By Ghost of Yotei may belong to the same franchise as Ghost of Tsushima, yet there’s a significant gap of centuries and an entirely different cast between them. So, what truly defines this series as a series? It’s not just Jin Sakai or narratives of brutal vengeance. As per the developer Sucker Punch’s studio leader Brian Fleming, the essence is humorously “someone brandishing a katana.”
This doesn’t imply that the third installment can include just anyone with a katana in, let’s say, Botswana or Los Angeles and still carry the Ghost moniker. “We believe the essence of Ghost lies in someone brandishing a katana, and that’s integral,” Fleming stated during a media roundtable also attended by UnGeek.
“We can’t envision a Ghost game set in, say, feudal Europe,” Fleming continued. “That doesn’t resonate. Numerous games are situated there, but that is not what a Ghost game embodies. For us, the natural splendor of Japan forms a part of the essence of a Ghost game. I expressed this onstage [at the Tokyo Game Show], and I believe the fans in Japan truly valued that. That’s how we perceive it. It will always retain that core, open-world katana journey of some form.”
Much like the studio has in Ghost of Yotei, Fleming clarifies that the team “might adjust timelines” and they “might investigate diverse locales,” but there are clearly “certain limits we likely won’t surpass.” What those limits are… well, time will reveal as PlayStation inevitably generates more sequels to its acclaimed open-world title.