Ghost of Tsushima has been in the hands of players for some time now, and many have already beaten the game and seen the end of Jin's story. Despite this, a question that many players had since the very beginning is whether or not it is possible to defeat Khotun Khan at the start of the game at Castle Kaneda. This was quickly answered by those skilled enough at the game to pull it off, and as it turns out, defeating him still triggers the same cutscene in which he overpowers Jin and throws him off the bridge.
This answer disappointed many players, as there are plenty of games that have secret endings that can be attained incredibly early as a sort of reward for skilled players. It would have been interesting if Ghost of Tsushima offered players a unique ending scene for those that managed to pull this monumental task off, thereby bypassing most of the game. Of course, there are pros and cons to this idea, but in general, it would be something extra that couldn't really hurt to include in the long run. After all, nothing feels better than winning an "unwinnable" fight.
Other Games With Early Secret Endings
Perhaps one of the most infamous instances of secret endings early on in the game is Devil May Cry 5. If the player was skilled enough at the game, they could defeat the first boss, Urizen, thereby preventing the rest of the game's events. After doing this, a short cutscene plays out cheekily informing the player that this was the ideal outcome and that all the characters lived happily ever after. Of course, this is kind of on the trolling side, but it was still a fun and rewarding ending that only the most dedicated of players could achieve.
There are also some different takes on this, such as Far Cry 5. In that game, the player is asked to arrest Joseph Seed in order to continue the game. Instead, the player is able to simply wait for a while and eventually Sheriff Whitehorse will decide not to arrest him and the game ends. The credits roll and that's that. It's certainly not a climactic ending to the story considering the story had hardly begun, but players enjoy that added level of agency even if they just have to start a new game and play along next time. Far Cry is known for having multiple secret endings, so this was right in line with the rest of the series.
That Battle Didn't Count
The other approach is what Ghost of Tsushima does, where the gameplay doesn't necessarily represent what happens in the story. In the case of Ghost of Tsushima, players can whittle Khotun Khan's health all the way down to zero, but he simply won't die. Eventually, the player will be forced to let him land the finishing blow and trigger the cutscene. It's worth noting that it would be almost impossible for any player to achieve this on their first try, as players are still trying to figure out the basic controls by the time this fight starts.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice also does something similar to this, albeit with a twist. The initial fight against Genichiro is clearly meant to be unwinnable, and Sekiro losing his hand is a vital part of the rest of the story. Because of this, if the player actually manages to beat Genichiro, the cutscene reflects this and it takes someone distracting Sekiro for Genichiro to cut off his hand. The recognition of the player's accomplishments is nice, but it still felt sour to some that the end result is the same. Some even said it should have triggered a hard mode where the player must beat the game without the prosthetic tools.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now exclusively for PS4.