Despite all the hype and anticipation that once led up to its reveal, Ghost of Yotei still has yet to prove itself, as only a small portion of its gameplay, story, and world have been revealed. With the massively successful Ghost of Tsushima at its back, Ghost of Yotei certainly has a lot to live up to, but Sucker Punch has indicated that it has thoroughly considered the shortcomings of Ghost of Tsushima in order to offer players an even better experience with Ghost of Yotei. Even so, whether the developer’s ambitions ultimately pan out in the long run remains to be seen, as a much deeper look at Ghost of Yotei than what is shown in its reveal trailer has yet to occur.

While Ghost of Yotei‘s story, gameplay, and open world are expected to be top-notch after what fans were treated to with Ghost of Tsushima, there is nonetheless a considerably high bar for it to clear. Much of what has made that bar so high is, perhaps, the hype surrounding Ghost of Yotei, as the industry has been groaning for more time in the Ghost world since Tsushima‘s release in 2020. However, even if Ghost of Yotei does succeed in either meeting or even going above and beyond that bar, there is still one thing about its launch that it will need to pull off to ensure everything that follows is received well.

Ghost of Yotei’s Launch Needs to Be as Smooth as Tsushima’s

Ghost of Tsushima Was Known for Launching in a Polished State

There is no denying that, at the end of the day, Ghost of Tsushima‘s success is primarily due to its breathtaking open world, its compelling narrative, and its satisfying gameplay. Those achievements might have meant nothing, though, if Ghost of Tsushima‘s launch hadn’t gone as smoothly as it did. History has shown that a game can have the most innovative features, the most captivating visuals, and the most memorable story and characters, but all of that can be quickly overshadowed by a rough launch, as games like Cyberpunk 2077 have proven.

Ghost of Tsushima, on the other hand, defied the stigma that comes with many AAA games by launching in an impeccable state. Unlike many modern open-world games that suffer from game-breaking bugs at launch, Ghost of Tsushima was smooth and stable from day one across both the PS4 and the PS4 Pro. No major crashes, broken quests, or widespread complaints about Ghost of Tsushima‘s performance were reported, and while there was a small day-one patch, it wasn’t a case of launching an unfinished game and fixing it later.

Ghost of Tsushima also had shockingly fast load times, even before the PS5 upgrades were implemented, allowing players to fast-travel across the island in just a few seconds, making exploration seamless.

Ghost of Yotei Can’t Break the Streak Its Predecessor Started

Needless to say, Ghost of Yotei may bring new features, a new story, and a new world to the Ghost franchise, but if it fails to live up to the launch standard set by its predecessor, all of that work may prove to have been for nothing. It is all too common these days for AAA games to launch in an unfinished state, only to get fixed much later and, while they may then see a slight resurgence in their playerbase, they will never be able to capture what they might have had at launch, had it gone smoothly.

Ghost of Yotei already has its work cut out for it in maintaining its reputation, as it is taking the Ghost franchise in a different direction than some fans expected. That puts even more pressure on it to be in a pristine and finished state at launch, just as Ghost of Tsushima was, as that could make or break it in the end.