Countless other reviews have said exactly the same thing: Ghost of Yotei is a safe sequel. It’s just more Ghost of Tsushima. It’s such a rote, generic piece of analysis, isn’t it? Pah. I pity those fools who lack my ability to write…er, good. And yet…well, it’s completely true. Ghost of Yotei really is a safe sequel, and it really is just more of the same, albeit improved in almost every way.

That also means I can bust out the other cliche of reviewing a game: if you liked Ghost of Tsushima, you’ll love Ghost of Yotei! And if you either didn’t love Ghost of Tsushima or had your fill the first time, it’s probably best you bugger off, isn’t it?

Available On: PS5Reviewed On: PS5Developer By: Sucker PunchPublished By: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Set a few hundred years after the events of the first game, Ghost of Yotei is a sequel that can be played and enjoyed by people who never wielded a katana against the Mongol hordes in Ghost of Tsushima. There are, of course, some links to the previous game, but they are minimal. That gives new protagonist Atsu space to shine, free from the shadow of Jin Saikei, but sadly not free from the shadow of her own traumatic childhood.

You see, little Atsu lived with her parents and brother in a simple, peaceful setting. Her father worked a forge and had quite the reputation for making beautiful swords, and her mother was a talented musician. All is well, until it isn’t. The Yotei Six come to visit, led by Lord Saito, who had some sort of grudge against Atsu’s father. Death and destruction. Atsu left pinned by a blade through her shoulder to a burning tree. A quest for revenge.

Atsu returns to her homeland sixteen years after that night having fought in numerous battles, ready to seek out the Six and claim her vengeance. The rest of the night’s horrific events will unfold through a series of cutscenes as Atsu hunts down the members of the Yotei Six one by one and earns her bloody revenge, becoming what is known as an Onryo in the process.

It’s a solid tale of revenge, of becoming lost in the pursuit, of being able to let go, of the ultimate cost of violence – but one that tends to smack itself off all the standard revenge-tale branches as it falls out of the burning tree. You’ll see pretty much every single one of them coming from a mile away. When you think of a revenge tale, Ghost of Yotei hits all the standard points you think of first and has nothing to say about them that’s new or bold or interesting.

That would not have mattered if the execution of those beats and the writing were of the highest caliber, but that isn’t the case. It’s not bad. Not at all. The writing is solid, and it’s all backed up with plenty of visual oomph and strong voice work. It’s just that when the structure and theme is as routine as this, everything else needs to be first-class or it becomes forgettable. I had fun watching Atsu’s journey, I enjoyed it, but I barely remember it, whereas there are a host of other revenge stories that follow the standard template but remain etched in blood in my brain.

Perhaps a bit of fault lies with me, mind you. When I realised it was going to be a revenge story, I had hoped it was going to go down a Kill Bill route and it didn’t do that. It went the other way, and for me that was the route too well trodden.

Ultimately, I think the overall theme of Ghost of Tsushima was much more interesting, but this game has a better protagonist. As much of a badass as Jin was, I don’t remember much about him, whereas Atsu has stuck with me a little bit more.

All the main quests do an excellent job of telling the story, too. They do tend to overuse the same template again and again – meet a person, travel to a location while they talk to you, fight or sneak into somewhere and repeat. And I would have loved a few more proper cutscenes since the few we get are gorgeous. But despite these flaws, the main missions managed to keep adding in new, interesting characters or delivering fun set pieces. It’s a long game, but the pacing rarely drags; the mix of quieter beats and big duels keeps the rhythm alive.

I have to say, Sucker Punch are superb at this whole open-world adventuring malarkey. Never mind that the world is an endlessly gorgeous photo shoot from end to end, with quite a bit of extra environmental variety this time around. I mean, it’s absurdly beautiful, whether it’s riding through a field of pink cherry blossoms or chilling out under the stars at night. Which is why I have a bazillion screenshots saved. But the real star is how the world is laid out so organically, letting you find new adventures and quests instead of force-feeding them to you. The guiding wind from the previous game is back, as is the distant billowing of smoke that indicates a village or campsite. These two things along with main missions that bring you into proximity with other activities and smart world design mean you’re always stumbling into some other adventure or finding a hot-spring to bathe in or a traveller needing help or some random berk who wants a duel. Ubisoft, for God’s sake, take some notes.

Exploring the world is further encouraged by making Shrines the only way to unlock new skills outside of missions that grant them. These little beauties are found everywhere, chilling out in front of idyllic views, lurking in enemy outposts you need to clear out or at the very tippity-top of special climbs you have to embark on.

I do take issue with one of the game’s several types of point-of-interest, though, and that’s the Hot Springs. I’m fully supportive of the brief glimpse of Atsu cheek that we get, but the health increase offered is kind of pointless. I kept seeking out baths to buff my health, and yet would still die in what seemed like the same amount of blows from an enemy blade. Maybe I’m just crazy. Maybe it’s just Maybelline. But it felt like the enemy damage was scaling with my health.

