Sony and developer Sucker Punch recently announced Ghost of Yotei, a sequel to its immensely popular open world action title, Ghost of Tsushima.
While the game will be somewhat familiar, its setting, time period, and protagonist are all completely new, which should make for a pretty fresh experience when it launches in 2025.
One area it's set to improve over the first game is in its open world design. The original was criticised for its repetitive activities while you're out exploring the island.
In an interview with The New York Times (paywalled), creative director Jason Connell comments on this aspect of Ghost of Yotei, saying it's an area the team is aiming to improve in the sequel.
"One challenge that comes with making an open-world game is the repetitive nature of doing the same thing over again," Connell says. "We wanted to balance against that and find unique experiences."
Indeed, many open world games run into this issue, though some are better at overcoming it than others. Hopefully, Yotei will offer up lots of interesting side quests, emergent moments, and so on in its beautiful interpretation of northern Japan.
Are you excited to see Ghost of Yotei's open world on PS5? Follow the wind into the comments section below.
[source nytimes.com, via wccftech.com]
Comments 74
Can't wait for this one. Loved the original. I'll admit taking out yet another camp did get repetitive, especially as the combat wasn't all that exciting, but one thing I do hope they expand upon is the platforming sections which I really enjoyed. Hopefully more opportunities too to just enjoy exploring and stumble across a shrine or temple.
No guns though please - I know we are further in the future now but that isn't what I want from a samurai game.
So wished it wasn't already 300 years later. The more modern the setting the more boring (guns and stuff..) but still, can't wait obviously.
Ghost 1 already was way less repetitive than most open worlds. Actually the only open world ever I 100%ed. Greatest combat gameplay out there that didn't get boring once.
Hope it will get less mainstream in a way but that's wishful thinking. If the horse won't be spawnable wherever whenever you want but it's a "real" horse like in RDR2 that would be a dream come through...
Finally a second game with the greatest mechanic out there, the wind showing where to go.
That's good because that was really what kept me from finishing GoT. Got fairly bored personally. Still plan to go back to it at some point, I'm just kinda intimidated by re-learning the controls so deep into the game.
Really hope they fix the pacing of progression and getting upgrades as if you someone who like to do everything bye then end of the 1st main section I had pretty much every upgrade I could want and the drive to explore became non-existent as felt unrewarded.
Understand if your a 100% person your gonna be more powerful quicker but it was just way to quick in ghost 1
While I've tired of many open world games for to this particular feature/flaw, Ghost of Tsushima is to this day, the only game I have completed to 100%. 'Platinum' the young folks call it?
Finally I won't be doing a million stupid fox shrines. Around every corner was a dumb fox shrine and it got old quick.
Good. I loved many things about this game, but having a completionist mindset made it a chore.
@zupertramp I ran in to the same thing. What I ended up doing was restarting the game and playing until I was comfortable again, then went back to my old save.
What's weird is that I actually enjoyed all of the activities despite them being repetitive, because the moment to moment gameplay was so fun. That being said I like the idea of more varied activities, as long as they don't fill the world with too much, a la ubisoft
@IntrepidWombat Many games need much better onboarding for RETURNING players. Maybe a "show gameplay hints again" option that you can toggle, or "repeat those tutorials" section... or something.
There are many complex games, I have dropped, tried to go back to and then dropped again. But I agree starting the game again, going through the tutorials and then reloading your original save is a good option. As is dropping the difficulty until you are familiar with it again... as long as they don't penalise you for this by locking trophies.
@Ooccoo_Jr I mean they showed a gun being used in the trailer so there's certainly going to be guns.
Ghost of Tsushima, is one of the few open world games, that I didn't want to end. Compared to Horizon 2, which I dropped out of, just 6-7 hours in.
Ghost of Tsushima was one of the best open world experiences I’ve had in a long time, so it sounds like they may hit those vintage Rockstar/Witcher levels rather than best Ubisoft (and Guerilla) on the stock open world formula. I’m certainly fine with that, as the gameplay was so fantastic. The first was definitively 9/10, so thoroughly excellent. Can’t wait to see the next one. It wasn’t far off from being a personal 10 for me.
