Jin Sakai Is Back in Ghost of Yōtei, and Sucker Punch Somehow Found the Perfect Way to Do It

Jin Sakai is officially playable again in Ghost of Yōtei: Most Wanted, complete with all four Ghost of Tsushima stances, Dance of Wrath and Ghost Stance. The best part is that Sucker Punch brought him back without stealing Atsu's game from her.

Ghost of Yōtei spent an entire game proving it did not need Jin Sakai. Atsu got her own revenge story, her own weapons, her own Ghost identity and one of the prettiest open worlds on PS5. Then Sucker Punch walked into State of Play and casually revealed Jin anyway.

Not as a 300-year-old samurai somehow wandering around Ezo.

Thankfully.

Instead, Jin is one of four playable characters in Ghost of Yōtei: Most Wanted, a new single-player roguelike survival mode launching October 1. He returns with Stone, Water, Wind and Moon Stance, Sticky Bombs, his short bow, Dance of Wrath and the original Ghost Stance.

Basically, Sucker Punch opened the Ghost of Tsushima toolbox and said:

Fine. You can have all of it back.

Most Wanted Is Basically Ghost Combat With the Safety Removed

The idea behind Most Wanted is surprisingly simple. You choose a bounty connected to one of the Yōtei Six, then survive waves of enemies and minibosses before reaching the final target. After every wave, you choose new perks that slowly turn your character into something much more dangerous than Sucker Punch would ever allow in the normal campaign.

Finish a run and you earn Mon, which can permanently unlock techniques, weapon upgrades, charms and new characters. Bounties can also be replayed at higher difficulties, eventually leading to the hardest target, Lord Saito.

So yes, PlayStation has discovered roguelikes again.

The Last of Us got No Return. God of War got Valhalla. Now Ghost of Yōtei gets:

What if the combat designers were allowed to stop worrying about balance?

Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition: Most Wanted Trailer

The Funny Part Is That Jin and Atsu Fight Completely Differently

Ghost of Yōtei takes place in 1603 around Mount Yōtei in Ezo, modern-day Hokkaido, more than 300 years after Ghost of Tsushima. Atsu is a mercenary hunting the six people responsible for murdering her family, and Sucker Punch used that new protagonist to completely change how combat works.

Jin mainly changed stances depending on the enemy.

Atsu changes weapons.

She can use a katana, dual katanas, odachi, yari and kusarigama, alongside bows, firearms and Ghost tools. That extra variety was one of the things critics consistently praised when Yōtei launched, helping the game land an 86 Metacritic score from more than 130 reviews.

Most Wanted now puts both philosophies in the same game.

And that sounds extremely fun.

Atsu Can Summon Two Wolves, Because Apparently One Sword Was Not Enough

Atsu is the default character and starts with dual katanas, Metsubushi blinding powder and a Blind Bomb.

Then things get silly.

Her Ultimate, Call of the Pack, summons two wolves to attack nearby enemies. Build her Kill Streak and she can use Onryō's Howl, terrifying everyone around her and forcing one enemy to flee.

That feels exactly right for Atsu.

Ghost of Yōtei already made wolves part of her journey through Ezo. Most Wanted just removes the subtlety and lets them help murder people.

Progress.

Oyuki and Nagato Sound Completely Different Again

Most Wanted is not simply four skins using the same moves.

Oyuki fights with the kusarigama, kunai and tanegashima rifle. Her Shadow Killer Ultimate fills the area with smoke and lets her assassinate two nearby enemies, while her Kill Streak can summon a Nine Tails ally who fights and performs assassinations beside her.

So that is basically the:

“Nobody saw anything” build.

Nagato, meanwhile, brings a yari, pistol, long bow and short bow. His Gambler's Mark Ultimate automatically targets two enemies for guaranteed headshots, while Blast Arrow restores Concentration and gives him an explosive arrow.

He apparently looked at a samurai roguelike and chose: Gun.

Fair enough.

