The weight of expectation that Sucker Punch Manufacturing is carrying is slightly heavy. As one of the few first-party PlayStation video games of 2025, many gamers will probably be trying to it to scratch the story-driven AAA blockbuster itch that has been out of attain for lots of the yr. However, past that, it has the unenviable activity of following up the beloved Ghost of Tsushima.
Ghost of Yotei has been saved backstage all through most of its growth, however lately, it had an enormous displaying as the focus of a State of Play broadcast. Relying on who you ask, they’re going to both say it appears beautiful and has some probably thrilling gameplay evolutions or it appears good… but additionally very acquainted.
That break up in perspective is not stunning to administrators Jason Connell and Nate Fox. In truth, that very a lot is the intent. The problem, nonetheless, is find an excellent steadiness between the 2, which is less complicated stated than completed. Following the State of Play, GameSpot spoke to Connell and Fox in regards to the success of Ghost of Tsushima and the way Sucker Punch approached its sequel, in addition to what gamers can anticipate when the sport launches in October.
GameSpot: Ghost of Tsushima was a spectacular sport and I believe it is honest to say that it elevated consciousness across the studio considerably. What was that like afterward? How did you’re feeling after that and did you begin to really feel the stress of having to fulfill that prime bar now?
Jason Connell: Making Tsushima, there is definitely rather a lot of ardour that goes into that mission. Nate and I like samurai cinema, so attending to make a sport in that kind of manner was thrilling, however I believe it is definitely very thrilling to see it land with a bunch of people–way extra individuals than perhaps we anticipated. And that is a really optimistic feeling; sort of an awesome feeling too.
The quantity of those who have been posting photograph mode [shots] on Twitter and reaching out and making comments–whenever you have got one thing that many individuals play, there’s going to be issues they hate about it, there’s going to be issues that they love about it. And you simply hear all of it. It is definitely a brand new feeling.
However I do know for me, and Nate may really feel completely different, it definitely makes it really feel formidable to go make no matter comes subsequent, as a result of inevitably individuals are going to be like, “Oh, is that this pretty much as good as your very last thing?” That is only a regular half of the creation course of, although, so I believe it is a present. We’ve nice [intellectual properties]. We’re half of an awesome studio. Sony, generally, lets us be actually artistic. It seems like we’re sitting in a very superior spot the place we are able to construct off the shoulders of an superior sport that we created, however then add all these further new options in and contemporary parts that perhaps we did not have time for within the final sport as a result of we have been simply attempting to get the fundamentals transferring. It feels each exhilarating, overwhelming; actually rather a lot of gratitude, but additionally on the identical time actually creatively fulfilling to have the ability to make Yotei the way in which we need to make it.
Nate Fox: I discovered it actually inspiring, really, to see individuals play the sport on YouTube or Twitch and speak about what they appreciated, they did not like. It fuels all of us right here within the studio after we’re making the sequel to see the place individuals get a lot enjoyment out of the sport. And it is a new expertise. After we have been making Sly Cooper and Notorious, individuals did not do dwell playthroughs of Sly, so I did not know what degree hit. It is actually thrilling to have this degree of transparency into how individuals are having fun with the online game, you hope and also you dream they’ll like this half or react on this option to that half.
Now we get to see it and see the place we’re proper and the place we’re unsuitable, and it impacts the way you select to work on the following sport. However total, it is a actually unbelievable change in how online game creation works as a result of earlier than, you made a factor that you just threw over a fence and also you hoped individuals appreciated it, not like a film, the place you can go right into a movie show and sit amongst individuals watching it and see in the event that they laughed or did not snicker. It’s new now. We get to see how individuals actually take pleasure in it or how they react.
With that in thoughts, has the method of arising with or making a sequel modified in any respect? As a result of I think about so quickly after you go, “Oh, we have completed Tsushima, let’s go to the following one now,” you presumably have to take a seat there and begin poking holes within the sport that you just simply made and love to determine the place you possibly can go subsequent. Is that made any simpler by with the ability to flip on a YouTube channel and have individuals simply break down the whole lot that they do not like? Or what’s that course of like for you each?
Fox: [Laugs] Sorry. I began laughing since you’re like, “Oh, it’s important to undergo the method of declaring the issues you do not like” however at Sucker Punch, we’re relentlessly important of our work.
