Whilst I have yet to put up a review here, I actually just managed to work myself around to playing through the brand new PC release of the decently old Playstation title 'Ghost of Tsushima' literally earlier this month- which turned out to be so very well timed for the announcement of a new sequel/ follow up to this story with the 'Ghost of Yotei'. (Forgive the missing accents on the i- that won't be the last time you see that in coverage.) And from the prospective of a relatively new fan of the franchise I want to go over how the reveal made me feel and my concerns regarding what exactly we might see out of a game in this camp. Although I will start by saying- surprising to no one, I'm sure- I really liked the Ghost game and was hoping for a follow-up; perhaps not as Sucker Punch's very next game but I'm hardly going to kick up a fuss now that it's coming. (Besides I'm betting Sony is desperate for a more sure-fire success story around about now.)
Now first off we have ourselves a brand new setting in it's entirety coming towards this game both in setting and location- which comes as a surprise to the many out there who assumed the ongoing Mongol invasions would be the focal point of this franchise. Their two campaigns would have provided plenty of content for historical fiction fodder- not to mention the slightly incomplete feeling of giving us a villain in a character literally verbally identified as the cousin of the Khan but never giving us a one-on-one with the Khan himself. This is historical fiction, afterall- it's not like sticking to the letter of events is essential! Then again perhaps that's the Assassin's Creed in me whittling down this eras into neat stories where the hero literally meets and/or kill every famous person of the age within the space of a couple weeks. Maybe the story is better told with a ellipsis at the other end of it.
Visually Yotei has very little to worry anyone with. It's another gorgeous land that feels rendered for the sole purpose of being as aesthetically transcendent as technologically possible and for a game like Sucker Punch's Ghost games- that is perfectly okay. Do I think sometimes they let the actual spirit of the real breathing world disappear underneath a volley of overly cinematic sweeping wind effects, fluttering leaves and striking fields of monochrome flowers- well, by the very fact I brought it up in the first place you know that's a yes- but I'd hardly call their replacement a disservice to the eye. Although I must say, having just played the last game, this one doesn't stand out as distinct either graphically or artistically as of yet. I guess I'd have to see more to really detail how different his land actually is.
In a manner that most historical games seem eager to nowadays, Ghost also ramps up the gameplay with brand new guns to the period that look interesting purely for the introduction of gunpowder to a society naturally free of it- although I suspect little actual impact to the game. The bow and arrow already present acted about as brutally as a gun would and something tells me we're getting ready to settle into the steady rhythm of listening for some dude shouting 'duck' before rolling out the way of a single volley of shots. I can't see systemic gameplay overhauls from such a concept- which is a shame because their introduction was a total shake up for the Sengoku era. But I guess we'll see what Sucker cook up.
Now taking us to the Sengoku era means one thing in any Samurai themed video game- We're going to get a bit of the Shogun himself- Tokugawa Ieyasu action up in the house! One of the most legendary leaders of the Samurai age- which naturally means a show down with the big man himself, the demon king, the very quintessential archetypal evil ruler of whom so many Japanese villains have been inspired including Ganon himself- Oda Nobu- wait, what was the date again? 1603? Twenty years after the demon king was murdered? So... we're doing Sengoku but no Oda? That feels... wrong, to be frank. Hell, even supernatural monster killing game Nioh found a way to resurrect Oda Nobunaga as the penultimate boss of the base game! Any other choice would have left the game, and me, feeling... naked...
But I guess that's just the direction we're taking with our new Hero- who isn't a 300 year old Jin- as hilarious as that would be. Instead we have a woman who appears to be on some sort of revenge hunt against Ronin- making our foes countrymen this time around- curious indeed! One of Ghosts many strengths was a great grasp of a formulaic but deeply effective character driving, if not driven, narrative which may not surprise, but satisfies. That aspect of the setting certainly appears to be what is headlining this teaser telling me that Sucker Punch recognises their strengths and are playing into them. Good news there.
I do wonder about how Sucker Punch are thinking of solving their open world question, because I really think their Iki Island expansion demonstrates a intention to change up their approach from the base game. Base Ghosts had very quick and simply world icons you could breeze through easily in order to kill time as you explored the gorgeous world- whereas Iki Island introduced more involved and complex open world objectives somewhat similar to Horizon Zero Dawn. Both work on paper, however Iki Island's offering suffered from the fact that as endgame content there really weren't any worthwhile rewards left worth sticking around and completing an archery contest to unlock. Maybe introducing these design paradigms earlier into the development process will create worthwhile content for decent progression-based rewards.
Overall there's nothing inherently amazingly different about what we're seeing for Ghost of Yotei- but I just know there's a whole cadre of excited folk out there just eager to get some of that Samurai fix again. Personally I think the original game is very special- even if the combat wasn't quite as solid as it looks from the outside. (It's pretty much 'match the combat form with the enemy type and mash to win'; I wish there was a bit more to it.) A sequel like this has the chance to really refine the experience and nail the Game of the Year spot that you just know the original missed by barely more than a hair's breadth. And can I just say thank god Sony haven't cannibalised all of their first party talent in their self destruction campaign yet!
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