Sequels are opportunities to either build upon a predecessor and push boundaries, or refine what was already great and deliver that again with a stronger focus. With Ghost of Yotei, developer Sucker Punch leaned heavily into the latter approach, and the result is more captivating open-world action and unbelievably striking visuals at every turn. It doesn't try to revolutionize things, sticking pretty close to 2020's Ghost of Tsushima in general, but I don’t necessarily mind when that means it can expand in aspects that matter and offer a tighter distillation of the samurai fantasy that was originally promised. Not many games in recent memory can hang their hat on having combat as fluid and satisfying as this, and it's packed into a revenge tale that makes for a more human story. Coming off of Tsushima, the novelty of imitating filmmaker Akira Kurosawa may have worn off a bit, but the cinematic stylings of his samurai classics still effectively seep into Ghost of Yotei...
Sequels are opportunities to either build upon a predecessor and push boundaries, or refine what was already great and deliver that again with a stronger focus. With Ghost of Yotei, developer Sucker Punch leaned heavily into the latter approach, and the result is more captivating open-world action and unbelievably striking visuals at every turn. It doesn't try to revolutionize things, sticking pretty close to 2020's Ghost of Tsushima in general, but I don’t necessarily mind when that means it can expand in aspects that matter and offer a tighter distillation of the samurai fantasy that was originally promised. Not many games in recent memory can hang their hat on having combat as fluid and satisfying as this, and it's packed into a revenge tale that makes for a more human story.
Coming off of Tsushima, the novelty of imitating filmmaker Akira Kurosawa may have worn off a bit, but the cinematic stylings of his samurai classics still effectively seep into Ghost of Yotei's look and vibe. Whether it be the cinematography of cutscenes, the standoff before a duel, or the letterboxed framing of riding horseback across the gorgeous fields of Ezo (which is modern-day Hokkaido, home of Mount Yotei), it had me mashing the screenshot button and frequently pulling up photo mode (conveniently mapped to the D-pad). We've seen technically impressive worlds across Sony's other PS4 and PS5 games in recent years, but it's the artistic flourishes and intentional environmental effects that elevate Ezo's lush plains, snow-covered mountains, and vibrant forests – it's a sort of biodiversity Tsushima didn't entirely have.
The picturesque vistas and dense flower fields lend Yotei its own identity, but it's the new lead character, Atsu, who gives the wandering samurai tale a more enticing edge as well. It's a story far less concerned about the romanticized idea of the samurai and instead focuses on the lengths one would go to exact their justice. Tsushima's protagonist, Jin, was just fine for the purpose of its story, yet he wasn't a particularly interesting lead on his own. Moving to Atsu who's fiery and brash gives Yotei the kind of personality it needs. Actor Erika Ishii lends their likeness and voice (if you play with English audio) to Atsu and brings something that's more rough around the edges for a more believable character. She's stubborn and has trouble seeing beyond bloodlust, sometimes frustratingly so, and the ways the world and people around her push back on her kept me curious enough to see things through.
All of this revolves around a fairly by-the-numbers revenge plot, where Atsu seeks to take down the Yotei Six led by an equally vengeful villain, Lord Saito. They're a group of outlaw samurai who killed her family when she was young along their path to becoming the de facto leaders of Ezo by force. (If you played Assassin's Creed Shadows from earlier this year, you may notice Yotei closely mirrors the story of Naoe, one of its two protagonists.) While they don't have much screentime and aren't really nuanced characters, they're easy to hate, making vengeance pretty sweet. In its roughly 30-hour journey, a large majority of the story unfolds in predictable fashion, and gives you the runaround more often than I'd like. Multiple times events build up to a big moment, only for the target to conveniently escape in a cutscene without much of the plot moving forward or evolving.
That's not to say it doesn't have its moments, however. A couple of clever twists in a middle chapter show signs of brilliance, and some bittersweet scenes throughout had me emotionally invested in ways I didn't expect. Atsu has a few companions on her journey, like Oyuki who is one of the standouts and adds a little depth with her wisdom and contrasting perspective on the revenge motif. So is Atsu's mom, who brings texture to Yotei's themes of music and family being tied together, as you see through childhood flashbacks that flesh out their past. But when it came time for Atsu to square up against one of her targets, I couldn't help but grin, sit forward for the fight, and sense that intensity of dealing a final blow. Although I wish it took more creative swings with its storytelling, it is a strong-enough vehicle to carry you through what it does best.
And what Ghost of Yotei does best is combat – very few open-world games compel me to clear out optional content across the map just for the sake of starting fights. Movement has an unmistakable fluidity, as does the flow of each attack, ability, and parry, yet each weapon carries a certain weight that makes landing hits and those impact frames so satisfying. Without a lock-on mechanic, encounters feel natural at the expense of frustrating mishaps with the targeting system. But because you're given so many tools, being able to weave them into your rotation or use them at opportune times keeps each fight consistently exciting.
Whereas Jin had stances with his katana in Tsushima to counteract the different enemy types, Atsu carries multiple weapon-types of her own. She's skilled with the sword, but relies on a chained sickle, spear, and dual-katana setup, as well as a hulking odachi blade for heavy units. This creates a rock-paper-scissors dynamic against enemies – with the right weapon, you can inflict more stagger or bypass some of their defensive techniques, letting you cut through them with greater efficiency. All of these weapons control distinctly, especially with the kusarigama being a highlight since it lets you break shields, swing it around for crowd control, and even assassinate enemies from a distance by yanking them towards you like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Weapon-switching is smooth and fast so it's not as much of a pain as it may sound, and mastering the cadence of combat makes me feel (and Atsu look) like a badass.
