Sucker Punch, the developers behind the upcoming PlayStation exclusive game Ghost of Tsushima gave us a deep dive into some of the gameplay mechanics of the much-anticipated samurai game. While the world is lush and beautiful, the video showcased a lot of details from exploration, to combat and even the good old get off the beaten path to find interesting things. For those of you that missed it, you can catch the gameplay video below. Watch it and then read on and see how many of the small details you caught in the video.
The first thing the video talks about is exploration. The game will not have traditional waypoints marked on the display. In fact, when you set a waypoint, pressing a button on the controller will show you a gush of wind in the direction of your marker. In the top left corner of the display, you will also see how far you are from your destination.
In addition to the wind, you will also see shrines, trees, animals, and birds that will guide you to undiscovered locations. The rising smoke plume is but obvious when it comes to exploration.
As the trailer showcased, there will also be hidden areas behind small slits in large rocks, similar to what we saw in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
It looks like exploration will be integral to upgrading your character and also to finding abilities and outfits. If you find enough flowers of a particular colour, you will also be able to customize the colour of your outfit. All this means that a good chunk of the game will be spent exploring the vast open world. It's a good thing you can call your horse whenever you want with the push of a button. Yes, we are looking at you Red Dead Redemption 2.
The combat in Ghost of Tsushima is divided into stealth and Samurai standoff. The developers also explained this to be the honourable way of combat. When wielding the sword, the combat in the game isn't for button mashers. In fact, quite the opposite. You will have to time and parry enemy attacks and projectiles. You will also be able to execute killing blows when timing your moves correctly.
Just like Nioh, it looks like the game will give you the ability to have different stances that should affect your combat strategy. While we don't know if you will have upgradable weapons or different swords it looks like your combat abilities will evolve and grow throughout the game.
The other approach is that of the Assassin, or should we say, Ninja. The developers call this the Dishonorable Ghost. It still isn't clear why this is called dishonourable. While playing stealthily, you will be able to use objects to distract your enemies, use firecrackers as well and also throw knives called Kunai. You will also be able to use smoke bombs to distract enemies and evade their line of sight.
One element which we saw at the E3 reveal 2 years ago has made a comeback here and that is the ability to execute multiple assassinations when playing stealthily. Whether this works on heavier enemies remains to be seen. Speaking of heavier enemies, the game shows the player uses a smoke bomb to distract the heavy enemy and gain access to a weak spot for a swift blow. Looks like weak point exploitation will also be something to consider. When the player in the game brings up the bow and arrow, there is also a fire arrow option.
Players will not only be able to customize the look of the character but the functions as well. Each outfit apart from the aesthetic appeal will also have utility to suit different playstyles. There are coloured flowers scattered throughout the world and collecting enough of these will let users customize the colours of the character's outfit.
Another customization option is the charms players will be able to equip. For example, equipping a charm will restore 25% health when using a smoke bomb, so on and so forth. This will add a new layer and depth to the gameplay.
When the player penetrates an enemy camp, there will be sub-objectives available as well. For example, taking out three people with the bow and arrow. It looks like completing these could give the player more points or rewards just like we have seen in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
The game will launch with a photo mode, but it won't be your old school simple, “let me take a nice photo” mode. You will be able to control the depth of field, colour, the direction of the wind, and the type of leaves that fall. Honestly, looks quite incredible.
In addition to the photo mode, the game will also be playable in black and white film grain from start to finish giving you the feeling of playing an old school Japanese film. It will also be playable with Japanese audio to add to the immersion.
There are a lot of things we don't know about the game, from the variety of weapons to boss fights and even the depth of customization. We also don't know too many details about the story and all this is good as it leaves enough room for us to be surprised when we get our hands on it on July 17.