Ghost of Tsushima's E3 debut analysed: a stunning late-gen showcase

It may have been a Sony E3 media briefing short on new announcements, but there was no shortage of spectacle. Alongside The Last of Us Part 2, the gameplay debut for Ghost of Tsushima took us to the war-torn grasslands of 13th century Japan, depicted via a masterclass in real-time rendering, animation and physics simulation. Looking at its stunning opening vista shot, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is running on future Sony hardware - a prototype PlayStation 5, perhaps. At first glance, the environment animation, particle effects and lighting look a generation ahead - and certainly it's a big stylistic jump from the studio's previous work on InFamous First Light. But as the end credit tile reveals, the demo runs on hardware you may already own. It's a PS4 Pro, and so, the real surprise is the technical ingenuity going on in order to achieve such great results on existing console technology.

This game's significant for PS4 in other ways too. Flip back the calendar to E3 2013; InFamous Second Son is privately demoed as a launch title for the unreleased PlayStation 4, and I was there to see it in a hands-off demo at Sony's press area. Next to the likes of Knack and an early build of DriveClub, it was easily the best-looking game shown on the system. Now, five years on, it's fitting that the same developer is book-ending the generation with a new release - with rumours circulating of a PlayStation 5 port as well. Ghost of Tsushima has huge potential as a cross-gen title, but in the here and now, it's squeezing the most it can from the existing PlayStation consoles. The results are terrific.

Ghost of Tsushima stands on its own, away from InFamous' shadow. There are no waypoints for example, and you're free to carve your own path through feudal Japan with a samurai blade. Another curious point is the lack of UI during the demo, even button prompts. The minimalist design works wonders for the game's aesthetic - a cinematic framing that evokes some of the best films based on the same historical period, especially Akira Kurosawa's Ran. Those huge, billowing environments feel wider and broader, and blade-to-blade combat comes across as suitably raw and instinctive. Unlikely as it is that the HUD stays disabled come release, for the sake of authenticity, I hope we're given the option toggle it off.

So if the title was shown running on PlayStation 4 Pro, how does Sucker Punch leverage the system? It took a while for 4K media to filter through from Sony after the event, but now we have some answers: the demo renders at a 3200x1800 resolution - just like Sucker Punch's InFamous upgrade. And again, in common with the studio's prior work, checkerboarding is implemented, noticeable mainly on transparencies such as grass, where zooming in really close reveals tell-tale cross-hatching. By and large, the image holds up beautifully though. PS4 Pro's feature parity with InFamous here bodes well for the standard console - if the same parity applies, we should see the same experience operating at 1080p.

Otherwise, the demo stands out in three areas: the swathes of plant life, the physics interaction, and also Sucker Punch's post-effects pipeline. Of course, the breadth of swaying plants in that opening shot is staggering, and the first thing to catch the eye. The draw distance is quite unlike anything we've seen this generation, and even a game like The Witcher 3 with its White Orchard area had to prune back its rendering range to cope on current-gen systems. By contrast, Ghost of Tsushima shows no sign of pop-in at all. Combined with PS4 Pro's 1800p resolution, you can see the wind causing a ripple-effect across a sea of white, and even a siege on a village far away the distance.

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https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-ghost-of-tsushima-gameplay-debut-tech-analysis