Ghost of Yotei (2025)

A long-awaited follow up to Ghost of Tsushima from 2020, from Sucker Punch Productions.

From start to finish, this was a masterpiece. It does everything Tsushima made great and improved it. This is a better experience. It’s better paced and have better gameplay. Awesome combat with fun and challenging boss fights.

The story is strong and the characters is really well written. Really liked Atzo and her revenge-story, to hunt down the Yotei Six, who slaughtered her family.

Visually it’s incredible. I usually don’t use photo mode in game but here I had to stop sometimes and just watch the surroundings.

Awesome game and Sucker Punch show how to make a sequel.

Rating: 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

I am enjoying this a bunch. It has a good mix of the standard open world stuff: platforming, combat, exploration, collectible finding, and a decent enough story. It is more of the same thematically as Ghost of Tsushima, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Riding across the landscape is so beautiful and has a relaxing quality to it. It makes me want to walk more slowly to soak up the atmosphere take some screenshots of the vistas.

Ghost of Yotei is the long awaited follow up to Ghost of Tsushima, released 5 years ago. Taking place approximately 300 years after the original, this entry gives us a new area to explore as well as a brand new antagonist. It doesn't really do much of anything "new" apart from some minor mechanics and weapons, but that doesn't slow this game down at all or make it feel stale at any point.

Starting out as a female child, things take a turn for the worse very quickly. There's a flash forward sequence then where we return to our homeland as a young adult vowing for revenge against the six individuals who wronged us many years before. There is some minor freedom in what order you pursue these six, but for the most part the main story is very linear. During your journey though you will come across many individuals with their own story and troubles. Some of these side stories are pretty typical, but some really shine in the story telling.

The gameplay here is nothing new, especially if you played the first entry. I think one of my only complaints about the game is I felt that the world wasn't quite as diverse as the first time around. The game is absolutely beautiful though, with my playthrough on a standard ps5. The graphics are crisp, colors beautiful, motion capture work looks amazing.

I think my play time was about 61 hours to 100% complete the game getting the platinum trophy. That could have been a few hours shorter had I realized you don't need to collect every single weapon skin in the game. Pursuing these though lead me to find other fun areas to explore and side content so I'm not upset at even more time exploring this world.

The new weapons are fun, and each have a best use case and worst use case depending on what enemies you are facing and what weapons they are using. This makes combat a bit more tricky trying to remember the best weapon for each scenario and quickly entering in the button combination to switch before you get attacked.

Ghost of Yotei is another beautiful game by Sucker Punch that really shows the talent and dedication of the studio. I'm excited to see what their next game is!

Two Months After Firing Over Charlie Kirk Comments, Ghost Of Yotei Dev Blames Harassment Campaign, Not ‘Bad Joke’

Drew Harrison wasn’t the only person who was punished by the seething online mass of the American alt-right and the government that supports it—a Reuters special report suggests more than 600 people were fired, suspended, investigated, or otherwise actioned against. But Harrison’s story, which she is commenting on here for the first time, dovetails with a year-long harassment campaign her company had faced and remained publicly silent on until the day she was let go. An online mob had been railing against Ghost of Yotei and Sucker Punch since the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima was announced last September. They were further riled up by Kirk’s death and the firestorm of censorship and cancellation around it.

From my conversation with Harrison, it appears that Sucker Punch’s parent company, Sony Interactive Entertainment, acted swiftly and with little investigation into the situation around Harrison’s comments, as many companies did during those few weeks in September. In doing so, it emboldened gaming’s worst-behaved actors yet again and set a worrying precedent for an industry that too often kowtows to the reactionary sects within it.

But Harrison’s firing didn’t happen in a vacuum—as mentioned, both Kern and Hoyt, along with a slew of other content creators and right-leaning voices on Twitter and YouTube, had already had Ghost of Yotei and its creators in their sights for over a year prior to her Charlie Kirk post.

