‘Ghost of Tsushima’ Gameplay: How One Feature Makes It Even More Authentic

Rejoice, my fellow weebs. Sucker Punch confirmed that its badass samurai game Ghost of Tsushima will have a Japanese voice option.

Historical authenticity has always been a big part of Ghost of Tsushima’s appeal. Sucker Punch described the game as a “time machine” to Eurogamer, emphasizing the lengths it took to faithfully capture Kamakura era Japan in vivid and accurate detail. The studio even sent an audio scout to Japan and captured local ambient noise such as birdsongs. To that end, a Japanese audio track simply makes sense, especially since the Mongolian invaders in the game also speak in their own native language.

While most fans welcomed this news with enthusiasm, not everyone agrees. In fact, some said that playing the game in Japanese would actually break their immersion because they’d be struggling to read through subtitles instead of sitting back and enjoying the game.

This is a puzzling notion to the vast majority of humanity who have grown up with subtitled films and video games their whole lives because English is not their native language. Not even English speakers are necessarily exempt from this, and anyone who enjoys subbed anime or foreign movies can tell you that subtitles aren’t a big deal.

I can see how it would be a turn-off if you’re not used to reading subtitles, but it’s still a silly thing to be mad about since it’s completely optional. No one is forcing you to play in Japanese.

Maybe instead, people should be wondering why Sony hired a white guy dressed as a Japanese peasant to promote the game.