Ghost of Tsushimaofficially launches today on PlayStation 4. With the game now available to play, developer Sucker Punch is relaxing some and sharing details aboutGhost of Tsushima’s development. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming a fun story regardingGhost of Tsushima’s origins. One of the details that Fleming revealed is that before deciding to makeGhost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch considered making a pirate game.
Says Fleming that when Sucker Punch first started working on a new game it had decided only that it would be a “large, open world experience” with melee combat. The setting and story for that game was still uncertain. A pirate game was one of many options that were considered before the team decided onfeudal Japan. No reason was provided for opting not to make a private game, butAssassin’s Creed’s Black Flagmay have contributed to choosing a different idea.
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Fleming also mentioned two other possibilities that were ultimately passed on besides pirates. The first wasRob Roy, the Scottish outlaw and freedom fighter. A novel in 1818 embellished some of Rob Roy’s past accomplishments, making him into a sort of Scottish Robin Hood.
The other option, according to Fleming, was a story regarding the Three Musketeers. The Three Musketeers is a French adventure novel filled with swashbuckling swordsmen and heroes fighting for justice. It would have fit well withSucker Punch’s melee combat priorities. Protagonist d’Artagnan, one of the biggest heroes in adventure literature, would have been a great protagonist, too.
Despite the exciting alternative options that Sucker Punch could have gone with, a story revolving around a samurai warrior stood out from the pack. Fleming then said that the team discovered a historical account of theMongol invasion of Tsushima from 1274, which cemented the decision, andGhost of Tsushimagrew from that.
The development ofGhost of Tsushimaultimately took six years. Despite that lengthy development time, Fleming says that it was the “clarity of the original vision” that was key to bringing the project together. ThatSucker Punchcould have been a pirate game or a Three Musketeers title never slowed their determination. Yet, no matter how good of a gameGhost of Tsushimais, it’s hard not to imagine what could have been.
