One of the last games to be released on the current generation of consoles,Ghost of Tsushima,sets to bring the player as close to feudal Japan as possible by finding inspiration in the unlikeliest of places.
Ghost of Tsushimais the latest game being developed by Sucker Punch studios coming right out of the success of itsinFamousseries. In the game, players take control of a samurai named Jin Sakai that fights to free his homeland from the Mongols during an invasion.
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Sucker Punch hopes to makeGhost of Tsushimahistorically accurate, and the studio even brought in experts of ancient Japan’s clothing and religion to review the game and confirm its authenticity. The creative director for the game, Nate Fox, also found an intriguing source of inspiration in his younger days that gave him the idea forGhost of Tsushima.
Back when the studio was working onSly Cooperfor Ps2,a game about an anthropomorphized raccoon thief, Nate Fox was writing dialogue for the game and remembered some comic books he used to read calledUsagi Yojimbo.Usagi Yojimbois a story about a rabbit samurai in feudal Japan who uses his swordsmanship and cunning wit to solve problems in the towns. He read over the series as much as he could to get a feel for how characters interacted in the story and brought those elements toSly Cooper.
AfterSucker Punchconcluded makinginFamousgames, the company was looking for a fresh new idea for a game to create. Nate Fox remembered readingUsagi Yojimboand thought to himself, “How come nobody’s made a wandering samurai game?” Excited to bring this vision to life, the studio got to work on their passion project for a Japanese samurai.
Besides the general plot, it is unclear how much more the studio took inspiration from the comic books. It is worth noting, however, that the main character in the game “Jin Sakai” has the same last name as the author ofUsagi YojimboStan Sakai, possibly as a way to pay tribute. Sucker Punch is also a huge fan of samurai movies, notablySeven Samurai, so the company hopes to bring as many aspects of samurai identity toGhost of Tsushimaas possible.
Ghost of Tsushimacomes out on July 17th, 2020, exclusively for PlayStation 4.
