Atsu (the lead of Ghost of Yotei) and I (the player of the game) are similar in one fundamental way: We are both holding on to something that is slowly losing the spark it once had, and are kept alive only by the amount of time we’ve already sunk into it. On some level, we both know we’re only doing this because it feels pointless to move on now.
For Atsu, the struggle is quite profound. We see the hatred that drives her entire life to defeat the ‘Yotei Six’ that assist Lord Saito is continuously challenged, as she is constantly presented with the facts. On the one hand, there’s Lord Saito — a somewhat unknown entity, but for his truly evil act of murdering her parents. On the other, she’s helping the shogun army in their attempts to unite a peaceful, independent land. In her pursuit of Saito, she is actively assisting the classist Samurai with their rules and laws that could disrupt the local culture that she so abhors.
For me, the struggle is far simpler — but not entirely different. I’m holding on to the idea that Ghost of Yotei is a truly once-in-a-lifetime game. There’s no game where you play as a Samurai that feels quite as vast, beautiful, and yet so personal. And fifty hours in, I am constantly presented with the fact that Ghost of Tsushima did exactly this, five years back. And it was cooler the first time around — because it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Unfortunately for Ghost of Yotei, the novelty had also worn off just before the game was released. It’s coming in a year where there’s already an Assassins’ Creed game about a Samurai seeking revenge for the death of her parent(s).
But despite it all, I’m on my way to a platinum completion, and Atsu, on her way to finishing off all six of Saito’s strongmen. Atsu, because she knows it must be done. It’s the only way she can truly feel at peace with her life. And me, because I want more games like this to exist. I shouldn’t have to wait for five years for another of these. It’s my one way of showing support for a truly unique single player story experience.
What shines through Yotei, and to its credit, sets it apart from the previous game in the series (Tsushima) is its story. It visualises strong themes of grief, betrayal, and anger extremely well — through both main missions, obscure ‘storyteller’ side missions, and random interactions with the occasional villager. Atsu’s motivations and emotional journey are so close to me now, and she is now easily one of my favourite videogame characters.
Yotei also has a very interesting combat mechanic — evolved from a more primitive version in Tsushima. Atsu’s entire backstory sort of plays into the mechanic as well. While Tsushima is focused on Jin’s internal conflict of “Shinobi”-esque stealth styles vs the more traditional Samurai combat, Atsu is extremely strong and comfortable with facing the enemy head-on. And she almost always must face five or more people at any given point. As a result, Yotei has both more melee weapons and throwable weapon options. And considering that the game is set almost three centuries after Tsushima, it now introduces a very old-fashioned version of the teppo gun and small explosives that cause quite a bit of chaos in direct combat.
Yotei also does a very good job of introducing the melee weapons, where Atsu goes and learns from teachers in the different realms of Ezo. There are several in-game incentives that help gain mastery of these weapons. It’s particularly useful, especially for someone like me, who usually tends to stick to just one type of fight style. The combat experience is a lot more tactical this time around, and it forces you to learn interactions between weapons, throwable objects, armour, and charms a lot more than before. So it doesn’t really matter if you’re absolutely horrible at melee combat as long as you know how to strategically use the right combination of items.
Suckerpunch also clearly understood that what players loved most about the previous games was the scenery. They doubled down on it and have now given us a larger and more varied world. Every one of the Yotei Six occupies a realm/biome — whatever you call it — from windy coasts to the frigid north. It’s gorgeous, expansive, and irresistible, and I did spend a lot of time climbing pointless cliffs to capture images of Atsu against the setting sun.
The game is a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and it’s a no-brainer if you own the console. There’s hardly any game out there today like this series from Sucker Punch, and it’s so perfectly made for the PS console with several useful gameplay elements based completely on interactions with the touchpad.
[Written by Anusha Ganapathi. Views expressed are their own]
