It may be a while for Assassin's Creed to finally tackle one of its most-requested time periods, but there's another game that'll be depicting that same time period in the meantime. For many years, ever since Assassin's Creed 2, fans have been asking for an entry in the series based on Japanese history. While the Ubisoft franchise touches on vikings later this year, Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima will be heading to Feudal Japan in just a couple of months.
After some gameplay was officially shown of Ghost of Tsushima, many fans got some serious Assassin's Creed vibes after seeing how the game worked. Many similarities have been drawn between the upcoming samurai adventure and some of the more recent Assassin's Creed title, especially from a gameplay standpoint. At the same time, this game has an aesthetic and care for Japanese culture all its own, so regardless of whether Assassin's Creed does eventually hit feudal Japan, this game will uniquely scratch that itch much sooner.
Becoming the Ghost
Releasing on July 17, just a few months away, Ghost of Tsushima will finally scratch that itch for players who want a modern samurai action-adventure game based on authentic Japanese history. There's been a few games that have come close in their own unique ways like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Nioh, but each game took a more mythical approach to early Japanese history. From what has been shown thus far of Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch's take on feudal Japan will take a slightly more grounded approach, albeit there's still mystical elements like the Inari shrines and the Guiding Wind.
Despite taking a realistic approach, Ghost of Tsushima's gameplay and aesthetic looks like the ideal game based on feudal Japan. Players will take on the role of Jin the Samurai, destined to exact revenge on the Mongolian invaders who have invaded the island of Tsushima. After the Samurai experience defeat, Jin is the last man standing set to rebel against the Mongols and liberate the island. The bulk of gameplay will involve players liberating outposts and fighting the Mongolian invaders throughout the main story. Gameplay revolves around a dichotomy between honorable and dishonorable; players choose to either fight enemies directly like a Samurai, or utilize stealth to pick off enemies one at a time. Either way, Jin will liberate the island of Tsushima through taking over and destroying enemy outposts.
Japanese History in Assassin's Creed
Ghost of Tsushima looks a lot like what fans have wanted from an Assassin's Creed title set in feudal Japan. Japanese history, regardless of time period, has been a consistent request of the Assassin's Creed fanbase. Assassin's Creed 2 proved that the series was not limited to one specific time period, so from there, time period requests took off from Vikings to World War 2. Among all the fan requests and theorized time periods, feudal Japan always ended up high on the lists of most requested historical time periods.
Even the franchise itself has teased a specific portion of feudal Japanese history, though obviously nothing has been confirmed. In AC3, there was a Japanese Torri that followed an Egyptian Eye of Horus and a Greek Omega symbol. In short, it seems like it was teasing a trilogy of the three locations. However, Assassin's Creed Valhalla seems to put an end to that.
At this point, the series is likely going to stray away from a feudal Japan time period for now, likely gauging the risk of oversaturating a specific sub-genre of games based on this particular slice of world history.
Unfair Comparisons
Regardless of when an Assassin's Creed game does inevitably visit a time period in Japanese history, Ghost of Tsushima is likely going to receive a lot of comments about how it's what a Japanese history Assassin's Creed should be. And for good reason, as the game looks mechanically and aesthetically beautiful. Ghost of Tsushima even has an Akira-Kurosawa mode that harkens back to classic Samurai cinema from the 20th century. No Assassin's Creed title would've gone that far, though that's not a fair comparison to make.
Any comparison made to Assassin's Creed would be unfair at this point. Even though some gameplay elements appear to be shared between franchises, Ghost of Tsushima is clearly crafting its own unique story. Even if the story grounded is grounded in reality, Ghost of Tsushima is its own isolated story free from the baggage that comes with Assassin's Creed's overarching narrative. Ghost of Tsushima is crafting a story based solely on the history of Japan and doesn't necessarily have to relate to Templars or try to factor into the modern storyline in Assassin's Creed. Still, it does capitalize on fans' desires for more games based on feudal Japanese history. Assassin's Creed may have to up its game if the series intends to visit feudal Japan anytime soon.
Ghost of Tsushima will release on July 17, exclusively on PS4.