Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima made one helluva splash at Sony’s E3 presentation this year. The graphics for the PlayStation 4 exclusive are absolutely on point, as is the atmosphere and overall flow of the game. Unfortunately, the combat shown during the gameplay reveal was found rather wanting, especially when protagonist Jin Sakai was up against multiple enemies. That said, that could be all based on how the live-demo player was playing the game.

The combat in Ghost of Tsushima was actually designed to play like a brawler, though according to Sucker Punch co-founder and co-studio head Chris Zimmerman, the overall structure of the combat system will require multiple different kinds of skill from its players. In a recent interview with GamingBolt, Zimmerman revealed that Ghost of Tsushima is far from being just a simple hack ‘n’ slash game, and it will be sure to test players that think otherwise. “If it were hack ‘n’ slash, [the live-demo player] wouldn’t be nervously practicing before every demo,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a brawler. It’s skill [based] in a bunch of different directions. The heart of the game is…[in the demo] you’ve seen three guys, getting into a fight with them, and knowing that you’re in danger, knowing that you have to be on top of your game fighting three guys. It’s really out of the ordinary if you think about it.”

You have lots of games where fighting one guy is hard, and then you have lots of games where fighting 20 guys is hard. But three ends up being an interesting number, it gives the game sort of a fresh feel.”

Of course this “fresh feel” depends not on a particular person’s playstyle, but the AI that drives Jin’s opponents to either come at him one at a time, or swarm him and force him to react quickly or be cut down. The former is something that the Dark Souls series has always done well with, while at the same time providing players with all the tools they need to not only survive, but also thrive. Hopefully Sucker Punch is going this route, because if enemies come at Jin one at a time, the feel of the combat system may feel too similar to that of Assassin’s Creed.

Ghost of Tsushima releases at some point in the future exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

So, thoughts on the combat shown during the Ghost of Tsushima gameplay reveal? What else do you like about the game so far? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!