One of my most anticipated games for 2020 has finally been fully shown off. For years I have been anxiously waiting for this day and after watching the Ghost of Tsushima State of Play; I am now more excited than ever to jump into Sucker Punch‘s newest PlayStation-exclusive title.

The State of Play started off with how players will explore the world of Tsushima, set in feudal Japan. Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world action game and it looks like it will leave the HUD aside and put a greater emphasis on player exploration. However, that isn’t to say that players will get totally lost. There will still be waypoints, just not the ones we are entirely used to. Instead, players will get directed by the wind. This is in my opinion a wonderfully brilliant way to guide players without bogging down the gorgeous visuals with menus and mini-maps.

Sucker Punch also created other ways for players to experience Ghost of Tsushimas’ secret areas. Using nature to your advantage, you will follow birds to seek out little extras. In addition, foxes can be used to find hidden shrines. It seems that honoring theses shrines will improve armor slots or other abilities in-game. Using the environment and keeping your eyes peeled for smoke stacks in the distance or oddly shaped trees can reveal hidden secrets and maybe even side-quests.

Combat was one of the biggest aspects of Ghost of Tsushima that I was interested in. After seeing trailers it looks like you can play as both an honorable Samurai or a less-honorable stealth role known as Ghost. Jin the Samurai will face his enemies head on and can initiate standoffs with opponents that (like classic samurai films) will end in a slow motion finishers. The samurai can also change sword stances to take advantage of the weaknesses of different enemy types.

Jin the Ghost on the other hand is a lot more dishonorable and crafty, using smokes bombs and firecrackers to distract and take out his enemies with dirty tactics and by intimidating them. The Ghost is much more stealth-focused and seemingly more brutal, killing enemies with no remorse or respect. Using your environment to your advantage, you can climb onto rooftops Assassin’s Creed style to stealth-kill your targets.

The combat looks to present two very different ways to play, and it seems you will be able to pick and choose which path you want to take while you seek out your enemies. To me, this speaks on how much freedom you will actually have. Of course I can’t confirm this suspicion of mine until the games launches this July, but needless to say I am pumped to experience Sucker Punch’s gameplay brilliance.

Ghosts of Tsushima will also be hugely customizable. Depending on how you play, you will be able to find armor pieces that will tailor to either a more head-on approach or a more stealth-oriented one. The armor found throughout the world will have a cosmetic change as well, so not only will you be able to use your particular playstyle, you will also look the part too. All these armor sets can be dyed with flowers picked from around the world as well, so the more flowers you have the more dye you will also be able to play around with.

These were arguably the biggest reveals of today’s State of Play. However, we were also treated with some smaller, yet still exciting, gameplay elements. Firstly we saw that the game will have an in-depth photo mode. This mode will allow both budding photographers and pros alike to fine tune the focus, play with different lighting, change wind direction and even decide what kind of foliage you want flying around you. Do you want cherry blossoms or would you rather have a nighttime backdrop with some fireflies? The choice is yours, and yes I will be losing hours of my life with this photo mode as I do with every game that has one.

Secondly we got word of a Japanese language track and a ”Samurai Cinema” mode. The Japanese language is a perfect way to get fully invested into this world and if you are a fan of classic Japanese samurai films, this is the mode for you. Additionally, Ghosts of Tsushima will be playable entirely in black and white, with constant wind and a film grain that will make you feel like you are playing through an Akira Kurosawa film. With all these announcements and Ghosts of Tsushima on the horizon, I can safely say that I will be exploring the world of Tsushima when the game launches on July 17th 2020.

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