‘Ghost Of Yotei’ Sneak Peek Gives Players A Chance To Play Through The Female Perspective

With the sneak peek of Ghost of Yotei, players enter gameplay as a woman. You heard me right—a woman. If you’ve ever wanted to play through your fantasies of Blue Eye Samurai, this game will probably be the closest comparison to becoming Mizu you’ll get.

What’s so special about Atsu isn’t only the female perspective. While most games in app stores push pink and fluffy views (believe me, there’s a Minecraft knockoff themed entirely in pinks, purples and pastels in the app store), when the warrior from Ghost of Yotei looks up, you see a woman’s masked face, a woman’s hands and then you see her kill a hunter you’re handed a chance to live your way through the woman warrior’s path not as a typical flat perspective but as an Onna-bugeisha/Onna-Musha (translates to woman warrior and female martial artist). Atsu has no regard for whether or not she’s being hunted, even when the man asks her if she’s the hunter or the hunted now. 

In standard form, Sucker Punch Productions have taken the historical route regarding weaponry, as you see Atsu using chain-based weapons to defeat enemies and even a matchlock rifle. Traditionally, Onna-bugeisha used various weapons like Naginata (glaive), a short Kaiken dagger for close combat, ropes and chains to turn the tide of battle. While Atsu is shown using a chain-based weapon and swords, she also has a dog to help her. 

Fans hoping to see a Japanese War Fan or two have yet to see one, much like when it was a concealed weapon. War Fans had various uses, including hitting pressure points, signaling and fighting on the battlefield. 

Whether or not the developers give us free rein to play with the dog, which they should due to the mechanics of animal interactions players saw in Ghost of Tsushima, is unknown. My best guess is if she befriends the wolf/dog in the trailer, we’ll have a legitimate hunting companion backing us in fights, plus a whole new set of mechanics to accompany it. No matter the developers’ choices, the biggest soft-hearted choice is and will always be letting players pet the game’s animals. Throughout history, both men and women have had hunting companions, so this take would solidify the player base’s desire for wholesome interactions with animals. Atsu can also be seen riding with wild horses across the plains, leaving hopes that players could befriend and pet those horses, too. No matter how they play their cards with how many animals the player can interact with, please leave us the chance to enjoy a world where we can continue to do so.

While the creators of Ghost of Tsushima have admitted to adding hwacha in before its time, it was used in fifteenth-century Korea, meaning we may get weapons from similar timeframes to the era Ghost of Yotei takes place. The developers take extraordinary care to keep history alive while writing a love letter to Japanese culture. This can be seen in previous videos on Ghost of Tsushima and one where they have a Japanese historian and a translator present. The most notable segment of the interview is that the expert brought in, Professor Kazuto Hongo, admits that 40 years of his work feels like it went down the drain with this game and, in another instance, said that they should change nothing.

In keeping with the previous game, Jin Sakai carried a Shakuhachi, while Atsu carried what looked like a two-stringed instrument on her back, similar to a Biwa or Shamisen. What Atsu will play or how she’ll bring forward the uses of music in the storyline is still not known at this time.

While some fans hope to see Jin Sakai again, according to developers, this is impossible as the game takes place 300 years later in a different region of Japan, known now as Hokkaido. In the blog, Sucker Punch released an update on how they desired to bring a new legend to life and build on the visual foundations as they did in the previous game.

Sucker Punch Productions brings forward a new era and inclusivity by who was appointed to play Atsu as well. Erika Ishii, the voice of our female protagonist, is LGBTQ. Ishii is known for voicing Jun Jun in Sailor Moon SuperS, Valkyrie in Apex Legends and Kenta in The Disastrous Life of Saki K.: Reawakened.

The trailer reveals a stunning open-world map, giving players the chance to explore not only the depths of Astu’s perspective but an entirely different area free from Japan’s rule (the lands around Mount Yotei) from what players were used to. If you’re dying to have more breathtaking views, Sucker Punch will follow through, as seen in the trailer and released images. From mountains to open plains, auroras in the skies and snowy paths, the developers appear to have put as much work in as they did, keeping in line with the cultural atmosphere of the mountainous fringe region of Japan. While the trailer has fans witnessing exquisite armor designs, like the warrior in deer-based armor, it reflects how accurately the battle scenes are laid out as you watch through the rain-soaked black-and-white scene. If anything, Sucker Punch has appeared to signal it may continue using the different settings on gameplay, like the black-and-white cinema feature and the use of actors using different languages, so you can play this game as old Japanese cinema or play through using different graphics styles.

Sucker Punch has set the stage for Atsu being hunted, leaving fans with theories, as the studio has gone on record in an interview with The New York Times saying that Atsu will be engaging in some “underdog vengeance.” Atsu wiping her bloody sword on a scrap of material with what could be a list of names shows our heroine is keeping score. Even the poster detailing her as a wanted outlaw or person of interest adds to who exactly Atsu is and what her motivations are. Foremost in my mind is how accuracy will play a role in how women fight versus how men fight in the situations presented as Atsu appears smaller than Jin Sakai.

As time passes, Sucker Punch will reveal more, but for now, players will have to wait until 2025 to play the PS5 Pro exclusive. And if the players know Sucker Punch well or watched the behind-the-scenes for Ghost of Tsushima, they know the developers are going all-out for respecting the culture while keeping this game a realistic historical fantasy that fans will enjoy.

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