Sucker Punch’s Ghost Of Tsushima is a beautiful game. It features an expansive open world, unbelievable art, a variety of weapons, and some of the best blade-to-blade combat in all of gaming. And the game puts this combat to great use in a handful 0f epic, intricate, and totally awesome one on one duels that are both exhilarating and difficult.
So let’s take a look at the different duels in the game, and decide which ones took the most brow sweat to conquer. These duels didn’t make this list because they offer the best trophies or charms. They made the list because these are definitely the 10 hardest fights on Tsushima.
10 General Dogshin
Players face General Dogshin in a side quest in Act III, as they are hunting down pieces of Mongolian armor made for Khotun Khan himself. After clearing a base full of heavily armored enemies, dodging tons of archers, and dismantling an array fiery siege weapons, Jin is rewarded with a one on one bout with this bronze behemoth.
General Dogshin is by far the easiest fight on this list, but he is anything but a cakewalk. His health bar goes for miles, and players must remember to stay in moon stance if they want their attacks to do any damage. But, with patience, determination, and a handful of tries, they will eventually get his gauntlets. Probably.
9 Ryuzo
As Jin’s childhood best friend, the leader of the Straw Hat Ronin mercenary group, a skilled swordsman, and an eventual traitor to the Japanese Shogunate, Ryuzo is a very complicated character. He is also the foe in not one, but two exhilarating duels. After fighting alongside him for several missions, players must then face off against him in act I, then again for good measure at the end of Act II.
And while he isn’t the hardest fight on Tsushima, he is a difficult boss for players without all of the gear that comes in the late-game. He is aggressive, quick, and like everyone else on this list, his attacks do oodles of damage. And it’s extra hard killing a friend.
8 Lord Shimura
The final duel in the game and the main reason for the spoiler warning, Lord Shimura’s duel is difficult for several reasons. Firstly, his attacks do massive amounts of damage. Two strikes from him can prove deadly, and players must time their parries exactly if they want to win. But that’s not the real reason this duel is so hard.
The real reason is that he is Jin’s beloved uncle. Players have spent the entire game watching him try to save Jin from damnation and try to be the father figure everyone wishes they had. But then, in the final moments of the game, the tables turn and Jin finds himself crossing blades with the man he always wanted to be. It’s a plot twist for the ages, and it is all but guaranteed to bring on the tears. It also happens to be a pretty difficult fight.
7 Tomotsugu- Duel Of Crashing Waves
The first of the six duels in the side quest “The Six Blades Of Kojiro” to make the list, Tomotsugu is probably the second hardest of the duels to complete. His combinations are long and fast, he uses a lot of unblockable attacks, and while he doesn’t do as much damage as some of the blades Jin must cross, his sword definitely stings.
The hardest part about the duel at the seaside, however, is how little time there is for players to react between his attacks. For some reason, he can string together strikes with almost no time in between. If players can stay on the offensive, the fight may be more fun. But if they let him start swinging…woe be unto the mariner.
6 The Spirit of Yarikawa
A mysterious femme fatale with a hooded face and an angry blade, the Spirit of Yarikawa attacks Jin in a fit of rage over his clan’s past massacre of clan Yarikawa. Her rage is palpable in this duel, felt in both her dialogue and the difficultly in surviving her attacks.
She is fast, strong, and if she gets Jin once, she is likely to string together another immediate strike. It’s a nasty fight, but if players can weather it they earn the Dance Of Wrath, by far the best technique in the game.
5 Yasuhira Koga- Heavenly Strike Duel
Another duel with a mythical technique at the end, Yasuhira is hard mainly because he is one of the first real duels in the game. The one on one format will probably still feel new to players, and he will help them get acclimated by cutting them down time and time again.
His timing is tricky, his combos are quick, and players’ sword and gear are not as strong as they will be later in the game. However, if players can learn the parry timing and outlast him, they will get the Heavenly Strike, a technique that will help them in all subsequent duels.
4 Hirotsune- Duel Among The Spider Lillies
The hardest of the “Six Blades Of Kojiro” duels, Hirotsune is a real change of pace from the other duels of the game. He is fast and hits hard, but he will also change up the rhythm of his attacks at random to keep players on their toes. What used to be 2 strikes and then an unblockable attack will instantly change to an unblockable attack followed by an instant parry attack, usually resulting in death.
The best way to beat Hirotsune is to stay on one’s toes and react solely off of what he does, instead of through familiarity with his attack patterns. Which, of course, is easier said than done.
3 Tengu Demon
This incredibly difficult duel is found at the end of the “Curse Of Uchitsune” side quest, and it pits Jin against a wildly powerful demonic swordsman (and possibly his own sanity). Tengu uses almost exclusively unblockable attacks, so the player’s best hope is to perfectly dodge and then use the gaps in his attacks to inflict damage.
The really annoying part of this fight, however, is the ring of bats constantly encircling the fight. They obscure visibility, are creepy as can be, and make it hard to see the timing cues for Tengu’s attacks. This results in a lot of frustrating moments in which players will take damage that they didn’t see coming, which is the worst. But alas, with time and determination, players will eventually be able to put down the demon and return the light to this lost and hopeless land.
2 Khotun Khan
The big bad brute responsible for all of the carnage throughout the game, the Khan is a real pain to put down. Not only does he have a seemingly unending amount of health, but he also has an incredibly long Guandao spear and a litany of unblockable attacks. And to add insult to injury, he plays dirty.
After besting him in one on one combat, Jin must take him on three more times while also fighting all of the reinforcements that Khotun brings in just to even the odds. And even once that is taken care of, he tries to throw in one more little one on one fight just because he can. He’s the arch-villain of the game, so it makes sense that his fight is hard.
1 Kojiro- Duel On The Mirror Of Sacred Light
Much like the Valkyrie in God Of War, Kojiro is an optional encounter. And many players will probably opt-out, as he is far and away the hardest enemy in the entire game. It’s honestly not even close. Kojiro is so hard in comparison, it feels like he was ripped out of Sekiro and plopped onto Tsushima.
He can kill Jin in two hits, he has an infinite amount of different attack patterns, he is fast, he is aggressive, and the Sakai steel seems to do shreds of damage. But, if players put in the time and work, maybe, just maybe, they will bring about his end. Or maybe not. He is really hard to kill. But if players do manage to outlast him, they get to dry their tears and collect some really cool new armor!
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