Sucker Punch Productions considers its open-world action game Ghost of Tsushima an homage to Akira Kurosawa’s genre-defining films. Many of Kurosawa’s films have gained cult status and worldwide acclaim, with many contemporary pieces of media borrowing from or referencing iconic stylistic aspects of his films.
Ghost of Tsushima is no different. The game has spared no expense to ensure its graphics and environment design are just about flawless. Sucker Punch Productions has clearly put in the effort to ensure that players are not only immersed in Jin’s journey but also appreciative of the game’s breathtaking scenery. Ghost of Tsushima is chock full of little details that don’t fail to impress.
For example, bleeding mechanics. Who doesn’t remember the iconic blood spurt scene from Kurosawa’s Sanjuro? Several of the game’s executions reference the quickdraw that has become emblematic with samurai in popular culture, and in-game enemies are naturally lousy with blood to better show off Jin’s swordplay. The developers have gone as far as to implement a mechanic where enemies killed in bodies of water will have their blood react realistically with the water.
Redditor ROOBIT took to the Ghost of Tsushima subreddit to document this detail upon observing it. When an enemy is killed in a river and blood lands in the water, it will dissipate and then flow with the river. While ROOBIT’s video doesn’t demonstrate what would happen if multiple enemies are killed in water—will the river turn red with blood? How far downstream will the blood flow?—it more than exemplifies how much detail was put into this game.
One thing about graphically realistic games that tends to interest fans is water physics. How crisp, how clear, and how fluid water is rendered in-game usually ends up being a topic of discussion. Well, Ghost of Tsushima has not only managed to apply realistic water physics, but it has also calculated how blood reacts when interacting with moving bodies of water.
Although Ghost of Tsushima’s story is controversial and has aroused a storm of discussion, there’s no denying that its graphics and gameplay are very impressive.
