Ghost of Yotei Assessment – Gaming Nexus

As a rule of thumb, a sequel ought to enhance on the unique irrespective of the artwork kind, be it motion pictures, tv, books, or video video games. Of course, that’s not all the time the case, however I can confidently say that it’s true of Ghost of Yotei, regardless of it not being a direct sequel to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. With Ghost of Yotei, the collection has develop into an anthology due to a 300-year time bounce that strikes nicely past the story of Jin Sakai, although developer Sucker Punch’s newest doesn’t simply advance the calendar just a few centuries—it propels the collection to new heights in each manner.

It is a dangerous proposition forsaking a protagonist and world that you simply simply launched just a few years in the past, and to a lot success, but it surely has paid off in spades with Ghost of Yotei (pronounced “Yo-tay“). It is a recreation and characters that stand totally on their very own, so taking part in the primary recreation shouldn’t be essential to get pleasure from Yotei in any respect. In truth, Yotei improves upon Tsushima so considerably that I’d in all probability simply suggest you begin with this recreation. Yeah, Sucker Punch cooked with this one.

You play as Atsu, a younger lady whose household was murdered when she was a baby by a bunch of rogues often called The Yotei Six. Atsu’s violent trauma as a baby forges a traumatically violent lady fueled by vengeance. She turns into often called the “Onryo,” which loosely interprets as “Ghost”—an virtually legendary determine recognized for her vengeance via touring tales, songs, and bounty posters. The depiction of Atsu on her bounty poster turns into extra intricate as her story progresses and her legend grows, however she additionally grows as a human being alongside the way in which. On her journey to chop down the Yotei Six—led by by Lord Saito—Atsu is finally a drive for good, regardless of being blinded by rage at occasions. She’s John Wick with a katana, and he or she’d in all probability just do effective bringing a knife to a gunfight.

I vastly desire Atsu over Jin Sakai as a personality, and her story resonated higher as nicely. Atsu’s aura is that of a gritty badass that has an urge for food for loss of life which feels way more formidable and menacing than Jin Sakai did. I bought a number of Wild West movie vibes from Ghost of Yotei, and particularly Atsu’s character, who jogs my memory of Clint Eastwood’s Josey Wales and Jeff Bridge’s model of Rooster Cogburn. Which is to say that Atsu means nicely, in a bloody type of manner. To that finish, you’ll usually be aiding the residents of Ezo in your journey, defending them from the forces of the Yotei Six leaders, and in doing so turning into this Batman-like determine across the island.

Not solely will you be blinded by Atsu’ rage on occasion, however you’ll even be stunned by the great thing about Ezo, the island in northeast Japan neglected by Mount Yotei the place the sport takes place. Known within the modern-day as Hokkaido, Ezo is an actual place and a surprising backdrop (to not point out stark distinction) to Atsu’s story. I performed on the Ray Tracing Pro graphical mode on PlayStation 5 Pro, however there’s additionally high quality, efficiency, and ray tracing modes accessible. No matter your choice, this is without doubt one of the best-looking video games you’ll play on Sony’s {hardware}, aside from the water, which doesn’t look nice. But you’re not coming for the water a lot as you’re the stunning vistas, the pops of shade, and the breeze which doubles as a wayfinding device once more this time round.

The huge standout in Ghost of Yotei is the lighting engine, which is insane. At occasions, it was unattainable to not simply cease and marvel over the valley beneath me or the mountain above me and at how the solar poured over each. The great thing about Ghost of Yotei isn’t simply in its pure graphical constancy, however extra so its stylishness, artwork path, and use of shade. Stylistically, the world has this type of mystical realism that provides to its cinematic nature. It’s like taking part in a online game model of The Odyssey, the place you come throughout all these mysterious characters and places that by no means fairly really feel actual nor fictional, which creates a way of each marvel and hazard throughout Ezo.

The island of Ezo isn’t just a reasonably online game world to admire. There is a lot to do in Ghost of Yotei that it’s troublesome to journey from one goal to a different with out getting sidetracked for hours. Campfire smoke billows within the distance signaling somebody or one thing to work together with, rival factions battle one another on the highway, touring retailers give new factors of curiosity, and ronin bounty hunters observe you down, simply to call just a few. And that’s in between discovering new quests simply by stumbling on them or overhearing somebody speaking in a village. The adventures you discover (or that discover you) by exploring are all worthwhile too.

The map is open however divided into areas, with every area feeling like a self-contained story to some extent. In the primary two areas I visited, I took my time, explored each nook and cranny and glossy object that piqued my curiosity. Before I knew it, 30 hours had flown by, and I used to be solely 30% accomplished with the principle story with a evaluate embargo date quick approaching. I didn’t wish to, however I needed to drive myself to be extra disciplined within the mid-to-late recreation and ended up on the 47-hour mark by the point I completed the story. Which is to say that I actually don’t know how lengthy the principle story is by itself—possibly 25 hours—however my recommendation is to not fear about that. Play Ghost of Yotei the way in which you wish to play it and revel in it. Follow what pursuits you and good luck making an attempt to not get distracted two or 3 times in your technique to the subsequent factor.

