Sucker Punch gave many of us a surprise when they announced Ghost of Tsushima. Its departure from the modern cities of the Infamous series to 13th Century feudal Japan is quite the leap, one the studio is well aware of. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, creative director Nate Fox lent his voice to discuss the challenges of making such a thematic change:
Sucker Punch is good at making gameplay, but we are not cultural experts in Kamakura-era Japan. We recognize this, and we’re grateful to have the help.
The aforementioned help being experts in various fields regarding life in 13th Century Tsushima, an island situated between Japan and the Korean peninsula. Sucker Punch had also spoken to fellow developers in Japanese studios to receive advice on cultural norms, as well as receiving additional help with audio recordings. The game has gone as far as adding Japanese audio for players to fully immerse themselves within that setting and time period. Specialists were also consulted with to maintain an authentic feel to wielding a katana, on top of other fighting forms used in the year 1274. Fox expressed his appreciation for the challenges that diving into such unknown territories provided for the team: It’s been interesting working on this game because in past titles we’ve been able to make it up, frankly. For a superhero game set in Seattle, we knew what we were doing, but in this game we are constantly learning about Japanese culture or the norms of sa...