Ghosts of Tsushima: Everything We Know

When Sucker Punch Productions’ ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ was unexpectedly announced at E3 2018, everybody stood up and noticed. Partly because of the extravagant reveal ceremony involving a virtuoso live flute performance by Cornelius Boots, and partly because the game itself looked absolutely incredible.

The landscapes of feudal Japan were gorgeous, the characters were intriguing and the combat felt extremely authentic. It looked like the Assassin’s Creed game set in Japan that we’ve always wanted, but for some reason never got. Nearly a year has passed since then, and we have only gotten bits and pieces of information about Sucker Punch’s upcoming oriental epic. Read on to find out everything we know about ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’.

Ghosts of Tsushima Plot: What is it About?

Set during the backdrop of the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274 on the island of Tsushima, ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ follows the story of Jin Sakai, a lone samurai and one of the last lines of defense against the invading Mongol hordes. As the last of the samurai left after all his masters are slaughtered, Jin must learn to abandon his samurai code of honor and adapt to a new way of fighting – the “Way of the Ghost”.

The official homepage of the game describes it as follows: “In 1274, the fearsome Mongol Empire invades the Japanese island of Tsushima and slaughters its legendary samurai defenders. Jin Sakai is one of the last survivors of a noble samurai clan. To combat his overwhelming foes, he must pioneer deadly new fighting techniques–the way of The Ghost–and wage an unconventional war for the people of Japan.”

While the historical context presented in ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ is largely accurate, the story is decidedly fictional. However, despite the fictional nature of the story, the developers have undoubtedly gone to great lengths to recreate an authentic world. The island’s flora, fauna, and geography has been painstakingly recreated from real historical archives. The verdant beauty of feudal Japan is on full display here, populated by serene water lilies and magnificent Temples.

Jin’s attire is also very functional, with the traditional armor being eschewed in favor of a straw raincoat to deflect the rain and minimize the cold. The color of the clothing is bright red, camouflaging Jin amidst a backdrop of swirling red autumn leaves.

Not much is known about the exact nature of the storyline yet, but the reveal trailer does introduce us to another character – Masako, the archer who turns on you when you refuse to let her kill a monk who betrayed her family.

The game will feature full voiceovers in Japanese, Mongolian and English for you to choose from, depending on how authentic of an experience you desire.

Ghosts of Tsushima Gameplay

‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ is an open world action adventure video game with certain role-playing mechanics thrown in to boot. You traverse the world either on foot or on your trusty horse. You are also armed with a katana and a grappling hook for advanced mobility. Combat is often times optional, and you are given the option to stealth past enemies in order to avoid confrontation. In fact, stealth can also give you an additional leg up during combat with a time slowing mechanic that allows you to perform multiple executions on unsuspecting enemies in a very short period of time.

As for combat, the usual grab bag of standard attacks like melee, counter attacking, deflecting swords, spears and shield slams are all there. However, there is an additional focus on parrying, and timing is key. As a result, most battles are tense stand-off type affairs.

‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ will also not feature any way points telling you where to go. As a result, exploration will be a key component of the gameplay experience. There are also some Role Playing mechanics in the game as well, particularly tied to the progression system and skill upgrades.

The difficulty of the gameplay will also be highly customizable, whether you are a stop and smell the roses type of player or someone who enjoys games like ‘Dark Souls’.

Ghosts of Tsushima Developers: Who Are The People Behind It?

‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ is being developed by Sony’s American first party video game developer, Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sucker Punch Productions are best known for the ‘Infamous’ series on PlayStation 3 and ‘Infamous Second Son’ on PlayStation 4. They are also known for the Sly Cooper series of stealth platform games for the PlayStation 2.

Sucker Punch Productions consulted with several cultural experts in order to create an accurate representation of the time period. Historical sword fighting expert a David Ishimaru helped in fine tuning the combat animations for a truly immersive experience.

The game’s hauntingly beautiful soundtrack is composed by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi.

Ghosts of Tsushima Release Date: When And Where Can I Play It?

‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ was first unveiled at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Paris Games Week presentation in October 2017, with a subsequent reveal retailer dropping at E3 2018. A job listing for a “Narrative Writer” by Sucker Punch Productions back in April would suggest that the game is still very much in the process of development. Some rumors have pegged the release date as early as 2020, but we won’t know for sure until there is an official confirmation from Sony.

‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ will launch exclusively for the PlayStation 4. However, depending on how long it stays under development, it could end up being a cross generational title with support on the PlayStation 5 eventually as well.

Ghosts of Tsushima Trailer

You can watch the visually breathtaking and riveting gameplay reveal trailer for ‘Ghosts of Tsushima’ right here:

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