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Erika Ishii Says Playing the Finished Ghost of Yōtei Helped Her Return as Atsu

At least a couple of months separated Ishii's final campaign recording session from her work on Echoes of Sekigahara, and she also recorded new dialogue for Most Wanted.

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Erika Ishii returned to voice Atsu for Ghost of Yōtei: Echoes of Sekigahara after playing through the finished game. She said that experience let her step back into character directly, rather than relying on reference audio. In a PlayStation Blog interview marking the Complete Edition’s launch, Ishii also discussed the expansion’s flashbacks, new dialogue for Most Wanted, and what the role has meant to her.

Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition arrived on PS5 on October 1, one day before the game’s first anniversary. The Complete Edition package announced in August combines the campaign and Ghost of Yōtei: Legends with the new Most Wanted mode and Echoes of Sekigahara expansion.

Playing the finished game brought Ishii back to Atsu

At least a couple of months passed between Ishii’s last recording for the main campaign and her return for the expansion. The team was polishing the game, then took a short break before production wrapped. Ishii said she kept asking whether downloadable content was in the works and even brought the team a list of ideas, though none of her pitches were used.

At the launch party, Ishii and Echoes of Sekigahara writer Courtney Woods talked about Atsu’s personal attachments and the possibility of romance in her life. Ishii said she got her wish. The expansion revisits Atsu’s past through flashbacks to her time on the mainland, giving that part of her character new room in the story.

Ishii had been able to play Ghost of Yōtei during production, before the game was finished. Playing through the completed version then helped her return to the booth with a clearer sense of Atsu’s full journey. She explained that voice actors often rely on reference audio when revisiting a role, but she could instead draw on her experience playing the character herself.

Flashbacks gave Ishii a path into Atsu’s past

Echoes of Sekigahara moves between the present and Atsu’s time on the mainland. Ishii said earlier scenes with young Atsu helped her work through the character’s past. Before recording a scene, she built a sense of what Atsu had already lived through and how those experiences could inform her in the present.

Most Wanted brings a different tone

Ishii also recorded new dialogue for Most Wanted. She described the mode as non-canonical, with a heightened, more mystical feel similar to the mythological tone of Ghost of Yōtei: Legends.

The interview also touched on Jin Sakai’s return. Ishii said she spoke with Daisaku Tsuji, Jin’s voice actor, in Los Angeles before Ghost of Yōtei launched. They did not record together, but she told him how much his work meant to her and that she was grateful to carry the Ghost mantle. The two joke that their careers are tied together, as they have appeared in many of the same games.

For Ishii, playing Atsu fulfilled a long-held ambition. The Last of Us had helped her realize she wanted to act in video games, and her work on Ghost of Yōtei also brought her to Tokyo Game Show and gave her the chance to appear as Atsu in professional cosplay on a PlayStation stage in Japan. She described the role as bittersweet after four years of developing Atsu’s voice, movements, and character. Atsu will always be special to her, she said, without defining all of her work.

What detail from Ishii’s return to Atsu stood out most to you? For more on the people and new stories behind the Complete Edition, stay connected with us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

The game takes place 300 years after Ghost of Tsushima. Set in the lands surrounding Mount Yōtei, a towering peak in the heart of Ezo, an area of Japan known as Hokkaido in present day.

The area is outside the rule of Japan, and filled with sprawling grasslands, snowy tundras, and unexpected dangers.