Ghost of Yotei Deluxe has quickly become a fan favorite among action-adventure players, building on the beloved base game’s feudal Japanese setting, tight combat, and emotional story with dozens of hours of new content. Whether you’re picking up the game for the first time or returning after finishing the base release years ago, there are plenty of hidden mechanics, secret collectibles, and quality of life tweaks you’ll want to know about before you start your journey up the sacred mountain. This guide breaks down all the most important information to help you get the most out of your playthrough, no matter your skill level.
Key Differences Between Ghost of Yotei Deluxe and the Base Game
The most obvious change in the deluxe edition is the brand-new frozen northern region, which adds 15 square miles of mountain terrain to explore, complete with unique villages, spirit shrines, and enemy types that don’t appear anywhere else in the game. There are also 12 new side quests tied to the mountain’s local spirits, each with their own self-contained stories that expand on the base game’s lore about the Yotei mountain deity. You’ll also get access to a new dual tanto weapon type that lets you pull off fast, high-damage combo attacks that work perfectly for stealth and close-quarters combat.
The deluxe edition also includes all previously released cosmetic DLC for free, so you don’t have to buy separate skin packs to customize your character’s cloak, weapon wraps, and horse gear. The new photo mode additions let you add custom weather effects, dynamic lighting filters, and even pose NPCs to get the exact shot you want, which is a huge upgrade for players who love sharing their in-game captures online. There’s also a new hard mode option for new game plus runs that adds permadeath and reduces healing item effectiveness for players who want an extra challenge.
Essential Early Game Tips for Ghost of Yotei Deluxe
One of the biggest mistakes new players make is rushing straight into the main story quest to reach the new northern region as fast as possible. The side quests in the southern base game region give you permanent stat boosts and rare upgrade materials that make the icy northern area far easier to navigate, so it’s worth spending the first 5 to 10 hours wrapping up low-level side content before you cross the mountain pass. Prioritize upgrading your thermal cloak first too, as cold damage will chip away at your health every few seconds in the northern region even if you’re wearing heavy armor.
If you're the type of player who likes to take short breaks between long exploration sessions to reset your focus, you're not alone. Lots of open world fans swap to casual, quick-play games between quest runs to avoid burnout. Many players I know pick INDRummy for those 10-minute gaps, since it's easy to pick up and put down without losing progress. When you get back to your playthrough, you’ll have a clearer head to solve tricky puzzles or take on tough enemy camps.
There are a few core tips that will make your early game run far smoother, regardless of your playstyle:
- Collect at least 5 cold resistance herbs before crossing the mountain pass to the new northern region, even if you've upgraded your thermal cloak to level 2
- Unlock the fast travel shrines in every small village first, as many hidden quest triggers only appear after you've rested at a local shrine at least once
- Save your rare spirit embers for upgrading the dual tanto blades, as they deal 30% more damage to the new spirit bosses added in the deluxe edition
You can find extra cold resistance herbs growing near hot springs scattered across the lower mountain slopes, so mark those locations on your map as soon as you spot them. You’ll run through a lot of these herbs during your first few hours in the northern region, so having a stockpile ready will save you from having to backtrack constantly to restock.
Hidden Collectibles You Don’t Want to Miss
The deluxe edition adds 20 frozen spirit totems hidden across the northern region, and collecting all of them unlocks the secret true ending that wasn’t available in the base game. Most totems are hidden behind small, simple puzzles, like lighting three braziers in the correct order or matching the tone of nearby wind chimes with your flute. You won’t get any marker for these totems on your map, so you’ll have to explore off the main paths to find them all.
The true ending adds an extra 20 minutes of cutscenes that resolve all the loose ends from the base game's main story, so it’s well worth the extra effort to track down all the totems. Each totem also gives you a small permanent boost to your maximum stamina, which makes climbing the steep mountain slopes far less frustrating. You don’t have to collect all the totems in one go either, as you can come back to the northern region at any point even after you finish the main story.
If you're having trouble finding a totem, listen for the faint humming sound that gets louder as you get closer to its location. The hum is easy to miss if you’re running past while fighting enemies, so it’s worth turning down the combat music volume in your settings to make it easier to pick up the sound while you’re exploring. You can also buy hints from village elders for 100 gold each if you get really stuck on a specific totem location.
How to Beat the Final Yotei Mountain Boss Fight
The final boss of the deluxe edition’s new story content is the Yotei mountain spirit, and she has three distinct phases each with unique attack patterns you’ll need to learn to beat her. The first phase focuses on long-range ice projectile attacks, so dodge sideways instead of backwards to avoid getting hit, and use your bow to chip away at her health from a safe distance. She’ll also occasionally charge at you with a large ice spear, so make sure you have enough stamina reserved to dodge out of the way when you see her start to lower her head.
The second phase adds summonable ice wolves that spawn in groups of three, and they’ll swarm you while the boss keeps attacking from a distance. Focus on taking out the wolves first before you go back to attacking the boss, as their fast bite attacks can stun you and leave you open to a one-hit kill from the boss’s spear. The dual tanto blades work great for this phase, as their fast combo attacks can take out a wolf in just two or three hits.
The third phase is the hardest, as the boss will use a large AOE ice blast that covers nearly the entire arena every 30 seconds. Bring at least 3 full health restoration potions to this fight, as you won't get a chance to restock supplies once the battle starts. Hide behind the large stone pillars around the edge of the arena to avoid the AOE blast, and then rush in to attack her during the 10-second stun window after she finishes the attack. If you have your dual tanto blades fully upgraded, you can take off nearly a quarter of her health bar during each stun window, so the fight will go much faster if you saved your spirit embers for that upgrade.
At the end of the day, Ghost of Yotei Deluxe is more than just a re-release of a popular game. It’s a love letter to fans that fixes nearly every small complaint players had about the original, while adding enough new, high-quality content to feel like a full sequel in its own right. Take your time wandering the mountain paths, talk to every local villager you meet, and don’t be afraid to wander off the marked quest trails to see what hidden secrets you can find. You won’t regret the extra time you spend exploring this beautiful, carefully crafted world.