Sucker Punch clearly knocked it out of the park with Ghost of Tsushima, what with the game becoming the PS4’s fastest selling original IP. However, now that this game has launched, the question remains of what is next for the developer, and where will Sucker Punch’s next game land?

While Sucker Punch has clearly shown that new IPs like Ghost of Tsushima can be successful, the company does have a couple franchises that deserve some more attention. It would be great to see Infamous make a return, turning from the grounded samurai combat of Tsushima to god-like powers, but many fans would agree that Sly Cooper deserves the focus next.

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This comes from much more than just the Sly Cooper reference in Ghost of Tsushima, as there is also an Infamous: Second Son Easter egg that fans will no doubt appreciate as well. The core of this argument really comes from the success of Sly Cooper as a character and the absence of him and his crew over the past few years of Sucker Punch’s development. Of course, the neglect of Sly could have more to do with him being a symbol of a bygone console generation than anything else, but he’s still a beloved character regardless.

Missed PS4 by a Mile

The last Sly Cooper game to release was all the way back in 2013, landing on the PS3 and PS Vita, where the series has stayed silent ever since. So now, seven years and a full console generation later, the series has completely missed the PS4’s lifecycle, with little chance of seeing a sequel before the PS5 releases. To compare this with the other major franchise of note to be developed by Sucker Punch, both the first and second Infamous were ported to PS4 to go alongside Second Son and First Light.

Currently, both the Sly Cooper Collection, which contains the original trilogy, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time are available on PS Now, but a legitimate port has never been developed. Yet, in this whole time, Sucker Punch developed a continuation of the Infamous series, with two new installments on PS4, even if one is significantly shorter. So, if the developer wants to make the best out of the resounding success of Ghost of Tsushima, the best course of action may be to continue on building on the game’s stealth mechanics.

Stealth in Ghost of Tsushima

Jin sleeping on horse Ghost of Tsushima

The stealth mechanics in Ghost of Tsushima have often been compared to Assassin’s Creed, due in part to the way staying out of sight allows for easy and stylish assassinations of enemies. There is more to the comparison, such as the tracking and tailing missions, but at its core, this is all clearly a well-developed feature that Sucker Punch excels at. However, the reason that the developer is so great at delivering a stealth experience may be due to previous work on the Sly Cooper series, which delivered incredible stealth segments.

So, while fans of the Infamous series are still clamoring for Infamous 3 to show off the type of particle physics the PS5 can pull of, seeing how Sucker Punch can flex stealth mechanics may be even more impressive. Looking at everything available in Ghost of Tsushima, from collecting artifacts, to liberating the island of invaders, there are more similarities with Sly Cooper than Infamous. Looking beyond the brutal dismemberments and decapitations, the ability to sneak through enemy filled areas, quickly dispatch enemies, and run off with supplies fits Sucker Punch’s history of stealth.

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An Open World Sly Cooper

sly cooper art

Since Sucker Punch has left Sly Cooper behind, the other major games to come out of the studio have been fairly expansive, open-world titles. Infamous includes a substantial open city to explore, while Ghost of Tsushima’s world rivals Breath of the Wild for how massive and filled it is. However, while an open-world clearly works well for a title that relies heavily on stealth mechanics, Sly Cooper never got the chance to flex in such a large environment.

Taking the series to an open-world format almost seems like the logical next step, but as stated before, Sly Cooper hasn’t made any new steps since all the way back in 2013. This isn’t far from the releases of Infamous: Second Son, or First Light, which goes to show just how long both of these franchises have gone without any new content. However, as Sucker Punch has clearly learned how to make a compelling and full open-world, it’s about time that the developer applies this knowledge to a deserving and beloved franchise.

Sly Cooper on PS5

A number of games are already preparing to get reinvented on Next-Gen consoles, with games like Demon’s Souls being remade for PS5, Having missed the current generation of consoles, the PS5 would be the perfect platform to reinvent the series on. Giving the new system an open-world, stealth title would complete the list of games already lined up to arrive on the new system, rounding out the roster to include every possible genre.

As many of the games coming to PS5 attempt to take advantage of the high-fidelity graphics available on the system with realistic, lifelike worlds and characters, Sly Cooper would make for a balance among the list. The cartoony style found in the franchise could break the mold in a family friendly way that proves exactly why Sony needs a new Sly Cooper title in order to reach a more diverse audience. To go alongside upcoming releases like the new Ratchet and Clank or contrast with games like Horizon: Forbidden West, a fun, bouncy aesthetic is exactly what the PS5 needs.

On the other side of this coin, the PS5 may be exactly what Sly Cooper needs in order to deliver on the game’s classic style and mechanics in an open world environment. With the developer for the last game in the series, Sanzaru Games, having separated from Sony, it may be unlikely that a Sly Cooper 5 continuing from the previous title will come any time soon. However, making the cross over to a new console could mean that Sucker Punch now has the perfect opportunity to reboot the series, starting over from scratch.

Ghost of Tsushima is available now for PS4.

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