Easier Tsushima Sequel Left Players Colder, Says Ghost of Yotei Lead — But Sucker Punch Feared Lethal Mode Would Drive Them Away

Ghost of Yotei is not planning to coddle you on its default setting. Sucker Punch creative director Jason Connell says the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima intentionally makes its standard difficulty pretty challenging, and that is by design after what they saw in testing. If you want it gentler, the team has options baked in, but the middle lane is meant to have some bite.

What testing told them (and why that matters)

Connell told GamesRadar+ that their playtests delivered a counterintuitive result: the easier they made the game, the less people enjoyed it overall. Not everyone, obviously, but enough that it informed the entire tuning philosophy.

"This sounds crazy, but the easier we make the game, we found in testing, people liked it less."

So the default is tuned to push you. The idea is that when you pick up a new weapon or unlock a new skill, you actually feel the difference because the game has enough resistance to make those upgrades matter.

Default is tough, but it is not the only way to play

Importantly, Connell is not preaching one-true-way difficulty. There is a story mode specifically for folks who want a low-intensity ride, and the studio also kept the fan-favorite Lethal option for anyone who wants to sweat. Lethal is not the default because that would scare off players who just want to soak in the world and the narrative.

• Standard: tuned to be challenging enough to make upgrades and skills feel meaningful.
• Story mode: a lower-intensity path if you want to focus on the tale and the scenery.
• Lethal: the high-stakes mode is there if you want it, just not set as default.
• On-the-fly swaps: the team wants you to adjust difficulty if needed without jumping through hoops.
• Philosophy: do not gate the experience; minimize the need to flip back and forth constantly, but keep the door open if a section feels out of whack.

Finding that sweet spot is hard

Connell admits the hardest thing is nailing the so-called normal mode because most players will hit that first. Sometimes they get it just right; sometimes parts land a little on the tough side. Either way, the goal is for players to feel genuinely empowered as they grow, not frustrated into quitting. And if life gets in the way — his example was the player with two kids and no chance to sink 100 hours — the game has a lower-intensity model ready and waiting.

How this lines up with what people liked last time

If you are getting Tsushima deja vu, you are not wrong. GamesRadar+ described Yotei’s difficulty as intense in a good way, syncing nicely with the moment-to-moment satisfaction of pulling off fights cleanly — which tracks with how Tsushima often felt when it clicked. They also called Yotei one of this year’s best new games and put together tips for smoother progress, if you want to go in a little more prepared.