Tsushima’s Ghost has stood the test of time since its release. So when I say that Yotai’s ghost has serious weight on his shoulder, it doesn’t come as a shock to anyone.
In some respects, Ghost of Yotei has the weight of those expectations with strong combat and incredible visuals. However, in other respects, we cannot reach a consistent peak of our predecessor. That’s not to say that Yotai’s ghost is bad. In fact, it’s incredible. Finding familiarity in most of its strengths is a safe bet, and what makes Yotai’s Ghost feel like a worthy and worthy sequel to your time.
The story of six people
Ghost of Yotei follows the story of Ats, a warrior who experienced murder of her family at the hands of a ruthless warrior gang known as Yotei 6 as a child. I don’t want to ruin the particular decline and flow of this story, but it is worth noting that Yotai’s Ghost is a relatively simple story of revenge that does not waste time defining itself as such after an astonishing intro.
You spend most of your time exploring the hills and mountains of Yotei, searching for clues as to where each member of Yotei 6 belongs. Unlike the more linear structure of the first game, Ghost of Yotei allows players to track the rest of the Yotei Six in any order. Unfortunately, within this level of freedom, I am a bit unhappy with this approach to storytelling.
As we track each member, we deal with specific cutscenes and conversations that slowly peel off the trauma of Ats, increasing the sense of weight and emotion behind each encounter. However, some members of Yotei Six were far more memorable than others. Meeting certain members includes more interesting battles, stunning action set pieces, and interesting revelation that is more closely linked to ATSU’s need for revenge. Members of certain couples simply fall on the roadside in the sense that their end mise is less than satisfied that they are given much to the job.
Thought Lord was the leader of Yotei Six and I personally loved not only his role in the story, but also the performance of the English voice of actor Feodor Chin. Sort himself is a surprisingly fit here as the main antagonist. His motivations and ambitions are sequentially laid out and expanded throughout the story, consistently linked to Ats’ past. He is all horribly threatening in all the right ways and is the most attractive member of Yotay Six, given you come across him a few times.
Although Atsu herself is a serviceable protagonist throughout the 30-hour runtime of the main story, her performance is somewhat underutilized as her story is relatively simple and predictable. The Ghost of Tsushima story explored several themes throughout the story, providing Jinsakai with more room to breathe and grow as a character. Without a doubt, the performance and portrait of actress Erika Ishii has not been wasted by ATSU as the protagonist. I hope it’s a bit more ranged from the characters.
Players can also utilize ATSU’s memory by pressing the center touchpad. It makes up for that, especially in the second half of the story, with some neat twists and emotional revelation thrown into the mix. And I feel that things look back and create a story that is not only interesting and fascinating, but also memorable in and of itself.
Cut and slash
From a gameplay perspective, Yotei’s ghost certainly feels like a young brother to Tsushima’s ghost. It has its own edge, but you know where most of these tricks come from. There are light and heavy attacks, the latter used to break enemy posture and blocks. These will be used together with your own block and parry. ATSU now has access to a variety of weapons and is gained throughout the story. Still, these are used against certain enemy types, so they are actually a substitute for stance to increase their effectiveness.
Atsu acquires dual katana for speed, range spears, and heavy swords known as odds for their tougher enemies. She could even use Kusari Gama, a new weapon that ties the blade to the edge of the chain for enemy enemies. That made me want to say “ride here” every time I used it. There are quite a few firearms, but reloading takes a while but deals a lot of damage.
When everything is said and done, the battle is honestly difficult to stop, as it is very cruel, fluid and satisfying. You want to continue fighting the infinite waves of enemies. And it’s a joy to see the last few enemies cower in fear, as they realised what they were doing. ATSU can also use Onryo’s Howl. This is a special ability to stiffen enemies and enhance attacks. Atsu makes friends with wolves who can help during battle, and while wolves can upgrade, they are unable to control or command.
Beyond all this, ATSU still needs to sneak up on certain areas. Stealth is well-known to those who played Tsushima’s ghosts, but I feel like it’s a bit more needed here. Because the game regularly watches ATSU sneak into the overwhelmed compounds and camps with so much ease.
Warrior’s Heart
Aside from the main quests of revenge, ATSU can also explore various small regions of Yotei and complete several side quests. For example, ATSU can track bounties for extra coins. This usually shows that you have to track where you are before the final conflict. You can also chat with various villagers along the way and become friends. They can seek simple favors in the form of fetch quests, or small adventures filled with their own mysteries and high interests.
ATSU also has the ability to level up and enhance multiple skill trees based on specific gameplay aspects, and progression has been fully restored. ATSUs will need to find shrines to unlock new tiers for each skill tree. This can also lead to new and interesting benefits during combat, stealth and exploration.
Shrines are optional, but the second half of the game will be a little tougher in terms of general combat and tougher boss battles, so I highly recommend at least leveling up some of them.
Please look at the parts
Visually, Yotei’s ghost is amazing. This is probably the most beautiful game I’ve played on the PS5 Pro, making the most of the PSSR enhancements. It’s packed with gorgeous colour palettes, incredible lighting effects, detailed textures and character models. In open-world experiences like this, there are rarely pop-in or unexcluded textures.
Ghost of Yotei goes a step further and offers Watanabe mode with Lo-Fi beats in the background during Miike mode gameplay. Finally, there is the now famous Kurosaki mode, which presents the game in black and white with stylish audio. Each mode adds its own flares that can be accessed at any time in the game, and is worth checking out at least temporarily.
Performance and quality modes are available at Ghost of Yotei. Neither of them is a problem. The former mode targets 4K resolution at 30 fps, while the latter mode drops resolution in favor of a smoother 60 fps experience. PS5 Pro users also have a specific raytracing mode. This gives you more detailed details and lighting, along with a crisp upscale resolution of 60 fps.
Final Thoughts
Ghost of Yotei may not consistently reach the height of its predecessor, but it is certainly sufficient to guarantee a playthrough based on its own merits. The story of Atsu’s revenge, although in the end, feels rather directly, is scattered across both memorably engaging emotional and tense moments.
Pacing suffers from occasional pain, but the lack of linear narrative structure makes the visuals especially on the PS5 Pro offer one of the most amazing games we’ve ever witnessed on the platform. The Sucker Punch Productions team certainly builds on the strengths of the first game, and the results are adorable.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlights: Incredible combat. Gorgeous visuals; solid performance; there’s a lot to watch
Low light: A predictable and simple story with slight pacing issues
Developer:Soccer Punch Production
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 5
Available: Now
Reviews conducted on the PlayStation 5 Pro use code provided by the publisher.
Highly popular images provided by the publisher.
