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With the explosive reveal that Ghost of Yotei would be set several centuries after Ghost of Tsushima, some fans seem disappointed to see protagonist Jin Sakai relegated to the dustbin of history. Well, don't give up the ghost (sorry) just yet. Shockingly, Sony wants the series to be a much larger franchise, with other spin-offs already planned.
Word comes to us by way of The New York Times (thanks, PSLS), where reporter Zachary Small mentions that Sucker Punch Productions has plans to extend the franchise still further: "On Tuesday, Sucker Punch Productions announced Ghost of Yotei, the beginning of an official franchise that will include at least one movie and other spin-offs, putting the series alongside emblematic Sony PlayStation titles like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn."
Now, just what these other spin-offs might entail remains to be seen, but as PSLS points out, Sucker Punch itself released the standalone inFAMOUS: First Light. Other studios would follow this trend (Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Spider-Man: Miles Morales), and it's not out of the realm of possibility that we could see a similarly standalone title built off of Ghost of Tsushima.
Of course, there are also no guarantees these spinoffs will take the form of games. They could end up being a graphic novel, board game, or anything, really. The film mentioned has been percolating for a while now, with Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada reportedly in talks for a leading role.
Do you think we've really seen the last of the Ghost himself, Jin Sakai? Would you be up for a smaller, standalone venture? Disappear into the darkness in the comments section below.
[source nytimes.com]
Comments 61
I’m surprised to see how much people are missing Jin. Obviously you have those dumb grifting culture warriors who see a male protagonist being followed up with a female protagonist and lose their mind, but there are a lot of rational people that miss Jin too. I liked his story and arc, but I don’t need it to continue. I’m really excited for the new possibilities of not only Atsu, but how the 400 year time leap can lead to new gameplay opportunities.
Obviously there was going to be more Jin Sakai. He's a memorable character and has become a PlayStation mainstay, but I applaud them for taking the direction and risk they wanted with the distant sequel.
I'm good with new protagonist in yotei but I hope some day we get Jin v shogunate or his final fate....good or bad....
I love the idea of exploring a new character and story. I also wouldn't have minded to see more of Jin's story. It felt like at the end of the first game, there was still more of his story left to be told, more potential drama (especially depending on which ending you chose).
But again, I don't mind this one bit. I really look forward to seeing what SuckerPunch does here. They did such a great job before.
Kingdom Ghost of Tsushima Hearts.
Much as I like Ghost and horizon, Sony REALLY needs to tell their Sony Pictures people to f off of SIE. Already they're trying to turn everything into a multiverse franchise factory a decade after that already went passe.
I guess this means we're getting Lego Jin? And is it really sad that that's not even a hyperbole for Internet hysteria but an actual likely prediction?
People mocked "Halo, gears, Forza, Halo,Gears, Forza" only to get "Horizon, Ghost, GT, Horizon, Ghost, GT"
@Deoxyr1bose Fully agree.
I found Jin Sakai extremely dull with as much personality as a pice of wood, so I dont mind a new protagonist.
We should be careful what we ask for. I'd like more ghost games for certain as GOT is easily one of my all time fave games but I don't think anybody wants endless sequels,prequels,origins and the bits in between like the AC games have become. Admittedly since odyssey I have enjoyed the AC games and played origins after I finished odyssey but even though I intend to purchase shadows I think that may be my last entry in the AC universe. I don't want that kind of apathy extending towards the ghost franchise..
Of course they will milk it as much as they can even if it's a mediocre IP.
I think 'spin-off' is a bit unfair. It's presumably not a kart racer. It's an anthology sequel or standalone sequel
I must say I love this direction they are heading in. And I dont mind a franchise as long as the games habe high quality. Movies, series, etc. never bothered me if they fall flat or break the lore (looking at you Witcher) as long as the game delivers!
I really like Jin, reserved as he was, but very happy to move to a new character and time period. I always prefer new stories and experiences to similar things
I think each potential ghost game should have its own protagonist I also wouldn't mind seeing see each game take place at different points in Japanese history Like The Heian Period or the muromachi period for example.
Going to miss my guy Jin, my username was named after him after all. But I'm looking forward to Yotai, and don't have a problem with a female lead if I was honest. Yes I would have preferred Jin, but it's a non issue as long as the game is good and they improve some of the Ubisoft elements of the first.
This new ghost of yotei as shown me a lot of male gamers don't like female protagonist lol .. jins story is finished nah? When I completed the game he story seemed fulfilled and done
I felt like Jin had a great but self contained story, not everyone needs to have a franchise and I'm glad we're getting a brand new story instead.
On a side note, I booted up Ghost of Tsushima last night on my new Samsung S90C OLED and my god does it look stunning on it, easily one of the best HDR implementations I've seen and probably the best any game has looked on that TV so far
I have to say I'm perplexed by how attached people seem to be to Jin. Despite really enjoying the game, I found him to be pretty forgettable. He wasn't a bad character or anything, just not a particularly strong one either.