Some of the online subculture’s rowdiest voices complained that Erika Ishii, the queer actor who portrays the game’s avenging samurai, was not pretty enough. Others suggested that Sucker Punch had hired too many women to work on the game. Harrison pointed out that a picture circulated by rightwing reactionaries to support the latter argument (a side-by-side of all men sitting at a table versus all women, with Ghost of Tsushima emblazoned over the men and Ghost of Yotei over the women) was, shockingly, inaccurate. “It’s literally a picture of the Sucker Punch soccer team and our Women’s Day photo, from the same year,” she said.

Sucker Punch never made any public statements about the harassment of Ishii or the allegations against its dev team, and as far as Harrison and the anonymous Sucker Punch employee know, no statements were made internally, either. Sony did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

“The studio has a lot of vulnerable people. There are a lot of LGBTQ people. There are a lot of people on work visas,” the employee told me over a call. “There are a lot of people who would be targets if their name was put to their words.”

Leaders at games studios, who are often in much less vulnerable positions than their employees, also choose to remain quiet, for a much different reason. “Studios don’t want to address toxicity against their employees because they see it as confronting the dark sides of their community, which they believe is a core demographic,” said Rachel Kowert, a research psychologist and visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge.

Article: Ghost of Yōtei - More Successor Than Sequel by Kyle Hilliard

Sucker Punch is also making efforts to let players stay where they want while they are exploring and pursuing their revenge goals. As was the case in Tsushima, alerts will let you know when you have enough materials to upgrade your various weapons and gear, but rather than fast-traveling to the one shop that sells you bow and arrow upgrades, you can now make a camp and ask that shop to come visit you. “It is another way where we’re trying to create a feature that tonally fits within the landscape,” Connell says. “Seeing if we can wrap up the mechanics around it and respecting the player’s time and where they are.”

Of course, fast-travel is still a totally valid way to move around the world, and it is still fast. Tsushima boasts some of the quickest fast-travel loading in any open-world game, and the team knew keeping that would be important for the successor. “Yep. Super fast,” Connell says. “It’s a convenience thing, right? That’s not going anywhere because people like it so much. But yeah, it’s pretty quick.”

The last time I was so hyped for a game was probably Blasphemous, back in 2017. When I saw the launch trailer on State of Play a year ago I was under my blankets, jumping and foaming out of my mouth. ANOTHER GHOST! NOW WITH FIREARMS! AND A WOLF! AND ERIKA ISHII! HOLY SHIT

Ghost of Tsushima was one of the first games I played in my ps5 and it was An Experience. I felt connecting with that game on such a deep level that I name it one of the top 3 games of my life, alongside Final Fantasy X and Shadow of the Colossus. I still hold that story dearly and close to my heart, so it is kind of hard to see that the story of Ghost of Yotei does not quite reach the same heights.

Don't get me wrong, GOY's story is still very enjoyable, but I can't help but feel that there is a lot of missed potential in Atsu as a character and the Vengeance setup. The relationship between Atsu and the Yotei Six was way more personal and the stakes were a lot more raw and close that those of GoT, but the story still felt painted by numbers sometimes, and the really good parts (The Kitsune reveal and the Spider change of heart) felt a little bit flat because of the overall arc. I kinda disliked the last part of the game, mainly because I selfishly thought that we were going to have another momentous decision that never came, but that made all the sense to have. It sucks because I feel that ALL the characters are very good in their own way. I mean, holy shit, I feel I hate Saito way more than Kothul Khan, which is a lot to say. It is only that the story and the actions of the characters sometimes do not hold up to their very good characterizations.

So at this point you must be saying: "Ok, man. You are always all about the story, the story, the story. Why are you giving GoY a five star rating then? Are you just glazing? It is because of the controversy? Did you turn into a Sucker Punch sucker (he)?

No, I give this game a five star rating because IT IS THE BEST OPEN WORLD GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED, WITHOUT QUESTION. BETTER THAN TSUSHIMA, EVEN, HOLY FUCK.

