Ghost of Yōtei - Review

Become what they dread. Become the Ghost.

Console: PlayStation 5.

Ghost of Yōtei fell through my letterbox the day of release, but I only started playing it weeks later. I left its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima, satisfied but unimpressed. It is a well-made open-world game that I enjoyed playing in a leisurely fashion, but it's no "Game of the Year" material. Below its Samurai shine and polish, it was too much "been there, done that" for me.

Why did I buy the sequel then? Well, because it went in a direction I liked. An anthology sequel with a lot more focus on gameplay would have a lot of potential, I mused to myself when the credits started to roll on Jin's story. Lo and behold, that's exactly what developer Sucker Punch did. There's even a bonus: Erika Ishii, who always makes me laugh on Dropout.tv, voices our new 'Ghost'; Atsu. Neat!

The reason it took me a while to boot it up was because I was too busy with Pokémon Legends Z-A and my 100% completion run of Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered at the time. I waited for those to finish up so I could give Ghost of Yōtei all the attention an open-world title needs.

So, without further ado, let's talk about Ghost of Yōtei and see if it can grip me where its predecessor failed to do so.

Ezo, 1603. In a dimly lit shack just outside a settlement, 'The Snake', a member of 'The Yōtei Six' gets drunk with his gang after terrorising the locals. His fun is interrupted, however, when a woman boldly dares him to a duel. The two seemingly kill eachother but, to the shock and awe of the peasants, the woman breathes back to life, causing them to fearfully believe her to be an 'onryō'- a spirit of vengeance.

This woman is no onryō, however - she's Atsu, the daughter of a blacksmith whose family was murdered by the Yōtei Six sixteen years ago. Having fled to the south after only just surviving the massacre, she spent the last two decades fueled by one purpose: to kill every member of The Yōtei Six. Now that she is back on Ezo, Atsu is determined to let nothing get in her way. Fate has other plans, however...

The opening of Ghost of Yōtei makes for an immediate good comparison to its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima. Where the latter started out bombastic with a large-scale battle going wrong for our hero, the former's start is quieter and more subdued. It lacks that momentum, but this slower start is fitting for the type of narrative this is. A revenge quest that is more straightforward in its narrative beats, but with a greater focus on character work.

On exploring who Atsu is, how her quest for revenge affects not just her but the people who form around her. By showing how she slowly but surely changes over the course of her quest. Because of this, I can say that I really like Atsu. She's an interesting but very flawed character who feels very 'real'. While only time will tell if she will stick with me as the likes of Kratos and Aloy have, she has the potential to do so. This focus on Atsu comes at the cost of not having a very strong supporting cast this time around, but I feel that is a fair trade here.

Said journey is more predictable (just take a wild guess what the end point is - you won't be far off), but feels natural and is well executed. Even if I predicted plenty of plot beats in advance, I was never disappointed by the way the game got to these moments. A sign of good writing, if you ask me. What also helped in this department is that this title is very good at evoking emotion.

I'm not necessarily talking about letting the tears flow, but more about making you feel 'zen' or 'invigorated'. Getting you to feel sympathy for even the enemy and giving me a clump in my throat at times. Or, as it does with the reintroduction of the 'Ghost Stance', pump you up while never losing that dark edge. That sequence was a highlight of the game, super cool to play, but I fully realise it was also very brutal. Something the game made sure you wouldn't forget.

This title's narrative is just as good as its predecessor, but not better for several key reasons. In Act 1, you get a choice of which member of the Yōtei Six to go after first. A novel attempt at giving the story some narrative freedom, but one that does more harm than good. It messes with the flow and pacing of the story and, to me, made this part of the main plot feel more like two long-winded side-quests than parts of the core narrative. Another flaw is, I feel, that while the ending is fitting for Atu's journey, it's underwhelming. It plays it too safe and is too predictable. Had Sucker Punch gone for a bolder, perhaps more divisive ending, I think it would've been more memorable.

What is quite memorable, however, is Ezo itself. Once again, a lot of effort was put into creating the world. The island looks beautiful with its high fidelity graphics, vibrant colours and cinematic camera work. This game particularily loves to do the latter with it, even shifting the aspect ratio, weather conditions and the time of day to create the exact look and atmosphere Sucker Punch want for the scene. I generally don't care all that much about graphic fidelity, but I can certainly appreciate a game that focuses on looking as good as it can, such as Ghost of Yōtei. Even so, I do have to mention that while the camera tricks look good, they can also make things difficult to see properly at times.

I made over 200 screencaptures of this game; many are scenery photos like this one. 

The last relevant point here is the plethora of different game modes you can choose from. You have the black & white Kurosawa visual mode returning, but you also have some new ones. The blood and mud focused Miike, and lo-fi filled Watanabe modes to be precise. They are nice and good for replay value, even if I don't personally see myself playing them. I think they would lose their shine after only a short amount of time, but that's just my opinion.

Now that I am on this track, a few words on the music. When I think of the soundtrack, the word 'pleasant' comes to mind. A standouts are the Shamishen songs Atsu plays. Where the rest of the soundtrack focuses on atmosphere, these focus on being actual songs and the sound comes out of the controller's speakers, not the TV's. Because of this distinction, they are pretty memorable, with Atu's song, that of the Wolf and Soma's song being my favourites.

