin Sakai (the character played by gamers) had to go through to mature.

The game belongs to the time where Japanese island named Tsushima and Iki were conquered by Mongols and how a warrior tries to take the island back from the invaders. I could see from a Jungian vintage point the archetypes Jin had to go through in life to mature, sometimes some journeys had to be repeated for a lesson to be learned.

Here are 3 out of many quotes that made me think deeper than what a game could offer.

• Sensei Ishikawa: “Only a child expects perfection from his elders”

Sometimes in life we question ourselves “why things don’t go the way we want it to be!?”, and for people like me who used to suffer from a belief system of being perfect (or in other words are being perfectionist) we question our parents and elders “why at times they behave against their own advice or not doing the right things!?”, sometimes we even follow our elders’ path and beliefs without questioning them because we believe too much in them.

However, in life as reflected in the game too, we learn this is not the best approach in life. Though we should learn much from our elders and respect them even more, but that doesn’t mean everything they say should be granted as just and a holy rule. To be honest I even think we should rethink about our elders’ teachings and advice with a positive critical mind. And always remember they are as human as we are and prone to mistakes as much as we are. To be wise we need to rethink about the thoughts embedded in our minds by our parents and elders. We need to rethink about many of our beliefs and how they stop us from becoming a better version of ourselves. Sometimes we need to break the rules taught by our parents and elders as the right one. We should keep an open mind along the way of life.

• Lord Shimura: “You have no honor.”

Jin Sakai: “And you are slave to it!”

One of the best moments in the ending of the game was when these two characters face each other. To save his home, Jin had to break some traditional rules and teachings as a samurai. Things that were taught as honor for a samurai way of fighting. And for his uncle as a lord and honorable samurai, this was not accepted. He (Lord Shimura) believed even if people would suffer and die (even all of them) for the cause, it is considered noble and a sacrifice. Unlike Jin who believed people’s lives could be saves against the Mongols who butchered and killed everyone along their way inhumanly.

Sometimes I think, how some of us become boxed and fixated by a tradition, a saying, or a belief. And how such behavior stops us from giving the best of ourselves to the world. How one could be stuck in a mindset given by certain person, culture or faith! Looking back, even I myself laugh at some of the beliefs I used to have and how conservative I was around them to the point that I was ready to fight for them and hurt a friend without considering his or her emotions.

Freedom comes when we abandon our slavery to a thought or belief which we know can stop us from growing and prevent us from becoming a better person for our society, family and most of all for ourselves.

• Yuriko: “the proud do not endure. The greatest of us fall in the end.”

One of the moments that player gets involved emotionally is when the main character, Jin Sakai, revisits his guardian Yuriko, who took care of him specially after passing of his mom. And a deep conversation goes between the two. Interestingly, the game slows down and invites the player to calm and be grounded.

The quote mentioned above was an encouraging message for the warrior to know even his enemy, no matter how strong would eventually fall, specially those who are too proud to endure. Yet it also has a humbling message as well. To remember not to be too proud. I remember a Persian proverb which says, “the more fruitful a tree, the more bent is its branches!” which emphasizes on modesty and becoming humble.

Overall, if you are a gamer and love open-world games with historical events and locations with the touch of cultures and tradition, like Assassin’s Creed, then I have to say this game is for you. And I believe not only the game but the entire journey and the quotes in the game can bring you the awe one need to enjoy.

Jin Sakai after his last conversation with Yuriko:

“The strength we need is all around us.

The mighty fall at last….

To be no more than dust before the wind.”