As a sequel to Ghost of Tsushima but not a direct continuation of Ghost of Tsushima’s story or characters, at least not in any explicit way, Ghost of Yotei positions itself to be quite an intriguing second installment of Sucker Punch’s blooming Ghost IP. Set over 300 years later and thus obviously following different characters, Ghost of Yotei’s setting essentially takes place as far away from Ghost of Tsushima’s as possible, catapulting players onto the other end of Japan, and it’ll be fascinating to see if three centuries passing has diluted or prevented Jin Sakai’s tall tale from making its way into the former’s narrative.
Ghost of Yotei releases for PlayStation 5 on October 2, 2025.
Rather, based even partially on Ghost of Yotei’s deep-dive State of Play that aired the other day, the sequel itself isn’t keeping nearly as much distance between Ghost of Tsushima’s gameplay and its own. That’s not to say Ghost of Yotei was obligated to be wildly different, nor that its gameplay doesn’t boast remarkable debut features, and instead it simply suggests that there will be an agreeable throughline between games. It seems likely that Yotei would make any effort to exhume Tsushima’s Ghost story, for example, as some fable or Mythic Tale. Regardless, for better or worse, its gameplay will probably seem quite familiar when all is said and done.
Why Ghost of Yotei Fans May Not Want to Get Too Attached to Atsu
Ghost of Yotei is paving the way for a fresh protagonist, but gamers will probably want to avoid getting too invested in Atsu long-term.
Ghost of Yotei Seems as Similar as It is Different from Ghost of Tsushima
Sequels are relentlessly fickle beasts as they inevitably shoulder the crushing weight of expectations that their predecessors establish. Realistic or not, these expectations are upheld by players for sequels to maintain what made them successful or beloved in the first place, all while somehow extrapolating from the original as a baseline and ‘improving’ in every area imaginable.
Some players may have been perfectly content with Ghost of Yotei’s gameplay if it wasn’t changing anything and simply stuck to what Ghost of Tsushima did well, for instance, whereas others may not see Ghost of Yotei’s gameplay as a refinement or upgrade at all if it appears to be anything like Ghost of Tsushima’s. It’s this sort of balance that will make any sequel divisive, depending on who’s asked and what their opinion of the original game was.
However, Ghost of Yotei seems as if it’s attempting to appeal to both corners by remaining similar to Ghost of Tsushima in its core gameplay loop of open-world exploration while offering brand-new tools to assist in making such player choice far more elaborate and tailored to players’ preferences. These new tools are arriving in the form of distinct features, detailed in the State of Play, such as a Clue System and interrogations that point players in various directions, or having important NPCs come to the player while resting at a campsite instead of players necessarily needing to seek them out in the open world.
Tsushima and Yotei Share the Same ‘Simon Says’ Combat System
As for where Ghost of Yotei seems to adhere closely to the bread and butter of Ghost of Tsushima, traversal and combat look nearly identical between both games aside from one manipulated variable: while Jin Sakai only had a katana to rely on (as well as a tanto in stealth and a bow for ranged attacks), Atsu has access to several unique melee weapons, though they all transparently play the same mechanical role as Ghost of Tsushima’s fighting stances. Ghost of Yotei’s melee weapons include:
- Katana
- Spear
- Kusarigama
- Odachi
- Dual Swords
Each weapon is intended to be better against a certain enemy type than another, ensuring that Ghost of Tsushima’s routine of swapping stances to effectively combat an enemy with a specific weapon is alive and well. Ghost of Yotei doesn’t demand that players swap weapons, to be fair, yet it’s made clear that doing so makes enemy-to-enemy combat more efficient. Therefore, a lot of the original game’s dominant genes are already on display in the sequel—hot spring baths are reprised, too—with Ghost of Yotei at risk of not pushing the envelope as much as it may have been expected to.
Ghost of Yotei
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- October 2, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Sucker Punch
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
WHERE TO PLAY
- Prequel(s)
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- PS5 Release Date
- October 2, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Action, Adventure, Open-World
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5
