Sucker Punch Dives Into New Ghost Of Yotei Gameplay Details, Reveals Limited Edition PS5 Consoles And Controllers

Sucker Punch’s creative directors, Nate Fox and Jason Connell, narrated a State of Play presentation today, dedicated entirely to Ghost of Yotei, which is due to release on PS5 and PS5 Pro this coming October 2, 2025. The presentation also revealed two new limited edition PS5 consoles and matching controllers for players to grab that will both release alongside the game in October.

The showcase delved into the game’s gameplay, specifically focusing on exploration and combat, as well as showing off returning, and new game modes for players to experience the story. Kurosawa mode, for example, is back, and Sucker Punch is still striving to make playing Ghost of Yotei as close to playing an interactive classic samurai film as it was with Ghost of Tsushima.

To that end, Sucker Punch is also adding two new gameplay modes also named after Japanese directors Shinichirō Watanabe and Takashi Miike. The former adds a lo-fi soundtrack crafted by Watanabe himself that will play while you explore the game world. The latter brings the camera in closer to Atsu, and increases the amount of blood and mud splatter you see on screen. And of course, Kurosawa mode makes everything appear black and white, to emulate his famous films.

You’ll also be able to play the game with full Japanese voice acting, and thankfully, with proper tracking from characters when choosing to play with Japanese voices. While Ghost of Tsushima also had Japanese voice acting available, characters’ mouths still moved as if they were speaking their lines in English. It’s a relief that Sucker Punch has not repeated this mistake with Ghost of Yotei.

Gameplay-wise, there are a few notable changes from Ghost of Tsushima, though at the same time it looks fairly familiar. Atsu’s expanded arsenal of weapons, for example, have seemingly replaced the different stances you would switch between in Ghost of Tsushima. Atsu is able to wield a single katana, dual katanas, a very large katana called an odachi, a spear, and a kurisagama. She also has a few ranged options, such as throwable kunai, a bow and arrow, and a rifle.

You can switch from one weapon to another on the fly, just like you could switch stances in Ghost of Tsushima, with different weapons being better suited for different situations, depending on the type of enemy you’re up against. A large enemy, for example, is best handled with the odachi. If you’re facing someone with a spear, then Sucker Punch recommends swapping to dual swords.

Sucker Punch also stressed that Atsu is not like Jin. She’s not a samurai and is not bound by any moral code. She’s a mercenary on a path for revenge, with the goal of killing a group of warriors known as the Yotei Six, who brutally murdered her family. She’ll use whatever she can to gain the upper hand on her path, including disarming her enemies entirely. However, if you’re not careful, you can also be disarmed, which adds a significant wrinkle and a bit of a new challenge to combat that’s not in Ghost of Tsushima.

The biggest gameplay changes and evolutions seem to be in the game’s exploration, as both Fox and Connell stress that Ghost of Yotei is not looking to rush you through anything. You pick up clues towards quests and where to go next through a card system that helps you keep track of everything.

You’ll also be able to stop and camp out in the wilderness to cook yourself a meal and rest along your journey, and it is while you’re camping out that you’ll meet new NPCs who appear as travellers asking you to share your fire. These NPCs are vendors and characters you can come back to who can potentially have a quest to give you, a specific weapon upgrade, or lead you to unlocking a unique ability.

These companions also include the wolf that debuted alongside Atsu, who also helps her in combat. It’s unclear if the other companions you’ll meet along the journey can join you in combat. There are also new kinds of side quests, like bounty hunting, that you can do to earn some cash along your journey. Atsu will also have a bounty on her head as you play, which will increase the more your legend grows.

Regarding her legend, beyond the fact that Atsu is on a path of revenge, the one area the presentation didn’t dive into was the game’s story. We did get a cool look at how you can swap between the past and the present when returning to Atsu’s home, showing how it was before and after her family was attacked, but it wasn’t clear if that’s a feature you can use anywhere in your journey, or if it is limited to the area of her family’s home.

Overall, the presentation showed that Sucker Punch is on track to deliver a stunning follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima with Ghost of Yotei, that is somehow more colorful and cinematic this time around. Hopefully, the final game can live up to expectations when it arrives this October.