While the world is massive, Sucker Punch didn’t simply add digital actual property to provide us a bunch of stuff to do. On the opposite, the map of Ghost of Yotei feels handcrafted to each hold you engaged but respect your time. This is probably finest illustrated by the tile-based quest system which is accessed straight from the map display and allows you to scroll vertically and horizontally via tiles that give a short description of the actions you’ve found, exhibits you precisely the place they’re on the map, what rewards they provide, and even helps you to quick journey straight to them if you happen to’ve found a close-by landmark. Let me be completely clear: Ghost of Yotei’s map and quest system is the brand new gold commonplace in open world video video games.

This is the way you design a world stuffed with significant issues to do with out overwhelming the participant. And this is the way you arrange all of the issues there are to do. I used to be legitimately pissed (in a great way) that I didn’t have sufficient time to do each single factor earlier than ending the principle story and this evaluate—that’s how nicely designed it’s.

I’m doubling down on this and saying that Ghost of Yotei’s open world is one of the best I’ve skilled since Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s dynamic, it’s harmful, and it’s robust to stroll away from. You may take down a troublesome bounty, camp for the night time to revive well being and spirt, after which be caught off guard by somebody after the bounty by yourself head whereas making an attempt to whip up some grilled mushrooms or play a tune on the shamisen (guitar). It’s sensible, and I can’t get sufficient.

I do know I’ve gone all this time with out actually discussing fight, and that’s as a result of I saved one of the best for final. If the world and quest design are the meat, then fight is the potatoes in Ghost of Yotei. And rattling are they some scrumptious potatoes. Atsu is a sharply honed instrument of loss of life, laser-focused on obliterating (or decapitating) her enemies. Her fight type displays each her ability as a fighter and her fury as a vengeful survivor. The animation work that has been accomplished on Yotei’s fight is nothing wanting wonderful, with each battle feeling and looking cinematic, particularly the boss fights.

In my evaluate notes, I wrote on subsequent strains: “Combat feels really good,” and “Combat is so [expletive] good.” Third-person melee fight doesn’t get a lot better than Ghost of Yotei. It’s timing and parry primarily based for essentially the most half, significantly if you happen to’re taking part in the upper difficulties the place studying enemy assault patterns and figuring out when to counter are essential to survival. Overall, although, fight is a bit harder than I bear in mind from the primary recreation, even on medium issue the place fight represents a good problem as new enemy varieties are added in over time. And in fact, the most important assessments come from boss fights, in addition to bounties and duels with ronin.

One main change from Ghost of Tsushima is the substitute of weapon stances with completely different weapons totally, which is an exponentially higher system than the unique recreation. Instead of swapping stances to take care of completely different enemy varieties, now you swap weapons to counter the kind of weapon your enemy is wielding. Atsu carries a katana, in fact, however may swap to twin katanas, a yari, a kusarigama, and an odachi, along with ranged weapons. These are acquired as you progress via the story and might be improved by finishing coaching quests with a Sensei for every weapon self-discipline.

These enhancements dovetail into an in depth ability tree that unlocks new assaults and buffs for every weapon kind. And right here’s one of the best half concerning the ability timber: you unlock new expertise just by visiting shrines within the open world. No XP bars to fill, no forex wanted purchase them, simply discover the world and take a bow at shrines. Now, you do enhance your weapons by upgrading them with sources, however that comes naturally as you play.

Ghost of Yotei’s fight is each an influence fantasy and a well-balanced problem. There are encounters the place you’ll lower down a handful of enemies in a matter of seconds. There are additionally encounters which might be a straight-up shinobi slugfest, requiring you to succeed in deep in your bag of expertise and tools to outlive.

At occasions, particularly throughout boss fights, Yotei’s tense fight seems like a combating recreation in the way you be taught assault patterns and commerce blows, ready for a chance to counter. It’s additionally an evolution of the free-flowing Batman Arkham-style fight that’s a bit extra grounded. Add in Atsu’s agility and aptitude as a combatant, and the result’s a wonderful ballet of blades and blood that shouldn’t be missed.

The backside line is that I really like Ghost of Yotei. It stands on the shoulders of the unique recreation but nonetheless stands totally by itself. The “Ghost” collection has moved into anthology territory, and I believe that has confirmed to be an excellent transfer on Sucker Punch’s half. Atsu is a greater character with a greater story than Jin Sakai, however she’s additionally extra of a drive of nature, whereas nonetheless being a drive for good. Her unlucky circumstances inform her brutal combating type, which in flip has created exhilarating, and at occasions, breathless fight.

Between battles, Ghost of Yotei deeply respects your time as a participant, streamlining dozens of hours of content material with quest and world design that ought to be the brand new gold commonplace for open world video video games. When we replicate on 2025, I don’t know which of them, however Ghost of Yotei goes to win some awards.