Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to 2020's samurai open-world game Ghost of Tsushima is doing what every good sequel should: giving the main character a gun.
Announced at the PlayStation State of Play this week, Ghost of Yotei sets out to tell the tale of new female protagonist Atsu's journey in 1603 – more than 300 years after the events of Tsushima. Of course, with sequels comes iteration on gameplay mechanics, and what better way to do that than by introducing firearms into the mix.
According to The New York Times, players will "be able to master firearms in addition to melee weapons like the katana," which sounds like it could be the type of escalation an open-world samurai game could use to spice things up. Keeping things from feeling repetitive is something creative director Jason Connell is acutely aware of.
As Connell tells the New York Times, "One challenge that comes with making an open-world game is the repetitive nature of doing the same thing over and over." He continues on, "We wanted to balance against that and find unique experiences." I'd say giving players the option to bust down the door with some new weaponry is one way to combat this problem, but it remains to be seen how the team iterates in other ways too.
Becoming the ghost and embodying the tactics of a Shinobi sometimes meant taking the less honorable path forward in the first game. I can't think of many things less honorable than bringing a gun to a sword fight, so this all tracks.
Ghost of Yotei is planned to release sometime in 2025 for the PS5.
If you're looking for more to read, check out Ghost of Yotei's trailer, which hides a strange detail one Japanese scholar believes "has to be intentiona."
