One of themost anticipated games of 2025falls into this category, despite there being so much hype behind it. I wanted so badly to love it, to immediately like everything about it, but a part of it felt severely disappointing, so much so that I was ready to write the game off completely. Fortunately,a last-minute update from the developer that reveals a little bit more about it has put my mind at easeand assured me that this will likely be another amazing game.
I Was Extremely Worried About Ghost Of Yotei
Its Story Sounded Suspiciously Familiar
One ofGhost of Tsushima’sworst featureswas its approach to storytelling. It lacked the staunch linearity that I enjoy in other single-player experiences, instead opting for a more freeform mission structure that enabled players to pick and choose which missions to complete and when. It wasn’t entirely non-linear, butit certainly teetered on the edge of being completely open to the player, rather than guided.
I had feared thatGhost of Yoteiwould copy this approach to mission design, and that fear was compounded by theconflicting State of Play. It more or less seemed to imply that players would be able to tackle the game’s main villains, the Yotei Six, in whatever order they please. Naturally,that sounded a lot likeAssassin’s Creed Shadows, a game with a similarly weak non-linear narrative. That freeform approach means no actions you take can mean anything, as the game has to accommodate for you doing everything in any order.
Fortunately,Yoteiisn’t taking that approach at all. In fact, contrary to my previous beliefs,Yoteiis very different fromShadows, as the game’s developers have been quite outspoken about how they balanced the game’s structure with their desire to promote freedom in exploration. It’s all a little complicated, butanyone worrying thatYoteiwould copyShadows' greatest flaws can rest assured that it is going in a very different direction.
Ghost Of Yotei Has A Linear Story
The Yotei Six Are Just A Part Of It
In an interview withGame Informer, Sucker Punch Productions' Creative Director Jason Connell spoke about how they attempted to balance a structured narrative with the ability to go anywhere at any time. He stressed thatit was important for them to create a cohesive narrative that is impactful and full of heartwrenching moments, which is exactly what I would want from a single-player narrative-focused experience. He explained:
It’s not that you may pick any order of the six […] It’s really important to us that we develop great characters with good arcs with beginning, middles, and ends […] There’s a bit more choice in there, but there’s still a linear story structure that we really believe in to make sure that Atsu’s vengeance quest tears at the heartstrings. That’s the ultimate goal.
Of course,Yotei’sworld is enormous, far bigger thanTsushima’s, and so players can expect there to be a lot of different stories happening all over the place. The way Connell describes it is letting the player “bop back and forth between” what they find interesting at that moment. That sounds a lot likeTsushima, which is somewhat worrying. However,the key point is that the Yotei Six aren’t just targets for Atsu to hunt at her leisure.
They’re part of a more structured and guided story within the vast open sandbox. Additionally, in an interview withGames Radar,Connell explained that the Yotei Six and, more specifically, Atsu’s quest for revenge, are just “the start – absolutely not the whole thing.“Obviously, that implies there’s far more going on in its story than merely hunting down the people who murdered Atsu’s family, which is refreshing to say the least after having slogged throughShadows. Frankly, all of it sounds like avast improvement overTsushima, which felt a little too loose, and especiallyShadows.
Ghost Of Yotei Isn’t Like Assassin’s Creed Shadows
There Isn’t The Same Level Of Freedom
I thinkShadowspreemptively ruined a lot of my hype forGhost of Yotei, especially afterYotei’sOnryo trailer dropped. That felt as if Sucker Punch Productions were taunting us as it dropped a month afterShadowshad released, and seemed to imply they shared the exact same plot. Even Jin’s voice actor, Daisuke Tsuji, expressed concerns that the two games shared a lot of similarities in an interview with the YouTube channelGeekHeavy.
Connell’s words have dispelled that notion for me, though, and I’m pretty confident after the lengthy State of Play and the reassuring update that we have little to worry about.Ghost of Yoteimay share some narrative similarities withShadows, butthe core experience from gameplay to structure will feel vastly different. We will hopefully get a guided narrative that is surrounded by a vast open-world sandbox, which feeds directly into the core gameplay mechanics and loop.
It is always possible thatGhost of Yoteilaunches with an extremely loose and disjointed narrative, but that doesn’t seem like Sucker Punch Production’s modus operandi. I have faith thatYoteiis on track to be as heartwrenching as Connell is hyping it up to be. Honestly, I’m beginning to think that we’ll all need to bring a big box of tissues when we play what will almost certainly be one ofPlayStation’sgreatest exclusives.
