Jin Sakai's familiar armor is back, but bringing the Ghost of Tsushima into Ghost of Yōtei involved more than moving a character model. Sucker Punch Productions has shared the animation and art work behind his appearance in Most Wanted.
In a November 4 PlayStation Blog feature, programmer Nate Slottow says more than 60 attack animations had to be retargeted to a new character rig, retouched and rebalanced for Yōtei's combat. Senior staff animator Mark Wheeler also created new strafe animations for Jin's stances.
Keeping the Ghost recognizable
Character artist Nate Ramsey says the original armor model by Emre Ekmekci provided a strong starting point. Ramsey used the old textures as references while adding detail and wear to the metal, leather and cloth.
An official image presents three character head models side by side.
Project: Ghost of Yōtei: Most Wanted
Production: Sucker Punch Productions
Ghost of Yōtei imagery © Sony Interactive Entertainment and respective rights holders. Separate editorial reuse permission unconfirmed.
The team also revisited Jin's face and hair so the character could sit alongside Yōtei's Atsu. Ramsey says they built on the earlier textures, refining features including skin tone and the scar, and baked new normal maps to add skin detail. The challenge was to update the rendering without losing Jin's identity.
Small gestures, familiar movement
Wheeler says the team brought back idle actions as well as combat moves. One rarely seen bird-holding idle found a place in the Most Wanted menu, while Jin's selection animation draws on a moment from Ghost of Tsushima.
Production art director Joanna Wang points to gestures such as the movement of Jin's thumb before a duel and the way he wipes his blade. Those details show how a character's identity can reside in motion as well as in a face or costume.
Jin is playable in Most Wanted; Sucker Punch notes that access requires an internet connection, a PlayStation account and patch version 2.0 or later.
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