Foreign media interviewed the producer of "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" to discuss development concepts in dep

2025-07-23 23:06:44|Myriagame |source：minecraft skins

Sony Interactive Entertainment and Sucker Punch Productions announced the real-play gameplay analysis video of the new open world action adventure game "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" for PS5 at the State of Play event on July 11.The video introduces the gameplay of this game's evolution in exploration, combat and other aspects.

Foreign media automaton-media interviewed Mr. Jason Connell and Mr. Nate Fox, the co-creative directors of this work.As the sequel to the well-received "Soul of Tsushima", this work has attracted much attention.The following excerpts some of the interviews that have in-depth discussion of its development philosophy.

The previous work "The Soul of Tsushima" has been widely rated as a masterpiece, but as a developer, I believe there is some reflection.If so, what aspects are it?How did it improve in this work?

Nate:

"Soul of Tsushima" is also a game full of deep feelings for us.Various mini games are prepared in Tsushima Island, but unfortunately, from the feedback, we feel that some of them, especially the links of following the fox to find the ancestral hall, have fewer changes, which can easily make players feel repetitive.

In The Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain, we improved these parts.When players are curious about their exploration and discover some little secrets, we don’t let them play the same mini game every time, but prepare all kinds of unexpected results.We believe that the charm of open-world games lies precisely in this kind of exploration experience, so we pay special attention to providing rich and diverse and varied exploration experiences.

What new gaming experiences have been achieved after this game became an exclusive game of PS5?

Jason:

One of the core systems of this game is "Memory Flashback".Just one button can instantly convert the current scene into the childhood scene of the protagonist "Du".This system allows players to experience the driving force of "dea" revenge - her "happy childhood" and the past that has passed away.It can shuttle between the present and the past in real time with one click. The performance of this system is very excellent and the operation feel is also polished very well.It can load completely different scenarios and materials in an instant, which can be achieved thanks to the hardware performance of PS5.

In addition, the unique and impressive artistic style of "Soul of Tsushima" has also been extended to "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain".In order to depict the vast land of Hokkaido, we also strive for perfect details in graphic rendering.The scenery in the distance is also clearly visible. Since it is a snow country, footprints will remain on the snow, and snowflakes will fly when the weapon is waving. These physical operations are done quite solidly.The texture of the skin and hair has also been improved, and the mist has performed better.These details are impossible to achieve in Tsushima Island.The PS5's handle is also great, thanks to the DualSense's advanced high-precision vibration function, the sense of presence during riding is greatly enhanced.When running on the flower field, the movement speed will increase, and you can even feel the touch of the flowering bushes on your hands.

How big is the map?How much has the scale increased compared to "Soul of Tsushima"?

Nate:

In terms of game size, "Soul of Tsushima" and "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" can be considered to be basically the same.The map size is about the same, but the map density of "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" is higher.

In open-world games with vast maps, medium-term weakness (middle-sharing boring) problems are often prone to problems. How do you overcome them?

Jason:

As mentioned just now, the map size itself can be considered the same as the previous work.We believe that the larger the map or the size of the game itself is not the better, the more the better.

We use the experience we gained in the development of Tsushima Souls to strive to further improve the quality of each game experience while maintaining a map size comparable to the previous game.In addition, there are two clever ideas.

First point: Although the map size in the game is similar, Hokkaido is actually much larger than Tsubasa Island, so we focus on creating a more practical and broader performance effect."Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" prepares a large number of scenery such as the vast plains that are rare in the previous work "Tsukema Island" and the majestic mountains towering behind, aiming to let players feel this sense of vastness.

Another point is to make full use of the exploration elements of the vast map."Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" has a rich system and performance prepared, allowing players to enjoy the fun of wild exploration, and players can freely use these elements.For example, the system that just introduced "movement speed on the flower field will increase" can sometimes discover some small secrets along this flower path.In order to enjoy the scenery, new telescope/binocular props have been added.Through these ingenuity, even if the map is vast, it ensures that players will not feel bored.

This game claims to "can play slowly."So, are there time-limiting elements or irreversible elements in the game?

Nate:

"The Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" is a story with clear beginning, inheritance, turn and end, and single-line development.Du’s goal is to complete the revenge of the “Sheep Hoof Six”. The main plot of the game that advances this process should be very clear and easy to understand.And everything except this main plot is optional.

For example, the part "Find Master Locking and learn how to use it as a new weapon" is also completely optional, and players can even complete the main story without even executing this part of the content at all.There are many secrets and stories hidden on the map that players can explore.These elements will not disappear due to the progress of the story, and can still be played even after the main plot is over.The theme of “freedom” is also emphasized in the in-depth analysis video.Is there any other freedom besides the freedom of mission and exploration?

Jason:

The core of freedom of mission and exploration is that they are independent of the main plot, which is particularly important.Players can explore without advancing the plot at all. On the contrary, advancing the main plot will not force specific upgrades or exploration progress.Whether it is someone who wants to go straight to the main line, someone who wants to thoroughly explore every corner and then go on the main line, or someone who wants to play at their own pace, we try our best to keep the game itself from limiting these diverse players and gameplay.

Regarding the freedom of the main plot itself, it has not reached the point where it can defeat the "Six Sheep's Hoof" in any order.If you do that, it will have an impact on the plot construction.However, the game will provide multiple areas at the same time, and players have the freedom to choose in the order of strategy.

Each area has its own unique characteristics, with different members of the "Sheep Hoof Six" who can learn different weapon types, and players can freely travel back and forth to various areas for strategy.The game design ensures that while the player has a certain degree of freedom of movement, the story will not collapse.We also know that some players will spend 30 hours in the photo mode, so we have put a lot of effort into details, striving to cope with such diverse play methods and achieve the greatest "freedom" possible.

This game will be officially launched on PS5 on October 2.

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