The incessant question asked from developers has been answered by Sucker Punch in their newly standardized style; yes, you can pet the dog.
You can also use a charm to turn the dog into your ally, and the curious pups will follow you across Tsushima as you force back the invading Huns as the last defense of Japan from a large-scale invasion. No one said it would be the easiest task presented to players, but it will at least be a far less lonely endeavor to work through with a faithful canine at your side.
In order to have a faithful companion at your side, however, you’re going to first need to complete the entire game and restart in New Game +, and you’ll need to equip the ‘Charm of Canine Recruitment’. After that, it’s as simple as petting a pup and going on a journey with your new bud.
Worth noting that you won’t be able to explore this mechanic until the new patch, 1.1, hits Ghost of Tsushima; scheduled to drop on October 16, 2020.
[embed]https://twitter.com/SuckerPunchProd/status/1314317243107303424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]You’ll also be able to give the four-legged friends some love in the spirit realm as well in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends that brings some cooperative play to the brutal stealth title that somehow did Assassin’s Creed-style better than Ubisoft has managed to in the past decade.
Along with it comes raids, although that will be released after the 1.1 update as a part of the Legends component, bringing the players into Iyo’s realm facing massive threats that many will be hard-pressed to fight through in three separate parts.
Survival missions will pit four players in a wave-based challenge where the rewards increase as you and your team survive longer, with various abilities and blessings that players can use to tilt the odds in their favor.
Along with these multiplayer mechanics come a few new pieces for single-player content as well, with Ghost Flowers offering new elaborate cosmetics that allow you to dress Jin Sakai in almost any manner you wish; a feature that will work well with the upcoming armor loadout feature that will enable players to quickly shift between favored load-outs to match both the action on screen and your role-playing preferences.
Of course, it wouldn’t be fully complete without the fantastic Photo Mode getting a few additional pieces to experiment with on top of the already boisterous package that it offers.
All of this is dropping on October 16 and is completely free; what’s there not to love?