"Yotei's Ghost Promises Less Repetition Than Tsushima"

Ghost of Tsushima's eagerly awaited sequel, Ghost of Yotei, aims to address one of the primary criticisms leveled at the original 2020 action-adventure game: its repetitive gameplay. Developer Sucker Punch has pledged to "balance against" this issue, promising a more varied open-world experience.

Ghost of Yotei Promises Players The “Freedom to Explore”

Ghost of Tsushima Fans Heavily Criticize The Title for Being Repetitive

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Sony and Sucker Punch unveiled their vision for Ghost of Yotei, the sequel that follows the journey of a new protagonist, Atsu. A key focus for the sequel is to offer a less repetitive open-world gameplay experience, as highlighted by creative director Jason Connell.

"One challenge that comes with making an open-world game is the repetitive nature of doing the same thing over and over," Connell explained. "We wanted to balance against that and find unique experiences." Unlike its predecessor, Ghost of Yotei will introduce players to the mastery of firearms alongside traditional melee weapons like the katana, Connell added.

Despite Ghost of Tsushima's impressive 83/100 Metacritic score, the game faced criticism for its gameplay mechanics. One review described it as "a competent but shallow and overfamiliar attempt to replicate Assassin’s Creed style open world adventure in the world of 13th century samurai," while another suggested that the game could have "benefited from a smaller scope or a more linear structure."

Fans have echoed these sentiments, pointing out the repetitive nature of Ghost of Tsushima, which somewhat tarnishes its otherwise breathtaking action-adventure experience. "Ghost of Tsushima is beautiful, but insanely repetitive and dull," one player remarked. "The problem is that it all gets repetitive very quickly. There are only 5 enemies the entire game: sword guy, sword and shield guy, spear guy, big guy, and archer."

Sucker Punch is determined to rectify these issues in Ghost of Yotei, striving to enhance the cinematic flair and visuals that define the series. "When we started working on a sequel, the first question we asked ourselves is ‘What is the DNA of a Ghost game?’" creative director Nate Fox shared in the interview. "It is about transporting the player to the romance and beauty of feudal Japan."

Announced at the State of Play September 2024, Ghost of Yotei is set to launch in 2025 for the PS5. The game promises to offer players the "freedom to explore" the scenic beauty of Mount Yotei at their "own pace," according to Sucker Punch Sr Communications Manager Andrew Goldfarb in a recent PlayStation blog post.