The absolutely beautiful open world of Ghost of Tsushima has not been designed to lend a helping hand when it comes to finding your way forward.
According to a preview (via PushSquare) from the latest edition of the Official PlayStation Magazine, there will be no waypoints to guide players and nor will there be any arrows of sorts to indicate the shortest path to their next destination. Instead, it will be the “landmarks and your knowledge of the world” that Sucker Punch Productions claims will help players navigate.
Sucker Punch is no stranger to creating open worlds, but the fairly minimalist nature of the environments is a bit of a departure for the developer. Time in the story will pass as you explore, with titles telling you how much time it’s been since the invasion began.
Such a design naturally indicates that the narrative will take players all across the open world and where they will familiarize themselves with different locations and settings. In addition, players will also need to read their objectives thoroughly for clues to their next destination. The open world of Ghost of Tsushima is “the biggest game” ever made by the developer in terms of scale and all of the trailers released so far have “barely scratched the surface” in that regard. Hence, prepare for long and exciting hours of exploration.
Featuring a hand-holding compass marker is usually tradition in open world games these days, but not all have followed suit. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, as one example, is notable for creating a system that only gave players the right amount of tools to locate their objectives without mentioning the exact location. Having a mission to search for an informant in the desert literally meant heading to the desert location and searching across the plains for the informant. That being said, Ghost of Tsushima will probably not be that frustrating.
Ghost of Tsushima is scheduled to release exclusively for PlayStation 4 on June 26, 2020. However, the global situation surrounding COVID-19 could possibly force Sony to delay the release. While no announcement has been made as of yet, some analysts believe that with physical retailers closed due to quarantine measures, first-party games like Ghost of Tsushima will suffer in sales.