Connell: Each week.
Fox: That’s our love language. We simply do criticism in a constructive manner. We positively are exhausting on ourselves, but it surely’s as a result of we wish [our games] to be actually nice and now we have rather a lot of ardour to manifest this factor. So, after we get completed with Ghost of Tsushima, we sort of know, “Oh, listed here are the elements we expect are pretty. Listed here are the elements that we do not like as a lot. How can we make investments extra within the elements that appear very alive?” However it’s such an extended course of of making the sport. Of course, you are on-line articles, photograph mode posts, or YouTube, and it modifications some of the ways in which you take into account the sport as a result of you possibly can see [those things].
Connell: For positive. I do know that, for Nate and me, all these issues are true. And then earlier than we even actually began on the following factor, we type of [said], “Listed here are the core pillars.” As a result of after we’re making Ghosts of Tsushima, it is simply popping out of us and we’re altering stuff day by day. Now it is like, “Oh, now we have this entire factor we constructed, now we need to flip it right into a franchise, so what are the issues it’s important to carry ahead?” So, we created a complete pillar sheet: deadly precision and fight; samurai cinema film-inspired, beautiful artwork course and delightful depiction of the world; not simply photorealism however a mode that sort of matches; surrounding ourselves with advisers. No matter these pillars have been, and there is a entire host of them, we’re like, “Okay, these cannot change. We’ve to do all of these. Now the place’s our sandbox? The place are we going to play? What will we need to push on?” And that was a sort of enjoyable experiment.
How do you strike a steadiness between making progress in design and concepts with out compromising these pillars, figuring out that rather a lot of individuals may come to it in search of one thing drastically completely different?
Connell: This sounds silly, but it surely really actually helps and it actually works: we really use this time period, “Fresh however acquainted.” There’s variations of this sport which may have been hyper acquainted and there is clearly variations of the sport that may very well be hyper contemporary and also you lose the identification of Ghost. However once more, half of that’s, what are you going to hold over? And for instance, the artwork fashion, we may have taken a route the place we’re like, “Let’s go for photorealism on the following one.” However the artwork fashion is a component of the identification to Ghost, so why would we transfer away from that? In my view, and I believe our crew’s opinion, it’s a longer-lasting, impressionable feeling to have a mode that resonates with individuals, that resonates with the sport.
Now, some individuals could be like, “Oh, it sort of appears just like the final one.” I am like, “Yeah, we love the artwork fashion of the final one. I believe it is integral.” And so what we stated is, “Okay, now how will we broaden upon that?” We’ve manner longer sight strains. There’s higher visible rendering high quality all over. Efficiency is healthier. There are all types of issues that we enhance and we may speak about that eternally.
However the level is, that’s acquainted, however including slightly bit of freshness on it. And some issues [are] purely contemporary, like our reminiscence mechanic [where you can relive Atsu’s younger days] that now we have that is inside the house. So, that is purely a story instrument that you are able to do at any cut-off date. That’s completely only a utterly contemporary factor. There’s nothing like that in any of our earlier video games. And to have the ability to simply bop forwards and backwards instantaneously; completely new. Or positive, there is a relationship with animals in our video games, like foxes and birds within the final one, and the sense of nature, wind, no matter. And this one, you have got a wolf. The wolf is a a lot deeper expertise than something we have ever completed earlier than. So, it is a good combine. It is the familiarity half of it, as a result of wolf, animals, and many others., however [it’s going] manner deeper that makes it a bit extra contemporary.
For us, Yotei is clearly a chance to face on the acquainted as a result of now we have rather a lot of followers that love that, however actually suppose exhausting in regards to the core features of the sport we needed to convey the freshness to. Exploration is an enormous one. Fight. I am positive Nate will need to speak about fight. These two are most likely the most important areas the place we spent a while on.
Fox: I do need to speak about fight. I believe it is an awesome instance of that contemporary however acquainted technique that Jason was speaking about. In Tsushima, we had this sense of deadly precision that was born of traditional samurai films, and we liked it. So, we needed to not change [that], however of course, we need to convey one thing contemporary. A nice instance of that is, in Tsushima, we had 4 stances you can use, and for Yotei, we elevated that. Now, you have got 5 stances, however they don’t seem to be simply stances in the way you maintain your weapon. We stated, “Okay, we’ll change these to truly be completely different melee weapons,” despite the fact that, as a system, it is the identical factor. It is only a radical visualization distinction.
