• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.87-104
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• 2021

Ludo-narrative dissonance is a prevalent problem among open-world genre video games. However, Ghost of Tsushima (2020) alleviates this issue by designing its characters and narrative structure influenced by Akira Kurosawa's samurai films. The game's protagonist represents "Bushido," a samurai code, and the structure exudes similarity to Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey," which heavily influenced Kurosawa's films. The developers also designed the gameplay mechanics such as level-up system, map design, and side quests based on these narrative traits, ultimately making the goal of the narrative and the gameplay mechanics cohesive.