Ghost of Yotei’s State of Play just unveiled one of the coolest features imaginable, and frankly, every open-world game moving forward needs to copy it.
When Ghost of Tsushima arrived in 2020, it did so with a unique gameplay mode. Paying respect to legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Sucker Punch Productions packed in a special Kurosawa Mode.
Toggling Kurosawa Mode on transformed the experience, replacing the vivid colors of foliage around Tsushima Island with striking monochromatic visuals. Of course, it was expected this unique mode would be making a return in the sequel, Ghost of Yotei.
However, devs at Sucker Punch had a few extra tricks up their sleeves. The sequel doesn’t just honor Kurosawa, but two other visionary creatives as well.
For starters, Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has been honored with a mode all his own. Toggling Miiko Mode on brings the camera closer during combat to ratchet up the intensity. It also pushes blood and mud effects to the max, really hamming up the grizzly nature of it all.
But it’s the third and final feature that truly stood out during the State of Play presentation. Honoring Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe, Sucker Punch has created a new mode chock-full of Lo-fi music. It looks and, more importantly, sounds absolutely intoxicating.
Ghost of Yotei’s Lo-Fi mode is simply genius
Watanabe is known for his slick work in the animation field, pairing dazzling visuals with electric soundtracks to truly stand apart. Not only is Cowboy Bebop a standout for exactly that, but so too is the likes of Samurai Champloo, which Sucker Punch mentioned directly in the Yotei broadcast.
While playing with this unique mode active, Lo-fi music, including new tracks made by Watanabe himself, will complement our every action as we stroll through the lands of Ezo (today known as Hokkaido).
It’s a brilliant idea, and even just from the brief snippet we saw, clearly one that’s been executed with every ounce of care.
While not inherently a ‘cozy’ game, especially not when carving limbs off and exacting revenge for the murder of Atsu’s family, it just fits so naturally.
Ghost of Tsushima provided a sense of zen when out of combat. With absolutely sublime environmental design and delightful visuals, you couldn’t help but be whisked away by the breeze, entirely swept up in the gorgeous recreation of 1200s Japan.
Every path you walked through colorful, diverse biomes, every sunset you witnessed from horseback, every haiku you created, it all established a sense of calm amid the chaos.
With Ghost of Yotei, that same prioritization of atmosphere has evidently been carried across and in many ways, emphasized like never before.
While admittedly, a Lo-fi mode wouldn’t necessarily fit in every open-world game (can only imagine what Arthur Morgan would make of Lo-fi hip hop radio beats to study/relax to), this feature is something developers far and wide should be taking note of.
Let us stay cozy in your painstakingly detailed worlds.
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