Oh, however wait, it isn’t, as a result of if you happen to swap over to, say, a kusarigama, which is the proper weapon in opposition to an enemy holding a defend, it additionally has advantages as a result of of the character of what the weapon is. In that case, if you happen to get surrounded by a bunch of enemies, you possibly can swing the weighted chain above your head and do an space impact assault to hit rather a lot of enemies directly. Or if you happen to’re holding the spear and also you’re combating close to a cliff, you should use it to knock an enemy backward off the cliff to kill them. So it is a wider software of instruments than we had in Tsushima, however the basis is similar fashion of deadly precision that was in that sport. We needed to provide gamers extra freedom, extra choices, however not go away or stroll away from the core feeling that was established in that earlier sport.
You talked about beforehand the identification of Ghost. For me, one of the important thing components within the identification was the character Jin, and the mythology that you just constructed round him–the samurai code being corrupted and turning into one thing new. Is {that a} main factor of Yotei and its identification? As a result of it looks as if Atsu is a bit more shaped in her identification and is slowly turning into extra lethal over time. Is there that very same sense of mythology constructing round Atsu and the Onryo?
Fox: So Ghost of Tsushima, as you level out, was completely a few samurai who sacrifices his codes to turn into a stealth fighter, and that was his arc. Ghost of Yotei is a religious sequel. It is not the identical story in any respect.
Atsu begins the sport, she’s a sellsword. She does not dwell by some code of the samurai. She’ll do no matter it takes to win. And she is so relentless in her hunt for the Yotei Six, and he or she overcomes rather a lot of odds that ought to kill [most] individuals, so the parents round Ezo begin to consider that she is a people story sort of monster, an Onryo, a vengeance ghost. Early within the sport, individuals consider that about her. She has that identification as a result of of her relentlessness.
And despite the fact that she has that high quality that individuals suppose of her as bigger than life, her transformation within the sport is not essentially, how does she turn into increasingly the Onryo? It is a query of how her identification as Onryo modifications her. We get to see her rework from a damaged lone wolf warrior who does not actually care if she lives or dies to [someone that grows] to encompass herself with a wolf pack that helps take care of her, and she modifies in that journey. It is a distinctive story. It is a completely different tackle a special side of what it’s to be a ghost in feudal Japan, and we’re glad that individuals quickly get to expertise it.
It seems like one of these “what does Batman do to Bruce Wayne, versus how does Bruce Wayne turn into Batman” tales. One of the issues that actually caught out to me was the reliving recollections stuff that you just mentioned. It seems like a sort of John Wick “You killed my canine” impact, the place it is such as you want one thing to humanize the principle character in a sport the place the first aim is to inflict brutal violence. What was the strategy for that mechanic and the concept behind that, and what are the restrictions of it? Is it that you are able to do it wherever, or simply particular areas?
Connell: Yeah, there are particular areas within the sport that Atsu will go to which can be very wealthy with recollections for her, and we needed to let individuals expertise these recollections by means of an interactive manner the place you possibly can hit a button, return and really play as younger Atsu to essentially expertise her life. However that freedom is admittedly necessary to us as a result of as avid gamers, as , once you’re in management, you actually really feel such as you’re that character. You determine with them. Having the ability to travel from recollections to the current permits you to do a before-and-after shot [showing] the heat of her youth, juxtaposed with the chilly loneliness of her grownup life. And since you’re in management, I believe you’re feeling it extra.
Simply as you say, we needed to determine that feeling of what it was once in order that you can perceive Atsu’s loss, and I believe all people has had this expertise the place you perhaps go house to your dad and mom’ home and also you see the bed room that you just grew up in and whether or not you prefer it or not, you bear in mind who you have been at the moment. These recollections come again and it is a very human expertise. And to make it interactive simply helps drive house the universality of it.
One of the opposite issues that you just actually emphasize is the liberty and the concept that Ghost is rarely going to hurry you to do something earlier than you need to do it. How do you strategy that freedom when it may disrupt the pacing, in case your character is instantly operating round doing one thing else for 25 hours once you’ve bought this goal that could be very well timed? And, secondly, how do you account for FOMO? I am one of these individuals who is continually like, “What else am I lacking?” It is that two-pathway gamer factor the place we’re like, “I’ll go midway down this one and midway down this one and see what’s up.”
