Ghost Of Tsushima: 8 Tiny Details That'll Blow Your Mind

1. 'Kurosawa Mode' Is More Than Just A Filter

The functional qualities of Ghost of Tsushima's 'Kurosawa Mode' are a tad difficult to assess, mainly because Tsushima is itself one of the most vibrant and colourful looking games I've ever encountered. Filtering that out in black and white seems like an odd, if not novel choice, particularly when players need to utilise colour to navigate the environment.

All that said, it's clear that Sucker Punch have put effort into the mode, and that it's not just a filter that turns everything black and white. If you do wish to dabble in the mode, you'll notice a change in audio. According to Sucker Punch's Jason Connell (in a conversation with EW), the studio's audio team "had an internal tool that mimicked sounds of old TV and, specifically, megaphones, radios, TVs back to the ’50s,” to better convey that cinematic feeling.

Players will also notice film grain and other such effects that attempt to hammer home the game's filmic sensibilities even more.

There's no denying the effort that has gone into it, but I would also just like to awkwardly tack-on that the best way to play the game is still in full colour, taking in the full rainbow of saturated palettes that distinguish Tsushima from its contemporaries. 'Kurosawa Mode' might be fun to flick on for a couple of minutes or so to get that perfect shot in photo mode, but don't let it wash out Tsushima's beauty.

Plus, if you are after a hearty dose of black and white samurai action, you could do a lot worse than to just watch Kurosawa's films instead! Rashomon and Seven Samurai are both great places to start, and feature Toshiro Mifune doing Toshiro Mifune things as an unreliable outlaw and maverick ronin respectively.

--

READ NEXT - Ghost Of Tsushima: 10 Samurai Films You NEED To Watch First