Ghost of Tsushima is a brand new IP from InFamous developer Sucker Punch Productions which will be exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and, possibly, the upcoming PS5 console too.
First announced during 2017’s Paris Games Week, the game is now but a matter of weeks away from its July 17 release. It’s not been the easiest ride, after a small delay from June 26, but we’re now very close to getting our hands on it.
With Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch appears to be doing something very visually different from its previous titles, swapping the modern high-rise landscapes and neon superpowers of its InFamous games for an open-world Feudal Japan that aspires to a feeling of historical authenticity.
Sound like your kind of thing? This is everything we know about Ghost of Tsushima so far.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A brand new PlayStation exclusive IP from Sucker Punch
- When can I play it? July 17, 2020
- What can I play it on? PS4
Ghost of Tsushima release date
Ghost of Tsushima was initally due to release on June 26, 2020, however Sony announced that the game has been delayed and will now release on July 17, 2020.
Ghost of Tsushima trailers
The latest Ghost of Tsushima trailer may only be one minute long, but it’s stunning and has us extremely excited for the game’s release in just a few short weeks. The trailer’s description states:
“Tsushima is on the brink of destruction. In the wake of a crushing defeat at the hands of ruthless Mongol invaders, noble samurai Jin Sakai must sacrifice everything to protect what’s left of his home and people. As he embarks on an epic adventure for the freedom of Tsushima, he must set aside samurai traditions, embrace unconventional methods, and forge a new path—the path of the Ghost.”
Check it out below:
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This Ghost of Tsushima trailer provides a bit more insight into the game’s story and what editions will be available.
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State of Play in May 2020 brought us 18 glorious minutes of gameplay from Ghost of Tsushima which you can check out below. Notice the lack of intrusive UI and the two modes of combat players can choose from: samurai and ghost.
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A Ghost of Tsushima trailer was shown at the Game Awards 2019, showing a bunch of new gameplay, along with finally revealing a release window (which has, since, changed to July 17).
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Before the Game Awards 2019, we got a trailer, courtesy of the State of Play live stream on December 10, showing off a gorgeously-rendered forest, and the tense moments before a samurai battle – with a smoke bomb to hand as well as a blade. You can soak up all the vibes in the video embedded below.
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PlayStation showed us a great deal of Ghost of Tsushima at its E3 2018 conference with a lengthy gameplay debut. The trailer shows a huge open world that almost looks like a painting with a soaring atmospheric soundtrack.
We see our samurai challenge Mongol invaders in a combat style that reminded us of Assassin’s Creed. But as well as up front and outright combat, there will be an emphasis on stealth with players using the element of surprise to avoid being outnumbered.
Check out the gameplay debut trailer below:
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Before this we saw the announcement trailer that was released at Paris Games Week.
Though it was captured in the game engine, it doesn’t feature much in terms of gameplay. What it does show, however, is the game world we’ll be playing in and it’s clear that Sucker Punch is aiming for a stunning aesthetic.
You can watch it for yourself below:
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Ghost of Tsushima news and features
Gone Gold
Sucker Punch has confirmed that Ghost of Tsushima has now gone gold ahead of its July 17 release. Having gone gold, the game is now ready to be pressed onto discs for mass-release.
We’re thrilled to announce that #GhostOfTsushima has gone GOLD! This is the culmination of years of hard work from our team and we can’t wait to get it into your hands on July 17! pic.twitter.com/nidZvlqIIkJune 22, 2020
Tsushima is more than a setting to be harvested for supplies
In a recent interview with TechRadar, Jason Connell, the Creative Director and Art Director of Ghost of Tsushima explained the team’s desire to connect the player to Tsushima in the way that protagonist Jin is.
“He loves Tsushima, this is his home and that’s very important to him when these invaders come and they’re torching the landscapes and taking over sacred locations. This is his home, and they are wrecking it. And so, he was willing to sacrifice anything to protect this home and these people. What better way to make you feel a sense of your homeland than if nature helps too?”
By nature helping, Connell means that players who take the time to notice the behavior of the wildlife of Tsushima may be able to use it to find secrets that the island is hiding. Instead, by paying close attention to the behavior of birds, foxes and other wildlife. According to Connell Sucker Punch’s play testers are finding it easy to spend “five days straight” playing in Tsushima “without getting to the end of the story.”
Noticing the wind will also be a help as, without the traditional heads-up display, the game uses it as a way to visually guide players.
State of Play gameplay
During a State of Play stream in May 2020, 18 minutes of Ghost of Tsushima gameplay was shown off. Not only did it give a glimpse of how the game’s lack of intrusive UI will create more organic means of encouraging exploration, it gave us a better look at the two approaches to combat Jin can take: samurai and ghost.
The samurai approach sees Jin march into a Mongol camp and take his enemies down face-to-face in the cold light of day. The more dishonorable ghost, approach however, sees Jin sneak into the camp at night eliminating enemies with underhand methods. Jin is even able to use fear as a weapon as the Mongols will learn to be afraid the ghost.
State of Play also gave us a look at the game’s customization options in Ghost of Tsushima. While the various armors in the game will obviously look different, they will provide different mechanical advantages that can help players in their chosen style of play. Players will also be able to change the colors of their various pieces of armor by finding dye flowers across Tsushima.
Photo Mode
Ghost of Tsushima’s photo mode, shown during the State of Play event, looks fairly impressive. It’ll feature things like color grading, depth of field, and lens direction and speed control. Players can even decide whether they want particles like leaves or fireflies moving around Jin and it’ll be possible to place a track of music from the game’s score in the background which will work well for creating atmospheric videos.
