PlayStation-owned studios have a history of sharing technology and ideas, a trend that saw Ghost of Tsushima studio Sucker Punch assist Naughty Dog with early builds of The Last of Us Part II‘s Seattle map. The Seattle section of TLoU Part II is rather extensive, spanning across city streets, suburbs, several indoor areas, and the outskirts.
Not all of the sequel takes place in the Emerald City, though. The title starts in Jackson, Wyoming, allowing players to explore the settlement that Naughty Dog teased in The Last of Us‘ first entry. Much like the rest of the second game, Part II’s Jackson section boasts a multitude of fine details that merely offer a hint at what the adventure has in store. And Seattle itself is nothing short of impressive, thanks to the sizable hub spaces built to support exploration, combat, and brief instances of downtime between characters.
The Seattle-based Sucker Punch Productions boasts extensive knowledge about the layout of the Pacific Northwest city. Of course, being stationed in the area helps, but the Ghost of Tsushima studio also set the open world of Infamous: Second Son in Seattle, something that Naughty Dog later used to its advantage. Naughty Dog Co-Presidents Evan Wells and Neil Druckmann divulged as much during a recent Game Informer interview. Wells said Sucker Punch lent the TLoU team assets early in Part II’s development, which allowed them to “quickly feel out the space.” According to Druckmann, the two production crews additionally partnered on mo-capping horses for GoT and Part II. He told the publication, “motion capture for a big animal is a big deal, and we were able to just approach the problem together and use similar data, sometimes the same data for both games.”
The sharing of tools and assets helped both projects immensely. The Last of Us Part II’s Seattle comes packed with detail across the board, and the same holds true for the impressive horse animations. And now it’s clear why Ghost of Tsushima’s horse mechanics have proven an equally interesting sight to behold.
Naughty Dog launched TLoU Part II in June 2020 and continues to rake in awards. Ghost of Tsushima hit PlayStation 4 shortly thereafter and went on to make waves in its own right.
The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima are available to play now on PS4 and PS5.
