Sucker Punch Explains Why They Started Fresh With Ghost of Yotei

Yesterday, Sucker Punch revealed Ghost of Yotei, their next game after Ghost of Tsushima. They have now shared more information on what the game is about.

As you may already know from our report, the game doesn’t continue the story of Jin Sakai. Hardcore fans of Ghost of Tsushima may know that Jin’s story is specifically set during the Mongol invasion of Tsushima island. In real life, this was a 15 day war that happened in 1274, and involved the Kamakura shogunate fending off the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, aided by the Goreo.

It certainly sounded like there was still a lot of meat left on that bone, even if Sucker Punch wanted to switch characters. So why did they change things up so drastically? In a new PlayStation Blog, Sucker Punch’s senior communications manager Andrew Goldfarb provides insight.

Goldfarb wrote this:

“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.”

Goldfarb then shared more details about Ghost of Yotei‘s new setting. The game is now set in 1603 in Hokkaido. Sucker Punch specifically names Mount Yotei, a mountain that so closely resembles Mount Fuji that it is also called Ezo Fuji. Of course, we already know the new protagonist Atsu is a woman, hinted to have some connection with nature.

A Japanese expat on Twitter named Kaihatsu shared an interesting thread on Twitter that may point to what this game’s story will be about. In this year and setting, the Matsumae clan officially designates themselves as a feudal domain.

Because of this, they had exclusive trading relations with Japan’s most famous ethnic minority, the Ainu. Kaihatsu then speculates that this game will definitely feature the Ainu and the Matsumae in some way. You can definitely look online for what some gamers speculate the scenario will be, but we should probably wait for Sucker Punch to show us.

At the very least, their description of Atsu makes it sound like she is Ainu herself. But having gone this far, we can’t wait for Ghost of Yotei this 2025.