Ghost of Yōtei

Ghost of Yōtei is a 2025 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is a standalone sequel to the 2020 game Ghost of Tsushima.^[1] Set in 1603 in Ezo, Japan, the story follows Atsu, a mercenary seeking vengeance against the "Yōtei Six" for slaughtering her family sixteen years prior.

Ghost of Yōtei was released for the PlayStation 5 on October 2, 2025. It received generally positive reviews and sold over 3.3 million copies by November 2025.

Ghost of Yōtei is played in the third-person perspective, and features elements of combat, stealth, and open-world exploration. As Atsu, the player is free to explore various regions of Ezo, each with its own series of locations to visit, allies to recruit, and enemies to fight.

As the player progresses through the story, they unlock an arsenal of melee, ranged, and throwable weapons, expanding upon the selection available in Tsushima. The "stance" system has been replaced by a "weapon counter system"; unlocking new weapons gives the player more options to counter various enemy archetypes. Atsu begins with a single katana, and as the game progresses, she unlocks the yari (spear), kusarigama (chain-sickle), ōdachi (two-handed greatsword), and will also be able to dual-wield katana. The hankyu and yumi bows return from Tsushima, and Atsu can also gain access to a tanegashima (matchlock rifle) and a tanzutsu (matchlock pistol). Unlike in Tsushima, Atsu is able to use the grappling hook from the beginning of the game.

Returning elements from Tsushima's gameplay are combination attacks (that must be parried), and unblockable attacks (that must be evaded). New features include disarming attacks that can cause Atsu or her enemies to drop their weapons, and the ability to pick up and throw dropped weapons at foes.^[2] Atsu can also summon a wolf to aid her in open combat, or stealth missions.

Ghost of Yōtei's environments have been updated with dynamic weather effects inspired by the real climate around Mount Yōtei, including snow, rain, and aurora borealis.^[3]

The game features a non-linear story, allowing the player to choose the order in which they confront the Yōtei Six (with the exception of the Snake and Lord Saito, who are fought as the first and final boss respectively). Players can take on side-quests for NPCs, with new activities such as bounty hunting for monetary rewards, and weapon mastery quests to unlock new in-game abilities. Atsu has the ability to set up a camp, allowing her to regain health and spirit, cook meals for stat boosts, craft ammunition, and interact with vendors to trade resources and equipment.^[2] Side activities allow the player to improve their statistics; returning from Tsushima, players can bathe in onsen (hot springs), cut bamboo, and follow foxes to find charms. New side activities include sumi-e painting (replacing Tsushima's haiku composition), gambling by playing zeni hajiki, and learning new songs on the shamisen. The "guiding wind" also returns to direct Atsu to objectives, and can be changed by playing the shamisen.^[3][2]

Kurosawa Mode returns to Ghost of Yōtei, based on the black-and-white films of Akira Kurosawa. Two additional modes, inspired by the works of Takashi Miike and Shinichirō Watanabe, are also available in the game.^[4]

A sequel to Tsushima's co-op multiplayer Legends mode was announced, titled Ghost of Yōtei: Legends. Like its previous entry, it will feature two-player story missions and four-player survival matches where players will fight against gigantic, monstrous versions of the Yōtei Six and enemies inspired by Japanese mythology. Yōtei: Legends is set to release in 2026 as a free update for all base game owners.^[5]

The story is set in the environs of Mount Yōtei in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido, Japan) in 1603, 329 years after the events of Tsushima. The main character, Atsu (Erika Ishii / Fairouz Ai), is a wandering mercenary who adopts the persona of the vengeful onryō in her quest to hunt down the "Yōtei Six" – renegade samurai Lord Saito (Feodor Chin / Miou Tanaka) and his lieutenants the Snake (Nelson Lee / Mutsumi Sasaki), the Oni (Tommy Kang / Atsushi Miyauchi), the Kitsune (Matthew Yang King / Jun Fukuyama), and Saito's sons, the Spider (Robert Wu / Tomokazu Sugita) and the Dragon (David Sakurai / Tomokazu Seki) – who, sixteen years prior, had slaughtered her family, destroyed her home, and left her for dead, pinned against a burning ginkgo tree with her father's katana.^[6][7][8][9]

Supporting characters allied with Atsu – referred to as her "Wolf Pack" – include Oyuki (Jeannie Bolet / Romi Park), a traveling shamisen performer and former Yōtei Six member; Jubei (Noshir Dalal / Shogo Nakamura), Atsu's twin brother and a Matsumae clan samurai who goes by the title Lord Kitamori; and Kiku (Suzie Yeung / Shion Wakayama), Jubei's teenage daughter.

