Thinking about the end of Ghost of Tsushima again....

If anyone ever asks for an example of how to end a game

I know what to point them at

After the bugfuck insanity of the final battle with Khotun Khan

“Wait you’re not quite done yet”

"You have no honor."
"And you are a slave to it."

“First, will you mercifully kill your uncle or cruelly leave him alive?”

Jacob geller said this about dead space 2 but that it's a game that is both subtly and not so subtly telling you what you are going to have to do and you never quite believe it until it is right in front of you

the constant flashbacks to training in that same circle as the leaves fall around you

and where does the FINAL fight take place? where else could it? who else could it be?

Mass Effect: "We're going to end our series with the BIGGEST CHOICE OF ALL. It'll blow players away"

GoT: "Hold my beer."

ghost of tsushima is a fucking wonderful game about both paying homage to the samurai tropes everyone loves (especially kurosawa films because, obviously)

and also never letting you really forget that the samurai are allowed their notion of 'honor' because they are an arrogant Ruling Class

traditions are very important to the people they empower

its funny, the place where the final duel is, when I first came across it in game, I was like "there's going to be a boss fight here", and then got to Kotun Khan and was like "huh, I guess I was wrong", but I was correct

my only tiniest quibble is at the very end when he stays in that little house because "the mongols are totally gone yet", I had made a point of 100%ing all the enemy locations before moving on the ending of the game, and it would've been nice if there was an alternate ending that acknowledged that

I mean... they did try another invasion later so there's that I guess