‘Ghost of Yotei’ can’t escape the shadow of ‘Ghost of Tsushima,’ so it builds and expands on its predecessor in largely successful ways.
There was a moment early on in Ghost of Yotei where I knew it’d won me over. As Atsu, I wasn’t hunting down the Yotei Six who killed my family and left me for dead back in my youth; I was taking on a simple bounty who’d managed to get the better of me. I was all set to watch him plunge his katana in my back and restart the swordfight. Instead, a wolf jumped in out of nowhere, biting him and granting me full health so I could get back up and resume the fight and get my bounty.
I wouldn’t really see that wolf again until later on when I was led to one of its many dens around the land, but that last-minute save has come to define my experience with Sucker Punch’s first outing exclusive to the PlayStation 5. Yotei brings over many of the same elements as its 2020 predecessor Ghost of Tsushima while channeling similar vibes that made the studio’s Sly Cooper and Infamous franchises so appealing. Acclaimed as Tsushima was, it could feel like it was trying too hard to look like it was successfully mimicking the Japanese films that inspired it. But Yotei continually showed Sucker Punch’s greater sense of confidence in itself to make its own spin on Japanese action stories rather than just emulating the movies that inspired it.
That’s most apparent in its combat, which retains Tsushima’s core mechanics while carving its own distinct path. Stances are out, replaced with different weapons intended for specific enemies, like the dual katanas for spearmen and the odachi for massive brutes. The rock-paper-scissors dynamic against multiple enemies makes fights fun as Atsu’s arsenal grows to include ranged weapons and quickfire tools, and disarming enemies (or being disarmed by them) can further change things up at a moment’s notice. (Picking up fallen weapons to chuck at enemies? Never gets old.)
Atsu’s most significant additions come via story or side missions that pair her with an expert in that particular armament. The melee weapons see her train with a local master who gives her a quick rundown of their base moves, followed by a chain of side quests that culminate in learning a new combat technique. While the masters don’t play any real narrative role after the initial training, their individual stories and the additional context make acquiring these weapons feel special, and some of the introductory quests have neat gimmicks, like using one side of the controller to train Atsu’s weak hand. And she can only learn new weapon skills at altars strewn around Ezo or at enemy strongholds that need clearing out.
While the combat remains strong, stealth still hasn’t risen to the occasion. Sucker Punch tries to change things up by not giving Atsu the listening ability that lets her track enemies until well into the story. Until then, she can use her spyglass to observe the area and spot points of interest. In practice, the spyglass doesn’t add anything substantial that can’t already be gleaned when the game tells her to look at her surroundings, and it’s effectively useless once her listen power eventually comes into play.
