Ghost Of Yotei

In an age where sequels to popular games tend to arrive within a couple of years it's rather shocking to look back at my review of Ghost of Tsushima and realise that it was written over five years ago! Now, at long last, Sucker Punch have delivered the highly anticipated sequel, Ghost of Yotei, to the PS5 letting us dive back into ancient Japan.

Unlike many sequels, fans of the original will find little familiar ground in the plot. Jin is (at the time of writing at least), nowhere to be seen and nor are the vast rolling plains of Tsushima. Instead we're introduced to bitter mercenary Atsu who has returned home to the northern land of Ezo in the shadow of Mount Yotai. After years of training and fighting in the wars of the south, she's back to seek revenge on the deadly Yotei six who slaughtered her family and left her for dead as a child, crossing their names off her list one by one. This Autumn, Atsu Will Kill Yotei.

So yes, anyone who's seen Kill Bill will know exactly what the developers were watching when they were planning out the game (Atsu's default costume is even yellow and black) but there are certainly worse sources of inspiration! It must be said though that as stories go this one doesn't quite have the depth of the original game. Atsu feels like she's bumbling around stumbling into random events which sometimes link to a way to find one of the big bosses, whereas the story in Tsushima was a more focused, character-driven affair following Jin choosing to sacrifice traditional samurai honour to overcome a more powerful foe.

Atsu herself is a character who's hard to love as she rarely breaks from ‘hardened angry fighter’ mode. In fact the only times you get to see much characterisation from her are in a few flashbacks to her childhood and her hotsprings musings (each carefully staged to avoid any nudity bar a bare bum because that would quite cross the line in a game full of visceral, graphic violence...)

The graphical fidelity is among the best of the current gen.

The world of Ezo, and the game in general are once again the stars of the show here and this is without question the best looking game out probably on anything at the moment, especially if you put it into the returning Kurosawa mode which presents the game in a rich black and white palette complete with film grain and scratches (though as with the original the game hasn't been 100% optimised for this as too often things which are clearly supposed to stand out due to their colour can get lost). As you rove through the world you'll startle animals in your path, see vast spaces ready to be explored and watch the wind ripple through long grass. It's stunningly beautiful and easily the new benchmark that all game visuals will be measured against. There's loads to do too with staggering amounts of side quests to wander into, wolf hunters, bounties to track down, hotsprings and shrines to seek out - and that's just scratching the surface.

The gameplay itself however... is a little disappointing. Admittedly I haven't played the original since it came out but I certainly don't remember things being so overcomplicated and disjointed. Combat for example, whilst still using the same old intuitive blocking and countering, now relies on a Pokemon-esque rock/paper/scissors system. Swords beat swords, spears beat axes, two swords beat spears, chain weapons beat spears and big swords beat er, big people. When you inevitably find yourself surrounded by a group of enemies all with different gear you’ll end up totally confused as to what weapon to swap to and discover that whichever one you choose, the enemy you aren't prepared to face will be the one attacking you. You also have almost no option than to wait to be attacked and try to counter as enemies will almost always just block infinitely if you try to go on the offensive. There is no shame in putting the difficulty down to "easy" in order to compensate!

‘Ghost’ is still in the title of the game but you definitely get the sense that the stealth gameplay is present only on sufferance as there are far less opportunities to use it than in the original. You constantly get the sense that the game is doing everything it can to get you to charge in and fight everyone in close combat and is disappointed in you when you don't.

The platforming areas now include a grappling hook, normally a cool feature, but the game is veeeeery picky as to when it will show up the context sensitive button allowing you to use it. Atsu herself is a bit of a wall snob and would much rather scrape her face down the side of a cliff into oblivion than grab hold of a wall if you fail to jump from or towards something as much as a millimetre away from her preferred jumping spot.

Ghost of Yotei sadly falls into the same trap that many sequels end up in - it mistakes overcomplication and feature-bloat for innovation. Combined with the fairly ham-fisted plot and characterisation it means this isn't a game that makes you want to sit down and spend hours at a time with it. It's fun enough in small doses and it is undeniably gorgeous to look at but it just doesn't feel like the developers have tried to reach for the same heights as they did originally. It's certainly worth playing if only to look around at the pretty scenery, but there's little to recommend anyone rush out and buy it before the price starts to come down.