Of course I was one of those guys who played like 50 hours before fighting the second boss. Of course I was one of those guys who went to every corner of the map before even coming close to the story missions, of freaking-course that I refused to use fast travel, not on some stubborn alpha-gamer shit, but because roaming around in this game is so, so freaking fun. The landscapes are just breath-taking, the side-missions felt interesting and just the right amount to not be grindy. Hell, I even felt bad when I completed the last shrine, by that point that parkour ten minute run was almost a mindfulness session. After almost sixty hours and a lot of exploring and travelling, I jumped out of my seat in excitement when Oshima Coast was revealed. For some reason I thought after the Kitsune that the map was going to change or that the last area was going to be smaller, but no, it was actually and additional, big area with tons of things to do and a beautiful surprise awaiting for me on one of its shrines.

And the weapons. OMG what an amazing combat system this game has. I was almost shocked how unwilling I was to do stealth missions because the fighting system here is so demanding and fun and sharp. It is an excellent redirection from GoT, where I actually felt that stealth gameplay was more rewarding. GoY wants you to slice everything to shreds in the most visible, badass way and gives you amazing tools to do so.

I finished this game (with Platinum) less than two weeks after it came out. It is by far the fastest platinum I have ever got and the fastest I have ever completed a new game, only because I could not stop thinking about it while playing it. I am willing to downplay the narrative shortcomings of this game only because the gameplay is absolutely majestic. For real, I wish Elden Ring's open world were half as interesting and involving as Hokkaido. And on this note I have to say: the way Sucker Punch connects the player with the landscape of their own game is without equal, an incredible achievement. I understand, on a rational level, that Hokkaido does not necessary look like the game all of the time, but I see how the SP Team translated the love and care native communities feel the place and their relationship to the land. It is respectful and conscious without being preachy or falling into appropriator pitfalls. Ezo/Hokkaido is as much a living character as much as the Yotei Six or Atsu herself, you want to play with it as much as your Katanas.

It is weird for this game to come out the same year as Expedition 33, because on any other year it would be a GoTY contender, easily. Nonetheless it is a great sequel and I can only hope to keep on receiving Ghost games for many years. Hell, in my dream world, I would throw all the money and resources to Sucker Punch so we can get Ghost games all around the world. I want a Ghost of the Yangtze, a Ghost of Los Andes. Hell, give me a game where the Ghost is a member of the Korean resistance forces in the Imjin war and make Japan the enemy. I WANT IT ALL, GUYS.

The ending (spoilers, obviously)

I overall enjoyed the writing; it's not the most impressive, obviously but it serves it's purpose for a game like this. That said, the ending really vexes me the more I think about it. A lot of potential was wasted and the choices made were lazy shortcuts.

I hate. Hate. Hate when a story adds a child as motivation. It's a cheap, unremarkable way to aim a sloppy hit at pathos and make people feel something. The anvilivicious oh didn't you know revenge is bad message was already tiresome but to wrap it up with here's a child now you have something to live for is just a putrid bow on the shit sandwich. I might be getting a little unreasonable here but it feels like giving a woman's story a child as a resolution is a little gender essentialist. I understand the whole arc was about family so it's not completely out of pocket, but I find it too by the book to be acceptable.

The entire journey of atsu getting more skills and proficiency with different weapons because saito is a master of different weapons is completely shit on by an unremarkable duel in which atsu inexplicably gets bested and her brother has to step in and die to finish her motivation. Condescending. Insulting to our whole gameplay journey to step on our final battle just for cheap sadness points. Atsu could have and should have beaten Saito on her own merits.

Small point but the weapon masters are all woven into the story and in the end you storm the Saito castle alone but having them all join you would've been a great sequence.

The background story gets at the fact that Saito is trying to keep the region from being taken by the shogunate, which the matsumai are preparing it for. We get some nods to the fact that the matsumai are not looking out for the greater good of the people but that point gets thrown away completely in favor of going it's fine. They helped. Not my fight now.