And Then Jin Walks In With Water Stance

Jin is where the nostalgia damage begins.

Sucker Punch says its character and animation teams rebuilt his Ghost of Tsushima model with Ghost of Yōtei's newer technology while keeping him recognizable. More importantly, they preserved the combat system that made him feel like Jin.

He gets Stone, Water, Wind and Moon Stance, allowing him to switch depending on enemy type.

His Ultimate is Dance of Wrath, targeting multiple enemies and disarming them.

And his Kill Streak is exactly what everyone wanted: Ghost Stance.

Terrify everyone nearby, then start deleting enemies.

Putting Jin and Atsu beside each other might actually be one of the coolest things about this mode.

Tsushima was about reading an opponent and choosing the right stance.

Yōtei widened that into a much larger weapon system.

Now we can finally see which style feels better when both are thrown into the same ridiculous survival mode.

I already know what is going to happen. Sucker Punch spent an entire game teaching me Atsu's weapons. Then it gave me Water Stance back.

This may become a problem.

The Perks Are What Could Make Most Wanted Really Good

The characters sound great, but Most Wanted will live or die on its builds.

Sucker Punch says perks can affect weapon mastery, gear, summons, parries, survivability and more, and the idea is to combine them differently during every run.

That needs to get weird.

I do not want: +8% sword damage.

I want Atsu summoning an unreasonable number of wolves while Jin terrifies half the map and Nagato somehow turns every arrow into an explosive.

That is where good roguelikes become dangerous.

One more run.

Then another.

Then somehow it is 3 AM.

Ghost of Yōtei Was Already Doing Fine Without Jin

That is why this return works.

Ghost of Yōtei already established Atsu as her own protagonist. It moved away from Tsushima, gave Ezo its own identity and expanded the original combat instead of simply making Ghost of Tsushima 2 with a prettier mountain.

Critical reception was strong, particularly around the combat and ridiculously beautiful world, even if some reviews felt the revenge story and open-world structure were still fairly familiar.

Sucker Punch did not need to drag Jin back into Atsu's campaign.

Instead, it put him somewhere he can simply be fun.

No complicated time-travel explanation.

No secret 300-year-old Jin.

No Atsu suddenly discovering that every major event in her life somehow involved the Sakai family.

Just: Here is Jin. Here is his sword. Go kill everything.

Perfect.

And Yōtei Is Getting a Proper Story Expansion Too

Most Wanted is only half of Ghost of Yōtei's October update.

Echoes of Sekigahara is the new narrative expansion, following two periods of Atsu's life. Flashbacks take her back to the massive Battle of Sekigahara, where we learn more about her history with Nagato, while the present-day story sends Atsu into the previously unseen Ashoro Foothills.

The area has been taken over by the Vipers, followers of the Snake, and Sucker Punch says the expansion includes new enemies, heavy weapons, Mythic Tales, abilities, armor and cosmetics.

Ghost of Yōtei: Echoes of Sekigahara Trailer

That also helps Most Wanted make more sense.

Jin gets the fun nostalgia mode.

Atsu keeps the actual story.

Exactly how it should be.

Jin Coming Back Works Because Ghost of Yōtei Moved On First

Ghost of Yōtei: Most Wanted and Echoes of Sekigahara launch October 1, 2026 on PS5. Existing owners can get both through the $14.99 Complete Edition Upgrade, while the full Complete Edition costs $69.99 and includes the base game, Legends co-op mode and the new content.

There is also a free October update for everyone with Beauty of Yōtei, new Watanabe Mode music, armor transmog and another accessibility option.

But let's be honest.

Everyone saw the same thing in that trailer.

Jin Sakai drew his sword again.

And Sucker Punch somehow found a way to bring him back without making Ghost of Yōtei feel less like Atsu's game.

Now all Most Wanted has to prove is that its builds get ridiculous enough to keep us playing.

Because if I can combine Ghost Stance with completely broken roguelike perks...

Lord Saito may want to reconsider that bounty.