After 70 hours with Ghost of Yotei before the game even launched, I couldn't help but come back for more – and that's why it's my only platinum trophy of 2025

I don't finish very many video games. I suspect this isn't a unique sort of situation. I've got a job, a partner, and kids. There's a home to keep up, friends with which to keep connected. And that job, despite appearances, doesn't actually lend itself to completing (or sometimes even playing) terribly many video games. I am meant to have approximate knowledge of many things and the ability to know enough about a lot to make sense of it for others. That means a little bit of time all over the place.

And yet somehow, I found myself not only completing Sucker Punch's Ghost of Yotei long before its review embargo, but I actually ended up with my very first Platinum Trophy ever – Dragon Age: The Veilguard would have been the first, but a sneaky choice locked me out of some character missions – the day of release.

Time well spent

Partly this is, again, because it's my job. For big releases like this, early review code is frequently limited, so anyone that does end up with access has to make the most of it.

I went in from the start knowing that there'd be a chance that I'd write features, guides, or help out with coverage in any number of other ways. So, in some ways, I was predisposed to spending a good chunk of time in Ghost of Yotei.

But not this much time. As I shared in early October, I spent over 70 hours with Atsu before the PS5 game was released, and I've spent more since then. Did I need to hit every single Altar of Reflection? I did not; someone else was already handling that guide. Did I need to fully complete Ghost of Yotei? I did not – features editor Andrew Brown wrote the Ghost of Yotei review for us.

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So, why then? Why did I completely and utterly wallow in everything Sucker Punch had to offer? What compelled me to seek out every single vanity item until there were no more to be found? I'm not entirely sure I have an answer, but I do have a suspicion.

I suspect that the argument I made earlier this year about how good it felt to just sort of wander around in Ezo ultimately meant that I… did more of that than usual. Rather than seeking out specific map markers, moving from Point A to Point B to Point C, without bothering to venture elsewhere, the design of Ghost of Yotei encouraged me to wander about – and it felt good doing it.

An experiential wander

I keep coming back to what Ghost of Yotei creative director Jason Connell told me in an interview ahead of release. I'd asked explicitly about the pacing and pathfinding given that Ghost of Yotei does not have a traditional minimap or map markers and the like for navigation.

"Can we give you more sort of ownership over the experience and not be too bogged down in worrying about things like question marks on the map or reading a pretty extensive journal of everything you've done and could do and might be able to do?" he said at the time, expanding on the idea of Sucker Punch trying to challenge itself.

"Try to bring it in a more forward, experiential way," he continued. "And I do think I'm very proud of what we were able to accomplish there. It's really hard to take standards of either the industry or standards that you put in your last game and sort of shake that up, right? And we have a number of ways that we've shaken it up, and I'm proud of the team for trying these new ways to connect to people."

At the time, Connell pointed at everything from Ghost of Yotei's clue system to camping to the Wolf Pack menu, which layers on top of the environmental design that boils down to, "see a cool thing in the distance, go to cool thing in the distance." It all fundamentally works in concert to create, well, an experience.

Not that other games don't have immersive experiences. Hades 2 had me by the throat for many hours, and there are plenty of other new games that I've enjoyed this year.

But Ghost of Yotei's various mechanical elements all served to keep me engaged, keep me moving and invested, in a way that nothing else did. I don't know if Ghost of Yotei is my personal Game of the Year, but it's certainly the only game this year I can honestly say I got lost in.

The spell did break somewhat after release given I'd, you know, done literally everything. But the recent New Game+ release with additional upgrades and vanity items is a constant siren song in the back of my mind. Soon enough, I'm sure I'll succumb and find myself happily traipsing across Ezo once again. After all, the Yotei Six must die.

If you're looking to see how Ghost of Yotei measures up against the rest of this year's games, be sure to check out our ranking of the best games of 2025.