Absolutely worth it: Ghost of Yotei (Review)

Ghost of Yōtei is finally here. Does it live up to Ghost of Tsushima? In this review, we cover everything from visuals and performance to gameplay, Atsu’s journey of vengeance, and how she compares to Jin Sakai. With new weapon systems, open-world exploration, and a story rooted in trauma and resilience, Ghost of Yōtei pushes the “Ghost” franchise in bold new directions.

Ghost of Yōtei always had an impossible task. To follow Ghost of Tsushima, one of PlayStation’s most beloved games. 

After more than 70 hours with Atsu’s revenge story, I want to be clear here. Ghost of Yotei is absolutely worth playing, but it’s not without its flaws. 

The themes of vengeance and trauma are powerful, yet sometimes heavy-handed, and Atsu, as a character, doesn’t always land the same emotional punch as Jin. Still, the result is a darker, more haunting Ghost experience, one that’s less about honour and betrayal and more about what happens when vengeance consumes the soul. If Tsushima was about a samurai breaking his code, Yōtei is about a mercenary who never had one to begin with.

TL:DR; The main draw for me here was combat. Combat is deeper than ever, with new weapons and systems that make every duel feel way more deliberate and tactical. The open world is more reactive, pushing you into discovery in ways Tsushima never quite managed. And Atsu, as a new series protagonist, is a striking presence.

I played the game on the base launch PS5 console, which I reckon most gamers would experience this on. You may see some early game footage played on Quality mode, but after the first hour, I opted for Performance mode over Quality and Ray-tracing. Because 60 fps just feels better, and to be honest, the game looks so good that the loss in visual fidelity wasn’t a big trade-off. 

Any other visuals you may see in this video would be from pre-launch assets.

I was provided a review code by PlayStation, and the build had a couple of patches within the first few days of receiving it. I was given a list of known bugs, but none that I encountered throughout my playthrough. However, later in this video, I’ll highlight some other bugs I encountered. A day-one patch is expected to go live at launch on October 2nd, which hopefully addresses all of them. 

Unlike most reviewers, I didn’t want to burn through the story and just sample a few side activities. I wanted to do everything before I wrote this review. Tsushima completionists would be familiar with exploring to find collectables, cosmetics, hot springs, fox dens, shrines and duels, just to name a few. It took me between 60 to 70 hours to complete everything. And I am just missing out on 3 things: a sumi-e painting, a fox den, and a Shamisen song, which gives me 3 more reasons to return to Yotei, and I can’t wait.

In this review, we’ll talk about visuals, performance, story and gameplay. There won’t be any spoilers, but if you want to go in completely blind, save this video and please come back later.

Thanks for clicking on the video. Leave a like, and sub, and join me as we explore Ghost of Yōtei.

Story

Alright, so what is the game about? At Ezo, the northern fringe of Japan, three centuries after the events of Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yōtei follows Atsu, a lone mercenary haunted by the murder of her family when she was just a kid by the Yōtei Six.

Getting it out of the way, performances by the main cast were great. One particular early game interaction between Atsu and a certain character, I felt, was probably the most emotional encounter in the entire game and just showed that nobody was phoning it in.

Compared to Tsushima, Yotei is a smaller, more personal story set against a backdrop of a civil war between the shogun-backed Matsumae clan and Lord Saito’s forces, led by him and the rest of the Yotei Six.

We’ve made many deep dives exploring Jin’s journey here on the channel. So, I’m not saying Jin’s story wasn’t personal at all, but Tsushima’s opening set the stage for higher stakes, which was driving Jin’s motivation: one man, standing up against an invading army. 

By contrast, Yōtei throws you into trauma from the very first moment, beginning with the Yōtei Six’s attack on Atsu’s home.

Liberation is Jin’s purpose. Vengeance is Atsu’s.

It was an inspired decision to have the opening tutorial level be a showdown with the most reprehensible and annoying of the Yotei Six. Even though Atsu’s journey is more intimate and its scope narrower, by the time I finished that opening level and could freely explore the world, I was invested. I just wanted revenge.

The Onryō concept, a vengeful female spirit, ties naturally to the theme of Ghosts. A spectre in the night, weapons drawn, a wolf at her side. Atsu just looks freaking cool.

Atsu also carries the chip that a woman could never be a samurai. She frequently scoffs at that patriarchal rigidity. To compensate, it makes sense she became a sellsword. And she’s unapologetic about being a mercenary. At nearly every turn, she reminds those who hire her that her blade doesn’t come for free and always reminds them to pay up.

