PlayStation gamers were introduced to Jin Sakai when Ghost of Tsushima launched back in 2020, and everyone has been waiting for Sucker Punch to deliver a sequel.
PlayStation has made a bunch of big reveals for their upcoming titles, and it’s been revealed that the sequel to Tsushima will focus on an entirely new character, Atsu. Though Jin seemed like a fine enough protagonist, SP had its reasons for delivering a whole new Ghost with this next title.
Why Isn't Jin Sakai in Ghost of Yotei?
As it turns out, Jin Sakai can’t appear in the Ghost of Yotei game because he would have been too old to appear. Talking to PlayStation Blog, Sucker Punch’s Andrew Goldfarb revealed that Yotei takes place 300 years after the events of Ghost of Tsushima. Goldfarb writes:
“We also wanted to continue to innovate. 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.”
Though Tsushima had more organized samurai clans all over the sprawling region, Yotei is a new setting, and it’s said to be based on what is now referred to as Hokkaido.
The land surrounding Mount Yotei was said to be outside the rule of Japan, so players should expect all kinds of ‘unexpected dangers’ for this new Ghost to take on.
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+ 2Atsu—the New Ghost
Not much is known about this new Ghost Atsu yet, but based on the description of the Ghost character, she could be on another quest for revenge and is scouring the region in search of some kind of atonement.
Unlike Jin, Atsu wields dual blades, and it’s possible that she would come with all-new stances different from Jin’s in the first game. Based on the preview, it also looks like she will come with various weapons—even a medieval rifle.
click to enlarge + 2Another distinction between Atsu and Jin is that Atsu seems to be able to rely on animal companions. Sure, Jin was able to pet foxes in the first game, but it’s a whole new different story when you can have a companion to sick on enemies while he’s busy kicking ass, just like how Joel had Ellie in The Last of Us, and how Kratos had Atreus in God of War.
For now, the reveals for Yotei are still kept at a minimum, but a ground-up rebuilding of a new ‘Ghost’ should make for a great story, despite how many people wanted to see Jin come back.
Watch out for Ghost of Yotei when it releases for the PS5 sometime in 2025.
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