I find this annoying because the game includes the ainu, has atsu become close to them for a bit. In real life the matsumai slaughtered the ainu. Nearly wiped them out entirely. This could have made for a good story direction to drive home that the matsumai are not allies, that Saito wasn't completely wrong to oppose them.

All of this to set up for jubei to be an enemy. When I saw his name I thought that's where we're going. The early game sets up a rivalry between them and I wanted that. If the kid was going to be included, she should have died and jubei should've blamed atsu. The matsumai should've determined after Saito was gone that atsu is too dangerous to live and sent jubei to kill her. They could have had an emotional duel where atsu throws the matsumais crimes in his face and they both get engaged. When he loses he begs her to kill him so he can die honorably and not have to kill her. And she does. There's your sad ending. There's your emotional impact

Ghost of Tsushima was primarily a narrative experience with a game inside of it. For good or I'll, Ghost of Yotei is a game before all else and the story is jammed in between it. For that, it is an improvement in story telling and character development. In spite of a very predictable anvilivious story about revenge that goes exactly where you think it will. There are still some surprising and deep moments.

The gameplay is more of Tsushima. Different enough to be fresh but essentially the same. That's not a bad thing, if like me what you wanted was just more ghost of tsushima. The wealth of side questing can get a bit bloated. Where GoT had some threads and short bits of story off the main path , Yotei has a wealth of them. You can expect a lot of distractions from an open world game but by the time I rolled credits on this one, it felt like a burden I was finally putting down.

Don't mistake me. I loved this experience. If you enjoyed GoT you will too and even if you didn't start there, it's an excellent game. Not unrivaled but you will find it worthy

Let's get this out of the way: I love Ghost of Tsushima. See my review of the original release, of the director's cut, and its entry in my list of all-time favorite games. An expansive and gorgeous samurai epic initially inspired by Usagi Yojimbo with the basic gameplay loop of Arkham City (another all-time fave)? Yes please!

So if you're skeptical about Sucker Punch's latest franchise, if you're burnt out on open world games, if you want Yōtei to right some sort of wrong of its predecessor or PlayStation Studios... I'm the wrong person to seek an objective opinion from.

Still here? Great...

...I loved Ghost of Yōtei, too! Big surprise, right?

First, the obvious: The game's presentation is as gorgeous as ever. Erika Ishii's and Feodor Chin's performances as Atsu and Lord Saito are fantastic.

I'm always nervous about combat in modern games... I find the current Soulsborne trends really tiresome compared to the approachability of a rhythm-esque Arkham style. Thankfully, I needn't have worried: Additional weapons push the combat forward in fun and interesting ways, but the baby was not thrown out with the bathwater.

I was happy to see less of an emphasis on Detective Vision Focused Hearing compared to Tsushima. It allowed me to feel more immersed in stealth sequences, which were clearly tuned with less reliance on that capability in mind.

There are more activities than last time, but they occur less frequently. Combined with the more leisurely pace at which your map builds out, I found myself exploring more often without feeling overwhelmed by any sort of mounting to-do list. I especially appreciated the increase in quiet, contemplative tasks to compliment the action sequences. Oh, and good news: My dog didn't have the same issue with the wolves as he did the cats in Stray! (Go figure! 😂)

I'm a little mixed on the main story. Tsushima's bombastic intro would be tough to outdo, and Yōtei doesn't really try. There are some benefits to those humbler beginnings: I felt a greater sense of agency in directing Atsu's journey, which gave me a stronger sense of attachment to her than to Jin Sakai. But the small start and straightforward arc withheld too many emotional beats for too long for me to connect with the supporting cast in the same way.

Narrative nitpicks aside, my hours exploring this fictionalized version of 1600s Ezo flew by. Atsu is a wonderful protagonist, and it's a treat to experience so many improved versions of the elements I loved from Ghost of Tsushima. As with Tsushima, I expect to revisit Yōtei in the future.

