When you ask Sucker Punch Productions teams (Infamous, cunning…) Yeah Tsushima’s ghost He made them go through another dimension, the answer is imbued with humility. However, it is a reality for the study of Seattle, known for its corrosive and irreverent style, which gave birth five years ago to one of the most important games of recent years.
After the game of the American platform, superhero and action, Tsushima’s ghost He had appeared as an unexpected adventure, a personal search for his hero, Jin Sakai, Samurai wondered about the meaning of his existence and respect for his code of honor. A successful feudal Japan game, with more than 10 million units sold. And when we argued with Nate Fox, creative director of the game, all this is a bit obvious.
THE CHAMBERA CHAMBAR
The man is interested in cinema, a fan of Japan, his culture and pop culture, but above all a great lover of Samurai films and wanted to continue this exploration with Ghost of YoteiNew episode that arrives this October 2 exclusively in PS5. “The idea comes from classic samurai films that have inspired us a lot with their martial nobility and art. They are the quintessence of the franchise,” explains Nate Fox. “Human proximity, the stories to make you cry, the violence of the struggle and the beauty of nature, in particular expressed by the framing of Akira Kurosawa, really define what a game is Ghost of And we will remain faithful there. “
And this taste for Japanese cinema of Seven Samurai on Yojimbo either 13 murderers, At all times, both in the staging of the fights, where opponents face a nearby point before embarking on an ultra precise and fatal choreographic, and very often as violent as the jubilant. “It is not just an action movie, it is also a powerful experience,” adds Nate Fox, remembering the importance of a world where drama and emotion rub.
The story takes place this time in 1603 in Ezo, an old name of Hokkaido, with its varied and majestic landscapes. And the choice is not trivial. “It is a place that you want to explore in your dreams … Perfect for a game in which you miss in the beauty of landscapes,” says the American. A sumptuous decoration for a dark, dangerous time in Japan and then in full mutation, trying to resist invasions. But Ghost of Yotei He also wants to take advantage of the splendor of the landscapes to invite contemplation with an artistic direction that sublimates each trip in the plains at the foot of Mount Yotei, in the forests or the foothills of the mountain raised there as a wise man following the evolution of the actors in the scarce, a bloodied character, carried by his thirst to revey and his reflection of human resilience.
A heroine in search of revenge and resilience
If we look for a link between the two episodes of the franchise, it will not be for the moment (300 years will separate them), or by places, history or heroes. Jin was a noble Samurai. ATSU is a mercenary of a modest fund. “We wanted to tell the story of a stranger, someone in whom no one believes to challenge the most feared warriors,” explains Nate Fox. And this narrative choice gives freshness to history, moving away from the usual principles of the Samurai Honor Code.
Despite the bonuses in his head, ATSU wants to eliminate the six of Yotei, a group that decimated his family and left her dead. Revenge marks each of its steps, to the point of becoming the populations of an Onryo, a feared and admired vengeful figure at the same time. A contrast character, a woman who may seem fragile, but handles weapons like no one and leaves many corpses on her way. Danger and beauty, two inseparable elements in this Ghost of Yotei Which reveals an open world dedicated to the freedom of choice of players (go directly to their search or roam to discover the places and of oneself, in a certain way).
Ghost of YoteiInitially for your empty card and the use made of long shots to discover places or other artifacts, it encourages curiosity, exploration to understand and discover. If you are not curious, it can be lost due to lack of clues and it would be a shame to lose all this part of the emotion born of ATSU’s trip and this immersion in the richness of Japanese culture.
An ode to freedom that can stop
But Yotei It is not just a simple history of revenge and also has its share of hope. “It is a story of triumph about trauma, of hope. Atsu goes from loneliness to reconstruction, which is surrounded by a” package “of colleagues, his chosen family”, which comes to support him on history, says Nate Fox.
A real narrative dimension, but also collaborative in its intention, capable of Sucker Punch, a study that “works in the collaboration and exchange model”, specifies the manager, remembering that the choice of the subject was made by the entire team. And an always palpable will with the study to bet on stories capable of “annoying, vibrating and surprising.” ATSU in heroine transported by overcoming oneself, the need to “fight to win respect” allows the player to live a similar experience.
Japanese culture, its sense of honor and duty, its inhabitants and traditions: everything made a perfect cocktail for a moving history, went through the aesthetics of fighting films, with a small tribute to the Westerns, giving the perfect elements of a video game. “Our goal was to bring real immersion, so that Japanese players could invest without distracted by Western errors,” added the interested party. And the concern for cultural veracity paid for Sucker’s coup with the Japanese media that praised the game, such as the respected Famitsu, who gave him an almost perfect note (39/40) and made it the headlines.
The shadow GTA VI He moved away around 2026, Ghost of Yotei It has a boulevard to illuminate the end of the year. The new Sucker Punch game is an ode to resilience, an invitation to overcome, the assistance of the commitment (you have to find teachers to learn the management of weapons or charms). The study recognizes that Tsushima He put beautiful bases and he knew how to refine the key elements of the first OPUS to surrender and give the players more freedom. But his successor also knows how to find his own poetic, poetic and bloody identity at the same time.
A new breath in Yoteiwhich can uproot some due to the lack of accompaniment, but a sufficiently unique and magnificent experience to want to go to battle. A physical and interior fight that deserves to take the time to immerse ourselves there.
Ghost of Yotei: Available exclusively in PlayStation 5.
Source: BFM TV