Connell: We could be tapping into some nervousness for you.
Completely. Massively.
Connell: [Laughs] We actually need to reward completely different play types. If there are individuals who simply need to rabbit run the golden path–we do not suppose that is one of the best ways to play the sport, but it surely’s an excellent story if you wish to do that–go forward, you are able to do that, and we do not need to obscure that from individuals. We do not need to make it exhausting for individuals who purchase our sport and that is what they need to do as a result of they’re invested in your story they usually prefer it. We do not need to pressure them to exit to do a bunch of stuff they do not love to do within the open world and say, “You bought to do these six issues earlier than you possibly can go do their golden path.” That does not appear to be an awesome expertise.
However on the identical time, we additionally do not need to shove that in your face and put all of the development there and all of the cool stuff you could get on the golden path. We need to rejoice the those who prefer to play broad, and there is a lot of them. Folks prefer to play the sport for 70, 80, 90 hours and use photograph mode at each nook of the map, uncover the wonder, and discover the little issues, the medium issues, the massive issues. That is why we create issues like weapon sensei. To get weapons within the sport, it’s important to seek out the weapon sensei, you have to discover them on this planet, construct relationships with them, after which interact with them in sub-missions, and you will get to get these new weapons they usually’ll practice you use these cool new issues.
That is one of the explanation why we put that stuff on the facet path and out within the open world–such an enormous half of the play expertise. If you wish to spend all of your time within the open world, you must be capable of try this. We’re not going to pressure you to go over right here and do that factor. It is actually a easy philosophy that does manifest into some precise sport mechanics in the way in which that we current the sport. However actually and actually, it is simply attempting to specific to individuals you could play it the way in which you need to play it. The greatest option to play it’s, pull out the spyglass and discover round. We actually do consider that, however on the identical time, if you happen to actually are concerned about that golden path story, we’ll make it simple so that you can interact in it as a result of there’s a lot of emotion and rather a lot of coronary heart and rather a lot of construction that does come from that. We do not need to obscure that from individuals. We’re attempting to rejoice each.
It is one of these issues that I do know is hard to design for. I am one of these individuals who loves the liberty, however I additionally need the sport to be gravitating round me to inform me the place to go slightly. I believe I am simply an annoying individual with regards to open-world gaming.
Connell: However I believe [the] clue playing cards are that, slightly bit. We bought rid of this exhaustive journal that is simply pages and pages and texts and texts and simply what you’ve got completed, what you are able to do, what you are doing proper now. It is exhaustive when individuals spend far more time on the map, visible, and pictorial references.
Getting these clues, you may get slightly bit of a clue as a result of you have not gotten a weapon shortly or one thing like that. We’d offer you slightly bit of a clue the place a weapon could be and perhaps we inform you the place it’s for this one and perhaps we offer you a basic location. If weapons are your factor, cool, go do it. Or perhaps we’ll inform you about armor over right here. If armor is your factor and that is what you need, nice. We attempt to offer you some of these alternatives so you are not utterly aimless, and you may by no means be aimless if you happen to’re on the golden path, however we attempt to feed you adequate cool issues to whet your urge for food for what you probably may do within the sport.
One of the issues that caught my eye was the section the place you have been shopping for a map from a cartographer and it regarded such as you have been inserting the map piece. Are you able to inform me extra about that?
Connell: We expect maps are cool and we really spent rather a lot of time determining methods we would be capable of work together with the map slightly bit extra when someone sells you a map or if you happen to uncover one. On this time interval, cartographers have been mapping out these areas, so it is a good connection level there. However you should purchase these maps that may take you to a range of issues that you’re going to find out about and you may need to get some of them, so there’s slightly mini-game the place it’s important to work out, based mostly off the map that he provides you, the place it goes, and when you determine the place it goes, it rewards you. It is slightly bit of a mini-game inside of the map expertise.
I am an individual who performs primarily in stealth and once you have been presenting Atsu she very a lot appears to be participating head-on in fight. Will stealth gamers nonetheless be capable of scratch their itch?
