I’ll be honest, I really wanted a sequel to Sucker Punch’s masterpiece Ghost Of Tsushima featuring Jin Sakai. But I was happy to give Ghost of Yotei a shot, not least of all because the game looks amazing! I wasn’t disappointed. Does it compare to Ghost Of Tsushima? That, I will get into at the end of the post.
The Story
The central theme of Ghost Of Tsushima – and the source of its central conflict – was family, and, to an extent, legacy. It featured prominently in Jin Sakai’s story as well as in the companion quests. Atsu, the heroine of Ghost Of Yotei, loses her family when she is a young girl, and she will go on to hone her skills as a warrior in wars far from home before she returns to track down and kill the band of conspirators that killed her loved ones. One by one they fall to her blade, until her hunger for vengeance is finally satisfied. The ending, though, is bittersweet. I confess, I hoped for something sweeter.
The Characters
Atsu is a lone wolf, who – in the beginning – isn’t interested in making connections. She is very focused and knows that she has to come prepared if she is to defeat her enemies. Which is why she seeks out weapons masters across the island to learn new techniques and discover new weapons, follows a mysterious storyteller’s tales to find legendary armor, collects the bounties of wanted criminals and visits merchants and artisans to improve her gear. In different locations you may also travel into the past and learn a little more about Atsu and her family.
As the game progresses, Atsu will develop loose connections to a number of the people she meets on the way, and even do quests for them. Which is very nice, since I feared that there’d be no personal quests other than her own. If you are looking for engaging supporting characters like Yuna, Lady Masako or Sensei Ishikawa, know that there are two people, who will gain kind of that sort of relevance later on, though their stories do not go nearly as deep as the companion characters of Ghost Of Tsushima. Which is where I find the game lacking.
The more fleshed-out characters, apart from Atsu, are, actually, the villains, the so-called Yotei-Six. They are the vile Snake, the terrifying Oni, the sly Kitsune, the gun-toting Dragon and Spider, and, finally, the former samurai Lord Saito. While Ghost of Tsushima’s Kotun Khan was a rather one-dimensional, though formidable adversary, these come with interesting backstories. Tracking them down – and defeating them in their respective stronghold – makes for fun challenges, heart-stopping action and a lot of drama.
The last two characters I want to mention are the animal companions. There is, of course, Atsu’s horse(s) and a nameless wolf that will give Atsu a number of quests to unlock its support in battle. The wolf has a deeper meaning, but finding out about that is one of the allures of the game, so I won’t spoil it here. An honorable mention goes to some of the criminals Atsu is set to hunt down, who have some interesting stories themselves. I remember this one guy, a charming scoundrel, who tricks Atsu and who I hoped would come back and become one of her allies. Sadly, he didn’t.
The Settings
Set in the shadow of Mount Yotei, Atsu gets to unlock and explore various parts of the island as the story progresses. She will visit lush meadows, coastal regions, mountainous terrain and freezing, snow-capped peaks. As you would expect, all these locations look absolutely stunning.
Weapons And Tools
Atsu’s arsenal is much more extensive than Jin Sakai’s. Where he had to rely on his katana and different stances (plus tools like kunai and bombs), she fights with her katana, an Odachi (broadsword), a spear, the awesome Kusarigama (blade & chain), firearms, a second katana, and shuriken.
Enemy Classes And Combat
With each new region, Atsu will be facing new enemies and need to adapt, by learning techniques and mastering new weapons. In the end, she will be facing all the different enemy classes and have to switch weapons constantly to remain on top. The elusive shinobi are especially tricky adversaries, I thought.
Side Quests
There are a ton of side quests. Collecting bounties is a lot of fun, improving your archery with the Ainu people tricky, mastering bamboo strikes, fighting duels to claim the title of unrivaled sword master extremely hard, and solving puzzles all over the island challenging. You can unlock shrines, onsen, play the shamisen and write haiku, too, which is a welcome change to the action-packed quests.
How does it compare to Ghost of Tsushima?
Ghost of Tsushima is a masterpiece and it will remain one of my all-time favorite games ever. Reclaiming that magic was always a tall order. But, Ghost Of Yotei brings its own magic, and its own fun. I really, really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed how it wrapped up Jin Sakai’s story. Truth be told, that was one of the most satisfying quests and I know I am not the only one who feels that way.
The Verdict Contrary to the other two games I started playing this year – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance – I couldn’t stop playing Ghost Of Yotei until I finished the main story, and completed pretty much every activity possible. I loved, loved, loved it!
The next review will – probably – be Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, since I have finally made it to the third chapter.
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