Ghost of Yōtei

What it is

Ghost of Yōtei is an open-world action-adventure developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It released on October 2, 2025, for PlayStation 5. The standalone campaign follows Atsu, a mercenary pursuing the outlaws responsible for her family’s murder, rather than continuing Jin Sakai’s campaign from Ghost of Tsushima. Exploration, weapon training, duels and optional activities shape her journey through northern Japan.

This was Sucker Punch’s first game built from the ground up for PS5. Its technology supports long environmental sightlines, dense vegetation, deformable snow and rapid transitions between locations. PS5 Pro enhancements include PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and ray-traced global illumination, with an option targeting 60 frames per second. The game also supports DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

Story and setting

The main story takes place in 1603, more than 300 years after Ghost of Tsushima, in the lands surrounding Mount Yōtei in Ezo, the region now known as Hokkaido. Grasslands, flower fields, mountain ridges and snowy terrain form the setting. Sucker Punch describes this frontier as distinct from the organized samurai society depicted in its previous game.

Sixteen years before Atsu’s return, the Yōtei Six killed her family and left her for dead, pinned to a burning ginkgo tree. Her targets are the Snake, the Oni, the Kitsune, the Spider, the Dragon and Lord Saito. Atsu carries the katana used against her as she tracks them across Ezo.

Although revenge establishes the premise, the story also concerns the relationships Atsu forms and the possibility of finding a different future. Flashbacks reveal parts of her earlier life. The standalone narrative introduces a different protagonist, period and region rather than requiring familiarity with Jin’s personal story.

Gameplay and modes

Atsu learns weapons from master warriors and develops techniques as she explores. Her arsenal includes the katana, dual katana, ōdachi, yari and kusarigama, alongside ranged weapons. Different weapons serve different purposes, making equipment selection and switching part of combat. Stealth, direct confrontations and bounty hunting provide different activities within the campaign.

Exploration includes travel on foot and horseback, a grappling hook for reaching elevated terrain and a spyglass for identifying points of interest. Optional discoveries have specific rewards: hot springs increase maximum health, bamboo strikes increase maximum Spirit, shrines provide charms and sumi-e painting locations award appearance items. Weapon teachers and other encounters give reasons to investigate beyond the central revenge quest.

The campaign is single-player, while Ghost of Yōtei Legends is a separate online co-op component. Its Story missions support two players; Survival and Incursion support four. Players choose between Samurai, Archer, Mercenary and Shinobi classes to confront supernatural versions of the Yōtei Six. A four-player Raid supplies its endgame challenge. Legends is free for game owners, but online multiplayer requires PlayStation Plus.

Most Wanted is a separate single-player combat survival mode with a roguelike structure. Players select bounties, defeat enemy waves and bosses, and choose perks during runs. Atsu, Oyuki, Nagato and Jin Sakai are its four playable characters, with additional characters unlocked through play. Jin uses the four sword stances from Ghost of Tsushima; his inclusion belongs to this mode, not Atsu’s historical campaign.

Reception

The original PS5 game holds a Metacritic score of 86 out of 100 from 134 critic reviews. Metacritic categorizes that reception as generally favorable. These figures concern the original game rather than a separate assessment of its later expansion.

The review excerpts collected by Metacritic reflect both enthusiasm and reservations. IGN Japan highlighted the connections between exploration, flashbacks and combat, while CGMagazine praised the expanded weapon selection. Other reviewers described the follow-up as iterative rather than a substantial departure from Ghost of Tsushima. The aggregate therefore provides a reception baseline without implying that every critic reached the same conclusion.

Post-launch updates and editions

Free New Game+ arrived on November 24, 2025. It allows players who finish the story to restart with previously earned equipment and abilities, and adds harder difficulty options, Ghost Flowers, additional cosmetics and further upgrades. That update also introduced post-game content replay, accessibility changes and additional Photo Mode controls.

Legends followed on March 10, 2026, with its Raid added in April. In a May 15, 2026 interview, Sucker Punch described the Raid as the last major planned update for Legends and the conclusion of that mode’s Yōtei Six storyline.

The paid additions Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted arrived on October 1, 2026. Echoes of Sekigahara expands Atsu’s story through mainland flashbacks, her connection with Nagato and a new area of Ezo. The accompanying free v2.0 update added Beauty of Yōtei, additional Watanabe Mode music, armor appearance overrides and a high-contrast accessibility option.

As of October 25, 2026, the US PlayStation Store lists Complete Edition at $69.99. It includes the main game, Legends, both paid additions, the former Digital Deluxe in-game content and the Charm of Hokkyokusei. Existing owners can purchase the Complete Edition Upgrade for $14.99 instead of buying the full package again. The expansion and Most Wanted require patch v2.0 or later.