There’s an incredible looking year of games ahead of us, both in terms of what we already know about with the likes of Monster Hunter Wilds, GTA 6, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Doom: The Dark Ages and so, so much more… but only one game can top our list of most wanted games of 2025. That game is Ghost of Yōtei.
In anticipation of a Ghost of Tsushima sequel’s almost inevitable announcement, we were all wondering the same thing. How can Sly Cooper and inFamous creators, Sucker Punch Productions, possibly follow up on one of the most celebrated PlayStation exclusives of the past decade? By sacking off the main character, of course, jumping the game some 300 years in the future, and taking us to a completely different part of Japan. It’s so obvious!
Jokes aside, the change of setting makes perfect sense for Ghost of Yōtei. As much as we enjoyed Jin Sakai’s Mongol-murdering revenge quest, he wasn’t the most compelling of characters, the mantle of “Ghost” now free to pass onto another protagonist. There’s a lot we don’t know about newcomer warrior, Atsu, or what motivates her but we love the idea of telling different sagas throughout history, instead of clinging to a single storyline and its cast of characters.
That said, we expect Ghost of Yotei to hit many of the same beats as its predecessor in terms of gameplay, visuals, and the sequel’s approach to open world game design. The new Hokkaido setting will give us yet another gorgeous slice of feudal Japan to explore, while the 17th century timeline allowing for a new arsenal of weapons and technologies. Where the Mongols mainly fought with swords, bows, and cheap tricks, Atsu will likely encounter an array of newfangled gunpowder arms.
The Edo period of the 17th century contrasted with the chaotic Sengoku period that preceded it. Set in 1603, Ghost of Yōtei will be right at the time that Tokugawa Ieyasu was given the title of Shogun by Emperor Go-Yōzei, settling the now unified country into a period of relative peace and stability, albeit with increasing restrictions on social heirarchy and, by 1639, a strict isolationist policy that booted almost all foreigners out of the country. Ghost of Yōtei will be just at the tipping point of this era, and it will be fascinating to see the tale that Sucker Punch tell on this backdrop – of particular note, Atsu’s status as an onna-musha, a female warrior, naturally clashes with the neo-Confucianism and the lessening and changing roles that women had more generally in this world.
Where Ghost of Tsushima, along with The Last of Us Part II, helped push the PS4 to its limits just month before the PS5’s arrival, we’re fascinated to see how Sucker Punch makes use of Sony’s newer console, especially the PS5 Pro. We’re hoping to see larger, more cinematic battles, with Hokkaido’s many beautiful vistas brought to life with stunning fidelity.
For now, we still know very little about the game apart from its 2025 release window. If there’s one request we’d like to highlight on our wishlist, it’s the return of Legends, the fantastic online co-op mode that kept us coming back to Ghost of Tsushima long after the original credits rolled.
