Ghost of Yotei devs say they weren't aiming to make their Tsushima sequel longer, but improve its "sense of grandness and scale"
"Our goal was to not grow the duration of the game"
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Ghost of Yotei developer Sucker Punch wasn't trying to make a longer game than Ghost of Tsushima - they just wanted to improve the original game's "sense of grandness and scale."
Regardless of the developer's intention, Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming told Game File (paywalled) it should take you "a little bit longer" to beat Ghost of Yotei than Ghost of Tsushima, but adding length to the sequel's main quest wasn't the main intention.
"You are able to level up by working on sequels," Fleming said. "It can be performance, it can be rendering, it can be functionality and polish and transitions in animations and the way sound works. All of these things get to be leveled up," adding, it's a "joyous experience" to "take something good and aim at great."
Instead of trying to bulk out the sequel with a longer playtime, Fleming said, "If you talk to Nate [Fox} and Jason [Connell], the creative directors, they would say our goal was to not grow the duration of the game," but instead to add polish and variety, and to improve the "sense of grandness and scale."
I'm of the opinion that a 25-30 hour main story, which is about how long it takes to beat Ghost of Tsushima, is plenty of meat to chew on for a single-player, open-world game, especially with so many seemingly must-play games coming out every year. It's for that reason that I'm encouraged to hear Sucker Punch emphasize that Ghost of Yotei wasn't designed to be any longer than Tsushima, even if the aim toward a bigger, more robust experience means a slightly longer game.
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.


