A PS2 Katana Controller Mod Is Officially the Coolest Way to Play Ghost Of Tsushima

(Image credit: Sony)

A YouTuber has found a way to play Ghost of Tsushima with an old PS2 Katana controller.

Ghost of Tsushima is a game all about living out your ultimate Samurai fantasy. From its pleasingly authentic Japanese audio tracks to the blood-soaked cherry blossoms swaying in the wind, Sucker Punch’s open-world opus has it all…. except the ability to slay Mongol invaders by swinging an actual katana. Thankfully then, Youtuber Super Louis 64 has done his best to rectify that -- turning the immersion up to 11 by modding an old motion-controlled PS2 controller to work with the PS4 exclusive.

Originally launching alongside 2004 PS2 game Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, this hefty motion-controlled beauty houses a Dual Shock 2 controller - complete with analogue sticks - splitting the face buttons evenly between the front and rear grip of the sword’s hilt. This cleverly designed piece of plastic activates the triangle button with a swing of the sword, working with the likes of Sekiro right off the bat.

As you may expect from a 16-year-old controller, however, the analogue stick didn’t fully (or accurately) detect motion inputs initially, leaving each swing feeling a little janky. Yet like a true ronin, Louis knew that his honour was at stake here, so he opted to mod the katana, swiftly managing to map Ghost of Tsushima’s light attack to each real-world sword swing. Impressively, he even managed to get the game’s heavy attack, sword sheathing and parry to work with this glorious controller.

We don’t know about you, but we’re suddenly feeling pretty underwhelmed by our Dualshock 4...

For more, check out the biggest new games of 2020 and beyond still on the way.