Ghost of Yotei: Echoes of Sekigahara

The expansion adds new enemies, a new two-handed axe weapon type, new armor sets, new dyes — and new abilities, including directing two wolves to attack an enemy. Along the way, Atsu finds unexpected camaraderie with Nagato, which only deepens the question of how they ended up on such bad terms.

The Complete Edition ($69.99, or a $14.99 upgrade for owners) also includes Most Wanted — a combat survival mode with Jin Sakai from Ghost of Tsushima as a playable hunter — plus the Legends mode and a free update with the Beauty of Yotei mode. For Ghost fans, October 1 was the real homecoming.

For the uninitiated: this is the follow-up to one of PlayStation's defining exclusives. Ghost of Tsushima (July 2020) put Sucker Punch — the studio behind Sly Cooper and inFAMOUS — on a new map entirely: Jin Sakai, a samurai on Tsushima Island during the Mongol invasion of 1274, torn between honor and the guerrilla tactics that earn him the name "Ghost." It was a love letter to samurai cinema rendered in wind-blown grass and falling leaves, and its free Legends co-op mode became a surprise hit of its own. Ghost of Yōtei (October 2025) moved the story 300 years forward to Ezo — the wild northern frontier that would become Hokkaido — in 1603, with a new protagonist, Atsu, and a vengeance quest against the Yōtei Six. A new century, a new Ghost, same Sucker Punch obsession with making every duel feel like the last scene of a Kurosawa film.

But the Complete Edition isn’t just an expansion — it’s a statement about what Yōtei became in its first year. Let’s rewind. Ghost of Yōtei launched October 2, 2025, exclusively on PS5, and it was one of the most scrutinized sequels of the generation. Sucker Punch Productions — the studio behind Sly Cooper and inFAMOUS — had redefined itself with Ghost of Tsushima in 2020: Jin Sakai, a samurai on Tsushima Island during the Mongol invasion of 1274, torn between honor and the guerrilla tactics that earn him the name “Ghost.” A love letter to samurai cinema rendered in wind-blown grass and falling leaves, scored to a 92 on nothing and an 83 on Metacritic — beloved, and a legitimate PlayStation pillar.

Yōtei moved the story 300 years forward and north, to Ezo — the wild frontier that would become Hokkaido — in 1603. A new century, a new Ghost: Atsu, a mercenary defined by revenge, sixteen years after her family was slaughtered by the Yōtei Six. She is not a noble samurai like Jin — she’s an outlaw with little regard for tradition, and the game is darker and more personal for it. The open world kept Sucker Punch’s obsession with beauty-as-direction (the wind still guides), while the combat was streamlined yet more varied, with new weapons and a structure built around hunting targets across a frontier. The verdict: 87 on Metacritic across 102+ critics — a full four points above Tsushima — and 89 on OpenCritic, with 90s from Push Square, GameSpot, GamingBolt, and TechRadar, a 93 from Game Informer, and 100s from Digital Trends, VGC, and Game Rant. In the white-hot year of 2025 — Silksong, Hades 2, Clair Obscur, Blue Prince — it still landed around the year’s top 20.

The post-launch run kept building. A free Legends co-op mode arrived in March 2026 — Story missions, Survival, Incursions, and a Raid featuring the Dragon and Lord Saito — the same surprise-hit formula that worked for Tsushima. Then came Version 2.0 on October 1, 2026, and with it the Complete Edition ($69.99, or a $14.99 upgrade for owners). Echoes of Sekigahara is the narrative core: a story split between the present day and flashbacks to the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the clash that ended the Sengoku period. In the present, Atsu meets Nagato, a figure from her past who fought alongside her on the mainland, and explores the previously unseen Ashoro Foothills, now controlled by The Snake and his gang, the Vipers. In the past, she relives Sekigahara itself — a key moment in her life before she returned home for her vengeance quest. New enemies, new heavy weapons (including a two-handed axe), new armor sets, new dyes, new Mythic Tales, new abilities — including directing two wolves into an attack.

Most Wanted is the other headline: a single-player combat survival mode, Sucker Punch’s spin on the roguelike. Accept bounties inspired by the Yōtei Six, fight waves of enemies and minibosses, draft perks and upgrades across runs, and take down the bounty’s final boss. The playable roster is the fan-service headline — Atsu with dual katana, Oyuki with the kusarigama, Nagato with the yari, and Jin Sakai himself, returning from Tsushima with his katana and all four signature combat stances, each character with unique weapons, abilities, Ultimates, and Kill Streaks. Earn Mon between runs to unlock techniques, weapon upgrades, charms, and characters; cosmetics earned in Most Wanted carry over to the main game and the expansion. There’s even crossover armor inspired by The Last of Us, Astro Bot, Helldivers, and Journey.

The honest footnotes. Yōtei’s recurring critique across reviews was formula fatigue — the open-world repetition Sucker Punch never fully escaped, and a non-linear structure that some critics felt weakened the narrative versus Tsushima. Eurogamer’s 60 stood out against the 90s. And the Complete Edition is digital-only on the PlayStation Store — no physical edition in sight, a year after launch. But the through-line of the critical consensus held: one of the best open worlds of the generation, a protagonist who earned her place next to Jin Sakai, and a studio that made every duel feel like the last scene of a Kurosawa film — or, as more than one review put it, a classic western wearing eastern clothes. October 1, 2026 was the real homecoming.

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