In truth, this is not a game to play for historical accuracy. Aside from that main background, the story, characters, and even actions are completely fictitious. Even much of the costuming and weapons are from later time periods in Japanese history. However, reality did not matter to me as I played the game; this was about a power trip of being an unstoppable samurai facing the Mongol horde in the defense of his home, and I got sucked into it entirely.
First of all, the game is absolutely beautiful with uniquely memorable areas that I enjoyed just riding through. Speaking of riding, I got truly attached to Jin's horse and loved the simple, but effective riding mechanics. In fact, so much of this game was simply elegant. In particular, the navigational system to move Jin towards his goals incorporated the wind, leaves, and animals around him rather than technical overlays. There's even a mechanic to clean and sheathe Jin's sword--completely unnecessary for the gameplay, yet I felt compelled to do so after nearly every combat.
I wanted, and did, explore every meter of Tsushima. I had Jin follow foxes and into isolated shrines, follow birds to monuments of fallen warriors or relaxing hot springs or even serene natural settings to write haiku. Sometimes, I just sought out a vantage point so I could gaze at the beautiful scenery.
Contrasting the beauty of nature and Japanese architecture was the destruction left by the Mongols, and I deeply enjoyed removing them from what I came to think of as my island. This game generally allows players to choose their own way to approach any combat. My personal favorite was to walk directly up to enemy encampments and openly challenge the enemies there to a cinematically thrilling standoff. However, I also liked sneaking through the tall grass and quietly eliminating an encampment, or finding a nice vantage point and shooting them down from a distance, or using the environment to set them on fire or lure a bear to their yurts, or even just riding up at full speed and leaping from my steed with devastating results.
I also deeply cared about Jin and his story. Certainly, it was darker than I would normally like, but it was filled with uplifting moments as well. There are also a couple of parts which felt entirely too forced, but I liked that I could make small decisions that could change the overall flavor of a scene.
There's so much more to say, but I will leave it at this: this is a game worth playing, maybe even more than once.