Let’s shove that into a deep dark recess for a second, though, and get back to the world. You see, not only is it delightful to look at but it also hosts a heap of enjoyable side-quests, from battling strangers at duelling trees to attracting the attention of a mysterious man to hunting down a myriad of bounties, each a fun little story in its own right. There was no side-quest that I found boring or unworthy of completion, and just like before, the game was excellent at gently shoving me toward the next person in need of help.

The core of the combat – dodging, parrying, blocking and attacking – is largely unchanged. That’s fine, because it still feels terrific, a satisfying and fun dance of death — only this time, instead of toes getting stepped on, it’s guts getting stabbed through.

Mind you, I did find the soft-lock system a bit of a pest. There’s no full lock-on system; rather, the game will pick a target for you. Most of the time, that works well enough. Sometimes, though, I found myself wanting to target someone else, at which point getting the camera to break its fixation was troublesome.

Switching stances like a dancing ninja is out; switching weapons like a mobile armoury is in. Atsu is a master of many arms, or at least, she becomes one as you seek out the actual Masters scattered throughout the world. Each new weapon learned is best deployed against specific foes. So, the Yari (spear) is great against enemies with sickles, while the awesome kusarigama is best against shields. Really, there isn’t much difference mechanically speaking between this and the stance changing, but it’s still a fun twist. Some of the animation work is especially excellent.

Where combat has been expanded is in the selection of ancillary tools you have stuffed into various pockets. Jin Sakei was hardly lacking in gadgets, but Atsu has gone full Batman and has a tool for every situation. Smoke bombs, blinding dust, special oil for setting your weapons ablaze and even a pistol are just a few of the quickfire weapons at your beck and call.

And, of course, there’s the choice to go ranged by employing a bow and a couple of different arrow types. There’s even a rifle, too.

All in all, then, combat has expanded, giving you new ways to tackle each fight even as the core of it remains largely unchanged.

Stealth is probably the part of the game that has been changed the least. It plays largely like Ghost of Tsushima—hiding in tall grass, leaping off rooftops, chaining assassinations together. The mechanics remain satisfying; running a couple of enemies through or linking kills in quick succession still delivers that dopamine hit. And there’s absolutely no doubt that clearing an entire compound without being detected grants a sense of pride in a job well stabbed.

But here’s the problem: it’s generic. It’s exactly what you’ve done in dozens of other open worlds, and it’s almost exactly what you did in Ghost of Tsushima five years ago. The tall grass hasn’t gotten any taller. The AI hasn’t gotten smarter. The loop remains unchanged.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but it feels like this genre—the open-world action-adventure—hasn’t really advanced stealth mechanics in a long time. While games like Hitman continue to innovate with social stealth and emergent gameplay, the Ubisoft-style open-world formula has stagnated. We’re stuck in a rut. It’s a fun, comfortable rut, to be sure, but it’s still a rut. When your stealth plays identically one hour in as it does forty hours in, when crouching in foliage remains the go-to tactic across half a dozen franchises, it’s hard not to feel that the genre is treading water rather than swimming forward. I’d have loved Ghost of Yotei to work more on its stealth, especially as Atsu has far less compunction than Jin did about stabbing people from behind.

If you watched some of the trailers prior to Ghost of Yotei’s release, then you’ll have seen the mysterious wolf popping up a couple of times. I expected Atsu’s four-legged companion to play a bigger role in the game, but alas the beast only pops up here and there. It may randomly arrive during combat or while sneaking around to lend a pair of jaws to the situation, and it’s especially badass when it appears during a standoff. You can increase the likelihood of it popping up by completing Wolf Dens, but it doesn’t hang around all the time.

The presentation, as ever, is impeccable. The sound design sells every sword clash and storm gust, while the score leans heavily into traditional instruments and swelling strings that make even minor skirmishes feel operatic. It’s one of those games where simply standing still and listening is half the joy. On PS5, it all runs silky smooth with barely a hiccup – photo-mode ready at all times. I mean, seriously, I took an obscene amount of snapshots.

Very few can match Sucker Punch’s open-world chops as they deliver yet another belter of a game. Fighting, sneaking, exploring: these are all improved over Ghost of Tsushima. The story is the only area where I’m left unsure if Ghost of Yotei is better or not, although I do find Atsu a more compelling protagonist. Ultimately, it’s Tsushima…just better.

And that’s really what defines Ghost of Yotei: safety. It doesn’t shock or subvert; it sharpens what worked and doubles down on familiar pleasures. Some will call that complacent, but I think it’s more a kind of quiet confidence — a studio that knows its craft and isn’t chasing trends. There’s comfort in that, in knowing exactly what sort of adventure you’re stepping into. Still, I can’t help but wish Sucker Punch had let a little more chaos in. The best samurai tales, after all, are the ones willing to bleed a bit. Even a safe sword can cut deep, though — and Sucker Punch’s blade remains as sharp as ever.