The State of Play video was recently shown and it featured the upcoming video game Ghost of Tsushima. Aside from the gameplay and exploration, it showcased photo and film mode. It also shows a grainy, black and white overlay for players to choose if they want to experience this game as an old Samurai film. Actually, there is somewhat a reason why that film overlay is there and it somehow relates to the game’s inspirations to these old films and comics.
Sucker Punch creative director Nate Fox shares the studio’s inspiration for creating this game and how it makes it more grounded to reality.
Ghost of Tsushima inspired by Akira Kurosawa films
As most Samurai film fans might have noticed right away, when a part of the State of Play video featured a black and white scene with two warriors squaring it off with each other, they would have screamed at the screen and said the name of this famous Japanese film director: “Akira Kurosawa!”
The story of this game is based on real events, but not all of it. The real history of Tsushima after the Mongols invaded was that the defense collapsed and the whole island was conquered. It was a tragic end for the people living on that island back then, but in this game the Ghost will take revenge. It will also focus more on the island and Jin’s actions as a samurai, on a realistic note. No supernatural element will be added to this game.
The game will lean on the perception of a samurai via movies and pop culture. Basically the biggest inspirations for it are films made by the legendary Akira Kurosawa like Yojimbo and Seven Samurai. Some comics also inspired this game.
Fox added:
Everything was selected because it was another prop into the fundamental identity of being a samurai, right down to the foliage moving with the wind so heavily. We did that early on because, in these classic samurai movies, you often see the wind thrashing leaves and trees, but there’s one stoic samurai not moving with his sword up. And it’s that juxtaposition of a still individual with a dynamic environment that really makes them feel powerful.
Jin, by far, is heavily inspired by the main characters of Kurosawa’s movies as a ronin, a samurai with no lord to serve and would just roam around the land in search for an honorable death. This is not majorly based on those awesome actors, but some characteristics are clearly there. Until we get to try out the game, we will not know how comparable the two characters are.
Ghost of Tsushima will launch on July 17 exclusively on PlayStation 4.
Interview Source: Game Informer
