Screenshot from Ghost of Tsushima, out now on the PlayStation 4. Photo: Supplied
Screenshot from Ghost of Tsushima, out now on the PlayStation 4. Photo: Supplied
Like the samurai that the game is about Sony's PlayStation 4 console makes its last stand with Ghost of Tsushima, the console's final big blockbuster title before the PlayStation 5 arrives later this year.
The game is a frequently breath taking action-adventure that sees you walking the path of thesamurai in a giant open world environment set on Japan's Tsushima Island, where a group of 80 samurai fell defending their home from a Mongol horde in the late 13th century.
"We started with a simple concept. We wanted to give players the experience of stepping into the shoes of a samurai who had to sacrifice his honour to defend his home from a Mongol invasion," the game's producer Nate Fox says. "That basic concept of. 'I want to wander around as a samurai'. That really compelled us."
While a historical event kicks things off in the game, Fox says their inspiration for the game's story had more cinematic roots.
"As big fans of samurai movies the idea of being a wandering samurai, going into town and solving problems with your swords and your wits, that was a dream game that a lot of people wanted to see made," he says.
Screenshot from Ghost of Tsushima, out now on the PlayStation 4. Photo: Supplied
The longest journey begins with a single step and Fox says he and his team at Sucker Punch Productions began their long walk on this game six years ago.
"We had no idea it would take this long," he laughs. "When you're working on a new IP [intellectual property] you really don't know what you've made until you get to about Alpha testing really. You think you've got it figured out but then you actually play it for real, from beginning to end, and it gives you your first glimpse at the reality of what you've made. You adjust after that."
Fox describes feeling "exhilarated and scared," after his first run through the alpha build of the game.
"You see just how much work there is to do to make it happen," he explains. "But at the same time you can see the skeleton of what it is that will make it great. As a game developer I'm well aware of what it takes to put flesh on the skeleton."
It's story may be fiction but Fox says they took the cultural responsibilities of the project extremely seriously. They worked with Japanese experts on every aspect of the game world, from obvious things like clothing, language and samurai combat right through to tiny details like the capturing the correct sound of Tsushima's insects.
"A core objective for us when we started making the game was acknowledging first and foremost that a pack of Americans who grew up outside of that culture without that background were never going to do a good job at delivering a feeling of authenticity without help."
Screenshot from Ghost of Tsushima, out now on the PlayStation 4. Photo: Supplied
This extended to visiting cultural heritage sites in Japan, and a memorable visit to the game's namesake.
"It was the most humbling thing I have ever experienced professionally," Fox says.
"I've made a lot of video games about cartoon raccoons or superheroes that have lightning from their hands," he says referencing Sucker Punch's incredibly successful Sly Raccoon and inFamous franchises.
"It's all been fantasy. Here we are making a game that's based on a real historical event where 80 samurai really did defend their home from a Mongol invasion and they all died on Komoda Beach. Standing on that beach I felt a responsibility to do a good job representing how serious it was and to do right by the people of Tsushima Island who remember that battle."
