While the game will be somewhat familiar, its setting, time period, and protagonist are all completely new, which should make for a pretty fresh experience when it launches in 2025.
One area it's set to improve over the first game is in its open world design. The original was criticized for its repetitive activities while you're out exploring the island.
In an interview with The New York Times (paywalled), creative director Jason Connell comments on this aspect of Ghost of Yotei, saying it's an area the team is aiming to improve in the sequel.
"One challenge that comes with making an open-world game is the repetitive nature of doing the same thing over again," Connell says. "We wanted to balance against that and find unique experiences."
Indeed, many open world games run into this issue, though some are better at overcoming it than others. Hopefully, Yotei will offer up lots of interesting side quests, emergent moments, and so on in its beautiful interpretation of northern Japan.
Are you excited to see Ghost of Yotei's open world on PS5? Follow the wind into the comments section below.