Many foreign or samurai film buffs likely would have heard of master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. If you haven’t, you likely will now that news has come that the Ghost of Tsushima cinematic mode got help in development from the Kurosawa estate to really help capture the cinematography of the genre.
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who died in 1998. He left his mark on filmmaking, particularly in the manner of samurai films, placing an enormous emphasis on cinematography that any gameplay footage of Ghost of Tsushima should make you feel more familiar with.
The cinematic mode, named Kurosawa Mode by the developers, really helps with the cinematographic style of the game, helping with camera angles and atmosphere despite the mode making the game entirely in black and white.
While Kurosawa is only one of the many influences about samurai that Sucker Punch has taken from in order to give Ghost of Tsushima the authentic feel of a samurai movie, his estate helping with the Ghost of Tsushima cinematic mode. It’s not just a black and white mode, either.
The cinematic mode will not only make use of colors to imitate Kurosawa’s style, but also special camera angles, a film grain, and varying shades of black and white to simulate other colors. The game’s navigation system won’t be crippled by the mode either, since you follow the wind to your next destination.
The audio has also been toyed with. Playing with the Kurosawa Mode in Ghost of Tsushima, the audio will be more crackly, the kind you’d hear on megaphones, radios, and old television sets back in the 1950s, all of which will allow the Ghost of Tsushima cinematic mode to really capture the feeling.
Ghost of Tsushima will be releasing on July 17 exclusively on the Playstation 4, so if you’re a Kurosawa buff that finds the cinematic mode appealing, you can pick up the game when it releases, and try Kurosawa Mode for yourself.
