Main info:
- It's an open-world samurai adventure.
- The game is grounded and realistic. There's no supernatural elements in this game.
- The game is a original work of fiction they are not rebuilding history stone by stone.
- It is much bigger than the games Sucker Punch have done in the past. A lot bigger than Infamous.
- You can play the game with a Japanese voice track. Even with a cast of mostly native Japanese speakers, they still have a dialogue coach for the game for authentic ancient Japanese.
Story, characters, missions:
- The main character is called Jin Sakai.
- Jin does serve a shogun who has not been shown yet.
- Main storyline will be Jin vs. the Mongols.
- Leader of the Mongols is an "uncomfortably reasonable killer" trying to intimidate our hero.
- Jin's nickname is "The Ghost of Tsushima". Jin has become a "legend" in Japan called "The Ghost".
- Jin's sword is the family sword and it's called the Sakai Storm.
- The E3 2018 trailer is not part of the main story, it's a side quest.
- Its area in the game has a different theme. That reflects to different stories and narrative themes for each area. The name of the area on the demo is "The forest of no return". Features betrayal stories with darker tone.
- No branching narrative.
- There a lot of stories in the game that you may not find them all.
- There are many side characters in the game, most which have sidequests.
- Jin will learn new things from NPC quests.
- You can ride a horse, is integral to the game. Horse's name is Nobu.
- Jin will change what is wearing. In a rain-drenched part of the world Jin has traded his traditional armor for a straw raincoat called a mino. This has both mechanical value and narrative value.
Combat, progression, controls:
- Jin had to go beyond his samurai training in order to fight back against the Mongols.
- They will share details on the combat later. The theme of the combat is "mud, blood, and steel". They want a feeling of intensity and danger in the combat.
- Combat system can scale all the way up from a one-on-one combat with a worthy opponent all the way up to dealing with a horde of Mongols.
- Possibility of other weapons but they're only showing the katana right now.
- You can customise your katana.
- They want every swing to feel real, so every hit that connects leave a scar.
- Sucker Punch teases that Jin's combat style abandons some samurai techniques, swapping them for the "violent grace of a silent assassin".
- The player can choose if they want to go full samurai or full ghost in any situation.
- There is a progression system. Jin has learned to use a grapple hook but this is not part of his samurai training. He's had to learn new tricks to silently kill the Mongols.
- The evolution on how he fights back is the key to what will keep you engage you will keep finding new ways to wage war.
- Duels in the game is going to be very narrative base they want to build the tension, each duel will be around some unique element like the red tree.
- They are looking at Kurosawa films and John Ford westerns to try to translate the cinematic nature of those moves into the game.
- Everything you can see in the background you can go to such as a Pagoda and Mongol ships, you have the freedom to go where you want at your on pace.
- They want to give players a lot of navigational options.
- Square button swings your sword.
- You can kill an enemy with a single strike from the blade if you hold the triangle button and release it at the right moment.
- You parry with L1.
- You can clean your blade with a button.
Graphics engine, tech:
- Dynamic time of day and weather.
- Simulated clouds. All dynamic, not painted, never going to be seen twice.
- Procedural skies and procedural sun break tech.
- If you roll around a lot in the mud you will be completely cover. If it starts raining it washes away all the mud and blood.
- Strong focus on minimalism for the graphics, you see the things that are more pronounce.
- "Movement" is the environment theme, expect everything to move - blowing trees, windy fields, falling leaves.
- Landscapes range from the swaying bamboo forests of the countryside, to the urban centers of ornate castles.
- There will be a minimal game HUD but they're not showing it just yet.
- You have full control over the camera.
- Photo mode confirmed.
- Swordplay is all mo-cap.
- The horse is mo-cap.
E3 2018 trailer details:
- The E3 2018 trailer is not part of the main story, it's a side quest.
- The name of the area on the demo is "The forest of no return". Features betrayal stories with darker tone.
- The demo was running on a PS4 Pro.
- 30,000 leafs on the ground in the duel.
- Half a million pampas flowers in that field.
- They photo scan the ground from Tsushima and out it in the game.
- Τhe chain assassinations we seen in the trailer you must hit the button at the right time to go to the next one there is a time period.
- The part where he stab the guy though the screen was not a scripted moment. Its called Shoji assassination.
- Expect that level of detail (E3 2018 trailer) in the whole game.
Leaked info:
- Samurai were the most respectable people in Japan, people bow to Jin as he passes by on foot or horseback, but samurai were also feared; some women and children will attempt to hide or flee at the sight of Jin, while others will attempt to attack in order to prove themselves, or take some of the valuable gear a samurai would typically carry. This all helps to make the world feel alive and immersive. Not sure how often these civilian interactions occur.
- Each outpost has a story behind it and a quest line, not just "take out these soldiers and you retake the village". Villages can be retaken by Mongols if you do not complete the quest line.
- The game has two central towns (think Witcher 3), and many smaller outposts / villages.
- There are NPCS who can help train you in the ways of the Ghost, as for a Samurai, it would be a completely different form, and dishonorable way, of combat. Don't expect Jin to be able to right out of the gate know how to throw shuriken, use kunai, use alchemy (poisons, create potions, and explosives), use grappling hooks to get on top of rooftops, quickly, etc.
- 2 major skill trees with many branches; which are way of the samurai, and way of the ghost. Samurai focusing more on sword play, archery, and defense, while ghost focuses more on stealth, alchemy, and agility.
- Samurai skill tree is fully unlocked from the start, while ghost requires you to complete tasks in order to unlock a specific branch, such as working with an alchemist in order to learn poison abilities, or to create potions with strong effects.
- You will be free to switch between samurai and ghost kits. Jin in full samurai armor won't be able to climb buildings (you can still jump, don't worry) or swim/dive, and would be fit more for a defensive, all out attack build. This can be balanced out however by mixing kits. You switch by going into any outpost / town, there you will also be able to sleep in order to pass the time, so if you prefer to tackle a mission at night as a ghost, or at day as a samurai, it's up to you. So for a more grounded approach, samurai is recommended.
- Think of climbing buildings as a faster paced assassins creed. Tenchu style grappling hook makes it even faster.
- You don't necessarily want to be seen in your ghost kit, as people may take you for an assassin and will sometime be hostile toward you. The game recommends you to be the ghost at night, but samurai at day. Some quests will only be handed out in your samurai gear, or only in your ghost gear, such as assassination requests. Double agent type of system and story to back it up.
Sources: E3 2018 panel, PS live E3, PlayStation Blog, IGN article, IGN interview, GameSpot interview, Tweets
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