I played several hours last night after work before crawling into bed.

So far it is very similar formula/plot wise to its predecessor but I don't find it repetitive or boring. It's more like "Did you like Ghost of Tsushima? Here's even more!" It's hard to say how this game feels overall within its opening segments but so far it's been a positive experience but not everything is the same. There are more crafting material subtypes. The quests appear as cards that you can cycle through to highlight their locations without leaving the map screen.

There is a minor story thing that I enjoyed with picking your horse if you have the digital deluxe edition. Atsu's ability to navigate the past and present in certain locations is a satisfying way to explore and experience her past. The grassland vista with Mt. Yotei as its backdrop feels like the main hub area but maybe that'll change once I explore past its reach.

I'm not sure I'd recommend Ghost of Yotei yet if you weren't already interested in it but so far I'm enjoying Atsu's adventure and excited to experience more of it throughout the weekend.

Barely half an hour in, Ghost of Yotei reveals itself as a refinement, a tightening of focus, an immediate improvement over its predecessor. Atsu emerges as a protagonist both warmer and more compelling than the already admirable Jin Sakai, her appeal perhaps sharpened by the clarity of her motivations. It may not be an original story, not in the strict sense, but I can't help but feel that originality is often an overrated currency in games of this type. The familiar can still feel vital when inhabited by characters who breathe. Yotei, at least for now, makes that promise.

Where Tsushima delayed its hand by wrapping the player in cutscenes and mandatory tutorialization, Yotei wastes far less time, ushering the player into its world briskly, confident that immersion need not be delayed by exposition. I find this crucial! A game that insists I sit obediently through its opening overture before I can touch the strings for myself always tests my patience. That Tsushima doesn't permit the skipping of cutscenes until NG+ still rankles me, though perhaps that grievance belongs more to the past than to Yotei's present.

But Yotei doesn't entirely shed its lineage. The seams of what we might call "game-ness" remain visible, those small reminders that we're in a constructed space, rehearsing familiar motions. Weeds plucked, stones stacked, beams repaired, all with the press of a single button. These gestures are tidy and efficient, yes, but they evoke an approximation of labor rather than the experience of it. I can't help but imagine how much richer these acts might feel if rendered with the tactile involvement of a system like Kingdom Come II: Deliverance, which excels at folding the player into the fabric of its world. It's often precisely this evacuation of detail, the trimming away of the many in favor of a few central loops, that I think causes open world games to lose their claim to immersion.

But this, to be fair, isn't *Yotei'*s ambition. It doesn't ask us to inhabit its world so much as witness a story within it. The world is the backdrop, the stage, and the narrative is what matters most. That, too, is a perfectly legitimate choice.

For my part, I would gladly see less of the flourishes that test believability, like a wolf companion that arrives in moments too perfectly timed, or a horse that leaps thirty feet and lands as though physics were merely suggestion. These exaggerations feel ornamental, almost like indulgences of the medium. Still, I can't deny that I'm here less to measure plausibility than to enjoy the ride. And on that front, Yotei already makes clear it will deliver.

I had a nice time playing Ghost of Yotei. It was beautiful to look at, the combats were fun and is always nice to find optional tasks in the open world. But I had the same experiences before. There's nothing really new or interesting here.

I played this game before

Several times actually

And I didn't even played Ghost of Tsushima.

You can read my full review in spanish here.

It was fine.

I was talking to my friends on Discord yesterday about how I was conflicted with whether I could afford Ghost of Yotei and if I should get the Collector's Edition or not because I loved the first game so much when I heard a knock at the door. My partner answered it and let my friend in who handed me a $75 PSN gift card then immediately left. For those well read on Roach lore, this is the same friend who busted down my door when I was disrespecting Astarion in BG3.

I feel very thankful and lots of gratitude towards them. They didn't have to do that but they did anyway. They also saved me from falling prey to purchasing the CE version of the game. I'll definitely be spoiling them the next time we hang out.