Former Sony executive and, apparently, unofficial Ghost of Yotei beta tester Shuhei Yoshida says his time with an in-development version of the open-world Ghost of Tsushima successor "always felt great" – try to hold your drool.

Developer Sucker Punch's action-adventure game is an exciting mystery for 2025, with its promise of a bloodsoaked version of the Eden that was 1600s Japan, and a missing release date. But, while Ghost of Tsushima fans should continue to work on their patience, Yoshida is happy to report Yotei is lipstick smooth so far.

"Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch always make the game feel right," Yoshida says on a recent episode of the Easy Allies podcast, repeating a sentiment he shared earlier this month with Game File. "It's that kind of thing [where] you forget holding the controller, it becomes so feel natural and intuitive to play."

Yoshida continues to say that Sucker Punch specifically, "somehow, always from the very early stage of development" is able to deliver a "bug-free" and completely playable video game.

"Somehow, the game doesn't crash," Yoshida says incredulously. "And, you know, they've been changing the battle system so many times, but still, it always works."

As the previous head of PlayStation Indies, a position he left earlier this year, Yoshida says he got to "play so many different versions of Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yotei, actually, until I left the company.

"Every time I visit [Sucker Punch], even though I left the first party – the producer of the game brought me into his room and let me try Ghost of Yotei in development, and he wanted my feedback. It always felt great. So I'm looking forward to this game." You and everyone else, Yoshida.

Ghost of Yotei will let you cut loose with dual katanas, ōdachi, and more new weapons when it launches this year, PlayStation confirms.