'Ghost of Tsushima' Creative Director Talks Authenticity and Pressure

In the past, Sucker Punch had the comfort of relying on go-to franchises for successes, such as its superhero themed Infamous franchise and the Sly Cooper games. Now, though? It's working on its most original effort to date, Ghost of Tsushima, and it's slowly become one of the most anticipated games for PlayStation 4.

While speaking with GamesIndustry International, creative director Nate Fox talked about a number of things surrounding the game, but focused primarily on authenticity. After all, the game does take place in old-school Japan, so it's vital to get its components just right -- even going as far as to work with actual samurai on the game's mechanics.

He explained, "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 samurai. And it's exciting because it changes the way you work to learning in the same way that players get to learn about these things, and in fascinating detail.

"Things were surprising us all the time. But that's part of the joy of the discovery of making the game. Hopefully it's something that will translate into the game as a player, that you will discover a lot of the beauty of feudal Japan."

Fox also explained why Japan is such a great location for a game like Tsushima. "Games are moving around," he noted. "Feudal Japan just happened to be a place that, as a developer, I know I was eager to spend a lot of time trying to recreate. And as a gamer, I really wanted to play an open-world samurai game. And that's just one excellent place in history - there are so many more.

"So yeah, I do think that there's a lot more spaces to play in and I wish the industry would get a little bit wider. That said, I think the industry does a pretty good job at going to places that are unexpected."

And, of course, there's pressure when it comes to living up to Sony's standards. "We absolutely feel pressure to live up to the standards set by these other Sony PlayStation exclusives -- but what a good pressure it is," Fox explained. "We want to provide players with the same joyful experience that they got from these other great games -- and what's better is these other studios, they talk to us, they give us tips, we learn from each other. We feel more capable than ever because of those studios being more open with their knowledge."

But there's sheer satisfaction from showing off what Sucker Punch has been able to do with the game thus far, as they did a few months back at E3. "E3 was a great time for us at Sucker Punch, in large part for just making it. I think it was really clarifying to see this game we've been working on for years made into something that we were proud to show the world. Sometimes it feels like you're kinda working in a cave, in isolation, so to finally be able to get it out there and show people is a great feeling."

Ghost of Tsushima doesn't currently have a release date, but it's expected sometime in 2019.