Ghost of Yōtei’s Creative Director Wanted More Complex Flashback Mechanics to Help Storytelling

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Jason Connell, the creative director of Ghost of Tsushima, recently shared that the game’s developers, Sucker Punch Productions, initially envisioned a more intricate system for flashbacks. In a conversation with Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Connell explained that these flashbacks could have deepened players’ understanding of the protagonist, Jin Sakai, and his emotional journey.

The game would have included a feature letting players instantly know what Atsu was thinking or feeling with a simple button press. According to Connell, this would have strengthened the story of Atsu seeking revenge for past wrongs, and also let players delve deeper into her memories.

Connell explained that Atsu’s journey starts as a solitary one, but a simple action—pressing a button—immediately connects her to her motivations and past. He believes this is a powerful storytelling technique, as it allows players to experience a character’s inner feelings and understand what drives them, all through a single interaction.

However, implementing this feature would have significantly increased the workload for the development team. As Connell explained, it would have been like creating all the game’s art assets twice over, because players could trigger the flashback at almost any location in the open world. This would have required Sucker Punch to ensure the flashback mechanic worked seamlessly throughout the entire game map.

He explained that the feature would have essentially doubled the length of the game for players, everywhere they played. However, he was disappointed to ultimately have to remove it, realizing it just wasn’t feasible.

In the end, the studio settled on a compromise reflected in Ghost of Yōtei, including some scenes where players can see Atsu’s memories. Although this wasn’t the original, more elaborate vision Connell had, he’s pleased with the final game.

He explained that using this approach was a good decision because it’s a really effective way to tell the story. Unlike some automated setups, it allows players to activate the experience whenever and wherever they want, specifically at Atsu’s home where the events took place, and replay it as often as they like.

The game Ghost of Yōtei came out only on PlayStation 5 last month and has already become a hit. Sony announced that 3.3 million copies were sold by November 2nd. For comparison, the original Ghost of Tsushima sold 2.4 million copies in its first three days and eventually reached 5 million copies by November 2020.

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2025-11-19 15:11