"Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" is scheduled to be in-depth next month, but before that, developer Sucker Punch continued to publish a blog to share with players the photos and details taken by the development team when they went to Hokkaido, Japan for field research.In a recent PlayStation blog, co-creative director Nate Fox discussed a very important element in the game for them: presenting the Ainu culture in a respectful way.

To this end, they visited an Ainu cultural consultant and his family, and then climbed the mountain and collected wild vegetables.Because of this positive experience, the development team decided to add the food collected to the new work "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" that night, "I hope to share this touch that we are fortunate to feel with the majority of players."This will be in line with the mechanism of "camping everywhere" in this open world.

Other famous locations visited by the team include Oshima Peninsula, Nikko Toshoku and Nikko Ainu Museum.Fox said that while Hokkaido in "Soul of Sheep Hoof Mountain" is fictional, "the realism we strive to create comes from the real world experience."

PlayStation official blog: Learn culture for "Sheep Hoof Mountain Fighting Ghosts"

How Sucker Punch keeps improving and presents the Ainu culture with a respectful and cautious attitude.

The previous blog post mentioned that visiting Japan is an important part of the creation of "Sheep Hoof Mountain Fighting Ghosts".

Sucker Punch is an American company, and we know that we lack the necessary cultural knowledge and are difficult to faithfully present ancient Japan.We need a lot of assistance to this end.Fortunately, we are also part of PlayStation.I was very lucky during the production of "Ghost of Tsushima", and many colleagues in Tokyo continued to give feedback.Readers must have guessed that the same has been done since the production of "Sheep Hoof Mountain Fighting Ghosts".However, the lineup of consultants is stronger this time.

Since Hokkaido is the stage, we must do our best to present the Ainu culture with a respectful attitude.Fortunately, before we embarked on our journey of learning, we had already contacted an Ainu Culture consultant.She was also very kind and introduced her family to the team.Everyone went to a nearby mountain together and became familiar with the wild vegetables.Picking wild vegetables is a great experience. The members of Sucker Punch stop taking photos, picking vegetables, and starting to observe the plants on the ground.Picking wild vegetables not only helps us make new friends, but also is the starting point for learning Ainu culture.That night, the team decided to add food to the new work, hoping to share the touch we were lucky enough to feel with the players.

In addition, with the assistance and explanation of the consultants, the team also went to Erfeng Valley Ainu Cultural Museum to learn about the collection.After this trip, everyone will understand the appearance and usage of items that appear in the game.

While exploring the Tokushima Peninsula, the team also learned more about the life of the Matsumaki family.In the era set by this work, Matsumaki's family was crowded on the Tokushima Peninsula.In addition, it is really interesting to actually see the route from Honshu to Toshima Peninsula.Cherry blossom trees were still rare in the rest of the Tokushima Peninsula at that time.This fully demonstrates how sparsely people lived in Hokkaido in 1603.We wanted to convey this feeling in the game, so we designed a vast wilderness between the villages.When you arrive at the Tokushima Peninsula, you will of course see the huge power of the Matsumaki family and the accompanying Honshu style.

The producer of this work, Ryuhei Katami, took his team to various parts of the state to learn Edo culture.Here are some photos we took:

My personal favorite is the solemn Hikko Toshoku Palace.During the worship, we prayed to the palace to protect the work.We placed the Imperial Guard and Painted Horse faced south and placed it on the studio rack.Every time I see them, I think of the time of the journey of material collection.Although the Hokkaido depicted in this work is fictional, the reality we strive to create comes from the real experience during the journey of material acquisition.

After reading this, if you also want to go to Hokkaido, my suggestion is "Go." Many people think they are going to Japan, but actually visiting it can realize their dreams.