Ghost of Tsushima weaves a tale of honor, family, and war set in feudal Japan during the invasion by the Mongol Empire. Adventuring through the picturesque landscape of the island of Tsushima, you fight to liberate your homeland from the Mongol invaders as the last remaining samurai. Pushed to your limits, you will see how far you need to bend the samurai code in order to save your people.
Hatozaki Whiskey is a wonderfully light and easy to drink whiskey that is rich with sweet and fruity flavors that compliment the beauty of the landscapes seen throughout Tsushima and leaves a refreshing and satisfying finish.
Nose:
Game: Ghost of Tsushima is a gorgeous game set on an island teeming with life that begs exploration of all the sweeping vistas of mountains, fields, forests, waterfalls, and beaches. Every screenshot looks like a beautiful painting. Zooming in, the character design is great and the cutscenes look like they could have been taken from a movie, with emotional performances by very talented voice actors. Not only is Jin Sakai a wonderfully deep protagonist who is brought to life by these performances, but the villain, Khotun Khan is one of the most memorable villains in gaming, giving a calculated perspective to the brutality of the Mongols.
Scotch: The sharpness up front from this scotch brings to mind the razor sharp edge of your katana as you wield it against the Mongol forces. Then, you pick up bright hints of sweetness with honey notes that bring to mind the sweeping fields and bright colors of Tsushima.
Palate:
Game: Ghost of Tsushima puts you in the middle of a detailed open world that allows you to approach missions from a multitude of directions. You are mainly infiltrating various encampments and villages that have been taken over by the Mongols. Using excellent stealth and combat mechanics that truly make you feel like a samurai, you are tasked with clearing out each of these fortified locations. You gain options to use increasingly brutal tactics in order to strike fear into the hearts of the Mongols and even make some flee from the battle altogether. On top of the excellent action, there is quite a bit to explore and collect in this vast open world and it is genuinely enjoyable to do so without the collectibles feeling like a grind as they often can in open world games.
Scotch: The honey sweetness comes in strong for this scotch, along with some fruit flavors, leaving a mild hint of smoke at the end. As with the nose, the palate is very bright and again reminiscent of the environment of the island you are exploring in the game.
Finish:
Game: Honor and sacrifice are the samurai way. But what if that is not enough? A rigid code can be rendered useless when your army has been decimated and your homeland completely taken over. How far can you stretch that code before you have to eventually break it in order to free your lands and your people from oppression and slavery? Ghost of Tsushima combines fantastic open world gameplay with a beautiful and engrossing story that often left me awestruck. Absolutely recommend this game to anyone and everyone!
Scotch: Very clean finish that has a refreshing feeling because of the fruit and honey notes in it. The hint of smokiness that lingers reminds you of the sacrifices made along the way in order to bring peace back to Tsushima by the edge of your katana. While Japanese whiskey is a slight departure from the usual scotches I’ve been reviewing (though Japanese whiskey was started using very similar methods that distillers learned by traveling to Scotland), it is a great change of pace and felt essential for experiencing such a fantastic Japanese tale. Kanpai!
Story Mode Scotch 