Ghosts of Tsushima (PS4) will most likely have Japanese dialogue

Sony warned viewers that this year’s PSX show wouldn’t have the huge reveals of year’s previous. While some were disappointed in the lack of announcements revealing Half-Life 3 for the Vita 2, others enjoyed hearing from the developer panels.

Members of Sucker Punch and Sony’s Ryuhei Katami spoke with IGN’s Brian Altano about their upcoming title Ghosts of Tsushima, an open-world samurai adventure set in Feudal Japan.

Near the end of this clip (45:33) the Creative Director asked if the crowd wanted Japanese dialogue and the crowd interrupted with a huge cheer to answer the question.

“I am a very lazy Creative Director and I often ask people for their opinions to try and decide what to do…we were arguing behind stage, this is a good chance t find out if people are into it. Would you be interested in playing the game with Japanese dialogue [huge roar from the crowd]…..noted. Thank you.”

Many Japanese developed games can easily retain the original Japanese dialogue as an option (to use with English subtitles). Sucker Punch is an American-based company but I would assume Japanese voice-acting is mandatory for a AAA Sony exclusive. I would be blown away if Sucker Punch cut the English voice acting completely, though it would save a bit of money and add authenticity.

Regional voice acting can definitely change the tone and it’s a wonderful addition that I’m assuming does not take much to implement (in a game that will already have both two or more dialogue recordings).

See how the Japanese voicing subtly changes this delicately acted scene from one of the most beloved games in recent history.

Ah yes, this scene makes so much more sense now in the proper cultural context.

Other notable comments were the Sony rep’s excitement over producing a quality single-player offline game. Rallying against EA and Battlefront 2 is always good for cheap cheer, but it’s still great to hear that from one of the biggest game publishers in the world. Sony is usually pretty good at saying ‘not us!’ after huge backlash (Xbox One no used games / always online etc) so take it with a grain of salt.

I’m excited to see Sucker Punch finally get away from the Infamous franchise, and – much like Guerilla and Horizon Zero Dawn – I’m very curious to see what they can do in a new context.