Sucker Punch Explains Why ‘Ghost Of Yotei’ Doesn’t Star Jin Sakai

The biggest surprise of the PlayStation State of Play showcase yesterday was the reveal of Ghost of Tsushima 2. The second biggest surprise is that it is not Ghost of Tsushima 2, it is Ghost of Yotei, a new adventure starring a new lead in a new region in a new time period. But still a lot of swords.

Given how much the original game is beloved and how many people grew attached to Jin Sakai and his story, it was a little unexpected to see the mantle handed over to a new character, Atsu, a female Ronin. As for why Jin was left behind for Ghost of Yotei, Sucker Punch discussed the reasoning in a PlayStation blog post:

“We also wanted to continue to innovate. To create something fresh but familiar, we looked beyond Jin Sakai’s story and the island of Tsushima, and shifted our focus to the idea of the Ghost instead. At Sucker Punch we love origin stories, and we wanted to explore what it could mean to have a new hero wearing a Ghost mask, and uncovering a new legend. This led us to Ghost of Yōtei: a new protagonist, a new story to unfold, and a new region of Japan to explore.”

The article also confirms that this is actually 300 years past when Ghost of Tsushima took place, in 1603 Japan, though obviously we are still slicing people up with similar weaponry. There were fewer organized samurai clans then and more roaming Ronin like Atsu, it seems.

Atsu will be voice by the prolific Erika Ishii, in their most significant part yet, and they are also starring as the English voice of Rook in the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard next month. I know them best from Destiny 2 where they played Ana Bray. Ishii has quickly become one of the most widely cast voice actors in the industry, a new Nolan North or Troy Baker, almost. The coming year will be their biggest yet.

Ghost of Tsushima was my GOTY for 2020, so I will be seated day one for Ghost of Yotei (or earlier, hopefully, with a review copy). I cannot wait to see what Sucker Punch has done here with a game built for PS5 specifically and retaining the combat and sweeping art direction of the first game, with hopefully some new innovations. All we know is that Yotei is coming out in 2025, and hopefully we get a more specific date soon. I’d guess fall.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.