Sucker Punch has shared an interesting and amusing part of Ghost of Yōtei.
They shared this information in a small video clip on the PlayStation Twitter account:
Atsu is joined on her hunt by a wolf, but a bond needs to be built with your four-legged ally.
At first the wolf roams freely, but may join you as you explore or fight enemies.
Discovering wolf dens and rescuing caged wolves will earn you points for a Wolf skill tree.
Unlocks increase the chances of the wolf fighting by your side in addition to a variety of other skills.
Is This Really Connected To Real Life?
Sucker Punch talked volumes about the extensive research they made for the historical setting of their Ghost video games.
So this story element may look like its exoticizing or inventing something, but there is some historical basis to it.
The Ainu in Ghost of Yōtei hold wolves in high regard. They apparently tried to mix them with their own dogs, but its unclear how far they got into domesticating the species.
Some Ainu communities have myths claiming they claim ancestry from a deity wolf, and it is custom for Ainu hunters to leave portions of what they’ve hunted behind for the wolves.
Rediscovering A History That No Longer Exists
Ezo, the setting of Ghost of Yōtei, was the domicile of the Ezo wolf, also known as the Hokkaido wolf and Sakhalin Wolf. This was a subspecies of gray wolf that could stand as high as 70 to 80 cm.
These wolves could have been dangerous to men. They mostly hunted deer and horses in Hokkaido and Sakhalin.
The Hokkaido wolves were deliberately exterminated in the Meiji Restoration era. They got rid of the wolves as part of national reforms, to turn Hokkaido to a horse ranching prefecture.
Did Ainu really coexist with wolves like this? Wolves can certainly be smart. But Sucker Punch may have taken artistic license to make a wolf that knows to follow one specific Ainu woman with a vendetta.
There’s certainly something haunting about the idea of creating a virtual animal you will bond with, when it’s no longer possible to meet those animals in real life. Maybe that’s why this wolf may never truly be as close as a friend. Or maybe Sucker Punch has a story to tell about that too.