As a child, Atsu's family are massacred by the Yōtei Six, led by Lord Saito, an event later called the Night of the Burning Tree. Atsu survives and flees Ezo, becoming a wandering mercenary for the next sixteen years before returning home to take her revenge against the Yōtei Six. She first kills the Snake while he is drunk, but he wounds her; she miraculously recovers, causing witnesses to fearfully dub her the "onryō".

Atsu returns to her destroyed family home, learning that Saito is building a rebel army to claim the entire island of Ezo for himself as the self-appointed "Shogun of the North"; the Matsumae clan, loyal to the Shogun, have declared war against Saito. As she travels around Yōtei, Atsu kills Saito's forces, takes on bounties, assists the locals, and trains under various weapon masters. Offerings are given to the onryō, and many rōnin attempt to take her bounty, with Atsu's exploits gaining her a following of weapon masters, merchants and warriors dubbed the "Wolf Pack."

Atsu attempts to assassinate Saito at a training camp, but fails. Surprised she is alive, he challenges her to a duel, which is interrupted by the Matsumae attacking the stronghold, and Saito retreats into hiding.

Atsu assists the traveling shamisen performer Oyuki to track down the Kitsune and thwart his production of wolfsbane poison at his fortress, which is simultaneously attacked by Commander Fujita, a high-ranking member of the Matsumae clan. However, the Kitsune fails to recognize Atsu as they duel, nearly killing her before Oyuki forces him to escape; based on this and Oyuki's experience, Atsu deduces she was the previous Kitsune. Oyuki admits she freed Atsu at the Night of the Burning Tree; disillusioned, she founded a shinobi group for Saito to distance herself from him and ultimately betray him. However, she was herself betrayed by her disciple, Dojun, who became the new Kitsune. After a duel, Atsu forgives Oyuki, who teaches her shinobi techniques and helps her to kill Dojun.

While pursuing the Oni, Atsu discovers her brother Jubei also survived the massacre and was rescued by the Matsumae clan, rising in rank to become the samurai officer Lord Kitamori. The Oni has put out a bounty on one of his men, Mad Goro, who stole his prized musket; Atsu finds him, but the Matsumae refuse to let him go after interrogation. Atsu instead takes the gun and Jubei as bounty to the Oni to infiltrate his stronghold, Ishikari Castle, recovering the original saya for her sword as she and Jubei attempt to assassinate the Oni; however, the attempt is unsuccessful, and the two flee. Jubei struggles to reconcile his love for his sister due to his sense of duty to the Matsumae, coupled with her suicidal recklessness and disregard for the lives of the prisoners taken by the Oni to repair his castle, and leaves while arguing that their parents would want them to fight for the living rather than sacrifice others for revenge. Atsu heads to a Matsumae camp to free Goro and obtain information, but the Oni's forces arrive and slaughter the samurai, destroying the camp and letting Goro escape as the Oni has his men destroy the bridge. The siblings reconcile and find Goro, now masquerading as a monk, who tells them of a secret passage to the Oni's Castle. They infilitrate, incite a prisoner rebellion, and slay the Oni together.

Atsu, Jubei, and Oyuki discover Saito has built a secret fleet to assault the Matsumae heartland. Jubei saves a teenager from execution, revealing she is his daughter, Kiku. While Jubei takes her to the safety of Matsumae Castle, Atsu and Oyuki search for Saito's sons. With the Dragon proving too cautious, Atsu captures the Spider as he re-enacts the Night of the Burning Tree as a play; enraged, she massacres the Saito forces, but stops at killing the Spider. The Matsumae organise his public execution to lure out the Dragon, but they are outmaneuvred by a Saito counterattack on the castle. Jubei and Oyuki leave to defend the castle, imploring Atsu to help, but Atsu stays to kill the Dragon. The Spider flees, and Jubei and Oyuki end up missing.

