Ghost of Yōtei | PS5/PRO | October 2, 2025 | Now Available - Metacritic: 87 Opencritic: 89

[Legal]

I'm always amazed when I boot the game it goes straight to were I left off. No load screens, title screens or nothing.

I know it's a small thing, but it really is one of the most impressive things about the game. I'd love to hear about what they're doing behind the scenes to make this happen. I imagine it's probably something simple like having the game hold memory on board the same way a game would if you were running it from rest mode or something, but it'd still be interesting to read or hear about.

 

[CoolinInTheCut]

You even comparing the open world of Yotei to Tsushima as if it’s actually different is weird. You can prefer one to the other but they are largely the same. The NPCs spawn the same. That was YOUR choice to fast travel everywhere in GOT. Other than the horse jump and fast lane for the horse, the exploration is the same. Trying to act like Yotei is so much better for those reasons shows your opinion has bias.

Yeah I said there was more weapon variety but it doesn’t change the combat at all which I would prefer but since it doesn’t it feels like I got my hopes up for something that didn’t really pan out. When I saw they were adding guns, I didn’t expect them to function exactly the same as a kunai and long bow. And since they did add it and it didn’t change anything, it’s less fulfilling.

Likewise, there’s more weapons taking the place of Jin’s sword styles. I actually prefer different weapons but they all function the exact same as stances. In fact, I don’t even think there are more move sets with the extra weapons than the previous sword styles. So it’s more of an aesthetic than function change. Which is cool, I actually prefer it but it didn’t change combat or gameplay at all aside from disarming. Which is also cool because it was good as it was. But as I said, the more variety didn’t provide a more fulfilling combat system.

And you can think that the masses who played both will think Yotei is better. We will see if that it is the case but as the first sentence in your reply to me states, it’s a matter of opinion. As a sequel I felt it should’ve improved on more. What it does better is nominal and as I just argued, more different than anything.

I said GOT is better, full stop. Not just 1 or 2 things. Yotei doing 1 or 2 things different didn’t make it better to me. So we are left with the story and Jin’s was better to me. Just as personal, if not more. Stakes were higher, ramifications were higher, historical significance adds to ALL fiction stories. Doesn’t matter if you don’t care or not, it matters to creative writing as a whole. We aren’t comparing Shadows or any other game, just these two. Historical settings doesn’t make a story good so I dint even know why you tried to frame that it into the conversation. What it does is lend itself to the story and provides depth to it. It all makes it HARDER to craft a story around it because you have to remain true to the history you are building off of. So it’s going to be seen as more difficult and more exceptional if you craft a story within that history and it be well written versus being able to make a story from scratch to do whatever you choose. When you have that much creative freedom, I expect better story than what we got in Yotei for Atsu. They 100% could’ve given more depth. But maybe they can do a bit more in dlc like they did with Jin’s father.

Of course it’s a matter of personal preference but some nikkas like skirt steak instead of ribeye. I’m not going to try and convince the guy that prefers skirt steak otherwise. It’s your food, enjoy what you like.

I'm probably a little over half way through the game (Kitsune and Oni arcs completed) and I agree with some of your criticisms.

The new weapons are cool, but it's still the same rock-paper-scissors style of gameplay of knowing what [weapon / stance] to use against what weapon your against. They took out one feature to add something that effectively functions the same way and fulfills the same purpose.

Unless there's some big revelations or plot twists that are coming up (which I expect), Jin's story does seem much better. But this is purely subjective. The point you made on narrative freedom with the world parameters you limit yourself to is exactly why I hope SP's next game isn't in a grounded setting like feudal Japan like GoT/GoY. Hard to go to real depths when you're making a PG13 story in a grounded world and we see that with how they white washed the history of the ainu in this game.

Yotei does the exploration aspect of the open world objectively better Tsushima, but you're still largely doing the same activities and combat as the first game. Which isn't necessarily bad because the first game was a classic, but nothing feels "new" or like a generational leap between games. It just feels like this is how the first game shouldve done exploration.

 

[Flexington]

^ Pretty much how I feel



I don't agree with all the criticisms or think one is better than they other completely. They're pretty evenly matched for me. Yotei is more polished in some ways but Tsushima being the original and coming to it without expectations made it hit harder


The plot fell off and felt a little rushed towards the end to me with it ending predictably. While it was nice to have new weapons they didn't change much fundamentally, just new animations and new triangle+circle attacks. Some quickfire weapons felt redundant and then by the time you get them all there isn't as much to do so I didn't get the same feeling of mastery I got with my stances/items/charms/gear in Tsushima.

Not a major negative just a little disappointing.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I can’t think of anything I like about Tsushima more than Yotei. The story is subjective but I don’t feel either games writing has blown me away they aren’t ND or SMS.

I think if they do another game they need to switch up the formula. Set it in a big sprawling city rather than the country side and make it more stealth focused.

