In a parallel universe, Ghost of Yotei is a very different game, one that includes a key mechanic from one of Nintendo’s most highly praised games of the last 10 years: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
In this reality, however, the idea was scrapped, as revealed during a GDC talk from Sucker Punch leaders Nate Fox and Jason Connell (thanks, GamesRadar).
Apparently, during production, one major feature that was in the works was a full rock-climbing mechanic, allowing you to clamber over any surface, just like the Switch adventure.
Fox had played Nintendo’s title and thought to himself that “every game” would benefit from its approach to climbing.
“We got right in there and started prototyping,” he said, adding that it was “going to be magnificent” — but ultimately, the mechanic was cut from the game.
This was mostly because it just didn’t really fit the type of open world Sucker Punch had been making, which had many surfaces “you weren’t supposed to climb up”, Fox explained.
He said if players could climb anything and continually found nothing to reward them, “it pretty much trains you to stop climbing, because exploration wasn’t worth it.”
So, in the end, Sucker Punch fell back on its old climbing system, where there are authored paths Atsu can clamber across — the advantage being that the developer can guarantee a reward of some kind at the end of the climb.
The story about the BotW-esque climbing came from Fox and Connell talking about the studio’s cutthroat approach when it comes to implementing new mechanics.
“If something is not going well, we can be like ‘does that make you feel like a wandering ronin?’ And if the answer is no and it’s a sucky feature, then why are you working on it? Just move on,” Connell explained.
We’d be very interested to know what other features were left on the cutting room floor because they didn’t fit the game’s core fantasy.
It’s always great getting insight like this; it seems obvious to say that developers play the games from other studios and take inspiration from them, but it’s nice to hear this sort of thing all the same.
Would you have enjoyed a free climbing mechanic in Ghost of Yotei? Tell us in the comments section below.
