'Ghost of Tsushima' is a beautiful anthology of historical fiction stories

Ghost of Tsushima's combat was the obvious star of its gameplay reveal at E3. But there's so much more to this samurai game than sword fights.

We had a chance to speak with Ghost of Tsushima creative director Nate Fox and learn more about the story behind the game, its inspiration, and key features of the upcoming adventure.

To give a little background: Ghost of Tsushima stars Jin Sakai, a samurai on the island of Tsushima in Japan who is fighting back against an invasion of Mongols in the year 1274. Finding himself vastly outnumbered, he has to adapt his fighting techniques for more stealthy encounters and employ the way of the Ghost.

History of Tsushima

If you're looking for a historical account of Japan in the form of a video game, look elsewhere. While the game is heavily inspired by history, Fox was quick to point out that the entire premise is fictionalized.

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"So this is a game inspired by history, we're not trying to reproduce it. In fact, the original Mongol invasion was foiled by a kamikaze [divine wind]," Fox said. "Their boats were sunk by this [typhoon]."

Jin is not a typhoon, he is a man, Fox joked.

"We acknowledge that in [his] sword: it's decorated with storm wind to acknowledge the fact that there is a history there. But this is an original work of fiction. It's not a history textbook."

Even though the game is rooted in this what-if brand of fiction, the team made efforts to learn more about the period, from visiting the island of Tsushima to talking to experts on the time period. And, of course, watching a healthy dose of Akira Kurosawa films.

The Mongols

Through this education, Fox learned that the Mongols were formidable foes – thoughtful and intelligent, and experienced in invasion.

"The Mongols at the time were the most advanced military on earth. They had gunpowder and no one in Japan had seen gunpowder before — bombs, rockets, stirrups on their horses," said Fox. "They were the best."

The Mongols are presented as such in Ghost of Tsushima, but they aren't just one-dimensional villains. Over time, players get to know some of the Mongols and learn about them at a human level.

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"They're the heroes from their own perspective," Fox continued. "They're trying to bring peace through a larger empire. From the perspective of the Japanese, that's not the case."

The world of Tsushima

There's another detail that the developers made sure to keep a keen eye on: the environment.

"One of the things that we're really passionate about in this game is trying to capture the sublime beauty of nature," Fox said. "I think this is quintessential to the samurai genre, from fields of grass or forests of bamboo waving in the wind to the proud samurai standing still in the middle of it."

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With this in mind – along with the beautiful vistas we saw in the gameplay reveal at E3 – yes, there will be a photo mode. Fox confirmed that at any point, you can pause and move the camera a full 360 degrees to take a screenshot.

"We love the art assets, so it's nice to actually be able to let people explore them and check out the details on things like Jin's sword, his family sword."

Gameplay and story

There aren't a ton of details about the combat system yet, but Fox said it's elastic enough to allow for combat with multiple enemies at once and 1v1 duels without skipping a beat. He also mentioned the importance of mobility and being able to approach situations in different ways.

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Fox did reveal some details about how story and progression work within the game.

First off: it's a single player experience with no branching narrative, there aren't multiple endings or anything like that based on your actions. There are still side quests for Jin to set out on, however, like the sequence shown in the gameplay trailer.

That's right – the whole gameplay trailer is not part of the main storyline. Fox referred to Ghost of Tsushima as an anthology of stories and a big, sprawling wartime epic.

"This is not a simple war story," Fox said. "It's about real people trying to survive in the brutality of the Mongol invasion. Good people in trying times do bad things, and that's Jin's reality."