Finding Kiku safe, Atsu evacuates her to her family home, goes to dual katana master and ex-bounty hunter Hanbei for help, and tracks down the Spider at his family's burial grounds in Tokachi Range. Having been disowned by his father for letting the Dragon die, he duels Atsu. Haunted for choosing vengeance over her family, Atsu spares him; he reveals Jubei and Oyuki were captured at Saito's castle. Atsu rescues them and learns Saito is waiting for her at her family home. Saito lets Kiku go on the condition Atsu finishes her duel. Jubei saves Atsu at the last moment, but is mortally wounded. Atsu manages to disarm Saito, using both their swords to pin him to her family's ginkgo tree; Saito begs her to kill him, but she leaves him to die alone and promises the dying Jubei that she will raise Kiku in his stead with Oyuki. After Jubei dies of his wounds, Atsu sees Kiku as her younger self and embraces her.

Six months later, Atsu has retired the onryō role to live a life of peace with Kiku and Oyuki, having finally found closure.

Ghost of Yōtei's setting was inspired by Sucker Punch Productions's multiple visits to northern Japan. Creative director Jason Connell was struck by the beauty of Mount Yōtei reflecting across Lake Tōya. The development team recorded nature sounds at Shiretoko National Park.^[6] The team relied upon cultural advisors during development, as well as visiting important cultural sites and consulting with the local Ainu people on their trips to Japan.^[10]

Creative director Nate Fox wanted a sequel to Tsushima to maintain its core elements: "transporting the player to the romance and beauty of feudal Japan".^[6] Combat was designed to mimic the feel of a "classic samurai movie".^[11] Compared to Tsushima, the studio wanted to make the game world of Yōtei more varied, with more unique activities for players to complete.^[12]

Ghost of Yōtei was officially revealed during PlayStation's State of Play presentation on September 24, 2024,^[1] and it was nominated for Most Anticipated Game at the Game Awards in November 2024.^[13] On April 23, 2025, it was confirmed that the game was scheduled for release for the PlayStation 5 on October 2, 2025.^[9]

On September 10, 2025, Sucker Punch developer Drew Harrison posted a joke on Bluesky regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.^[14][15][16] The next day, Harrison reported that she had been subjected to an ongoing harassment campaign and individuals were contacting her employer in an attempt to have her fired.^[14][16] Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming condemned the comment,^[17] and Sony confirmed to Kotaku that she was no longer employed by the studio.^[14][15][16] Upon the release of the game's trailer on September 16, 2025, many of the respondents threatened to boycott Ghost of Yōtei while also writing "RIP Charlie Kirk".^[15]

By September 20, 2025, Ghost of Yōtei was one of the top-selling games on the PlayStation Store's pre-order charts,^[18] placing first in Australia and Canada, and second in France, Germany, Japan, Poland, United Kingdom, and the United States.^[19] By September 27, it had reached number one in thirteen countries.^[20]

Ghost of Yōtei received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.^[21] OpenCritic reported that 94% of critics recommended the game.^[22]

GameSpot's Richard Wakling called it an improvement on Tsushima with its "gripping story, rewarding exploration, and fantastic combat".^[2] IGN's Michael Higham praised the game's setting and mechanics.^[26] Chris Tapsell of Eurogamer lauded its "great swordplay and heartfelt storytelling" while criticizing its "poor sidequests and dated open world".^[23]

The game's story received a generally positive reception, with some critics noting issues with its pacing and sidequests. In his review for GameSpot, Wakling called it "a fairly conventional revenge tale, but one that's well told";^[2] IGN's Higham similarly called it a "predictable but well-executed story".^[26] In comparison to its predecessor, Polygon's Giovanni Colantonio called it a "more personal, standalone story",^[28] while GamesRadar's Andrew Brown called Atsu's story a "more than worthy successor" that "struggled with pacing" towards its end;^[25] VideoGamer's Tom Bardwell called it an improvement over Tsushima, but noted the pacing was "questionable".^[27] Eurogamer's Tapsell felt it would have been "better served as a linear action game", and that the game's side-quests felt "prehistoric".^[23]

Sony's financial reports stated Ghost of Yōtei sold about 3.3 million units as of November 2, 2025.^[29]

According to Famitsu, Ghost of Yōtei sold an estimated 120,196 retail copies during the week September 29 to October 5, 2025 of its debut in Japan.^[30] According to Alinea Analytics, it was estimated to have sold over 1.6 million copies to consumers after its first week of release (2 million when including sell-in to retailers), translating into roughly $100 million in revenue.^[31]