Ghost of Yotei review

The biggest and best upgrade? Our new hero, Atsu. She’s no Jin Sakai, and that’s a massive compliment. Where Jin was often a bit of a philosophical wet blanket during his hot springs musings, Atsu is a whirlwind of conviction, driven by pure hate and vengeance from the moment she makes her hero’s entrance. Even her thoughts are not as well-constructed or philosophical as Jin Sakai's. This makes her more appealing to a wider audience. Remember those hot springs bathing sessions where Jin’s Samurai upbringing often pushes him into philosophical territory? Ya, Atsu’s thoughts are more generic and straightforward. She’s a self-taught mercenary with a katana, and you can notice that in her fighting style as well.

Imagine a dash of Kratos’s rage mixed with Batman’s determination, and you’re getting close. She is assertive, knows what she wants, and her reckless, go-it-alone attitude is brilliantly endearing. Frankly, she has more personality in the first two hours than Jin managed in his entire game. In a word, she’s a badass. This is a revenge tale at its core, as Atsu hunts down the ‘Yotei Six’ gang who wronged her family, but it sidesteps the usual tired tropes for a story that feels fresh and compelling.

This cinematic feel is dialled up to eleven with camera work straight out of a Spaghetti Western for folks who haven’t grown up watching Akira Kurosawa’s movies. We’re talking dramatic face close-ups and ultra-wide, cowboy-style showdowns that feel like they've been lifted from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It’s a unique, quirky style that no other game is doing right now. Even the music in the game is heavily inspired by the outlaw lifestyle from those movies, and it’s rightfully epic!

The game unfolds across the sprawling island of Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), and it’s a proper jaw-dropper. From grasslands and seaside cliffs to snowy peaks and marshlands, this is a world you’ll want to get lost in. You’ll probably spend as much time in photo mode as you do in combat.

Thankfully, Yotei bins the icon-splattered map you see in other open-world games. Instead, it’s built around the concept of the ‘wanderer’, giving you immense freedom. You’ll follow the guiding wind to find your way, and for the first time since Zelda: Breath of the Wild, we found ourselves actually using the spyglass to scout out new places to explore. 

The world is packed with meaningful things to do, but it never feels cluttered. Even bounty hunting missions feel fresh, and there are clever survival mechanics, like blizzards in the snowy region that chip away at your health, forcing you to find shelter. Special mention to the snow area, that have very interesting environment puzzles and secret doors that create a different playing experience from the other regions. It's a lovely little survival mechanic that kills the monotony of the game and one that I actually enjoyed.

You can even set up camp almost anywhere, cook meals for random perks, and chat with other travellers who might wander by. It’s all about stumbling into adventure, and it feels magnificent. Your camping buddies are usually the people you meet during your travel across Ezo who get added as your Wolf Pack. It’s a dedicated tab in the menu, and the game will tell you if you have the necessary materials for your next upgrade with them. They will also visit your camp in various parts of the game, bringing their shops and upgrades to you. I think this is one of the most interesting ideas that allows the natural curiosity of the player to take them where they want, without thinking too much about the upgrades.

Combat has had a serious glow-up. The old stances from Tsushima have been swapped out for five distinct weapon types: the Katana, Dual Katana, Spear, Odachi, and Kusarigama. These work in a sort of rock-paper-scissors system against different enemy weapons, but the game isn’t a strict headmaster. If you want to create a dual katana build and stick with it, you absolutely can.

It’s all about flow, blending stealth, your supernatural ‘onryo’ abilities, weapon skills, and various consumables to become a whirling dervish of death. The only fly in the ointment is the camera, which sits quite close to Atsu. This means you can lose track of off-screen enemies when you’re surrounded, which can be a bit of a faff.

The map also has important enemy camps that need to be cleared. Sometimes when you make it to the camp leader using stealth, he will need to be brought in alive, and so if you defeat him, without killing all the guards in the camp, he will call reinforcements, and they will pull him back into the fight if you don't pay attention to where he's lying on the ground after the first defeat. These instances make the game more high-stakes and force a sword fight even if you Assassin's Creed your way inside.

Adding to that challenge is the fact that your katana swings can move freely in any direction. What I mean is that you don't lock onto enemies; it’s a soft lock which can change by moving your joystick in the direction you want to swing your sword. It makes the combat a bit tricky when you get surrounded by enemies, and I preferred waiting for the enemies to strike me to parry them and engage. Sort of like the Batman Arkham series.

Beyond the blade, there are heaps of cool little additions. You can play a shamisen (a Japanese lute), and learning new songs actually helps you find secrets in the world, with the music directing the wind to points of interest. You can also do Sumi-e paintings with the DualSense touchpad, throw your empty sake bottle at a goon’s head, and even lob a fallen enemy’s weapon right back at them. You can even gamble your money in a coin flicking mini game called Zeni Hajiki, which is honestly going to become my favourite house party game.

Where Yotei truly sings is in its wonderfully quirky features. The game introduces you to the indigenous Ainu people, native to Ezo, and does a fantastic job of sharing their culture, traditions, and spiritual beliefs. As an outsider, learning about these things through a game is always fascinating.

Then there are the visual modes. The Kurosawa black-and-white filter returns, but it’s joined by two newcomers. The Takashi Miike mode amps up the mud and blood for a grittier look, while the Watanabe mode is, for our money, the star of the show. Named for Shinichirō Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo fame, this mode lets you play the entire game with a lo-fi hip hop soundtrack composed by the man himself. We were sceptical at first, but it works brilliantly, immersing you even deeper into the world. It’s our favourite feature by a country mile. 

This is all a massive flex for the PlayStation 5, too. There are sections that let you switch between the past and present at the touch of a button, just like in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and the DualSense controller is used in a properly clever way. You’ll physically move the pad to roast salmon, swipe the touchpad to create sparks for a fire, and feel the tension of your bowstring through the adaptive triggers.

Ghost of Yotei is an easy recommendation. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but it refines everything that made Ghost of Tsushima great, resulting in a game with more soul, a much better story, and a world that’s a joy to get lost in. It’s a proper video game that’s worth your time and money, proving that you don’t need to be a playable movie to be a masterpiece. Atsu is a far more compelling hero than Jin, and her journey from revenge to reconciliation is a thrilling ride. It’s more of the same, but in the best way possible. The only thing I wish it did better was to be a bit more brutal with the combat.