I think SP want to test the water, if this game is not successful, well back to the jin as protagonist again they go, lol.
@Ainu20 Because there's 2 mongol invasion, and people though sony will continue jin story about the second invasion rather than doing time jump with this new protagonist.
I like Jin but i never feel Sucker Punch design his story for sequels. I mean, Jin story arc felt complete after i finished the main game and then Iki Island expansion put a nice closure for his character development. So i'm not sure where they can used Jin again without making his closure looks pointless.
Some people say, there's the 2nd Mongol invasion. Say Sucker Punch used that as a setting and Jin again, but that would be repeat of the 1st game which i bet a lot of people will complaint "it's just the 1st game but with bigger map, it should be a DLC".
So new protag, new story, new location, and new timeline hundreds of year after Tsushima is the best route if Sucker Punch wants "Ghost of" become a long running series. That way, they can always try new stuff and keeps the series fresh.
@PuppetMaster Yeah I would certainly say that if they were to do a game about the second invasion it could be like a $40 spin off game. Other than that yeah I just don't think it is a good idea for an official sequel since people will just be complaining that it is... more of the same.
On the one hand I’m all up for more single player games, on the other I hope we don’t now just get sequel after sequel from the same franchises.
@wiiware That's two different things. I was talking about his character, you're referring to a possible angle for another story with him.
Anyway, I'm glad they didn't cover the second Mongol invasion. We've done that story, we don't need to do it again. And now we get to see Hokkaido, which is great.
Not everything needs a direct sequel, good lord. If an arc was concluded successfully, just leave it alone. Do something new.
Well, we hope there is more. But if not then this saves us from some crapy sequal that will ruin his spotless rep. Very hoepful that the movie is great.
I think people are starting to collectively loose their minds. STOP judging games on what gender the protag is, and more on gameplay, story, graphics (not so much on this on). The word "woke" has literally lost all meaning as this point!
There will almost certainly be a second chapter in the Jin story, especially since there is a second mongol invasion of Tsushima just a few years later. It was probably just too much a retread to do right away though.
@Deoxyr1bose normally I wouldn’t agree, but they have a point that apart from god of war PlayStation studios are moving to a female lead
They could easily put out more on Jin's story, but it'll start feeling like some glorified DLC.
New character, new century, new weapons, new particular set of skills.
Let's go!
Wouldn't it make more sense to have the new protagonist as the spin off and let us enjoy the character we invested in?
I'll pass on this franchise until they release a Jin "Spin off". There was still more story to tell with Jin, as they could have followed the 2nd Mongol invasion, and that could have taken him to the mainland.
Removed - inappropriate
If Yotei is only close to Tsushima I'm down for whatever. I platinumed Tsushima nearly by accident, I only lacked 3 trophies or so. That's how much I dug into it. Thanks, SuckerPunch!
We don't need to continue stories forever spinning off into several different mediums that's how things turn to ***** just look at what Disney do I'm fine if we only ever get one game with his story
@Nepp67 From the trailer, we can expect Ghost of Yotei will offer new gameplay / combat with Atsu's using dual blade, kusarigama, and even a matchlock / tanegashima which doesn't exist in Jin era until 1500's.
And with the setting in mainland Hokkaido, we can see more NPC and definitely more variations for side quest too. I can imagine we got interesting side quest that has connection with historical characters like maybe Miyamoto Musashi (he died in 1645). Lots of possibilities :3
So, if Sucker Punch used Jin again, i don't think they can do much to add new side quest, gameplay mechanics, and Jin's arsenal since Japan in 1200's was pretty limited. At best we would see a repeat of same side quest and weapons from the first game like smoke bomb, fire arrow, kunai, blowgun, or longbow again.
@Yagami
The only worthwhile thing about GoT was the visual design.
This seems weak of them. Stick to your guns and don’t undermine your female protagonist.
NEStalgia wrote:
You seem to be conveniently forgetting God of War, Ratchet, The Last of Us, Astrobot, Sackboy, MLB The Show and more, Sony aren't focused around just 3 franchises.
Besides Ghost of Tsushima is just ONE game so far, ONE with a sequel planned, not remotely in the same league as Halo (13+ including spin offs), Gears (10) & Forza (14)
I guess I'm confused on the whole misogyny and anger about playing as a female. I'm not Asian or a samurai either, so playing as a female character would be the least of my obstacles.
If playing a female character is going to put you into a tailspin, don't play the damn game... 🤷🏼♂️
Love Jin to bits so if we get another game with him even if a small Lost Legacy type thing I'll be happy I feel his story was complete anyway besides maybe where things would go with Yuna (GET TOGETHER ALREADY YOU COWARDS!!!😅). Besides in Tenchu Ayame was always my favourite character so I'm not complaining that Ghost 2 has a female lead most of my favourite game characters are girls anyway
@Yagami
Well as I've written in a different thread the combat was just copied from the Batman: Arkham series imo.
