As the old saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ and in this case, developers, Sucker Punch Productions have firmly planted their feet into the sand, and have stood on business. ‘Ghost of Yotei’ has a warmth that feels so familiar, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as familiar can be refined to continue something great as a legacy. The ‘Ghost’ games are definitely legacy titles.

Ghost of Yotei is a tale of straight revenge. Set 329 years after the events of Tsushima, you step into the slippers of Atsu, a mercenary doing what she can to survive the harsh world of Feudal Japan. On the island of Ezo, and in the shadow of Mount Yotei, she hunts down the ‘Yotei Six’, fierce War Lords led by the renegade Samurai, Lord Saito, who slaughtered her family and left her to die pinned to her family’s Ginkgo tree, 16 years prior.

With the pain in her heart and her father’s katana in her hand, she scours the land as the Ghost, seeking justice for her family with her trusted horse and wolf companion at her side. The story is definitely equally, if not more, captivating than the original, which is a massive call because the first game is one of the greatest tear-jerking narratives I have experienced.

The story is so well written with a refreshing change of having a female lead; you just cannot wait to travel alongside Atsu and her charming companions as they develop over time and experience their trials and tribulations. This is indeed a story that will tug at your heartstrings, which is commendable because not a lot of games make you feel anything anymore.

Playing as Atsu, you must ride your horse to locations to be assigned missions. Thankfully, once you discover a location, you can fast travel to it, but with how serene and downright beautiful the environments are, you will want to ride there anyway. Through missions, she learns and obtains an arsenal of weapons and tools to use against enemies. From returning weapons like Kunai and Odachi, to new styles of dual-wielding katanas and even a Matchlock Rifle, weaponry is diverse.

The inclusion of throwables such as Scorch Grenades to light people up and blinding powders makes your strategies of attack endless, too. Not only that, they are so fluid and handle so distinctly, making combat feel so rewarding, and while you can’t change stances anymore, you can swap between each weapon, throwable or consumable effortlessly on the fly.

The world is littered with things to do. Hot Springs will increase your health bar, Shrines will upgrade charms or enable you to upgrade your skills with the likes of weapons, stealth or ranged, Fox dens will upgrade your Spirit, and Wolf dens will upgrade your furry companion. Attacks, dodges, and parries evolve over time, too, a great alignment with the growth of our protagonist, making combat even more impactful as enemies build in toughness. The boss fights are perfectly constructed, too, with each character defined by their own weapons and attack style. It makes for a satisfying conquest at the final blow.

Visually, Ghost of Yotei is a tough one. It is on par with Ghost of Tsushima graphically, with soft rolling hills of swaying long grass with gorgeous misty mountains in the background and tranquil rippling lakes and crashing waves on dark jagged rocks. While this was groundbreaking back in 2020, Ghost of Yotei is still beautiful environmentally, but cracks start to appear in the in-game dated character models.

Characters in cutscenes are immaculate. Every scene is cinematic and moving, but once in-game, some NPCs just stare at you with dead eyes, lost in time and space. A scene killer when it’s a heartfelt moment with a beloved character.

The sound work is top-tier, just as it was in the first. Sound effects also paint that authenticity as katana’s clash and spark in flurries of steel, winds whistle through dense forests, and flames crackle as villages burn to the ground. Orchestral and traditional flutes, chimes and drums background every scene, creating a perfect atmosphere for the rolling Japanese countryside. The composing pair of Toma Otowa and Brad Meyer has done a fabulous job of establishing an aura around the island of Yotei through sound.

To complement this, the voice acting is superb. The intertwining stories have a lot of dialogue, some of which can at times be a little long-winded, so thankfully, each line is delivered with such tenacity and heart. It makes for such an emotional connection with the characters, especially establishing quickly the defiance and fire that burns in Atsu’s belly.

Overall, Ghost of Yotei is a perfect successor to Ghost of Tsushima. Does it improve much on its predecessor? not particularly much that is noticeable or innovative, but frankly, it’s hard to improve on a game I considered pretty perfect initially anyway. Ghost of Yotei basks in the glow of Ghost of Tsushima, and I couldn’t have been happier to cuddle up to its familiarity.

Written by: Stacey