With the outstanding commercial success of Ghost of Tsushima, there has clearly long been a gap in the market for spiritual samurai games based in a historical Japan. But the game’s success isn’t owed only to its theme, as Tsushima is a perfect storm that combines beautiful visuals, an elegantly designed open-world, a gripping narrative, and a ruthless combat system to boot.
Related: 10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do In Ghost of Tsushima
Completing Tsushima may leave a thirst for more slash-em-up fun, an involving story, or just a wander through an open world finding hundreds of collectibles. Here are ten games to play if you liked Ghost of Tsushima.
10 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
From the legendary creators of Bloodborne and Demon Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice could very well be the younger brother of Ghost of Tsushima. Whereas Tsushima is thought provoking, looks great, can be heart-warming, can be heart breaking, and has some great combat, Sekiro focuses on the fun hack and slash gameplay with a thinly veiled narrative. Though the difficulty level is high at first, Sekiro is buckets of fun, and it’s arguably a better splice-em-up than Tsushima.
9 Yakuza 0
Less for its gameplay and more for it’s heartwarming narratives and consequential quests, the Yakuza series is a must-play for anybody who fell in love with the story of Ghost of Tsushima. The Yakuza franchise is such a deep series that it can be almost intimidating to start, as there are spin-offs of spin-offs, but Yakuza 0 is a great starting point as it’s a remake of the original and incorporates its own lore. And considering how the Yakuza director has doffed his cap to Ghost of Tsushima for it’s gameplay, that isn’t just an idiosyncrasy.
8 Shadow Of The Colossus
Though Shadow of the Colossus has little in common with Ghost of Tsushima in terms of its gameplay, it is one of the most scenic games on current consoles and its atmosphere is immeasurable even to Tsushima. Similar to Tsushima, the player rides on horseback over panoramic and beautiful vistas and most of the game is spent admiring each blade of grass. Though Shadow of the Colossus isn’t recommended for being a hack-and-slash samurai thrill ride, there are some of the most awe-inspiring boss battles, but they are far fewer than in Tsushima and require and element of puzzle solving.
7 Batman: Arkham City
It could be argued that Ghost of Tsushima is Batman: Arkham City with a samurai skin. The two games share a dense open world full of surprises, and the combat systems are just as satisfying as one another, slashing from one enemy to the next in one sweet combo.
Related: Ghost of Tsushima: Every Collectible Ranked By How Useful It Is (& The Rewards Received)
The world of Arkham is full of puzzles and mini-games, just as there are in Tsushima, set up by the Riddler, so many side-missions that the game feels almost bottomless. The game is a completionist’s dream, as there are so many collectibles to find, and just like in Tsushima, the collectibles actually serve a purpose and is one of the reasons why Arkham City was named the best Batman game.
6 Horizon Zero Dawn
Another game with unbelievable panoramic views, Horizon Zero Dawn finds the player adventuring across the country in a post-apocalyptic environment where mankind has reverted back to tribal instincts. On top of the beautiful graphics, the battles are more focused too, and it has one of the best combat systems in an open world game. Fighting giant mechanical beasts make for a challenging next step after hacking up the seemingly entire population of Japan. The world of Horizon Zero Dawn is vast and even more ambitious than Tsushima, as you scale different terrains such as deserts, forests, and ancient ruins.
5 Red Dead Redemption 2
With every release of a new open world game, it always opens up discussions and debates on what makes the perfect sandbox experience. While Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar’s swan song for the current generation, might be an obvious choice with its exploration and horse riding, there is much more in common with Tsushima than meets the eye.
Related: 5 Ways Spider-Man Is Sony Best Exclusive Open-World Game (& 5 It’s Ghost of Tsushima)
The two games both way outperformed sales-wise on an unbelievable level, storytelling is absolutely at the epicenter, and after all, samurais and westerns in have been inspiring each other for decades.
4 Assassin’s Creed: Rogue
As the most exciting part about new Assassin’s Creed games is where in the world they are based and what year they are set, a samurai themed Assassin’s Creed based in Japan would have fans drooling. However, Ghost of Tsushima might be the closest it’ll ever come. The games share a lot of similar gameplay, such as the stealth, combat, and exploring a historical open world. Rogue might not be the most recent entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, but it’s the one most similar to Tsushima with an interesting historical theme and one of the series’ best villains.
3 Onimusha: Warlords
Onimusha: Warlords might have to be dusted off before sticking the disk in to the drive, as it dates back to 2001, but it isn’t any less relevant because of it’s age. Warlords directly influenced the production of Ghost of Tsushima according to Sucker Punch’s animations director, as both games see the player slash their way through a historical Japanese backdrop. Though the Onimusha series might veer off from the Tsushima similarities when it nose dives in to time travel, ‘Warlords’ is also worth digging up for having an engaging story.
2 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Though it’s likely that anybody who has played Ghost of Tsushima has almost definitely played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, as the series has become so successful, the two games must be spiritual siblings. Wild Hunt is packed with engrossing visuals that has been rated as one of the best of all time, a fun combat system, and adventuring across scenic and wondrous wilderness. The game features some of the best sword wielding and monster battling of the current generation.
1 Dishonored
After finishing Ghost of Tsushima and being in dire need to continue splicing up enemies in rich environments, Dishonored is the best current generation game to fill that hole. With supernatural abilities, the player is able to use almost anything found in the environment to hack away at NPC’s limbs, all the while being in a plague ridden city modeled after late 19th century London and Edinburgh. The game encourages creativity to splice up enemies and has a combo system that rivals Tsushima’s. Even though the game is short, it has massive replay value as there are so many different ways to progress through the levels.
Next: 10 Crazy Stories About Ghost of Tsushima’s Development
