I have to admit I was skeptical when I first heard that a Western developer would be making a samurai open-world game, but Sucker Punch did nail the landing with Ghost of Tsushima back in 2020. Regardless of my qualms with some of the lead character’s motivations and overall dullness of the world – for as beautiful as it was – that game ended up on a more positive than negative note with me.
Now, with Ghost of Yotei, they’ve applied all that was learned with the first one, sanding out the rougher edges while keeping what worked before, and the end result is clear: Yotei is a much, much better game than Tsushima, one that I could easily recommend to anyone with a PS5 – or a PC, in a year, give or take, ‘til that port is out – which next to Death Stranding 2 is the system’s big release this year.
Taking place in Ezo, now Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, centuries after the events of Ghost of Tsushima, we see the tale of Atsu, a female samurai whose family was slaughtered by the local lord who seeks to keep the shogun out of the savage territory it still is. On her path of vengeance stand the Yotei Six, the lord’s strongest warriors, who were all present during the killing of her people, so they’re on her hit list which serves as the main thrust to the game.
Safe to say, if you’ve played the first Ghost, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect here: a big, lush, colorful, and positively unrealistic – but hey, that’s okay! – map full of activities to partake in, but not so much as to make you think you’re playing an Ubisoft game. As a merc who inadvertently is building her name as a sort of female demon due to her prowess in battles, Atsu takes bounties, helps people in need, and in the process becomes ever stronger while recalling past events and helping you, the player, piece together her backstory.
Story-wise, there’s no way to sugarcoat the fact that it’s not the most original and that it is surprisingly similar to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but both games are different enough in their approach that the similarities end there. Sure, there’s a list of people to kill and plenty to do all around, but it’s clear that Sucker Punch went for a more artistic approach with Ghost of Yotei, filling the game with literal brushstrokes all around, saturating your screen with impossible colors, like in a fever dream.
In terms of gameplay, Yotei retains what really worked in the previous game. Hinging on correctly timing your dodges and deflects, combat is a dance, pretty much, with you reading what the enemy is about to do and acting upon it. Later on, you’re able to switch weapons in order to counter theirs, making the fighting a game of rock-paper-scissors of sorts, which works the same way as Tsushima’s stance system. As you run into shrines while exploring, you’ll also unlock new skills for Atsu to put into use, turning an already surprisingly capable fighter into a murder machine. And that evolution takes place at a steady pace, slowly introducing new twists that continually make fighting all the more rewarding.
While it sometimes felt like Sucker Punch was, well, missing their punches when it came to extras in the first one, like Kurosawa mode, which basically gave that game a black and white filter and not much else, here it feels like they’ve pulled back enough while innovating, as more known Japanese directors have entered the fray. Most interestingly is the new Watanabe mode that turns Ghost of Yotei into Samurai Champloo, injecting modern-styled music and more dynamic camera work during action scenes – it’s really cool.
Even playing the game on a base PlayStation 5 this is easily one of the best looking releases so far, with little to no drops on performance. Character models aren’t on par with Kojima’s latest, but feel like a step above what was seen in Ghost of Tsushima’s improved port after its initial release on PS4. Atsu in particular as a character is much more personable than Jin for her expressions alone, and it is worth mentioning that her voice actor’s performance in Japanese is damn good!
Ghost of Yotei is a superior game to its predecessor in every way, and for as flimsy as its main story can be, it’s enough to keep you engaged and see the game to its conclusion. The ramp up in power feels absolutely fantastic and the world in which it all takes place in, for as exaggeratedly gorgeous as it is, doesn’t get in the way, much the opposite, it serves as an added reason to just get lost in this adventure.