Connell: You may completely sneak up on enemies and assassinate them after they’re unaware. I believe this can be a actually necessary half of the fantasy. Atsu is just not burdened down with the sense of the way you’re presupposed to honorably assault enemies. She’ll do no matter it takes. We confirmed within the State of Play how you should use a kusarigama. There are extra instruments and completely different behaviors we have developed for Yotei to make {that a} richer expertise, however I prefer to suppose that the stealth, despite the fact that you possibly can simply interact vis-a-vis stealth if you would like with most enemies, it is a few dance between stealth utilizing ranged assaults and melee fight. The participant is just not locked into anyone of this stuff. You may transfer between them once you’re up in opposition to a bunch of enemies, and it simply gives rather a lot of freedom of play fashion to customers.
I am a ranged participant, the uncommon weirdo who likes to shoot at issues with a bow, and the sport works for ranged assault people. Once more, I used to be speaking about earlier, the place providing the participant rather a lot of choices signifies that they get to play and strategy the sport in the way in which that most closely fits them. It is extra than simply fight or stealth. It is also whether or not or not you prefer to go after the principle story or do rather a lot of exploration. That could be a massive element of how we need to make the sport be what it’s to you, in order that it meets you the place and the way you need to play.
Working with two consoles now, PS5 and PS5 Professional, is there something distinguishing between them? Are there any benefits to at least one over the opposite? What was it prefer to work with that further horsepower?
Connell: The broader reply to your query is that we’ll really do a bit extra of a deeper dive on all of the specifics of the Professional options and have all these particulars prepared. Sadly, we do not have these right here immediately.
I’ll say I can communicate much less particularly about that and extra basic about PlayStation and making the sport. There are a complete host of issues that, and a few of it on the Professional too, that has actually helped us visualize the world in a brand new manner, and advance that inventive, lovely fashion in an acceptable manner that also celebrates that. It does not simply go into photorealism, but it surely actually props up our artistic and inventive targets.
For instance, manner longer sightlines than we had within the final sport. We have been capable of vastly enhance our far terrain rendering and I believe those who see Tsushima and evaluate it will likely be like, “Whoa,” as a result of it is loopy. I used to be a bit shocked when these options got here in. Or issues like native 4K rendering or improved hair and pores and skin. Snow deformation–we did not have that within the final sport. In case you have a combat within the snow, your weapons make slices within the snow, your ft trample all over. The characters get all snowy, there’s blood going in all places. It is a messy, cool expertise as a result of of the deformation. We even prolonged the deformation into issues like chunky mud, so if you happen to’re in actually thick and deep mud. These are simply issues we did not have earlier than and that we do have on this sport. We’re actually enthusiastic about that, however particularly for the Professional and the distinction between the bottom and the Professional, we’ll have a pleasant breakdown sooner or later concerning that.
What was it like getting Shinichiro Watanabe for the sport? It should’ve been a wild journey to get him concerned.
Connell: Every one of [the directors] have their very own distinctive journey to attempt to convey ahead the concept with them, and each has their very own option to strategy it. Shinichiro Watanabe was additionally doing Lazarus on the time, and I believe they have been simply launching it. It was in its first episode. It was a very thrilling time, and I watched it and I used to be like, “Oh, man, I like this. That is good.” It actually simply jogged my memory how a lot I liked Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop.
See, these Samurai video video games, it does not matter what they’re. Folks do playthroughs of them they usually throw lo-fi beats excessive of it, only for their stream or no matter. I am like, “Man, we must always do a mode the place we rejoice that genesis level, actually.” Although it is anime, it isn’t classical Samurai cinema, however there’s an enormous overlap with our followers like your self or anybody, myself, that actually is interested in that and acknowledges that. I used to be like, “We should always rejoice that.”
We reached out, had a gathering with them. They have been tremendous psyched on the concept, actually excited.
Actually, nearly instantly [Watanabe-san] went into like, “Oh, I’ll get these artists. I believe these individuals could be actually nice suits.” And inside a really quick quantity of time, we have been already getting music. We’ve a number of unique tracks he is created. We have got some remixes of our precise rating. It was a very optimistic and really thrilling journey for us, and actually, actually, actually honored that he was prepared to and was enthusiastic about it. Our followers get to listen to that when it comes out.