There's no better way to immerse one's self in a game centered around samurai than by playing with a controller based on their weapon of choice. A Ghost of Tsushima fan going by the tag "SuperLouis64" did just that and created a video of himself battling through Ghost of Tsushima's world with a katana-shaped controller.
The controller Louis uses in the video is called an Onimusha 3 Katana. It was designed by HORI and came included alongside the collector's edition of Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, a video game bundle released for the PS2 all the way back in 2004. The katana has all of the buttons of the PlayStation's DualShock Analog controller mapped out on it so that players can perform other actions outside of just attacking.
Louis' showcase video shows how swinging around the controller causes Ghost of Tsushima protagonist Jin Sakai to swing around his own blade. If that weren't cool enough, performing the game's Stand-Off mechanic requires that the player sheath their sword and then time a swing with it the same way Jin does. It's reminiscent of how someone would play with a Nintendo Wii remote or a PlayStation Move Motion.
I played Ghost of Tsushima with a Katana Controller! Activate Stand-Offs by Unsheathing the Katana from gaming
The Onimusha 3 Katana's age does show in the video, though. There's a delay between the attacks that Louis and Jin perform that's quite noticeable. However, considering the controller is over 15 years old, it could be a lot worse, and players have also beaten games with much wackier controllers, such as how a Kingdom Hearts fan beat Sephiroth with a dance pad.
It would certainly be awesome to see a modern-day version of a controller like this. An opportunity for it could happen if a Ghost of Tsushima PS5 port ever does come along. Sony and Sucker Punch could create one themselves or enlist a third-party like HORI to develop one based on Jin's "Storm of Sakai" katana. It would be especially interesting to see how the new DualSense's features would work on such a controller.
It's important to note that playing this way certainly isn't a better alternative to using normal controllers. Even if the controller didn't have delayed inputs, the player's attacks wouldn't line up with Jin's, which is fairly awkward. Playing with a controller like this would be an option for those looking to put a new spin on a game or to give themselves a challenge. For example, Louis is the same individual that beat Dark Souls 3 using bananas. It may be ridiculous, and funny, but it's also impressive.
Ghost of Tsushima is on PS4.