Despite Roger’s famous proclamation that video games aren’t art, the founder of this site was also open to alternative opinions and a changing industry, and we believed when we started looking at how the worlds of gaming and film were increasingly intertwined that he would be interested in how the two influence each other. “Resident Evil,” “Uncharted,” “The Last of Us,” “Death Stranding”—these are just a few of the franchises with deep cinematic roots. Add to this list of movie-loving franchises Sucker Punch’s “Ghost” series as their new “Ghost of Yōtei,” a follow-up to 2020’s excellent “Ghost of Tsushima,” has been built by people who love everyone from Akira Kurosawa to Takashi Miike. The writers of “Yōtei” let their love for the samurai epic bleed through every swing of the katana in a story of family and vengeance that’s contains some of the best video game writing of its era. Add that strong storytelling to gorgeous visuals and world-building, and you have one of the best games of 2025.
I’ll admit to being concerned in the first hour that “Yōtei” was just a rehash of “Tsushima.” Those feelings drift away as it becomes clear that the familiarity of the opening missions of “Yōtei” are intentional in the same way a great second season of television often aims to please with what made the first outing a hit before building on that foundation. “Yōtei” has many of the same gameplay mechanics, but they’ve been employed in a world and story that are more engrossing and varied. Perhaps the most impressive thing about “Yōtei” is its immersive environment, one that sees your protagonist travel through fields of flowers, scale oceanside cliffs, and take on snow-covered mountains. It’s a rich, varied, lovingly-rendered world that I was happy to spend over 40 hours exploring.
Set in 1603 in Ezo (a region of Japan that would include Honshu and Hokkaido today), “Ghost of Yōtei” features a traumatized onna-musha named Atsu, who grew up in the shadows of Mount Yōtei. Sixteen years ago, Atsu’s family was murdered by the vicious Lord Saito and five of his loyal soldiers: The Snake, Oni, Kitsune, the Spider, and the Dragon. Atsu was left for dead, but she will rise to defeat all of the “Yōtei Six” in an effort to vanquish the demons of her past, although the writers of “Ghost of Yōtei” don’t allow the vengeance narrative to play out in a predictable, traditional manner. Not only can you generally defeat the villains who ruined Atsu’s life in any order (after taking out the Snake to really start the game), they each have their own personalities, back stories, and rich character arcs.
While Atsu’s ascendance to become the “Onyro” that takes down Saito and his team is the main plot of “Yōtei,” there are dozens of subplots that also push the narrative forward. Atsu meets people along the way that she forms into something called the “Wolf Pack,” allies that could be as simple as kindly vendors or as complex as people who will join her in combat. The writing in “Yōtei” is like the tree image that drives so much of the storytelling with the vengeance plotline serving as the trunk but the branches becoming just as essential.
There are also dozens of things to do around Ezo that aren’t even combat-related, including painting, playing your shamisen, finding hot springs to increase health, building fires to cook mushrooms & fish, chopping bamboo, and even befriending wolves who will become a part of your combat strategy. Again, it’s so dense with activity, a game that took 40 hours of my life that went by in the blink of an eye.
The combat is a bit different in the sequel, and, arguably, the place where the games gets the most repetitive. As the story progresses, Atsu gains access to five main weapons: her katana, duel katanas, odachi (two-handed greatsword), yari (spear), and kusarigama (chain-sickle). Enemies will have their own loadouts that are more easily defeated by one of those five weapons. For example, when an enemy approaches with a shield, use the kusarigama to swing around it. I wish I could find the creator on TikTok who said it to give credit, but it does have a bit of a “rock-paper-scissors” dynamic in that you need to switch to the right paper to cover your enemy’s rock. I did grow a bit tired of this aspect of the gameplay, but the developers are smart to constantly inject the combat with new toys to keep it fresh. Not only does Atsu have those five sharp tools, she obtains arrows, kunai (throwing knives), a variety of bombs, and eventually a tanegashima (a rifle). The final battles require using all of the above in the right order to really succeed.
As for direct film connections, “Ghost of Yōtei” returns the Kurosawa Mode from the last game, in which you can play the entire experience in widescreen black & white with subtitles for that real “Seven Samurai” flavor. They add two amazing variations on the aesthetic variety this time with “Watanabe Mode” and “Miike Mode.” The former is based on the anime work of “Cowboy Bebop” director Shinichirō Watanabe and shifts the graphics to anime-inspired visuals with a new soundtrack; the latter is inspired by the prolific director of “13 Assassins” and turns up the dial on the blood and the mud. It’s the way I played almost the entire game, a breathtaking counter to the lyrical nature of most of the game that covers the pretty flowers in icky red stuff.
Ultimately, “Ghost of Yōtei” just does so much well, from the big storytelling beats to the awe-inspiring landscapes. It might be a bit too long and the combat a bit too repetitive, but those minor flaws are overwhelmed by the captivating story and truly stunning environment. Like a great samurai film, I was actually sad to see it end and wondered when it did how on earth Sucker Punch could top it next time.
The publisher provided a review copy of this title.
