We’re getting closer to the October launch of Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei. And like any good rollout for anything, we’re getting some pretty awesome information on the process of making the game. This has come in the form of a couple of posts on the PlayStation Blog detailing the team’s visit to Japan.
foraging in ghost of yotei
I think the coolest thing out the gate is that Sucker Punch so earnestly went in to absorb the culture, that they ended up putting foraging in the game. When talking about the experience, Nate Fox, the co-creative director for Sucker Punch, noted that “we don’t naturally come equipped with the cultural knowledge to bring feudal Japan to life.”
Self-awareness is key. And given the work done on Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch operates well within that. Going through the posts and seeing the architecture and nature in the country is mind blowing. The picture of Mount Yotei seems almost alien. Nate Fox called it ” a mountain so tall it seemed to be watching over everyone on the island. And somehow that comes through in the picture. It’s just amazing to look at gameplay clips and see these pictures after. You can tell that Sucker Punch put as much work into the aesthetic as they did just the pure graphics.
And given what we’ve seen so far from the game, I’m excited to see what else they were able incorporate culturally. We’re seeing a slight shift in gaming recently as far as representation of different cultures. I think there is a real opportunity to use gaming as a pathway to learn through entertainment. The lore of the world is rich. If games like Ghost of Yotei, Black Myth: Wukong, and The Age of Bhaarat can do more to educate people on it, then let’s get more of it.
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