Ghost of Yotei Review from a Ghost of Tsushima Dropout
REVIEWSAUTHOR - 2099 GAMING
2099Gaming
10/9/20254 min read
Honesty is the Best Policy
To preface this review I’m gonna always be honest. I did not care for Ghost of Tsushima. I played it at launch then dropped it for a half a year then came back to finish it. That’s why this game is so shocking to me.
Story - Spoiler Free
It’s a revenge story premise. You know the kind we’ve all heard before ? But it quickly divulges into something so artistically reverent that it leaves u without words almost. This game has many tricks up its sleeve that I almost could never guess what was going to happen next. Everything was executed with the precision of John Wick.
I laughed ,I yelled at the TV, I got teary eyed, I got sad, I became wishful. And this is all coming from someone that DOES NOT CARE WHETHER THE STORY IS GOOD OR NOT IN VIDEO GAMES. They pulled me in from the start and gave me an experience that I haven’t had since Yakuza 6. The old emotional rollercoaster. Just Masterful.
Gameplay
Yotei features much more variety than Tsushima. You have multiple weapons to choose from this time. All the melee weapons play completely different. You have some long range options and a host of quick fire weapons that add a depth of strategy to the combat and keep things at whatever pace you want to play at.
Yotei is more grounded in its approach so you will spend time waiting for the perfect moment to strike or you will spend time pushing the pace on bosses so that they don’t get the chance to pull out a gun or overwhelm you. Every strike serves a purpose and that’s what makes it so satisfying. One missed cue could be your last.
Stealth is stealth it’s just much smoother and responsive this time around. You can also use new weapons to gain extended range on stealth kills. Very welcome because Atsu is not a tank and will collapse quicker than college students credit scores. A wolf will help you mostly in the open world with side content and it’s a welcome addition. Very fun to complete a standoff with a synchronized wolf attack.
The game def is not easy (I played on normal) and some of these bosses and mini bosses will make you rage. There is a story and easy difficulty for those that prefer that but I strongly recommend starting at normal. The payoff when Atsu achieves these milestones set forth by her desperation is unlike any other.
Open World Calamity
This game has a ridiculous amount of side content. And the best part is it’s organic. Just traveling to a main mission you will be stopped by people looking to claim a bounty on your head. You will be stopped by golden birds directing you to bamboo strikes or wolves dens. You will come across strongholds with prisoners. You will come across foxes leading you to hot springs. And you will never have to go out of your way looking for these things. This is the best open world side content design choice style. Not a bunch of fetch quests and monotonous tasks. It’s all unique either way actual storytelling that blends into Atsus journey and it’s all organic.
Atsu - Our Protagonist
The main character is Atsu. She has a lot more personality than Jin from Tsushima who could pass as a Quintessential grunting emotionless create a character boring crash dummy. I played in Japanese and the voice acting was superb. So many times I was moved by her ever evolving mental state during the course of her adventure.
Atsu is not one dimensional. She displays very human reactions and emotions in real time in this war that is spiraling around her. She’s very well fleshed out and her Japanese voice actor brought her to life. Just an amazing character and performance.
Graphics and Music
Third best looking game of all time. (Death Stranding 2 and Horizon Forbidden west are one and two) enough said. I played on PS5 Pro on ray tracing pro mode and everything looked ethereal. I played on Watanabe mode and the soundtrack instantly became my favorite video game sound track of all time.
The way instruments collab in rapid succession during a boss fight and escape to the way the low fi meadows you out and decompresses you as you walk through a field of flowers. It’s truly a one of a kind sound and experience.
Maximum Verdict
I had low expectations and next to no hype after Tsushima but by the time I rolled credits on Ghost of Yotei (still have a inhumane amount of side content if I want to platinum which is great) it solidified itself as one of the greatest games of all time and a definitive Top 3 in my favorite games of all time list. This is not only the best PlayStation game of the generation but if you gave me a polygraph I’d tell you it’s the best PlayStation game of all time and one of the greatest games of all time.
It’s Perfect. 10 outta 10.
