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After watching the Ghost of Yōtei State of Play stream, I am satisfied it’s going to be the kind of sequel that is extra considering refinement than reinvention. The 30-minute presentation confirmed off numerous gameplay, notably specializing in Atsu’s expanded arsenal of blades and a brand new interrogation-based exploration system that appears actually neat.
Oh, additionally there is a lo-fi beats to homicide to mode with authentic tracks by legendary anime director Shinichirō Watanabe (Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop), as a result of Sucker Punch can not help however be corny about the entire “playable samurai movie” factor. Kurosawa mode additionally returns, this time elevated by optionally available Japanese voices and lip syncing (one thing the primary recreation must have had at launch, however did not).
However actually, I will be flipping these gimmicky modes off after two minutes. I am enjoying Ghost of Yōtei for some exploratory slice-and-dice, one thing that we’re not precisely starved for after Murderer’s Creed Shadows dropped only a few months in the past.
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The similarities between the 2 western-developed, Japan-set video games are laborious to disregard, particularly now that we all know Ghost of Yōtei’s new protagonist, Atsu, is on a vengeance quest to kill a band of evil bastards who killed her father… identical to AC Shadows’ Naoe. I suppose overlap is inevitable whenever you go along with a cliche.
One huge distinction: Sucker Punch describes Atsu as neither a samurai or a ninja. She’s a mercenary prepared to make use of any weapon or “soiled trick” to get by. The large gameplay implication of that’s that Atsu roams Japan armed with quite a lot of blades—katanas, spears, kusarigama (chain blades), odachi (lengthy katanas), and twin swords. The 5 weapon sorts appear to switch the function of Ghost of Tsushima’s katana stances. Atsu can swap weapons in the course of fight, and every weapon counters completely different enemy sorts. Sucker Punch confirmed one instance: The odachi lengthy katana will slice up heavy enemies quickest.
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We additionally noticed the return of bows, plus that rifle from the reveal trailer final 12 months. Judging by the way in which one bullet took down an enemy, I am guessing Atsu’s weapons will probably be used sparingly.
Weapon swapping seems to be enjoyable, however I am a bit of unhappy Ghost of Yōtei is downplaying the katana. I favored having one signature weapon that carried me by means of the entire recreation—Jin’s sword had actual story significance behind it, and I do not assume Atsu will probably be as valuable about tools.
My greatest spotlight of the presentation was Ghost of Yōtei’s up to date movement for locating quests. As a substitute of a standard quest display, Atsu picks up leads by speaking to her buddies and interrogating baddies. At one level, we see this interrogation interpreted as a display that permits you to select between a handful of quests the supply may reveal, and what loot they result in. On one hand, that is a cool approach to discover stuff, nevertheless it additionally seems to be very gamey to decide on what quest information to extract as an alternative of following a standard, authored questline.
The present concluded with an advert for a Yōtei-ified PS5 console and controller, in the event you’re into that kind of factor. Ghost of Yōtei is out October 2 on PS5. There is no PC date but, however hopefully a port will come faster than the primary, which solely arrived final 12 months.
