Sucker Punch completely surprised every gamer, reviewer and journalist when they released Ghost of Tsushima in August of 2020, they presented a game with a compelling story of revenge but the protagonist at the same time is having his lifelong beliefs challenged forcing him to change and adapt against his beliefs to save his island of Tsushima.
It is to this day one of the best looking games on the playstation 4, a director’s cut was released for the playstation 5 featuring better visuals and 60 FPS. It was such a great hit at the time of its release that the tourism market experienced a surge due to the influx of people coming to Tsushima to experience what the game showed.
Ghost Of Yotei, Sucker Punch Have A Golden Goose
A trailer was released on IGN today as of writing this article for Sony’s State of Play 2024 showcasing visuals akin to what we saw in Ghost of Tsushima, so far what is known is we have a new protagonist and the story takes place three hundred years after the events of Ghost of Tsushima.
This time it is a woman, Atsu, donning a mask similar to Jin Sakai’s from the first game, journeying across the vast edge of Japan and being hunted for a veiled reason. Just as Jin was well practiced with the flute, Atsu is seen carrying a Shamisen, a three stringed instrument that is played with a bachi similar to guitar plectrums that are used today, we may see a return of the mechanic where playing an instrument would affect the weather in the previous title.
As per the trailer description the story this time may occur in the backdrop of Tokugawa’s rule, the Edo period. Taking place in 1603, just three years after Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the battle of Sekigahara. Although we may see the historic shogun since there are shots of our protagonist drawing her sword against armored samurai.
Knowing Sucker Punch it will be a treat to just admire the views that the game will undoubtedly have as one of the screenshots showed Atsu looking up at the Auroras in the night time. The screenshots also showcased the wealth of different vistas we will be able to experience such as the lush maple tree forests, snow covered fields and clear green fields that showcase the mountain.
A Dual Wielding Ronin
As per the trailer she is being hunted by other ronin as cuts down the enemy in front of her, it is unclear for what reason or purpose she is being hunted as the trailer shifted to showing the various areas we can explore from wide open fields to snow laden mountainous areas.
Although the core combat may not change much from the first game, the trailer did show a cutscene of her wielding two swords hinting at the possibility of us performing various dual-wielding combos in our different stances.
What will be interesting to see is if Sucker Punch allows us to know what happened to Jin Sakai after the events of the first game. For example a side quest to track clues that hint at the ultimate resting place of Jin Sakai.
A Playstation blog post later stated Sucker Punch’s intentions with this game, that being they wanted to retain the feel of what Ghost of Tsushima brought but wanted to tell an original story far from Jin Sakai’s time. They had also stated that this time, the story will take place in the lands surrounding Mount Yotei, a place that didn’t fall under Tokugawa’s rule and thus doesn’t have the samurai class and families we became familiar with in Ghost of Tsushima.
It Will No Doubt Be A Hit On Release
The beauty of Ghost of Tsushima cannot be understated, it is by all means one of the best games to have been released this decade. Ghost of Yotei will release in 2025 and if the previous is anything to go by we are in for another original compelling story, new gameplay mechanics and satisfying combat but still retaining the original’s signature.
The blog post stated that they are going to share more in the coming months including more about why Atsu is being hunted and more background as to what is driving her forward much like what drove Jin forward.