Feels like the movies
Sucker Punch has revealed that, in a nod to the samurai cinema that has inspired it, Ghost of Tsushima will have a black and white, windy, grainy film mode that can be turned on from the beginning of the game.
Delayed
Sony has announced that Ghost of Tsushima’s release date has been delayed from June 26 to July 17, however the company did not give a reason for this delay.
Check out the announcement tweet below:
An update from Worldwide Studios: The Last of Us Part II will arrive on 19th June, while Ghost of Tsushima will follow on 17th July. https://t.co/Oo360QNuKY pic.twitter.com/PTCnUdMrehApril 27, 2020
On its own Twitter, Sucker Punch said that it’ll be using the extra time to apply some “finishing touches” and squash some bugs which should have the game looking its best by release.
Shuhei Yoshida is impressed
Ghost of Tsushima was noted for being visually impressive during its E3 2018 presentation and president of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has made it clear that’s still the case.
In an interview with Famitsu, translated by The PlayStation Brahs, Yoshida said he’s been “overwhelmed” by the game’s graphics, adding that when he plays it his “hands stop” because some of the scenes double the beauty of the Japanese landscape. This is high praise, and a nice update for those who have been waiting a long time to hear more about Ghost of Tsushima.
It’s set in Feudal Japan
As revealed by the game’s announcement trailer, Ghost of Tsushima will be set in 13th century Japan – the time of the Mongol invasions. In the year 1274, the Mongols made their first stop on the island of Tsushima.
The game’s art director, Jason Connell, stated in a recent PSX panel for the game that the team are taking an “inspired by” approach to the game with the setting serving as a “jumping off point” for a completely original story.
There will be an open world and you’ll play in the third-person
Though it’s very different from Sucker Punch’s previous games in many ways, Ghost of Tsushima will bear one similarity to inFamous with its third-person perspective; this time players will take up the role of a samurai called Jin.
The game will have a huge open world. Specifically, the setting will be the large island of Tsushima, located off the coast of Japan. Tsushima is a geographically diverse place and the game’s trailer shows that players will be able to travel from lush forests, to rugged mountains and towns filled with interesting characters. Sucker Punch did extensive research on the real island of Tsushima in order to capture it accurately.
Judging by trailer footage it looks likely that the player will do the majority of terrain traversal on horseback as they move through main story and side quests.
In a preview of the game in OPM (via TwistedVoxel) there will, apparently, be no physical waypoints in the game and players will have to make their way through the world using physical landmarks and an understanding of the game’s locations.
The main character is Jin Sakai – but he’s not alone
Ghost of Tsushima focuses on samurai Jin Sakai, one of the last defenders of his home, facing the invading Mongol army. As skilled with a katana as Jin is, however, he needs allies in his fight and players will work alongside other characters such as the archer Masako (who was you might remember from the gameplay trailer).
The player’s choices in the game will impact Jin’s bond with his allies (via TwistedVoxel), with full-on rifts being possible.
Talking to TechRadar, Jason Connell, the Creative Director and Art Director of the game said “Our goal for the game is to have a grounded human focus on Jin and his story. We wanted to focus on something that was human and emotionally driven and story driven – we like to make story-driven games.”
There will be swordplay and stealth
Jin will draw on his samurai training in battle, as you’d expect, but in seeking vengeance against the invaders he will stray somewhat from the honorable samurai path through the course of the game in order to learn a new unconventional way of fighting: the way of the Ghost.
Ghost of Tsushima will include melee combat, with players controlling Jin in his fight against the Mongol army. Demos have shown Jin facing his foes one-on-one as well as encountering small groups against which he alternates between strikes and deadly counters which look like they’ll require precise timing to execute.
There’s also going to be an emphasis on stealth, where being sneaky will give players an advantage over larger groups of enemies. Not only will stealth involve silent kills, projectiles, creeping around and clambering into high places, there’s also a grappling hook which adds speed and plain coolness to Jin’s movements.
The villain will be interesting
Alongside an intriguing protagonist, we’re also anticipating a villain of substance. The player will be facing the Mongol Empire, known for its advanced horseback and archery skills as well as its ferocity.
The ruthless leader of this army, Khotun Khan, will be the player’s main enemy and Sucker Punch has described this leader as being an “uncomfortably reasonable killer.” How this will manifest itself in the game is unclear but it suggests an engaging story line and hero/villain dynamic.
There will be a Japanese audio track
Sucker Punch confirmed that Ghost of Tsushima will give players the option of playing the game with English voice acting or with Japanese voice acting and English subtitles.
PS5 backwards compatibility
Ghost of Tsushima is a PS4 launch title but given it’s been confirmed that the PS5 will be backwards compatible players will no doubt be able to play it when they upgrade their console too. It’s not been confirmed, however, if there will ever be a PS5-enhanced version of Ghost of Tsushima to make the most of the next generation technology.
Difficulty levels
Talking to GameSpot, Ghost of Tsushima’s co-director Chris Zimmerman mentioned difficult levels in the game, saying “There are difficulty levels and that’s actually kind of more important for us than it is for a lot of games, because it’s an open world game and lots of different people play those games for different reasons.”
Zimmerman acknowledges that some players will only want to see the game’s beautiful world, saying that “their experience has to be different than somebody who looks at it like they’ve always wanted to play a really grounded katana fighting game, and the fantasy for them is about challenge, discipline, practice and precision–that’s what they expect of samurai and that’s what the game should demand from them as the player.”
Ghost of Tsushima pre-orders
If Ghost of Tsushima sounds like your kind of game, you can check out the best Ghost of Tsushima pre-order prices below: