Key takeaways
- Ghost of Yotei won't feature Jin Sakai as its protagonist when the game launches in 2025, and that's not by accident.
- Sucker Punch revealed that the title honored the idea of ”Ghost”, revisiting many of the same pillars to reveal a new journey.
- Elsewhere, the studio said the game is being built from the ground-up on PS5, and will feature new gameplay mechanics.
When Ghost of Tsushima's sequel, officially called Yotei's Ghost, closed Tuesday's State of Play presentation, fans immediately wondered what happened to protagonist Jin Sakai. The Tsushima hero appears to have been replaced by a woman, and, it's no coincidence.
In a new blog shared on PlayStation's official website, Soccer Punch, through communications manager Andrew Goldfarb, detailed why Sakai was left behind in the latest game from the first-party studio.
A ghost is an idea that will live on
First and foremost, the new hero's name is Atsu. His journey takes place more than 300 years after the events of the original game, meaning Sakai and his group of friends are long gone. According to the blog, Sucker Punch married the idea of the title “ghost” and sought to create a new experience with that motif.
To create something fresh yet familiar, we looked beyond the story of Jin Sakai and the island of Tsushima, and shifted our focus to the idea of ghosts. At Sucker Punch we love origin stories, and we wanted to explore what it might mean to be a new hero wearing a ghost mask, and uncover a new story.
In other words, while Sakai will not be in the game, the central theme of the franchise will remain “ghosts”. That might be a bummer for someone hoping to see his story continue, though it does allow Sucker Punch to tell different stories from all over Japan, featuring a new ghost.
In fact, Sucker Punch believes that one of the original pillars established by the original Tsushima was the samurai who roamed feudal Japan. That, plus the freedom to explore the world at your own pace, with a special focus on the beauty of Japan, makes the franchise a success. Atsu's journey will touch all those pillars just as Jin's did. As for the game, Sucker Punch confirms that this studio's first title is being built from the ground up for the PS5. The team referenced “larger sight lines,” as well as “more believable movement through the air in grass and vegetation,” in a blog post on top of the new gameplay mechanics. It's a fascinating approach on Sucker Punch's part, and in a world with sequels, it would be nice to experience similar mechanics within a new self-contained journey. Considering how amazing Sucker Punch's previous heroes have been (Sly, Cole, Jin Sakai), there's no doubt that Atsu will be just as impressive. 2025 really can't come soon enough.
