Ghost of Yotei review – samurai sequel plays like an old dog trying to come up with new tricks

Ghost of Yotei is perfectly set to fulfil and excite players who enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima before it. Just don't go in expecting too much else.

Difficult second album syndrome is something Sucker Punch is all too familiar with. Because while I may personally be one of InFamous 2's biggest defenders – the addition of ice and fire powers was smartly woven into that game's branching narrative, fight me - there's obviously a reason the studio switched protagonists for InFamous: Second Son.

How fitting, then, that over 10 years on, we now find ourselves with a similar hero shakeup within the studio’s more solemn and serious successor series. It’s especially interesting given that Ghost of Yotei, speaking honestly, isn't so much of a direct sequel to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushimaat all as it is a spiritual companion piece – in ways both beneficial and detrimental.

Despite this sharp change of lead character, this is a samurai follow-up that doesn't feel nearly as innovative as one might typically expect. True, Atsu's quest for revenge does much to improve upon Jin Sakai's journey by embedding a bit more finesse here and there with how its world is presented, yet the narrative stakes feel far less imminent, and the actions you must deploy to drive through them are often too familiar.

Ghost of Yotei is an incredibly solid complement to Tsushima, no doubt, but it’s one that doesn’t quite manage to resolve my combat and checklist-driven issues. Instead, it merely chooses to dress them up differently.

Starting off with the good, the attention to detail Sucker Punch has applied within this rendition of 17th-century Japan is nothing short of astounding. Like the island of Tsushima before it, the region of Ezo (better known today as Hokkaido) is simply a beautiful place to inhabit. Forever cast underneath the shadow of Mount Yōtei itsel,f towering in the distance, some of the most fun I had as Atsu was simply riding my horse from one region to another, never knowing what unique stories and environments might await me next.

I played in Performance mode on a standard PS5 console, and even without the PSSR upscaling capabilities of Sony’s Pro model, Ghost of Yotei works wonderful magic with art direction and scope.

Sadly, it’s when not exploring these enthralling new locales and jumping off my faithful horse that Sucker Punch’s sequel begins to stumble. One of the main issues I had with Ghost of Tsushima, you see, was the feeling that I was just ticking boxes. Go to a Fox Den here to unlock new charm slots, take over this enemy camp to rid the region of Mongol forces… It was AAA open-world game design 101.

In fairness, Yotei does try to make a clear attempt to step away from that, further leaning into the world's more organic in-universe signposting to make reaching objectives and points of interest feel more natural. As a result, there are barely any traditional quest-givers in Ghost of Yotei.

However, while following main quest crumbs and bumping into side quest opportunities like Myths and Tales has been made naturalistic, what’s asked of you to complete them can still feel painfully repetitive. Fox Dens are swapped out for Wolf Dens this time around, for instance, and trust me, once I’d rescued one or two of these dangerous doggos, I didn’t need to do any more. If only somebody had told Sucker Punch that.

Ghost of Yotei doesn’t really get rid of the box-ticking tasks from before; then, it just disguises them slightly better and hopes you won’t notice. Unfortunately, I did, and much sooner than I would have liked.

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She's like the wind

Of all the side activities available to me, Bounties are easily some of my favourites. These work as cinematic assassination missions of sorts centred around an intimidating target, and almost all I came across worked well as a standalone set piece, each with its own theme, that didn’t outstay its welcome. Their nature to imbue me with better skills, accessories, and gear to make my version of Atsu stronger in the early hours is something I appreciated, but I was more attracted to their inherent spectacle.

Even if most side activities in Ghost of Yotei tend to culminate in a fight, Sucker Punch at least excels itself here by surrounding them with interesting NPCs and smaller stories worth hearing.

Honestly, I would have enjoyed them more if Ghost of Yotei’s combat had been made just a bit more interesting. Similar to Jin Sakai, Atsu starts off with nothing but her humble katana, which she must quickly master and improve in order to take revenge on her enemies. Rather than learning new stances needed to better fight specific enemy types, however, she comes to acquire an entire armoury’s worth of weapons to wield, ranging from the mighty Odachi blade ideal for overwhelming large enemies to her Kusarigama, which offers better range and is excellent at smashing shields.

This rock, paper, scissors approach to combat works perfectly fine as it did previously, but it grates in the early game where, say, spear enemies show up often but I haven’t yet acquired the Dual Katana toolkit needed to fight them properly. Endlessly mashing buttons to break through them is annoying.

Combat may still be an acquired taste, yet one area where Yotei unfortunately falls down – especially compared to Tsushima – is the immediacy of its narrative. Trying to rescue your uncle from the clutches of an evil warlord, as Jin Sakai gave his journey a great sense of urgency, inspiring me to push forward in the hopes of getting him back.

Atsu, by comparison, likes to take her time. Although she arrives back in Ezo with the hopes of claiming revenge against an evil group known as the Yotei Six for slaughtering her family, it’s 16 years later by the time we step into her sandals, and the meandering nature of main story quests actively encourages Atsu to slow down. This is her approach despite the menacing Lord Saito’s reign continuing to make the lives of Ezo’s inhabitants hell.

I will say that, for as ambling as Atsu’s journey can be, her character is much easier to empathise with than Jin ever was. To the extent I’d argue she actually has a personality! Being wronged at such a young age has given her a thirst for justice that I never failed to believe has been boiling for over a decade.

I felt this in Erika Ishii’s performance whenever I’d meet whatever NPC would next teach me the ways of their unique weapon or craft. Overall, Atsu is a lot less stoic, and it helps bring a slight splash of charm and drama to Ghost of Yotei’s otherwise predictable narrative.

Far from the evolutionary sequel I was hoping for (and as the change of protagonist and time period would suggest) Ghost of Yotei has largely ended up being Ghost of Tsushima again – just in a new setting with some extra bells and whistles added. That’ll be great news for players who enjoyed the PS4’s samurai swansong previously.

For me, though, it dulls most of the excitement and enjoyment for what I believe we should be expecting from a first-party PlayStation exclusive this far into the PS5 generation. Ghost of Yotei is beautiful in the moment, yet like Atsu herself, can never quite decide where to best focus its talents.

Rating: 3/5