The role of projectiles has also expanded with the advent of firearms during this time period (Yotei takes place X years after Tsushima). So, not only does Atsu not give a damn about honor, she also has no qualms about letting her chopper sing (well, musket or flintlock pistol). Sure, the musket takes forever to reload, but landing a shot comes with an emphatic punch that pierces through armored foes, and the flintlock pistol is handy for staggering or finishing off enemies at point blank; man does it make me miss Bloodborne. Then there's smoke bombs and metsubushi dust to obscure enemy vision, and a flame attachment that temporarily sets your blades ablaze, all of which are effective in their own right. This is all to say that you have a lot to juggle and no shortage of options for overcoming Yotei's challenges whether it be an entire camp's battalion or a high-stakes one-on-one.
Stealth is still a prominent part of the mix, but largely relies on basic mechanics we've seen time and again in these kinds of action games. Tall grass and enemies with their backs conveniently turned and no vertical vision; we know the deal. I won't deny that an aerial assassination or triple-kill chain feels great in the moment, though, and let me shout out the kusarigama ranged assassination one more time. Broadly speaking, there's seemingly a lighter emphasis on stealth than we saw in Tsushima, and Yotei never really pushes you hard in that direction – if you get caught, then you just fight, like…oh no, I have to engage in combat, the best part of this game! What a shame! I found that teeing up as many stealth kills as possible before going loud to be the most enjoyable way to play, and it seems like Sucker Punch understood how to make that approach work well.
Yotei's main questline does hit you with a handful of large-scale battles to drive a sense of scale, but feature plenty of duels are spread throughout its world, packaged as deadly boss fights where you're chipping away at their stagger meter and health. Here, mastering the timing of parrying and dodging is of utmost importance, and even though they play out quite similarly, I still got a kick out of connecting on multiple parries in succession (lest I get one-tapped myself). Parrying and countering is one of the great joys in games, and Yotei delivers wonderfully – I see that blue glint, I lock in. So much so that I almost exclusively played with the Bounty Master armor equipped, which disables normal parries to slightly increase the perfect parry timing window. And it was worth the high-risk and high reward because nothing is cooler in this series than flawlessly deflecting an attack and slicing an enemy Bushido Blade-style. Standoffs are back, letting you go mano-a-mano to kill an enemy (or two or three) in a timing-based Iai sword swipe before going all-out on the rest of your foes; it's another way Yotei (like Tsushima before it) adds a satisfying variety to combat.
It was smart for both entries in this series to do away with level-based experience points and relegating progression, relying more heavily on teaching us to improve our own skills and understanding of our toolset. Progress in Atsu’s skill trees is tied to finding shrines, many of which are optional, making its open-world activities more meaningful. Unlocking charms for genuinely effective perks, getting new armor sets that emphasize specific gameplay mechanics, collecting cosmetics, and improving weapon efficacy are mostly woven into sidequests, and thankfully they often don't feel like throwaway objectives to check off of a list. Some of Yotei's more interesting skills and techniques are found deeper in these skill trees, and it's a bit of a double-edged sword – part of me was somewhat irked at how much Yotei relies on optional quests for progression, but ultimately, it's a smart move.
A few surprising turns in these quests thrust you into tough duels and chaotic battles, ushering you through more of the map than you probably would have seen otherwise. While this works mostly because Yotei's fundamentals are solid, there are also enjoyable little stories along the way, like supernatural mysteries to solve, elusive outlaws to chase, and even a superboss that took me well over an hour and countless retries to defeat. A few cultural nods that show a bit more appreciation for the region and its history. With the latter, I'm talking specifically about the inclusion of the indigenous Ainu people who are from what is now known as Hokkaido. Some of their traditions are celebrated in a way that is a natural extension of what Yotei does in certain parts of its story.
Like Tsushima, Yotei's map is built with a veneer of discoverability, finding ways to nudge you in certain directions without plastering waypoints or markers on screen. The wind navigation mechanic is back where swiping up on the touch pad visualizes a wind gust toward your active objective. I also appreciate how songs Atsu learns on the shamisen, that you can play at any moment to guide you to finding collectibles or hot springs to boost health, create a little extra thematic coherence through music as well as a way for completionists to do their thing. Although the activities themselves may still feel formulaic after a while, especially ones where you're exclusively doing Uncharted-style platforming and rockclimbing, at least there has been an effort to dress them up organically as the map expands.
As someone generally burnt out on traditionally structured open world games, I appreciate the way Yotei expresses just enough restraint with its separate zones while maintaining the impression of a gigantic map. And letting the vibe carry you from one thing to the next doesn't feel at odds as this is Atsu's path of vengeance that mostly works on her terms. With aesthetic options like the returning Kurosawa mode that turns everything black and white with Japanese audio, or new modes like the Takashi Miike option that ups the blood and gore by 1000% and the Samurai Champloo-esque Watanabe mode that turns on the lo-fi beats, Ghost of Yotei has several nice touches atop its penchant for spectacle.
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