Ghost of Tsushima story trailer: Huge battles, stealth kills, and internal struggle

The Ghost of Tsushima story trailer has arrived, and we've broken down the key details right here.

Along with revealing the Ghost of Tsushima PS4 launch date, developer Sucker Punch Productions shared the new three-minute video that gives us a better introduction to the game's hero, Jin Sakai. Jin is the eponymous ghost, as we saw at the trailer from The Game Awards, but now we get to see him before he began to stray from the ways of the samurai.

Huge battles, one-on-one duels

Sometimes you'll face your enemies in one-on-one combat. Sometimes you'll face them in huge, chaotic battles. This Ghost of Tsushima story trailer shows both ends of the spectrum. Notice how it puts the scene of Jin following behind what looks to be at least a dozen friendly troops back to back with the scene of him staring down a lone rival, without armor, on the beach. The trailer plays with scale to make each battle feel different, with stakes that shift from the strategic to the deeply personal.

Those stealth kills

On the other side of one-on-one duels are one-on-one violent stabbings - Jin Sakai is plenty capable of both. We see the usual "pull you back and stab you in the neck" kind of stealth kill, but we also get the rare and magnificent "stab you through a door then pull you back through said door" kind of stealth kill. Jin may have started his fight against the Mongols as a traditional samurai, but he's sure picking up this sneaky stuff fast. Not all of Jin's allies are happy about that.

Internal struggle

Aside from Jin, the most significant voice in the trailer is his uncle Shimura, the lord of Tsushima. Shimura taught Jin to be an honorable samurai, and he's distraught to see his nephew employing brutal and underhanded tactics to repel the Mongol invaders. On the other hand, Jin has become a living legend amongst the locals; where one samurai would have fallen against the horde like so many others, the Ghost emerges only to strike and kill before melting back into the shadows. Jin's new war becomes a cause the beleaguered populace can rally behind. I imagine that will only make the tension between him and his uncle, the traditionalist ruler, worse.

Find out how to pre-order Ghost of Tsushima with our handy guide rounding up all your options, and to see what else is on the way with our guide to upcoming PS4 games.