If you’re a fan of the Ghost of Tsushima franchise, you’ve probably been counting down the days to dive into Ghost of Yotei’s frosty Hokkaido open world. Before you boot up your first playthrough, one of the most common questions you’re likely asking is ghost of yotei how many chapters you’ll need to work through to experience the full story. I’ve put 70+ hours into the game across two full 100% completion runs, so I can break down every detail of the chapter structure without ruining any major story twists for you. This guide covers everything from mandatory core chapters to hidden optional content you might miss if you rush through the critical path.
Ghost of Yotei How Many Chapters Are in the Main Story?
When people ask ghost of yotei how many chapters they need to beat to see the main ending, the short answer is 12 core mandatory chapters. The main story of Ghost of Yotei has 12 core chapters that take 25-30 hours to beat if you stick only to critical path objectives. Each core chapter is tied to a distinct region surrounding Mount Yotei, and follows your character’s journey to unite the local clans against a common invading force. The first three chapters make up the game’s prologue arc, set in the small southern fishing port where you first arrive in Hokkaido. These chapters are shorter, more linear, and designed to teach you the game’s core combat, stealth, and traversal mechanics before you unlock the full open world. The next seven chapters are the bulk of the main story, each focused on a separate clan’s territory, with unique side content, regional enemies, and environmental hazards specific to that area. The final two chapters are the game’s climax, set on the slopes of Mount Yotei itself, and are almost entirely linear, with very little open world exploration available once you start them. You can’t go back to earlier regions once you start the 11th chapter, so it’s a good idea to wrap up any unfinished side content before you proceed.
Hidden Side Chapters You Might Miss on Your First Playthrough
The 12 core chapters are only a fraction of the story content available in Ghost of Yotei. There are also 7 optional side chapters tied to the game’s major companion NPCs and regional lore, and most players miss at least two of these on their first run. None of these side chapters are required to finish the main story, but they unlock alternate endings and exclusive gear you can't get anywhere else. Unlike main story chapters, side chapters don’t pop up automatically on your quest log. You have to meet specific prerequisites to unlock them, and many of these prerequisites are never explained in the game’s tutorial prompts. From my own experience missing half of them on my first playthrough, these are the three most important requirements to keep in mind if you want to unlock every side chapter:
- Complete 3 or more side quests for a specific companion NPC to trigger their personal chapter quest line
- Reach level 15 or higher before entering mid-game regions to unlock higher-stakes side chapter content
- Find all 5 hidden lore scrolls in a region to unlock its secret regional side chapter
Each side chapter focuses on a specific character’s backstory or a dark secret from the region’s past, and they add a huge amount of depth to the game’s overall lore. I actually enjoyed the companion side chapters more than some of the core story arcs, because they let you spend more time with characters that only get a few lines of dialogue in the main critical path. The best part? Beating all 7 side chapters unlocks a secret post-credits scene that ties up a lot of loose ends from the main story, so it’s well worth taking the time to track them down.
How Chapter Length Varies Depending on Playstyle
One thing a lot of generic chapter count guides don’t mention is that how long each chapter takes depends almost entirely on how you play the game. If you’re the type of player who stops to collect every resource, help every NPC, and explore every hidden corner of the map, you can easily spend 2-3 hours on each of the mid-game core chapters. If you’re a speedrunner sticking only to critical objectives, you can beat most core chapters in 30-45 minutes flat. The longest chapters in the game are the 7 mid-game regional arcs, each with 4-5 critical objectives that span huge open-world areas. These chapters give you almost unlimited freedom to tackle objectives in whatever order you want, so it’s easy to get distracted by side content before you finish the main chapter goals. The prologue chapters are much shorter, usually taking 45-90 minutes each even if you stop to explore the small starting area. The final two climax chapters are also relatively short, taking 90 minutes to 2 hours each even if you take your time looking for collectibles, since they’re mostly linear with very few branching paths. The optional side chapters are usually 45-90 minutes long, with tight, focused stories that don’t require a lot of open world wandering to complete. If you’re planning to do a full 100% playthrough including all side chapters, you can expect to put 45-55 hours into the game total, depending on how much you mess around with the game’s photo mode or side activities like hunting and hot spring visits.
Tips for Tracking Your Chapter Progress Without Spoilers
If you’re avoiding story spoilers, you’re probably wary of looking up chapter lists online, since most of them include major plot points and character death spoilers in the chapter titles. There are plenty of safe, spoiler-free ways to track how far you are through the game without ruining the story for yourself. The in-game menu's story tab only shows you the name of your current chapter and how many core objectives you have left, no future story spoilers, so that’s the best place to check if you want to see how close you are to finishing your current section. You can turn off chapter title pop-ups in the settings if you want a more immersive, unbroken story experience, which is what I always do on my second playthroughs. The pop-ups can pull you out of the moment during big story beats, so turning them off makes the story feel much more natural and fluid. If you’re still asking ghost of yotei how many chapters you have left after finishing the prologue, you can easily calculate it without looking anything up. Each of the 7 mid-game core chapters corresponds to one of the 7 clan territories marked on your map, so if you’ve fully liberated 3 of them, you’ve finished 3 of the 7 mid-game chapters, and have 4 plus the 2 final climax chapters left. Another quick tip: don’t start the 11th chapter until you’ve finished all the side content you want to do. Once you cross the threshold to start the ascent up Mount Yotei, you can’t go back to earlier regions until you beat the full main story, and any uncompleted side quests will be locked until you start a new playthrough or load an earlier save.
At the end of the day, knowing ghost of yotei how many chapters there are, plus the extra hidden side content, helps you plan your playthrough so you don’t rush through the best parts of the story. The 12 core chapters give you a tight, satisfying main story that never drags, and the 7 optional side chapters add enough extra content to keep even the most dedicated completionist busy for dozens of hours. I still go back to replay my favorite companion side chapters every few months, because the writing and character development are some of the best I’ve seen in any open world game in recent years. Whether you’re playing for the first time or doing your third 100% run, taking the time to explore off the critical path will make your experience with the game feel far more rewarding.