So I thought GoT was a solid game, with some beautiful scenery, and some fun combat (but which often became repetitive because there wasn't that much variety). I didn't however think it was as perfect as it seems to be discussed in 2024.
I jumped into the PS5 DC (today) to confirm my recollection (2 years ago?)... the game is pretty rough from a technical perspective (not art direction which was top notch). The physical presence of Jin is not very good (it's called inverse kinematics) which relates to the interaction with the characters body and the landscape. There was so much clipping and occlusion it kinda was surprising to go back to it and see. It was definitely constrained by the base PS4.
The story is also pretty basic as well... and if you were to ask me what was Jin's major character moments... I'd be hard-pressed to answer outside a couple of sentences. I know it's subjective (so if you liked him, that's a good thing) - but I think he's the male version of Aloy... like a blank canvas, that if you stare at long enough wanting to see character, you might will yourself to see something. Completing the platinum was just - and I don't over-state this - boringly repetitive. It was just riding from point A to B admiring scenery with annoyingly repetitive encounters with the same group of slightly varied enemy along the way (that I ended up just riding around to save time) - or fast-travelling to avoid playing the game.
So I think whilst a lot of people rag on Assassin's Creed - I think that GoT had the honour of being a really honest, and artful telling of a samurai (or not) story. I think they also benefited from releasing a Japanese AC-like game first. I do however think that AC games are better designed for the completionists in construction... as the moment to moment was more interesting. You also met more memorable NPC's. Name 5 non-main characters you interact with in the GoT world? What really unexpected or memorable places/people do you discover? It was a really good game, but for me not perfect by a long way. I just hope GoY learns a lot of lessons.
And I know given this site - lots of fans will jump on anyone saying anything less than complimentary.
I did find Tsushima incredibly repetitive with a boring empty world for the most part. Stunning setting but let down by the lack of variety. If they can address that then I may dip in, but we shall see!
First game is good but I do think over rated.
I actually think Ubisoft open worlds are more interesting, whereas Ghost has better combat.
If they can add more detail, more variety and better environmental story telling, they will deserve a 9/10.
Odyssey and Valhalla were just infinitely more interesting to explore than the original.
@Nepp67 Yeah I know, but hopefully it is not a major part of the game. Presumably any firearms of this era would be really slow and cumbersome so hopefully any gun you have is just a one-shot deal with very limited ammo that doesn't get in the way of the sword fighting.
Great news, it was the main flaw of the original. If they can perfect this it will be an incredible sequel.
Loved my time with it, unfortunately I didn't complete the story. I tried doing all the side quest and eventually grew bored of it. I wish I had my old file so I could start where I left off.
I bought GoT day one. Left the game after 50% just because it was like a copy paste job. My coworker left the game even earlier because of this. Every house had the same look inside, and treasures were at the same place etc. etc. I think I will give this a try if they change that.
I am ludicrously excited for this game, it looks amazing and I loved the first one.
The sooner it gets here the better.
100% completed Ghost. Loved it completely. No complaints whatsoever.
Waiting impatiently for Yotei. Day one for me.
My biggest wish for this game, other than a more compelling narrative, is that the world is more RDR 2 than Ubisoft. Less structured, less formulaic. So this sounds great to me.
I've seen the Hokkaido of that era described as a lawless part of Japan, which automatically makes it seem more like a Western. The music in the trailer also gave it that Western vibe. I love everything I've read and seen about it so far.
Ghost of Yotei's - The beginning of the edo period
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Rise of the Rōnin - The end of the edo period
I rarely feel boring or repetitive with Tsushima open world. I spent 40-50 hours with the game. If it's very repetitive, i wouldn't Platinumed it. It's the complete opposite compare when i played open world games from Ubisoft like Far Cry, AssCreed, The Division, or Watch Dogs. I already felt bored when i entered 20 hours of the game to the point i just abandoned a lot of side quest and finished the main quest.
But i just hope Sucker Punch didn't do something unnecessary with the open world design like adding more laundry list to do just because some people said Tsushima is boring.
