Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - Hier 03:55

Ghost of Yōtei – Review

It feels like yesterday that we were still playing through Ghost of Tsushima, while, in fact, it’s over five years ago now. Ghost of Tsushima is a game that truly impressed us, despite still having a few rough edges at the time of its release. These rough edges were smoothed out with the release of the Director’s Cut version of the game, unlocking its full potential in the process. Even so, we didn’t immediately have a sequel on our radar when the latter was released, but here we are with the release of Ghost of Yōtei. We put the game to the test and thoroughly enjoyed what it had to offer. Story In Ghost of Yōtei, you’ll be playing as Atsu, who is on a fairly chliché quest for revenge. At a young age, her family was murdered by the Yōtei Six, and they left Atsu for dead while torching her childhood home. Fast-forward 16 years, and Atsu is roaming Japan as a mercenary, still hellbent on exacting her revenge and eventually joining her family in death. It’s a somewhat predictable story for the most part, with a few interesting plot twists along the road. Even if the main story does not always manage to impress in terms of narrative content, the overall story presentation was rather impressive. We felt like we were playing through an epic cinematic experience, and that feeling never went away, even after spending quite a few hours accompanying Atsu on her main quest, but also during smaller side missions. The latter also has a few interesting narrative components, and it’s clear that a lot of attention was spent on making the world feel alive with interesting characters. Graphics Graphically, Ghost of Yōtei is a very beautiful game. We were quite amazed by the beautiful landscapes the moment we were allowed to roam freely. There is so much detail to be found in the world, and we did stop on many occasions to take in the views. On closer inspection, it was only a few building assets that looked a bit ‘cheaper’ by comparison. We were also rather impressed by most character models, as these also looked really detailed and quite lifelike at times. A special mention also goes out to the costumes, as the stunning designs absolutely resonated with us. The armor sets even visually change when you are upgrading them, and we found this to be an extremely nice touch. All in all, everything looks fluid, detailed, and just beautiful, and we were always wondering where this cinematic journey would take us next. There were a few graphical bugs, though, as we occasionally had horses or other NPCs clip through NPCs we were speaking to. While only a minor issue, this did ruin the immersion at times. Sound In terms of sound design, Ghost of Yōtei was rather impressive as well. The music perfectly fits the setting and the story beats. We did get a mild impression that some tunes came from an old-school Western setting when it came to duels. On top of that, the sound effects add a lot of impact to the many battles you’ll be going through, as the SFX of blocks, parries, and even slashing your enemies have a lot of weight to them. We did prefer the Japanese voice acting, as the English voice acting sometimes felt a bit off, especially with the hammed-up accents thrown in the mix. Gameplay Like its predecessor, Ghost of Yōtei is an action-adventure title with an open world setting. In the game, you’ll be playing as Atsu, who is on a quest for revenge. Most of the game takes place around Mount Yōtei, and you’re free to explore at your own pace, to a certain extent. Some progress is still locked behind story progress, but you’re still fairly free. The offset is fairly straightforward, as you pretty much just complete quests, get tangled up in a lot of battles, and gradually progress through the story. The game also has quite a few difficulty options available, making sure that players who just want to enjoy the story and explore have a much easier time than those who want a more realistic combat experience. Compared to Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yōtei feels smoother and slightly more expansive when it comes to gear and general progression. There’s a fairly expansive skill tree to work your way through, and most of these add to the overall combat experience. You’ll get additional combo options, for example, making the battles even more engaging. As you progress, you’ll notice that you’ll slowly be able to do more and more to take out your foes. This is further highlighted by the different available weapons, allowing you to experience more than just sword fights. The game also has quite a few armor sets that you can experiment with, and these all come with different bonuses. While some gamers will probably not like this comparison, we did notice quite a few similarities between Ghost of Yōtei and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and not only when it came to its general theme. We noticed a few similarities in terms of game design, such as the markings for climbing spots, some aspects of the combat, and even a few management aspects felt somewhat similar. That being said, Ghost of Yōtei still very much has its own identity, and the nuances in combat are a bit more expansive than Ubisoft’s counterpart. This PlayStation exclusive also makes use of the DualSense controller in very cool ways, as there’s a lot of audio feedback for certain actions and some of the ‘mini-games’ consist of touchpad or motion controls. Conclusion Ghost of Yōtei is a great sequel to an already great game, and we pretty much enjoyed every moment of it. While there are some repetitive bounties and a few other rough edges, the combat proved to be extremely satisfying, exploration was a lot of fun, and the story, although clichéd, was captivating. If you’re a fan of Ghost of Tsushima or even Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows, picking this one up is very much a no-brainer.