Despite her inner trauma, there’s a spark of playfulness and cheek in the way she carries herself. Unlike the brooding Jin, Atsu is a mix of arrogance, drive, and a dash of humour. No doubt a coping mechanism to protect herself.

Throughout the story, I wondered if her pride and confidence would fall under the weight of her hate and anger.

The cycle of vengeance and trauma is a recurring theme in PlayStation’s modern game narratives. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, and specifically The Last of Us, explore how violence begets violence, and what price is paid for holding onto it.

Was Joel justified in saving Ellie by murdering someone’s father? In Yotei, when presenting the motivations of Atsu’s enemies, however, the game never lingers long enough for you to ponder their perspective. It’s squarely focused on Atsu and her quest for revenge.

After multiple stories built around this premise, Yōtei’s is occasionally predictable, its message and symbolism heavy-handed. It often doesn’t reach the emotional power of Jin’s journey in Tsushima. But to its credit, there are moments, both minor and major twists, that absolutely surprised and moved me. When they land, they make the story feel earned.

Now, there has been some discourse on gender swapping the protagonist for Yotei. From reports to Reddit threads, some critics and players accuse the narrative of being driven by trends, while others argue this is all overblown. 

It’s obvious Yōtei carries a strong feminist undercurrent, but it’s also simply the story that Sucker Punch chose to tell. And for the most part, the themes and Atsu’s character complement each other well.

You see, throughout the game, the way men are portrayed often feels deliberate: good men are lacking, evil men are cut down, and many of the rest come across as rigid or dismissive of Atsu. 

When they aren’t the victims of men, women, on the other hand, are violent forces of nature, resourceful, brave, and weather the storm. 

For the record, I like that they went with a female protagonist. Here me out. Where else could they have taken Jin? 

Jin’s arc was complete: from Samurai to Ghost, betraying the Shogun, turning his back on family, all to hold back Mongolia’s might, twice, if you count the Iki island DLC we got.

But before you write Yotei’s story off, it’s worth looking at how Atsu actually plays. Because combat in Ghost of Yotei feels so good.

Gameplay/Combat

We need to talk about combat, specifically, the addition of new weapons. This is an objective improvement over Ghost of Tsushima. Where Jin relied primarily on his katana and switched stances to counter different enemies, Atsu’s arsenal is broader, more dynamic, and much more visually distinct.

The philosophy is still the same: adapt to the enemy in front of you. But instead of only cycling stances with one weapon, you’re cycling entire weapons, and each one doesn’t just look different, it feels different. 

See a shield-bearing foe? Swap to the stylishly brutal kusarigama. A towering brute charging your way? The slow, crushing power of the odachi makes short work of them. A dual-wielding enemy rushing you, the reach of the yari will dominate. 

It’s frantic but calculated. Combat that demands both instinct and strategy. You’re constantly thinking on the fly, adjusting weapons, and weaving in Ghost tools. When everything clicks, it’s some of the most satisfying melee gameplay Sucker Punch has ever designed.

So much so that unlocking a new weapon became my top priority. In Tsushima, I’d rush to hot springs just to boost my health. In Yotei, the moment I heard about a sensei who could train me in a new weapon, you bet that was where I was headed next. 

UI and menus are streamlined compared to Tsushima, keeping things cleaner and snappier. 

Gone is the confusing loadout system of Tsushima. In Yotei, you’ve only got five slots, meaning you need to be deliberate. I set mine up for duelling, stealth, archery, terror, and exploration, but you do you.

I played on the recommended medium difficulty, and boss fights were no joke. Just like Tsushima, parry windows are tight, and enemy animations are often deceptive. Some fights took me a few retries, but they never felt cheap, just demanding.

Beyond combat, Yotei carries forward much of what made Tsushima’s open world compelling. Classic side activities like hot springs, bamboo strikes, fox dens, and duels return. But there’s also a host of new ones unique to this setting. Chief among them is Zeni Hajiki, a gambling game of skill that eventually rewards you with coins and powerful Charms to customise your build.

Replacing Jin’s haiku side activity, has Atsu songwriting on the Shamisen. Lore-wise, this activity sees Jin and Atsu making sense of the world around them. For Atsu, the music is woven into her story. A strong connection she shared with her first teacher, her mother. 

The shamisen also provides the foundation and connective tissue to other musicians in Ezo. Learning new music from them allows Guiding Winds to show the player the direction to their chosen activity, much like how Jin did with his flute.

Atsu has her own reflective activities, like sumi-e painting. Using the PS5 controller’s touchpad, you’ll get to brush deliberate strokes, making the act meditative and tactile. 