Not sure if you played it but Banishers: ghosts of new eden, was the game that for the first time the side quests were as interesting as the main plot. Indeed it was the whole game of moral choices but they can learn from it.
Yes the repetition led to not enough outstanding memories. You’ve got to create memories; particularly those with poor memory one thing I do recall is scaling that waterfall. I took it on its merits as a very “zen” experience in its sparsity yet longed for more of the supernatural razzmatazz that came with the expansion. We shall see what this brings..
@Ainu20 my worry would be that they try to tell a Western using the trappings of a Japanese samurai game. There's a lot of similarities cinematically (between samurai and western genres)... but I also think, we're not playing a movie. Having some nearly 25 years going to Hokkaido and learning its culture and history, I am a little nervous - but will give SuckerPunch the benefit of doubt (because I DO think they want to make a great game, and do the Japanese experience/history right). And I also understand - it's only a game.
@Ooccoo_Jr The combat wasn’t all that exciting? I mean it had some of the best swordplay ever in a video game, what more could you want?
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Judging by how tastefully they handled the Japanese setting in the first game, I'm not overly concerned.
@PuppetMaster I would disagree.. the locating of shrines/springs/etc etc was a veritable laundry list... riding the countryside during the end-game was not fun, or interesting (if I'm being honest). It was painful, pointless (as there were no rewards) and repetitive. Having spent over 100h in all versions/DLC... the game got very tired very quickly once you beat the game. I know that everyone's experience is very different - but I'd like to understand what you found interesting about the end-game experience?
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare If it's boring, repetitive, and painful, why on earth you spent 100 hours with the game?
Because I'm a Sony completionist... it's a curse... but also that's spread across both the main game and the DLC (and across both the PS4 and PS5). As I said - the core of it is a good game... it's just the end-game is woefully dull, as I don't think there's anything in their open world that's interesting other than "scenery" - which tends to get very saturated.
I liked the game - edit - but I think a lot of people describe it in near flawless phrases that I wonder if I'm playing the same game as them.
@Broad-Spectrum The duels were fun but when it came to beating most enemies all you did was switch to the right stance and then keep hammering them to until their guard broke. It didn't require any real thought unfortunately. There was certainly potential and maybe it's on me for not engaging enough with the options available but I still enjoyed the game, i just think combat could be improved with a few tweaks.
I'm guessing that, with a female protagonist, stopping to wallow in hot springs is going to be off the menu?
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare I'd say that's a fairly spot on summation though I wouldn't personally call AC better as I could never get into those games.
@PuppetMaster honestly I did the same with HFW. basically completed everything then got done and realized I didn't really enjoy most of it.
I honestly didn't find ghost open world repetitive. It was just a little confusing at first. I figured it was tied more to me than the game itself since I'm not a fan of pure open world games. Bought it, stayed with it, and platinum it. Plan to revisit when PS5 Pro comes out.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Except Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns are inspired by Kurasowa movies and sucker punch's ghost games are inspired by Kurasowa movies so it isn't fair to say they are using western trappings because any similarities are because of that.
@MrMagic that's what I said - there is a lot of cinematic cross-polination... but I'm playing a game, not watching a movie. Also, GoT had a lot of nice moments, but it also wasn't that cut-scene or directed-scene heavy. I don't mind the references, but I also don't want this to become a film-student-fan-fiction-dream either. SuckerPunch did pretty damn well on the "Japanese" story parts of GoT, so I'm guessing they will do well if left to their artistic sensibilities.
@StrickenBiged Big chance it will have hot spring since Hokkaido has plenty of it. But i don't think they gonna show her naked cake...or maybe they will? Who knows.
@zupertramp don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that UbiSoft make better games, I'm just saying their open world structure suits moving through the world more. Rockstar is the best by far at emergent experience (RDR2 is a masterpiece in open-world design... though I think their narrative and mission structure is pretty poor). UbiSoft know how to litter things along the way - so if you're cleaning up at the end of a game doesn't feel as stale, you'll stumble on things that can distract or add texture/colour. I thought that was mostly missing from GoT... which was more noticeable in the end-game phase.
