Highlights

  • Sequels like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have been praised for building on their predecessors' strengths and fixing previous complaints.
  • Ghost of Tsushima 2 is expected to happen due to the success of the first game, and it should focus on Jin Sakai's special Techniques that players loved.
  • Potential Techniques for the sequel include Sekiro's Mikiri Counter, a Grapple Escape, and Brutalize move to scare foes like in the Middle-Earth series.

Sequels, in very traditional formats, have been absolutely thriving this year. Back in April, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor hit store shelves, and aside from a few pretty major technical issues, it was heralded as a great game and a fantastic traditional sequel, taking its predecessor's foundations and building on them, improving all of the original's best bits while fixing complaints fans had about the first game. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom came out soon after it and did the same for its own predecessor, and more recently Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has followed suit. While these games don't reinvent the wheel, they double down on their predecessors' best elements, and that's exactly what fans would want a Ghost of Tsushima 2 to do.

It hasn't been announced in any official capacity at all, but Ghost of Tsushima 2 does feel like an inevitability at this point, with the first game managing to break out of The Last of Us Part 2's monumental shadow and become a pretty big success in its own right. And when it does happen, Ghost of Tsushima 2 needs to really focus on what made the original so beloved, and Jin Sakai's special Techniques played a major role in that, though there's still plenty of room left for improvement.

In Ghost of Tsushima , Jin Sakai's Techniques were split into six categories: Exploration, Evasion, Deflection, Mythic, Stance, and Ghost. Most of these Techniques were laid out like skill trees, with players unlocking new abilities the further they get into the game.

Ghost of Tsushima Snow
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Ghost of Tsushima has a ton of unique selling points that have helped it stand out from the crowd, and there's one area that a sequel can't forget.

New Evasion Technique - Grappling Hook Escape

Throughout Ghost of Tsushima's main story mode, players will gradually unlock a bevy of Samurai tools and gadgets, and one of the most satisfying to use is the grappling hook. However, Ghost of Tsushima's grappling hook isn't utilized all that much during the game, and especially not in combat. For the sequel, it might be interesting to see the grappling hook be used as a sort of quick escape move by Jin during the heat of combat, similar to the grapnel in Batman: Arkham. But, to keep it balanced, Ghost of Tsushima 2 could limit the player to just one quick grappling hook escape per combat encounter.

New Deflection Technique - Mikiri Counter

Sometimes it's okay to just borrow another game's mechanics directly, especially when they're as satisfying as Sekiro's Mikiri Counter. In Sekiro, the Mikiri Counter ability lets players dodge directly into oncoming spear attacks, which stuns the attacker and leaves them vulnerable to an instant death. Ghost of Tsushima 2 could make great use of this Mikiri Counter move, acting as a new way to parry spearmen.

New Ghost Technique - Brutalize

Another mechanic that would be heavily "inspired" by another great action/adventure game, Ghost of Tsushima 2 could use a Brutalize move. While the original Ghost of Tsushima already has a Slaughter ability, where players can decapitate enemy leaders to instill fear in the remaining foes, the sequel could make this ability available for all enemy types, borrowing a page from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor's playbook.

New Mythic Technique - Automatic Parry

Mythic Techniques are a special breed in the original Ghost of Tsushima, with only four being available in the entire game. These Mythic Techniques are essentially special abilities earned through major side quests and main quests, and they range from setting the player's sword aflame to equipping an explosive arrow to delivering three fast, hard-hitting blows in quick succession. Just one idea for a new Mythic Technique would be an Automatic Parry, letting players automatically deflect every attack coming their way for a few seconds.

New Stance Technique - Thrust

If there's one thing that Ghost of Tsushima 2 should definitely have, it's more sword stances. In the first Ghost of Tsushima, sword stances essentially acted like a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, with each one being particularly effective against a specific enemy type. The sequel will undoubtedly add more sword stances and some kind of fencing-like thrust stance might be interesting to see, letting players deliver rapid blows from a distance.