As we move into the busy game release season there are still some very notable releases still to hit store shelves, not to mention the stellar Super Mario Odyssey which dropped last week. At this point, I for one, did not expect to see any massive new games announced even as Paris Games Week approaches. But today, straight from the PGW Sony conference, developer Sucker Punch has unveiled its latest creation.
For those of you expecting more Infamous, unfortunately that is not the case, but the folks at SP certainly did not disappoint with this new debut trailer…
After being purchased by Sony back in 2011, Sucker Punch since became known as part of its “platformer trio”, alongside developers Naughty Dog and Insomniac Games. All three companies have moved into more serious roles creating the platform’s best and most well known exclusive titles. Most recently, Sucker Punch is best known for its alternative super-hero series Infamous which began in 2009. Since 2014’s Infamous Second Son and First Light, Sucker Punch has been largely quiet, and now we know why.
The company has been hard at work on a massive new open-world samurai game officially known as Ghost of Tsushima. The game is set on the island of Tsushima during the invasion of the Mongol army in 1274. From the looks of the trailer and a fairly lengthy blog post from Sucker Punch Game Director Nate Fox, we will be taking control of a single hero in order to rid the island of the invaders. Players will be building a legend as the “Ghost” of Tsushima, which sounds like there will be a stealth element to the game. When we think of samurai, large scale battles in ornate armor comes to mind, so this could be a unique take on the genre apart from the large scale format as well.
Clearly Sucker Punch has gone all the way with the setting and it looks gorgeous. From massive decorative castles to sprawling grasslands and bamboo forests, this is one open-world I’m excited to explore. While details are scarce at this point, it sounds like we will be getting a typical open-world format with a series of historically accurate weapons including a katana and possibly a “six-foot-tall samurai long bow”, among what we can only assume will be others.
Take a look for yourself in the debut launch trailer:
The artists and engineers here at Sucker Punch have brought this world to life on PlayStation 4, from tall grass blowing in the wind to the call of a far off crane, we want to make it feel real. All of what’s shown in our debut trailer was captured in our game engine, that’s the interactive world we’re painstakingly crafting together, that’s the world we’re going to set on fire.
It has been a while since we got a proper samurai experience of this nature, in fact I’m not even sure I can even think of another purely open-world feudal Japan experience. At least not recently.
Pre-orders are yet to go live, and there is no official release date just yet (not that we expected one or anything). It will be a while before this one is playable. Nonetheless, it is certainly among one of the most exciting titles we know about that is still in development.
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.
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