Ghost of Tsushima will tell the story of Jin Sakai's fight fight against the Mongol Empire and its invasion of the Japanese island of Tsushima. To win this war, Jin will have to go beyond his traditional samurai training. To create this unique experience, developer Sucker Punch draws on Japanese history and the iconic traditions of samurai cinema, taking inspiration from the Kurosawa films and John Ford westerns.
According to Sucker Punch co-founder Chris Zimmerman, the studio has decided to avoid desires to create a direct documentary about the year of 1274. “
We’re going to deviate from historical truth, [but] we just want to do it intentionally." Zimmerman said. "
A lot of the support we get from our friends from Sony in Japan, and our Japanese friends in Sony US, and all the cultural consultants we’ve assembled to help us do this stuff, is to make sure we don’t deviate accidentally."
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There are things we are going to do that are different and we want to choose those wisely. […] The challenge for us, making a game, in an original story but taking place in a real historical time, is making sure we’re telling a story that people can relate to. When we are deviating from this historical truth, we are doing it to stop you from snagging on stuff. If you have an idea about what samurai look like or how they act or how they think, we’re going to give that to you."
"Most people’s idea is really based on an idea of samurai which is really more of a [16th to 18th] century idea of samurai. 13th century, historically, is pretty different. In terms of how they fought, what they wore, it doesn’t match your expectations. […] The armor that you see him wear, it’s not 13th century armor. Because, honestly, the 13th century armor is pretty jarring looking, it’s not what you’d expect. It’s really boxy. It doesn’t look aspirational.” the co-founder concluded.
Interestingly enough, you will have a chance to experience
Ghost of Tsushima with a Japanese voice track to embrace the mood more. It's hard to be mad at Sucker Punch for their attempts on making the game as fun as possible and sacrificing historical accuracy. As long as
Ghost has enough depth to it, players should be more than happy. Expect to hear more from Sucker Punch in the coming months.
The year is 1274. Samurai warriors are the legendary defenders of Japan—until the fearsome Mongol Empire invades the island of Tsushima, wreaking havoc and conquering the local population. As one of the last surviving samurai, you rise from the ashes to fight back. But honorable tactics won’t lead you to victory. You must move beyond your samurai traditions to forge a new way of fighting—the way of the Ghost—as you wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Japan.
Ghost of Tsushima doesn't have a release date yet.