Title: Ghost of Tsushima | Developer: Sucker Punch | Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment | Initial Release: 17th July 2020
Sucker Punch's stunning open world is set to receive its first big update in the form of Ghost of Tsushima version 1.1. Due to land on the 16th October, the update includes the previously announced Ghost of Tsushima: Legends co-op multiplayer add-on, a much requested New Game+ mode, and more after the studio took player feedback on board.
"We’ve been listening to your feedback, and we’re excited to release a major update for Ghost of Tsushima"
New Game+ will be a very welcome addition for anyone who has already completed the game and wants to experience the beautiful island of Tsushima all over again, this time with all of your hard-earned Techniques, Charms and of course, vanity items available from the start. Well, at least from the point after the first encounter with Khotun Khan anyway.
Along with a baseline difficulty increase to up the challenge, and some much need Armour Loadouts that will make it easier to take advantage of the various combinations of armour and charm perks, there are also some cosmetic enhancements that will be of interest to the virtual photographer. A New Game+ exclusive horse features black hair and a striking red mane, while fresh and more elaborate armour dyes will be available from a newly trading Ghost Flower Merchant.
This update is not just about the existing single player game though, in the shape of Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, version 1.1 also brings 2-player co-operative stories and 4-player survival modes, as well as a full raid to come later. Each themed around legendary folk tales, in these new modes you will take on more fantasy-themed foes while playing as one of 4 distinct classes (Samurai, Hunter, Ronin & Assassin) with their own array of abilities, costumes and outlandish masks.
"wait until you see the terrifying masks the Assassin gets to wear!"
Naturally, this sounds and looks like great new content to point your virtual cameras at for some cool shots, so it is excellent news that Legends will retain Ghost of Tsushima's outstanding photo mode in full, as long as your co-op partners opt-in that is. This does raise an interesting question about how the photo mode and multiplayer will co-exist though.
With an inherent need to freeze the action, entering a photo mode is not something that typically works well with a multiplayer environment. Of course, we have seen various solutions to this problem before, and my first thought was that Ghost of Tsushima would follow the likes of Strange Brigade and No Man's Sky by making the full photo mode available but without stopping the game. However, take a closer look at the trailer above and you will see that in the Legends Photo Mode segment, the team of Ghosts are indeed perfectly still within Tsushima's trademark animated environment, suggesting that the game is frozen for the whole team simultaneously.
Exciting news for virtual photographers wanting to get shots while playing as a group then, and although it may require a degree of understanding within the co-op team, I can already foresee a great opportunity here. Too much intervention could become a pest but, imagine a team of 4 people working together to find the right moment and then capture their different interpretations of the same scene before sharing those unique images afterwards...
"Our robust Photo Mode is still present here"
As though all of this wasn't enough for virtual photographers to look forward to with this update, the announcement on the PlayStation Blog signs of with an almost throw-away mention that "new options have been added to Photo Mode"! There may be no specific word on what those options actually are yet, though we can already see the chance to switch between Ghosts in the preview footage, and I would also wager that a few new logo styles and the ability to properly use the photo mode while holding a bow might be amongst them.
Look out for this FREE update on the 16th October and let me know if the comments or on Twitter what added options you would like to see in Ghost of Tsushima's photo mode.
Mik
[ Images © PlayStation ]
