Since its thrilling debut gameplay trailer at E3 2018, gamers have heard very little from Sucker Punch about its upcoming game Ghost of Tsushima. This changed yesterday with the release of a brand new trailer highlighting the game's story and confirming a release date of June 26th, 2020. Now, the gaming community is abuzz about what the Infamous and Sly Cooper developer's latest title will be like, so here's everything that is known about the game so far.
Ghost of Tsushima follows Jin Sakai, one of the last remaining Samurai in Japan in the midst of the first Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274. Trained by his uncle and master Shimura, Jin begins to stray from his uncle's teachings as the despair and treachery he witnesses at the hands of the Mongol hordes bring him down a dark and violent path of vengeance. With his homeland, the island of Tsushima, being the last territory standing between the ruthless Mongol leader Khotun Khan and the Japanese mainland, Jin must learn a new fighting style, the Way of the Ghost, in order to take the fight to the invaders in spite of their great numbers.
As one of the last survivors of the massacre of his samurai clan at the hands of Khotun Khan, Jin will have to make new alliances in order to exact his revenge. Among the allies he meets in Ghost of Tsushima are a female Samurai named Masako, Ippei the Monk, and a woman only known right now as The High Priestess. As his reputation grows among the people who thought him dead, Jin dons a black oni mask as he travels the countryside, becoming known to all as "The Ghost of Tsushima." In studying the Way of the Ghost, Jin must divorce himself from the honorable Samurai traditions he was trained in and take on more guerrilla tactics in his resistance against the Mongols, something that brings great concern to his sensei Shimura and that fans will experience on Ghost of Tsushima's release date.
The gameplay of Ghost of Tsushima will reflect Jin's transformative journey from samurai to assassin. Stealth is a major component of the game's missions, and Jin will utilize ninja-like blade executions to take his enemies out silently, as well as items like smoke bombs and fire arrows to confuse and sow chaos. While stealth is his forte, Jin is more than capable of holding his own in battle, using his years of samurai training to swiftly and expertly dispatch foes in sword duels.
As an open world game, Ghost of Tsushima's gameplay is not limited to its story missions. Jin will be able to explore the island of Tsushima on horseback, and during his travels, he can interact and complete side quests for the locals of Tsushima, and scale walls and difficult terrain using his grappling hook and Infamous-inspired climbing mechanics. Perhaps most notable in the game's design is the lack of on-screen waypoints and quest markers, a feature that has become commonplace in open world games. Without HUD elements to guide them, players will have to use landmarks and their own mental maps to navigate the island, encouraging and allowing them to take in the visuals of Ghost of Tsushima's gorgeous open world.
One of the greatest appeals of Ghost of Tsushima's setting is its attention to historical detail. Sucker Punch has put in a massive amount of effort to lovingly evoke the atmosphere and environment of 13th-century Japan. While the world of the game isn't a one-to-one recreation of the real life island of Tsushima, the developer has given the culture and landmarks of the land its full attention. Throughout the game, Jin will travel through beautifully rendered and historically accurate shrines, villages, forests, mountains, and fields, each lush with historically authentic inhabitants and wildlife.
Players can also expect the game to be filled with homages to classic Japanese cinema. Films, particularly ones like Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Sanjuro, were major influences for Sucker Punch while working on the tone of Ghost of Tsushima. The team even recruited the help of a historical sword fighting expert to ensure the sword combat would be as gripping as that scene in Kurosawa's masterpieces. So any fans of samurai movies can rest assured: Ghost of Tsushima has done its homework.
Ghost of Tsushima releases June 26 exclusively on PS4.