Edit - and ditto HFW was a strangely boring game for me (and I also platinumed that). I really enjoyed HZD (and DLC), but just didn't enjoy the sequel's story or game-flow. I think many people felt the first was a better game. In contrast to GoT, HFW was just vomit-iconography... but the things to find, were also not that interesting after you found them.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Yeah but those Westerns still have an Eastern influence and I understand not wanting it to be like one of those old movies but that's arguably why these games are so popular. They appeal to fans of both genres.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Well summarized! I've had a lot of the same experiences with the game. I got the plat and never looked back, coz I was totally spent after the riding around.
Did an crtl + F on this page for the word woke, and I'm very pleased to see it wasn't mentioned, thank god people are actually talking about their opinions on the game, rather then that BS.
Day one like Astro Bot for me.
And Pro enhanced of course.
I bet you ghost of tsushima will be a better game than yotei🤔.word up son
The open world related activities in the first game were novelties at the time, different from the usual "Ubisofty" "go there fetch that".
On my first playthrough I didn't have a problem with them.
The second time around though (after 1 year or so) I wish they were... less in number and more diverse. Especially the chasing ones, golden birds and foxes.
Did enjoy the bamboo cutting though, both times, I hope they add something similar to it in GoY.
Also the flute singing and matching the waves with the gamepad's gyro, introduced in the DLC, that was interesting too, another one they could keep for the sequel.
That was my problem with first game.
That it was glorified Ubisoft open world game with better combat.
So I hope they will address it...
Platinuming GOT was so much fun, and I've never got bored of subsequent playthroughs. Personally, I didn't find it that repetetive
Can not wait for GOY!
I loved the 1st one, but it's indeniable that the game is indeed repetitive, in activites and even combat. A very limited moveset, we max the character in the middle of the game. People compares with the Assassin's Creed games, but the RPG ones are more varied.
I do find that Sucker Punch has had very repetitive games in the past, namely the inFamous series. I couldn't even bring myself to finish Second Son, despite having completed 1 and 2. It was probably the least repetitive out of the 3, but by that point I had had enough of the series, I suppose.
Now Ghost of Tsushima I absolutely loved and it was a lot less repetitive than inFamous, but still had a bit of it, which is just about the only criticism I have about that game. If Sucker Punch is improving that further in Ghost of Yotei, then I'm ready to fall in love with another "Ghost of" masterpiece.
I'd like the stealthy parts ramped up, Tenchu levels.
@playstation1995 Why? I feel like Sucker Punch has been on an upward trajectory with their last few releases, and I don't see why they couldn't continue in that direction. They have the right idea here.
My biggest gripe over tsushima was that the gear system was made up of entirely cosmetic clothing. It kills the impetus for exploring just as it does in other games like jedi fallen order/survivor. Exploring or completing platforming sections for a new skin for my sheath or a new pair of pants is just lame.
I doubt they will address that though. Also. Just like DF mentioned; The glimpse we saw really didn't show any visual improvements over the ps4 original.
I really think they had a fun story and combat but the rest of the open world stuff was pretty lame and relatively empty.
This is good news.
I think too many gamers are far too accepting of repetitive, copy paste gameplay.
GoT is a fine Open World game with a good story but yes, a bit dull in places.
Sooo stoked for this game. Definitely a day one purchase for me.
What saved GoT from being another boring open world iteration is the strong art direction and the overall atmosphere around the game. Take note Horizon, take note…
At least they know it was repetitive. They need to fix a lot more stuff thought.
There's this video in YouTube of a guy fighting every enemy with the same stance using only one button and the enemies can't do sh#t. That's pretty bad.
The AI was laughable too. Even if the enemy was right in front of you and already chasing you, as long as you hid under a house you were safe. They would just stay there a few seconds and then leave the area and the search. Kinda funny stuff.
