Here on Push Square, it’s a well documented fact that I love Ghost of Tsushima. The original 2020 release turned out to be basically everything that I wanted: a sword-swinging, cinematic epic that was stunning to behold.
But I can’t say the same for Ghost of Yotei, and that’s been a point of frustration for me over the last year or so.
It’s frustrating because on paper, I should love Yotei even more than Tsushima. It does a lot of things better than its predecessor; it’s just a more confident creation in general, with developer Sucker Punch delivering a supremely polished experience.
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But it just never hit me the same as Jin’s adventure did. To be clear, I played Yotei and really enjoyed it — it was even one of my top five PS5 picks of 2025 — but in my mind, it’s already been filed away as a disappointment.
I’ve occasionally wrestled with ideas as to why that’s the case, but it’s really difficult to pin down any single reason. And so here I am, writing an opinion article that’s as much about solidifying my own thoughts as it is about providing you with a hopefully entertaining read.
Please note, there are spoilers for Ghost of Yotei’s story ahead.
Is It Atsu?
Our starting point is obvious: Atsu. Do I just not like Atsu as much as Jin? Is it really that simple?
In short, no, it’s not that simple — otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this!
I actually really like Atsu as a protagonist. Well, for most of the game — but I’ll get into that.
Essentially, Tsushima and Yotei are stories of revenge, and both lead characters fit the bill. Their circumstances are different, but both are pushed into cutting down hundreds of foes to achieve their goals.
That’s the game, that’s the plot. And I don’t necessarily think that Jin’s pursuit of revenge is as compelling as Atsu’s. Jin is ultimately defending his home against invaders, while Atsu’s quest is bitterly personal.
I think Atsu’s tale is at its best when she’s obsessed with vengeance. Some might argue that her relentlessly uncaring nature across Yotei’s first 20 hours or so is off-putting, but for me, it makes her a more interesting and unique lead.
But my problem with Yotei’s narrative, and by extension, Atsu’s development, is that it’s so obnoxiously predictable.
Of course Atsu rediscovers her humanity towards the end. It’s a cinematic first-party Sony game, of course she’s going to realise that she can’t go it alone and embrace the power of friendship.
There’s nothing objectively wrong with that character arc — I’ve played and adored plenty of Japanese RPGs in my time — but I feel like Yotei had something in Atsu’s demon-like rage, and the writers were all too keen to throw it away.
There’s a bit near the end of the game where, on the battlefield, Atsu has to decide between protecting her newfound family, and pursuing one of the men she’s sworn revenge upon.
Simply unable to let go of her hate, she chases after her target, much to the disappointment and disbelief of her brother. This was the good sh*t. What a deeply flawed, borderline awful human being Atsu is in this moment — and she’s way more interesting for it.
By the time the credits roll, I think Atsu has been stripped of everything that made her engaging. She leaves her swords behind and settles on a peaceful life, raising her niece after her idiot brother got himself killed in one of the most convoluted boss fight moments on PlayStation (but that’s a topic for another time!).
So Atsu definitely isn’t the key issue, although I do think her story was annoyingly scuppered.
Tsushima Reskinned
Moving away from the narrative side of things, I reckon the familiarity of Yotei eventually counts against it.
While its open world design is better than Tsushima’s, with a more natural flow to locations and activities, it still struggles to truly set itself apart from its predecessor.
Now, I don’t mind iterative sequels. In fact, some of my favourite ever games are sequels that outdid what came before — but Yotei is perhaps a bit too safe, a bit too samey.
Part of Tsushima’s appeal came from the fact that it was something totally new from Sucker Punch. It was, in many ways, a typical open world title — I get that — but at the time, it felt pretty fresh.
It’s easy to forget that Tsushima arrived before samurai-based games became a proper trend. And it had a decent number of cool ideas, like following the wind to objectives, and a combat system that was both contextual and skill-based. It got loads of stuff right.
Yotei gets all that stuff right as well, obviously, but I suppose that’s kind of the problem. I don’t really know what Yotei does to set itself apart, in a broader sense. Yes, the expanded combat options are nice, and there’s more variety and depth to the side quests — but it offers very, very little that’s truly new or, more importantly, daring.
It’s a super safe game, and sometimes there’s a comfort in that, but after Tsushima, I think I just wanted to be wowed again. But in hindsight, Yotei was never going to give me that.
Perhaps that’s a little unfair — criticising a game for being something that it’s not is a slippery slope. But even now, I find it hard to separate Tsushima and Yotei in my head when it comes to gameplay and structure.
The Missing Piece
My final thoughts are going to be more difficult to quantify, so bear with me.
In a nutshell, Yotei is missing something that Tsushima had, and I’m not sure how deep that runs.
There’s more to do in Yotei. It’s a bigger game, though not by much — and so I don’t think this boils down to Tsushima being more focused or anything like that.
But for whatever reason, I found Tsushima to be more memorable. I feel like it had more surprises, it was less… hand-holdy. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bloody Elden Ring, but there are so many moments that have managed to stick with me.
In particular, the Tales of Tsushima — the side quests that reward you with legendary equipment — still stand out. Fighting the murderer in the thunderstorm, or the supposed Tengu Demon within his whirlwind of crows.
Yotei has similarly epic fights, like the battle with the Oni, which is probably my favourite in the whole game, but there was something about how Tsushima framed its standoffs that made them linger in the mind. The tension, and perhaps the relative simplicity.
It’s possible that a lot of this stuff relates back to my last segment, about Tsushima feeling fresh at the time of its release.
But then I don’t think a game needs to be new in order to produce memorable moments. Death Stranding 2, for example, is also an iterative sequel, but it still blew me away with its creativity on a shockingly consistent basis.
I’m tempted to say Yotei feels more sanitised than Tsushima. Not necessarily with regards to story or characters, but in terms of how it eases you through its world.
There’s a distinct lack of friction at every turn; menu tabs are constantly updating to let you know about upgrades and new opportunities, and I think the game as a whole somehow ends up feeling more like a checklist than Tsushima did.
That last point may need some backing; it’s been a while since I played through Tsushima, but I can’t remember it being so scared of letting you miss out on ‘content’.
I told you this stuff was difficult to quantify!
Back to Where We Started
Let me round this off by reiterating that I think Ghost of Yotei is a great game. But whether it’s just down to my own personal expectations, or whether there really is some kind of spark missing from the experience, I doubt it’ll ever measure up to Ghost of Tsushima in my eyes.
And in a weird way, that’s almost more disappointing — and frustrating — than it being an outright failure.
What do you think of Rob’s ramblings? Do you agree that Yotei is an oddly disappointing sequel, or do you think it trounces Tsushima? Try to keep your sword sheathed in the comments section below.