@LowDefAl
An action game is that copies it's combat system from another game is not worth time.
Spider Man is even worse, it just feels like to total conversion mode.
Yeah i think jin sakai will be back at some form.word up son
I'd love to see another game during the bakumatsu (though already seen in lad Ishin and rise of the Ronin, so might be overdone by now) or preferably the following Meiji era (rurouni kenshin, lady snowblood time for pop culture reference).
Either way, I'm happy to get off of the island.
@Chupa_loyzer The combat is not even vaguely like Arkham style combat, which is based around rhythmic button pressing into long attack chains with complex animations cycles base around simple button presses.
Ghost of Tsushima is just normal third person action combat, its much more Freeform where you are not locked into long cinematic animations where you just press attack, attack, attack, dodge, attack to the rhythm of on screen actions and indicators.
Shadow of Mordor, Hand of Fate, Spider-man use Arkham style combat systems.
I believe they pretty much confirm they wanted to expand the game. They can always revisit him later. Which is fine. The last of us one should've done that. Should have skipped part 2 since part 1 ended perfectly. Instead, they should've gambled and use the same setting / world with different character.
@ChrisDeku I had to do a double take when I read that GoT had "copied" the Arkham combat system. Sometimes you read stuff on here that just doesn't make any sense. I guess some people think the Arkham games invented the counter-attack and any game that features it must be a copy.
High likelihood that legends becomes a separate spinoff game
Just a crazy idea: maybe SP could just make a new GAME after GoY? Not everything has to be a multimedia multiverse of spinoffs, tv/movie adaptations, novels, boardgames and LEGO sets, with matching remaster/remakes of the original material. I’d hate to see SP go the way of Naughty Dog or Guerrilla.
I love Jin, but I'm also excited for the new region and lead character. At the very least, I hope there are some references to him or better yet, a mythic tale based on him to unlock an ability.
@Mr_B021
But it's how the things work nowadays. They're gonna milk any more or less commercially successful IP dry even if its a mediocre product per se like GoT.
@Mr_B021 This is like suggesting Nintendo shouldn't make a second Mario Bros or Pokemon game, Square shouldn't make FF 2, Konami shouldn't make MG 2, Sega shouldn't make Yakuza 2 etc etc after the first game sold really well.
Let's just abandon the IP that printed money, the fans who loves it, and all the assets and engine that created for the game because why? That companies shouldn't expand their IP into a franchise and generating money to keep them afloat?
Yeah it's a crazy idea indeed, doesn't even makes a single sense with the demand and supply rule.
I'm just glad you're not Sucker Punch advisor nor any of the company that i mention. With your idea, all must ended with one game, no sequels, spin off, manga, anime, etc 🙄
I thought First Light was awful. I hope they have upped their standalone game since.
I've also never felt Jin needed to exist outside of GoT. Not against it either.
@Keyblade-Dan I was very much convinced something was brewing between him and Yuna
I would like to see Jin in Yotei's story as a Mythic Tale
@PuppetMaster not every game has Mario Bros IP potential or has to grow into a multimedia franchise. It’s alright to make a great game and move on. Eventually even SP, Naughty Dog and Guerrilla will, otherwise we would be playing Sly Cooper 8 or Crash Bandicoot 11 instead of GoT or TLoU.
@Mr_B021 The thing is Ghost has potential and can grow into a multimedia franchise considering Tsushima sold really well at 10 million copies and Japan has a lot of interesting history that can be used as a material for a new game or even spin off with anime and manga. Many people also loves it and asking for more. So, what you suggested here for Sucker Punch to just moved on from the IP while they received a high demand for a sequel is not making any sense.
And the key word here is "eventually". But i rarely see any devs who quickly abandon an IP after the first game sold really well. Did you see Capcom moved on from RE after RE 1 sold 4 million copies on PS1 and brought them $200 million profit? Or did you see Sega moved on from Sonic after Sonic 1 sold really well and brought them $1 Billion profit?
I actually had hope after this Ghost game (which I'm super hyped for!) SP would make a new Infamous game, well at least give us remasters of the PS3 games 🙁
@Lembit lol. Absolutely agree with you on that. For me he was the thing I disliked the most from GoT. That and the generic open world stuff and hollow side quests. Other than that I enjoyed my time with GoT.
@nessisonett well put.
I don't mind the film being Jin centric because it started a long time ago... but yeah for the games let Atsu shine.
If they do feel compelled to do more Jin I hope they do it as a really dense novel to piss off the nuggets that are whining, but also for me because I'm never truly happy unless the book I'm reading doubles as a bludgeoning weapon.
I'm worried about this if it translates into new games. Jin's story felt complete and actually had closure to it. If they have spin-off material in the form of different medias, like the article said, then I am all for it, but I get an uneasy feeling that they will be "milking" it for the wrong reasons if it's a game. I trust Sucker Punch but it still worries me.
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