Exploration itself is masterfully designed to make the world feel alive. On roads, you’ll encounter wandering NPCs, roaming patrols and ambushes. Out in the fields, wildflowers offer a speed boost to your horse. 

This is the amazing way Yotei allows you to “wander” and “discover”. In the background, the game is quietly funnelling you toward points of interest and spawning distractions in your way. It’s a subtle trick, but it creates the illusion that the world reacts to the choices you make. 

At any time, you can whip out your spyglass to discover new points of interest or even mark a location to travel to.

Camping is new, too. As long as she is near her horse, Atsu can set up anywhere. Set up a fire using the PS5 touchpad, then use motion controls to cook for buffs, resupply ammo, or even trigger ally conversations. While I didn’t rely heavily on camping thanks to frequent ammo drops from enemies, it adds flavour and reinforces Atsu’s life on the move.

The Wolfpack tab is another new addition, letting you quickly see which allies have updates for you. It’s a smart quality-of-life feature on paper, but in practice, I rarely used it.

Okay, so I don’t want to spoil the details of each region, but I have to call out my favourite one: Teshio Ridge. Snowy landscapes dominated by The Kitsune, and their army of Shinobi that ambush you at every step, made the little boy in me, with a fantasy of fighting an army of Ninjas, extremely happy. Not to mention Teshio Ridge introduces a freezing mechanic, where exposure to snowstorms slowly kills you unless you seek fire or shelter, adding a survival edge to exploration and combat I didn’t expect.

As Atsu’s legend grows, the world itself pushes back. The more infamous the Onryo becomes, the higher the bounty on her head. Late-game, elite samurai death squads known as the Black Guard will actively hunt you, ambushing you even in settlements you thought were safe. The sound design here is incredible: the slow, ominous pounding of war drums lets you know they’ve arrived.

But you know what the real endgame is? It’s these damn bears, man… I’m telling you, if you hear a growl, just run. Until you get some serious firepower, stay the hell away from bears. 

Once the credits roll, you can still finish off activities and quests you may have missed out on. 

There wasn’t any New Game plus in the build I played, but like Tsushima, I don’t doubt that we will get one eventually. 

Performance/Visuals

It’s no question. Ghost of Yōtei looks great. The franchise doesn't have hyper-realistic graphics like a Death Stranding 2, but that's not the point. Its visual style and exaggerated colour palettes do the heavy lifting. And this carries on in Yotei as it leans into the style over raw fidelity, and it pays off.

For this review, I’m limited in which environments I can show, but suffice to say, the field of flowers, the snow-filled hills, and the coastal ridges are striking, each with its own dramatic character. 

Facial capture and animation seem to have improved as well; textures are more detailed, and expressions, especially during cutscenes, are more emotive and lifelike. 

But one of the biggest improvements is the camera. During horseback travel, Yōtei pulls back into a cinematic widescreen, letting you drink in the horizon. Other times, it shifts down close behind Atsu’s mount, adding energy and immediacy to your ride. It’s subtle, but it makes exploration feel more alive.

And unlike Tsushima, Yōtei is fully built for current-gen. The image is sharper, the edges crisper, and loading, whether from startup or fast travel across Ezo, is practically instant. 

I did run into some minor frame drops while riding through the open world and whipping the camera around quickly, but those moments were rare. 

Ok, what’s next? Oh, right, bugs. Pretty sure these will be patched out on day one, but it’s worth checking out. 

Like an NPC that got caught in a dead body, and I couldn’t progress the mission. We have invisible coins during the coin game, which is unfortunate, seeing as you need to see the coins. Or a standoff off, which didn’t allow me to get into position because there was an object in my way. Or when I came to a campsite, and was soft-locked. I only found out after reloading that an NPC was supposed to spawn in. Or when a dead body blocked the ability to finish a fire puzzle. Then there are weird bear attacks, and your horse getting stuck in the wall, preventing you from mounting.

Mostly funny ones, and if mission progress was ever locked, a quick load did the fix.

Outside of that, performance is excellent; not only does Ghost of Yōtei look better than its predecessor, it also feels faster and plays noticeably smoother.

Closing

Ghost of Yotei is a fantastic evolution. It takes the foundation of Tsushima and sharpens it with a more brutal, intimate story and a combat system that’s both chaotic and tactical.

While its narrative lacks Tsushima's mythic scale, it’s held together by incredible atmosphere and some emotional twists.

Look, man. If you have an issue with Atsu being a woman, the gameplay is solid, and I can’t wait for the Legends multiplayer mode to drop after launch, and I can’t wait for you all to play the game.

So, after my time with Ghost of Yotei, what’s my final verdict? Ghost of Yotei is absolutely worth it. 

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