Ghost of Yōtei Has “More Freedom Than Any Game We’ve Ever Had” Says Creative Director

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Open-world games generally let players approach challenges however they like, but Sucker Punch Productions says it truly doesn’t matter how fans play their new game, *Ghost of Yōtei*. In a GamesRadar interview, creative director Jason Connel explained that the game is designed to give players complete freedom and choice in how they play.

Connel explained that they respect people’s decisions if they choose not to participate. Their main concern is that everyone enjoys themselves, and they aren’t overly concerned with what others do as long as they’re having fun.

The core of this issue lies in how *Ghost of Yōtei* was designed. According to Connel, the game offers players many ways to customize their experience. This was intentional, aiming to provide a steady flow of weapons that would enhance the story without overwhelming players.

We really wanted to give players total freedom in this game – more than we’ve ever done before. Honestly, it was super challenging for us to pull off, a really complex project for the whole studio.

The game’s structure is quite intricate, with each section feeling uniquely paced, explained Connel. While story-driven pacing is relatively simple to manage, creating a good pace for the open-world sections is much more difficult. We’ve had to use a lot of clever techniques to get it working smoothly.

Even though *Ghost of Yōtei* offers players a lot of choices in weapons and skills, the studio head, Brian Fleming, says the series is fundamentally about a katana-wielding hero. Fleming recently explained that he also believes all future games will remain set in Japan.

Look, for me, Ghost is all about playing someone who’s a master with a katana – that’s just central to the whole idea. I can’t picture a Ghost game happening in, like, medieval Europe or something. It wouldn’t *feel* right. There are tons of games set there already, but that’s not what makes a Ghost game a Ghost game, you know?

The beautiful Japanese landscapes have been central to Sucker Punch Productions’ games, including *Ghost of Tsushima* and *Ghost of Yōtei*. Fleming pointed out that this focus on Japan also helped the studio build a fanbase there, even though it’s a Western developer.

The beautiful landscapes of Japan are central to what makes a Ghost game special. I shared this idea at the Tokyo Game Show, and the Japanese fans seemed to really connect with it. We envision the series always featuring that core experience: exploring an open world with sword-based combat.

We can certainly shift the story’s timeframe or location, but there are likely some limits to how far we’ll go.

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2025-10-07 18:11