The first game was more samurai this is a mix the next should go full shionbi

 

[kdslittlebro]

I can’t think of anything I like about Tsushima more than Yotei. The story is subjective but I don’t feel either games writing has blown me away they aren’t ND or SMS.

I think if they do another game they need to switch up the formula. Set it in a big sprawling city rather than the country side and make it more stealth focused.

The first game was more samurai this is a mix the next should go full shionbi

I love stealth, but I don’t think the money is there for it. I do think they need to switch it up. It being an anthology type of series does give them the opportunity, thankfully.

I hope they give this a DLC then let the series breathe tho. Give Sly Coop or Infamous some love

 

[Diondon]

I'm over 100 hrs now

Spoiler

Jin's ideology giving birth tothe Way of the Shinobi

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I love stealth, but I don’t think the money is there for it. I do think they need to switch it up. It being an anthology type of series does give them the opportunity, thankfully.

I hope they give this a DLC then let the series breathe tho. Give Sly Coop or Infamous some love

I’d rather they just make another new ip than go to the graveyard.

Both sly and infamous got 4 games already

 

[kdslittlebro]

I’d rather they just make another new ip than go to the graveyard.

That’s always the case, but I’m just working with what’s most likely to happen

 

[Kiyoshi-Dono]

Yotei is not greater than Tsushima
After beating Yotei, I have sat here for almost two weeks and nothing about this story makes sense and it didn’t need to be told
The game is beautiful and I did like the added challenge
It’s also filled with many things to do
But nikkas is cappin they kneecaps off just like with TLOU2
You have a mythical tale that should’ve been a whole second fukking game
That small segment had me more involved than anything in this game
Everything about this game is very bland and cardboard story wise vs Tsushima
Atsu should’ve been a third installment and I will stand on that
They could’ve incorporated her into a story of Jin in a true sequel then showed ramifications in 3 making her a true shinobi of that story
The revenge here was hollow
Plot points and narratives are missing
The highs aren’t high
And the lows are laughable and predictable
This why gaming sucks
nikkas love to shyt on an original out of being a contrarian
Knowing damn well this story is two packs of ass

 

[Fatboi1]

Yotei is not greater than Tsushima
After beating Yotei, I have sat here for almost two weeks and nothing about this story makes sense and it didn’t need to be told
The game is beautiful and I did like the added challenge
It’s also filled with many things to do
But nikkas is cappin they kneecaps off just like with TLOU2
You have a mythical tale that should’ve been a whole second fukking game
That small segment had me more involved than anything in this game
Everything about this game is very bland and cardboard story wise vs Tsushima
Atsu should’ve been a third installment and I will stand on that
They could’ve incorporated her into a story of Jin in a true sequel then showed ramifications in 3 making her a true shinobi of that story
The revenge here was hollow
Plot points and narratives are missing
The highs aren’t high
And the lows are laughable and predictable
This why gaming sucks
nikkas love to shyt on an original out of being a contrarian
Knowing damn well this story is two packs of ass

I don't get this, nobody shytted on the original game?

All we said is we like this "game" more than the first "game." I really enjoyed the first game, I think the second game is better. The story being better/worse is subjective. If anything, saying the first game is "superior" seems to be more of a contrarian take.

 

[CoolinInTheCut]

Yotei is not greater than Tsushima
After beating Yotei, I have sat here for almost two weeks and nothing about this story makes sense and it didn’t need to be told
The game is beautiful and I did like the added challenge
It’s also filled with many things to do
But nikkas is cappin they kneecaps off just like with TLOU2
You have a mythical tale that should’ve been a whole second fukking game
That small segment had me more involved than anything in this game
Everything about this game is very bland and cardboard story wise vs Tsushima
Atsu should’ve been a third installment and I will stand on that
They could’ve incorporated her into a story of Jin in a true sequel then showed ramifications in 3 making her a true shinobi of that story
The revenge here was hollow
Plot points and narratives are missing
The highs aren’t high
And the lows are laughable and predictable
This why gaming sucks
nikkas love to shyt on an original out of being a contrarian
Knowing damn well this story is two packs of ass

The story and Atsu are pretty bland and cliche but what doesn't make sense about it? It's straight forward.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

it’s funny because my two major criticisms about Tsushima was the open world being kind of dull and the story. I even watched some YouTube playthrough of it to refresh my memory before Yotei and there’s really not a lot of holy shyt moments.

The opening, the first ghost mode moment, and the very ending are the highlights of it. Atsu isn’t the greatest protagonist but she’s more interesting to me than Jin was.

I’m honestly not sure why people feel so attached to Jin or any of the characters enough from part 1. I think people have some rose tinted glasses like they did with horizon.

The idea of becoming a shinobi from a samurai is great in concept but sucker punch has lackluster character writing imo like insomniac

The star of the ghost games is really the setting

 

[Ruck]

The real question is: do you prefer 'Do Sho!' or 'Ku'rrraiii'?

 

[Jaguar93]

I put Yotei over Tsushima

 

[Phantum]

I do miss killing those filthy, honorless Mongols