It took me a couple of months, with a few breaks, but I finally finished Ghost of Yōtei last week. Ghost of Yōtei is not a direct sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, but they are part of the same game series. There’s a new protagonist (Atsu) and all new characters in a different era. Still, both games feature similar gameplay, but there are plenty of additions to keep Ghost of Yōtei feeling fresh.

An interesting part of Ghost of Tsushima is that it was a cross-generational game for me. I started — and platinumed — the base game on my PlayStation 4 Pro. By the time I got into the Iki Island expansion, I had migrated to a PlayStation 5, so I was able to play through the DLC fully on my PlayStation 5.

Since Ghost of Yōtei was fully exclusive to PlayStation 5, with no PlayStation 4 version, Sucker Punch Productions was able to go all-out instead of holding back or adding some next-gen exclusive features to this new title in the series.

Playing as Atsu felt familiar in many ways, but it’s also a brand new revenge story. Your main goal is to get revenge on the Yōtei Six, but you get to do it your own way. There are also plenty of side quests to complete on your journey.

When I played Ghost of Tsushima I felt the need to explore every inch of the map, to complete every quest, side quest, and mission. I started off with this same drive in Ghost of Yōtei, but once I reached the end and after fifty-five hours of gameplay, I’d had enough. I loved every moment with Atsu, but I think I was just ready to move onto some other games.

REAL COMBAT

Sucker Punch has done a great job at making every battle feel important. Sure, there are specific boss fights and notable bouts where opponents have a visible health bar that you are chipping away at. Every other fight in the world is unpredictable.

In most other games with combat, you start to know how many “hits” it takes to take out a typical goon vs an overpowered warrior.

I like that any battle can be quick or long and you never know what you’re about to get into. There are always ways to get the one-shot kill — throwing items, arrows, firearms, stealth assassinations — but in hand-to-hand combat every battle is unique.

Each battle is a fight to the death where you are trying to get that opening for the kill shot. You may end up chopping off a limb or head. These regular battles are more like a real-life fight.

Sure, there’s a bunch of meters and stats behind the scenes, but as the player you don’t get to see all of that. You can fight defensive and go for the counter-strike, or go all out with an offensive rampage.

Sucker Punch has definitely mastered the art of combat in these games. There are plenty of games with sword-fighting that I had to stop playing because they don’t compare to the Ghost of series.

SUCKER PUNCH CREATIVITY

Another Sucker Punch series I got into back on the PlayStation 4 was inFamous with inFamous Second Son and inFamous First Light. These games came to mind because of Sucker Punch’s creative use of the PlayStation controller Touch Pad, on both PS4 and PS5.

I remember using it to create street art in inFamous and I believe there were other uses as well. In Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yōtei they use it for the guiding wind. What a great evolution to helping the player know where to go next. You don’t need to open the map or check your compass endlessly, thanks to the guiding wind.

They’ve also used the touchbar for smaller tasks, like painting in Ghost of Yōtei. I do like to see PlayStation exclusive games making use of PlayStation-specific technology.

Sucker Punch also tested the PS5 SSD tech used by Insomniac for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Anytime Atsu is at her childhood home, you may hold the touchbar to instantly transport back in time to a young Atsu. I didn’t care much to explore as a young Atsu, other than to upgrade weapons. I did however enjoy switching back-and-forth just to see the tech at work.

FLAWLESS ART DIRECTION

Ghost of Yōtei is a cinematic masterclass in art direction. Every shot throughout the game is perfectly laid out, especially when showcasing a title.

I took over 100 photos throughout my Ghost of Yōtei journey and there is so much I adore about this game, but I mainly wanted to show off how beautiful it is.

I don’t know what Sucker Punch will release next. If it’s another Ghost of game they already have my support. If it’s something brand new, then I’m still curious to check it out.

When studios create a beloved series, it’s great to push it further with a sequel (or a few), but I also like to see them try something new, and see which elements of the previous series may make their way into something new.

Ghost of Yōtei was the perfect sequel experience for me at this moment. It gave me that same gameplay style I missed from Ghost of Tsushima, while delivering a new, beautiful story with Atsu.

*I uploaded some of my captured gameplay moments to YouTube as a Ghost of Yōtei playlist here.