I found the side activities in Ghost of Tsushima a breath of fresh air, to be honest. Sure, it had your typical trappings for an open world game — raiding camps, specifically — but it also introduced quiet moments that really resonated with me. Following foxes, coming up with haikus, one-on-one sword fights, and sword training with bamboo felt personal and genuinely relaxing. Additionally, the side quests were fantastic, and I loved seeing the side characters get their spotlight all throughout the game. I have no doubt Ghost of Yotei will have just as great moments throughout the game, even if they perhaps fail to create less repetitive activities, it will still be a step up from a lot of other developers. I’m very excited for this one.
What is with people and this game and the blinders they put on about it?
It was super repetitive, combat was apparently amazing ? No it was nothing new, and only used 1weapon type,.2.if you want to be specific, Rise of the Ronins combat was far superior, in Ghost 1 was just a matter of switching stance and plough through people, even later the duels could wipe out half a camp. The game was good looked beautiful and great setting , but not this godly game it's made out to be, and I think Ghost 2 will suffer FF7 Pt2/Horizon sequel problem...they'll add a truck ton of side bore
Final note..I do actually like Ghost 1 👍
That's good to hear. Probably the most beautiful open world (even if I'm partial to the gloomy grandeur of Elden Ring or the surprising realism in Days Gone), but some of the open world tasks got pretty tedious. One I hope they keep and expand upon is the poetry / haiku composition. More options, more interactivity, more opportunities to tune out the noise and focus on the beauty of the world... it was one of my favorite aspects of the original and just a fascinating way to slow down the pace in a good way.
Ghost 1 was perfect! We need to be able to follow more foxes in the new one.
That sounds easy to fix. Just make the world smaller and cut out the most repetitive stuff.
That's good, that's the one complaint I'd had with the original. To think it takes 300 years to make an AAA video game now.
That's a common complaint with open world. You got to fill it with a variety of interesting tasks so it won't get repetitive and tedious. I was fine with how Ghost of Tsushima was and loved it. So I'm looking forward to Ghost of Yōtei.
This was my main issue with the first game. 30 hours or so in, skill tree maxed out, I was feeling done, despite not finishing the main story (which was admittedly solid). That said, I really enjoyed the majority of time I spent with the game, so I’m curious what they’ll do to improve this sequel.
@Lup Yeah the combat could really be improved. I ended playing it on lethal because I had gotten so good at the game, but then lethal was SUPER frustrating for duel encounters. Room to grow!
I loved it from start to end almost completely finished it without checking online that does not happen a lot with me. I went to the expansion area at a very low level that made it a lot of fun. If they chance something that would be that I could help the locals more and having more of a influence on the side missions of you do it better. Man the expansion area was a blast I loved finding out smaller things. I loved walking around it all looked so great and the guiding winds were awsome. I loved petting the fox I would have been better if they would have build up something with the fox shrines.
Hmm interesting take. I didn’t find Tsushima to be repetitive so I guess Yotei will be super exciting?
Either way I am excited for this game.
@Uromastryx Story, characters, world how it looked and felt, expansion area was exceptional to explore, guiding winds was a cool thing, cool armor. I just took my time and had fun used almost no online to look up things. Impactfull ending was also a good thing.
The gameplay was fun for me nothing exceptional but nothing that I took offence with. In the end whole package was a fantastic yourney for me.
I somehow didn’t mind the repetitiveness as much as in some other games like Assassin’s Creed.
The activities were often more meditative than action oriented, which almost made it a cosy game at some points.
Looks great. Sucker Punch is one of the best in the biz.
I didn’t consider the repetitiveness a flaw, haven’t played a game that doesn’t have it. Even emergent gameplay situations get repetitive. It’s usually some character running towards you asking for help lol
Ghost of Woke, not thanks 👍🏼
Although most samurai warriors were men, women born into the ruling class were also considered samurai. They trained in martial arts and sometimes wore swords, but they rarely fought in battle. Instead, they often defended their homes and children while their husbands were fighting.
I had over 40gb of photos and video content for the original on PS4 another large chunk for PS5 version which I've been holding off. Hate to think what might happen here. Most beautiful game world I've ever played, so many varied biomes.
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