Let's get this out of the way: I love Ghost of Tsushima. See my review of the original release, of the director's cut, and its entry in my list of all-time favorite games. An expansive and gorgeous samurai epic initially inspired by Usagi Yojimbo with the basic gameplay loop of Arkham City (another all-time fave)? Yes please!

So if you're skeptical about Sucker Punch's latest franchise, if you're burnt out on open world games, if you want Yōtei to right some sort of wrong of its predecessor or PlayStation Studios... I'm the wrong person to seek an objective opinion from.

Still here? Great...

...I loved Ghost of Yōtei, too! Big surprise, right?

First, the obvious: The game's presentation is as gorgeous as ever. Erika Ishii's and Feodor Chin's performances as Atsu and Lord Saito are fantastic.

I'm always nervous about combat in modern games... I find the current Soulsborne trends really tiresome compared to the approachability of a rhythm-esque Arkham style. Thankfully, I needn't have worried: Additional weapons push the combat forward in fun and interesting ways, but the baby was not thrown out with the bathwater.

I was happy to see less of an emphasis on Detective Vision Focused Hearing compared to Tsushima. It allowed me to feel more immersed in stealth sequences, which were clearly tuned with less reliance on that capability in mind.

There are more activities than last time, but they occur less frequently. Combined with the more leisurely pace at which your map builds out, I found myself exploring more often without feeling overwhelmed by any sort of mounting to-do list. I especially appreciated the increase in quiet, contemplative tasks to compliment the action sequences. Oh, and good news: My dog didn't have the same issue with the wolves as he did the cats in Stray! (Go figure! 😂)

I'm a little mixed on the main story. Tsushima's bombastic intro would be tough to outdo, and Yōtei doesn't really try. There are some benefits to those humbler beginnings: I felt a greater sense of agency in directing Atsu's journey, which gave me a stronger sense of attachment to her than to Jin Sakai. But the small start and straightforward arc withheld too many emotional beats for too long for me to connect with the supporting cast in the same way.

Narrative nitpicks aside, my hours exploring this fictionalized version of 1600s Ezo flew by. Atsu is a wonderful protagonist, and it's a treat to experience so many improved versions of the elements I loved from Ghost of Tsushima. As with Tsushima, I expect to revisit Yōtei in the future.

Ghost of Tsushima was primarily a narrative experience with a game inside of it. For good or I'll, Ghost of Yotei is a game before all else and the story is jammed in between it. For that, it is an improvement in story telling and character development. In spite of a very predictable anvilivious story about revenge that goes exactly where you think it will. There are still some surprising and deep moments.

The gameplay is more of Tsushima. Different enough to be fresh but essentially the same. That's not a bad thing, if like me what you wanted was just more ghost of tsushima. The wealth of side questing can get a bit bloated. Where GoT had some threads and short bits of story off the main path , Yotei has a wealth of them. You can expect a lot of distractions from an open world game but by the time I rolled credits on this one, it felt like a burden I was finally putting down.

Don't mistake me. I loved this experience. If you enjoyed GoT you will too and even if you didn't start there, it's an excellent game. Not unrivaled but you will find it worthy

The last time I was so hyped for a game was probably Blasphemous, back in 2017. When I saw the launch trailer on State of Play a year ago I was under my blankets, jumping and foaming out of my mouth. ANOTHER GHOST! NOW WITH FIREARMS! AND A WOLF! AND ERIKA ISHII! HOLY SHIT

Ghost of Tsushima was one of the first games I played in my ps5 and it was An Experience. I felt connecting with that game on such a deep level that I name it one of the top 3 games of my life, alongside Final Fantasy X and Shadow of the Colossus. I still hold that story dearly and close to my heart, so it is kind of hard to see that the story of Ghost of Yotei does not quite reach the same heights.

Don't get me wrong, GOY's story is still very enjoyable, but I can't help but feel that there is a lot of missed potential in Atsu as a character and the Vengeance setup. The relationship between Atsu and the Yotei Six was way more personal and the stakes were a lot more raw and close that those of GoT, but the story still felt painted by numbers sometimes, and the really good parts (The Kitsune reveal and the Spider change of heart) felt a little bit flat because of the overall arc. I kinda disliked the last part of the game, mainly because I selfishly thought that we were going to have another momentous decision that never came, but that made all the sense to have. It sucks because I feel that ALL the characters are very good in their own way. I mean, holy shit, I feel I hate Saito way more than Kothul Khan, which is a lot to say. It is only that the story and the actions of the characters sometimes do not hold up to their very good characterizations.

So at this point you must be saying: "Ok, man. You are always all about the story, the story, the story. Why are you giving GoY a five star rating then? Are you just glazing? It is because of the controversy? Did you turn into a Sucker Punch sucker (he)?

No, I give this game a five star rating because IT IS THE BEST OPEN WORLD GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED, WITHOUT QUESTION. BETTER THAN TSUSHIMA, EVEN, HOLY FUCK.

Of course I was one of those guys who played like 50 hours before fighting the second boss. Of course I was one of those guys who went to every corner of the map before even coming close to the story missions, of freaking-course that I refused to use fast travel, not on some stubborn alpha-gamer shit, but because roaming around in this game is so, so freaking fun. The landscapes are just breath-taking, the side-missions felt interesting and just the right amount to not be grindy. Hell, I even felt bad when I completed the last shrine, by that point that parkour ten minute run was almost a mindfulness session. After almost sixty hours and a lot of exploring and travelling, I jumped out of my seat in excitement when Oshima Coast was revealed. For some reason I thought after the Kitsune that the map was going to change or that the last area was going to be smaller, but no, it was actually and additional, big area with tons of things to do and a beautiful surprise awaiting for me on one of its shrines.

And the weapons. OMG what an amazing combat system this game has. I was almost shocked how unwilling I was to do stealth missions because the fighting system here is so demanding and fun and sharp. It is an excellent redirection from GoT, where I actually felt that stealth gameplay was more rewarding. GoY wants you to slice everything to shreds in the most visible, badass way and gives you amazing tools to do so.

I finished this game (with Platinum) less than two weeks after it came out. It is by far the fastest platinum I have ever got and the fastest I have ever completed a new game, only because I could not stop thinking about it while playing it. I am willing to downplay the narrative shortcomings of this game only because the gameplay is absolutely majestic. For real, I wish Elden Ring's open world were half as interesting and involving as Hokkaido. And on this note I have to say: the way Sucker Punch connects the player with the landscape of their own game is without equal, an incredible achievement. I understand, on a rational level, that Hokkaido does not necessary look like the game all of the time, but I see how the SP Team translated the love and care native communities feel the place and their relationship to the land. It is respectful and conscious without being preachy or falling into appropriator pitfalls. Ezo/Hokkaido is as much a living character as much as the Yotei Six or Atsu herself, you want to play with it as much as your Katanas.

It is weird for this game to come out the same year as Expedition 33, because on any other year it would be a GoTY contender, easily. Nonetheless it is a great sequel and I can only hope to keep on receiving Ghost games for many years. Hell, in my dream world, I would throw all the money and resources to Sucker Punch so we can get Ghost games all around the world. I want a Ghost of the Yangtze, a Ghost of Los Andes. Hell, give me a game where the Ghost is a member of the Korean resistance forces in the Imjin war and make Japan the enemy. I WANT IT ALL, GUYS.