Staking its claim as one of PlayStation's highly rated and sold exclusive first-party titles, Ghost Of Tsushima managed to capture aspects many other similar games have not, specifically in areas of combat. Its unique style is what was able to catch the eyes of a plethora of fans, selling over 8 million units since its time of release. Sucker Punch was able to capitalize on the success, adding more content for fans to indulge in further putting the title on its current pedestal.
Despite there being a lack of confirmation regarding a sequel, fans may assume a new entry to the new IP is well on the way as Sucker Punch currently have a new open-world game in development.
6 More Or New Stances
The addition of optional styles for the game's main character Jin Sakai is one of the main reasons as to why this title flourished as well as it did, as it gave players the opportunity to be versatile and switch up their move sets for different types of enemies. This was juxtaposed with the tools that were available to use such as the 'Kunai', allowing for a more Ghost-like approach.
If Sucker Punch is able to add more stances or replace the current ones with updated and expanded ones, then this would play a crucial part in maintaining players' engagement and heightening their experiences to a greater extent than the current title.
5 New Enemy Types
In the midst of the PlayStation 5's release, Ghost Of Tsushima: Director's Cut made its way to the store adding the new DLC 'Iki Island' along with an introduction of a new enemy type who buffs enemies' attacks and durability through chanting. This gave players a challenge to eliminate them, before taking on those centered around combat.
An innovation to current enemies and their fighting styles or a total expansion on enemies altogether would certainly be suitable to progress the sequel to higher standards, offering a new challenge whilst also making players consider an adjustment in play styles.
4 Better Attention To Detail
Fans who are familiar with the title will be aware of some of its downsides, specifically in the area of lip-syncing during cutscenes for both English and Japanese audio. Initially, there was no lip-syncing present for the Japanese dub, until the Director's Cut which made improvements, but some fans were still unhappy with the facial expressions.
Some of the animations and motions such as running up a set of stairs can often seem unrealistic to players as Jin's feet fall through the ground but is subjective whether it is immersion-breaking or not. An overhaul to some of the animations as such for a sequel would be monumental to its potential success, as seen with the high praise of The Last Of Us Part 2's due to its attention to detail in a technical aspect with smooth and seamless animations.
3 Extended Customization
Sucker Punch managed to give players a substantial amount of gear, outfits, and sword kits for players to use and implement in each approach with the Mongol soldiers. Not only did this give players an advantage due to some of the stats and buffs certain outfits gave, but it was the perfect way for fans to put themselves in the shoes of the Samurai and engage in combat in style.
An expansion on this such as adding new hairstyles and more customization to Jin's physical appearance will only lead to more praise and rejoicing from fans as it will be the closest they may get to create their own Samurai. This will be one of the key factors for Sucker Punch to consider if a sequel is truly in store.
2 Dual Wield And Other Weapons
The most important of all when it comes down to a sequel being greenlit, is the innovation of Jin's ability to dual wield swords or potentially use different types of weapons aligned to Samurai. This would give developers the ability to expand on move sets and ultimately extend combat to a higher potential for players to experience.
Whether this would be involved or not won't be a make or break, but still remains a crucial feat in the idea of giving players a fresh and new experience and avoiding too much of a similarity to the first title.
1 Variety In Standoff Sequences
Ghost Of Tsushima features some of the best accuracy when it comes down to the emulation of a Samurai's behavior and fighting style, and the 'standoff' scenarios which are the epitome of it all. The patience and observation players are able to engage in provide a unique experience many fans of sword combat titles have been awaiting. Despite this, these sequences can become quite repetitive as fans will know that there is a lack of evolution and advancement here as the game progresses.
Aside from the variation in attack speeds depending on the enemy, the player's attacking animations are the exact same for each encounter which can lead to a monotonous feel. In order to keep this feature more engaging and fun, would be to maintain the unpredictable reactions from some enemies, whilst increasing the animations in which Jin eliminates his foes. Doing so will give fans more of an incentive to engage in these scenarios adding more options to their approach.
Ghost Of Tsushima is now available on PS4 and PS5.