Well, it's finally time to go into gameplay. If you've played Ghost of Tsushima, you know exactly what you're in for. An open world game with stealth, exploration and a focus on sword fighting. You save settlements from outlaws, find hidden areas where a shrine often awaits you, do quests to help out the people of Ezo, find new tools, and gather resources for you to upgrade your skills and gear. Everything you did in its predecessor, with a new trick or two here and there. You can see this in the opening hours, as a returning player will immediately recognise that Atsu can do a lot of stuff Jin had to 'earn' across his journey from the get-go, such as assassinations.

All of that is to say, Ghost of Yōtei isn't the evolution that some, including myself, wanted it to be. It's the definition of refinement. It took a good, long look at what worked and what didn't with Ghost of Tsushima and addressed as many as they could. Fighting enemies is still a dance of dodging, blocking, and parrying until your foe hits the ground with tools such as Kunai, giving you ways to stagger or distract your opponent.

Instead of using just a Katana, however, Atsu picks up a variety of different weapons to fight with, from a Yari (spear) to an Odachi (greatsword). These serve the same basic purpose as the different Katanna stances: stagger a specific weapon type more easily. I like this approach better as, whatever stance Jin was in, a katanna remains a katanna. Here, each weapon feels different to use. The dual kattana's are faster, the Yari has more reach, etc. This gives the 'basic' combat more depth, more personal, as you can approach encounters slightly differently depending on the type of weapon you like.

What they also did to give the combat more meat on its bones is the new weapon pick up mechanic and the wolf. You can find weapons to pick up and throw at your opponent. With a little investment in some skills, these can turn into one-hit-kill tools perfect for stealth. Can't find any spare weapons lying around? Well, some dead enemies can drop their weapon for you to use, or even better, if an enemy's weapon glints yellow, you get the chance to knock their weapon out of their hand. Be wary, though, as when you fail to time your counter properly, you'll be the one to see your weapons flying in the air.

It's in these moments, with no weapon and about to be cut down, that your animal pal can jump in and save you. The wolf acts as something of a 'drone'; attacking enemies on its own but with some control now and again. For example, in stealth sections, if you throw an empty bottle at an enemy when the wolf will attack them. It can also show up in stand-offs, where it will take down a second enemy for you. The big bad Wolf might not show up as much as you'd think, but it's a very nice buddy to have. It's always nice to know something has your back... especially when the auto targeting seems intent on hindering you instead of aiding. One of the few real issues I have with this game as it led to quite a few deaths over the 60+ hours I played this title.

Speaking of the wolf, helping him and his kind out all across Ezo is one of the few new activities to partake in. From painting to get some cosmetics to hunting down cirminals all across Ezo as the bounty hunter Atsu is. I really like that latter in both concept and execution. A group of 'colourful' characters to go after and duel in some cool fights. Some are even follow ups to to points in (main) story missions or are references to other franchises such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes, you read that right. Oh, and also be sure not to miss 'The Spider Lilly General' mythic tale. That sidequest is hauntingly beautiful and one of the best pieces of storytelling I've seen in videogame since I started reviewing. A true standout tale.

I've read online people saying they dislike Atsu's off-white, but I find the white half mask an excellent fit with her white 'hit-list' shash and the rest of her ensemble.

An improvement that also needs to be talked about lies in how all these activities are presented. Most icons, safe for the really important ones, blend in with the map. They are quite literally drawn on in the same style as the map itself. This makes the map feel less cluttered as the entire thing is visually easier to digest.

All of this adds up to a gameplay experience that isn't all that different from what came before, and I daresay lacks boldness, but makes for a more refined experience that I found to be a very enjoyable game to play. The best way I can describe it is that the moment-to-moment gameplay felt much better than that of Ghost of Tsushima. I had more fun, more excitement, just... playing. I got lost a lot just walking around the world, freeing settlements, running after foxes and all that. I went in whatever direction the wind was blowing and never came across an activity I didn't feel like doing. If that isn't the mark of a good time, then I don't know what is.

As a 'one more thing' before I wrap this review up, I have a small piece of advice for you all. Well, more like a small request. Thanks to the power of the PS5, there is no boot-up screen here. Once you're in the game, you're in the game. I would still like to ask you to, through the settings, go to the title screen. It changes over the course of Atsu's journey, reflecting her growth. A detail that, I think, shouldn't go unwitnessed.

Conclusion

I have to admit, if you had told me during the first few hours of my time with Ghost of Yōtei that I would end up getting the Platinum Trophy, I wouldn't have believed you. I was hoping that, unlike its predecessor, it would grip me like games such as Horizon and God of War. This game didn't do that, but instead, it won be over by its moment-to-moment gameplay. Through wandering, fighting, and simply being in this well-crafted game world. Ghost of Yōtei doesn't reinvent the wheel, not by a longshot, but provides a worthwhile and perhaps even unforgettable experience through its strong narrative, refined gameplay and cinematic flair without forgetting what makes a video game fun.

It has its flaws, as every game has, but Ghost of Yōtei is a title I can wholeheartedly recommend - at full price no less.