Sucker Punch Productions have posted a lengthy dive into Ghost of Tsushima's soundtrack, where they revealed they hired two composers - one to create character themes, the other to handle environments and sonic landscapes.
No, they didn't go for the "E3 flute guy", whose lifelong dedication to mastering the Taimu shakuhachi bamboo flute clearly wasn't nearly as important as the race to accuse Sony of cultural appropriation of the Japanese culture.
Thankfully, Twitter is here to foil diabolical Japanese companies from making a mockery of Japanese culture. Okay, we'll stop the sarcasm, but we genuinely felt bad for the guy.
As for Ghost of Tsushima's actual soundtrack, Sucker Punch narrowed their choice to two composers - Ilan Eshkeri, whose portfolio spans from The Sims to Ronin, and Shigeru "Ume" Umebayashi, whose credits are so extensive that mentioning House of Flying Daggers and True Legend scores almost sounds demeaning.
Interestingly enough, Sucker Punch hired both, employing each composer's style as creative reinforcement of Ghost of Tsushima's atmosphere and storytelling. Eshkeri handled character melodies and themes, while Umebayashi took care of the sonic landscape of the in-game world.
Mind you, making this work in practice takes bags of creativity and mountains of effort, and we cannot compliment Sucker Punch enough on their vision and work.
"In the game's score I used Shakuhachi , Koto , Shamisen , Taiko Drums and Chants, and my favourite discovery, Biwa . The Biwa is an instrument that Samurai used to play and the art of it was almost lost — there are now only a few players in the world! Luckily, I was able to find one of them to play on Ghost. It's a really special sound and you can hear it on "The Heart of the Jito", Eshkeri said, explaining that the goal was to draw players into Jin's emotional journey.
Sucker Punch Productions
Umebayashi's work on Ghost of Tsushima's world drew inspiration from Japan's climate, traditions and classical music, although he insists that the right musicians were as crucial as the score itself.
"When listeners hear the music for the game, I hope that they feel the hearts of the people of Tsushima – those who love the land, living and plowing with the natural bounties it offers, and those of the warriors who take their katanas and follow the way of the samurai", he explained.
Ghost of Tsushima's official soundtrack launches with the game on July 17, 2020, and you can listen to short but awesome examples of each composer's work over at the PlayStation blog .
Ghost of Tsushima, a samurai adventure by Sucker Punch Studios
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