After four years, Sucker Punch Productions announced Ghost of Yōtei, the sequel to its 2020 samurai open-world game Ghost of Tsushima. The PlayStation 5 exclusive closed out the September State of Play with a three-minute trailer showcasing its gorgeous open world and new protagonist Atsu.
News and details have been trickling out since the trailer debuted, so we’re putting everything we know about Ghost of Yōtei in one convenient place. Let’s break down Sucker Punch’s first PS5 game.
Erika Ishii is Atsu
Perhaps the biggest reveal is that Ghost of Yōtei won’t follow Tsushima’s protagonist, Jin Sakai. Instead, the sequel takes place over 300 years later in 1603, and stars a new hero, a female samurai named Atsu. The story will be about Atsu engaging in some “underdog vengeance,” as Sucker Punch described it to the New York Times. The trailer shows a man confronting Atsu about “hunting” someone. Whatever she’s done by this point in the game has every Rōnin samurai after her, which prompts the man to ask if she still thinks she’s the “hunter” in this situation. She shuts him up after that. So yeah, she’s probably still the “hunter,” even with numerous Rōnin on her tail.
Atsu is portrayed by actor Erika Ishii, best known for their work as a cast member in Dimension 20, Valkyrie in Apex Legends, and one of the voices of Rook in the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Ghost of Yōtei takes place in a different region
As the name suggests, the sequel takes place in the areas surrounding Mount Yōtei, a mountain located on the island of Ezo or what’s known today as Hokkaido. The first words spoken in the trailer are “We are beyond the edge of Japan,” and this is true, as this northern island was not part of the country until the 1800s, when it was colonized and renamed. So the game not only takes place centuries after the original game, but it’s also pretty distanced from it in terms of geography. (Tsushima took place in a fictionalized version of Tsushima Island, which is on the southern end of Japan.) With all that time and distance separating them, it’s unclear if there will be any direct ties between the two games beyond the name, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jin’s journey is a legend to people 300 years later.
Sucker Punch creative directors Nate Fox and Jason Connell told The New York Times that seeing Mount Yōtei on research trips solidified the setting and title, with Connell recounting a time when he stared at the mountain for “two hours.” Fox also cited a visit to the Shiretoko National Park in Hokkaido as an inspiration, as it married both beautiful scenery and danger.
“Inside the park, you have to watch a video telling you about the dangers of bears,” Fox told The New York Times. “Being in this incredibly beautiful park with jagged cliffs and water, yet all the time being aware there were dangerous bears, was electrifying. We strive to bring that into the video game — that feeling of danger.”
Open-world exploration is still key
Ghost of Yōtei is still open-world, and we see a few shots of Atsu traveling through huge areas on horseback. There will still be populated areas to travel through as well, as we see Atsu arriving in what appears to be a restaurant with several patrons talking amongst themselves. The areas Atsu travels through vary in weather and aesthetics. She’s seen running through open fields, snowy mountains, and wartorn villages, so Ghost of Yōtei won’t be discarding Ghost of Tsushima’s stunning environmental design.
Atsu has a canine companion
The trailer closes with a short scene of Atsu meeting a wolf, who initially meets her with aggression, so she draws her blades. Then the wind picks up and the wolf runs off as if chasing it. The wolf is shown at the beginning of the trailer as well, here with blood covering its face, as if to mirror Atsu’s “hunting” of her targets. While we don’t yet know what exactly is going on between these two, this wolf seems to be an ally of Atsu. Let us pet the giant dog, Sucker Punch. You know you want to.
Ghost of Yōtei will launch next year
Sucker Punch has confirmed Ghost of Yōtei will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive when it launches in 2025, but didn’t get any more specific about the release window. The sequel is the first game by the studio made exclusively for the PlayStation 5, though a Director’s Cut version of the original Ghost of Tsushima was released on the system in 2021.
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