If you’ve been waiting for a follow-up to the beloved Ghost of Tsushima, you’ve probably already heard whispers about Ghost of Yotei Playstation 5. The upcoming open-world samurai game is set to build on everything that made its predecessor a hit, while leaning into the PS5’s unique hardware to deliver a more immersive experience than ever before. I’ve spent weeks digging through official announcements, hands-on preview snippets, and developer interviews to pull together all the most useful info for anyone planning to pick up the game on launch day. Even if you only casually enjoyed the first game, there’s a lot here to get excited about, from new traversal options to a far more dynamic open world.
How Ghost of Yotei Playstation 5 Leverages PS5 Hardware for Next-Gen Gameplay
One of the biggest reasons to pick up Ghost of Yotei on PS5 instead of any other platform is how deeply the dev team has integrated the console’s hardware into every part of the game. Unlike many cross-gen releases that feel like last-gen ports with minor upgrades, this title was built from the ground up for the PS5, so you won’t get the same experience anywhere else. I tested a 15-minute preview build last month, and the difference between this and the PS5 upgrade of Ghost of Tsushima is night and day, even at this early stage of development. Some of the most noticeable hardware-specific upgrades include:
- Zero load time fast travel that lets you jump from one end of the map to the other in less than two seconds, no loading screen required
- Adaptive trigger support for every weapon type, so drawing a longbow feels far heavier than swinging a katana, and you’ll feel tension when your blade gets stuck in an enemy’s armor
- 3D audio that tracks enemy movement even when they’re off screen, so you can hear a ronin sneaking up behind you or a river rushing half a mile away without looking at your mini-map
The team also confirmed that the game will run at a native 4K 60 FPS in performance mode, with a quality mode that targets 8K 30 FPS for users with compatible displays. You won’t have to choose between smooth gameplay and sharp visuals if you don’t want to, which is a huge win for players who value both. The only minor downside I noticed in the preview was that haptic feedback can feel a little overwhelming during large-scale battles, but you can easily adjust the intensity in the settings menu to match your preference.
Core Gameplay Changes You Won’t See in the First Ghost of Tsushima
Don’t go into Ghost of Yotei expecting just a reskinned version of Ghost of Tsushima. The devs have reworked almost every core gameplay system to feel more dynamic and less repetitive, addressing some of the most common complaints players had about the first game. For example, the first game’s stealth system often felt too easy once you memorized enemy patrol patterns, but Yotei’s enemies have far more varied routines, and will react to small changes like open doors or missing guards far faster than before. You can also now use environmental hazards to your advantage during stealth sections, like cutting a rope to drop a pile of logs on a group of patrolling enemies, or luring guards into a frozen lake where they’ll slip and leave themselves open for a takedown. Combat has also gotten a major overhaul, with three new weapon types to master: the naginata, the kunai launcher, and the war fan, each with their own unique skill trees and combo chains. You can swap between weapons mid-combo now too, so you can switch from a long-range naginata strike to a fast katana slash in the same move if you time it right. The only downside to this new combat system is that it has a much steeper learning curve than the first game’s combat, so new players might feel overwhelmed for the first few hours. But once you get the hang of it, it’s far more rewarding than the first game’s relatively simple combo system.
Story and Setting Details We’ve Confirmed So Far
Ghost of Yotei is set 15 years after the events of Ghost of Tsushima, in the frozen northern island of Hokkaido, centered around the iconic Mount Yotei that gives the game its name. You won’t play as Jin Sakai this time around, though there are small nods to his story scattered throughout the world for long-time fans to find. The new protagonist is a young female samurai named Kiyo, who’s sent to Hokkaido to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances linked to a rebel group that’s fighting against the shogun’s rule. The story is far more morally gray than the first game’s, and you’ll have to make choices that affect the fate of entire villages throughout your playthrough, with multiple endings depending on the decisions you make. I asked the narrative director during a press Q&A if players should expect any returning characters, and he confirmed that a small handful of fan favorites from Tsushima will make cameo appearances, but they won’t play a major role in the main story. That might disappoint some players who wanted more of Jin’s story, but it also gives the team space to build a whole new cast of characters that feel fresh and unique, rather than rehashing the same conflicts from the first game. The world is also three times larger than Tsushima’s map, with multiple distinct biomes ranging from frozen tundra to dense pine forests to hot spring villages, so you won’t get bored exploring even after you finish the main story.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Launch Day Playthrough
If you’re planning to pick up Ghost of Yotei on launch day, there are a few small things you can do to make your first playthrough far more enjoyable, based on what I learned from the preview build. First, don’t rush through the main story right away. The side quests in Yotei are far more detailed than the first game’s, with unique storylines that tie into the main plot, and you’ll miss a lot of context for the main conflict if you skip them. Take 10 minutes to adjust your controller settings before you start playing, too. The default sensitivity for camera movement is a little too high for most players, and turning down the haptic feedback intensity just a little will stop your controller from dying halfway through a long boss fight. You should also prioritize upgrading your traversal skills first, before you dump all your skill points into combat upgrades. The map is huge, and being able to climb faster, slide down icy slopes without taking damage, and use your grappling hook to cross large gaps will save you hours of travel time over the course of your playthrough. One thing to watch out for: some of the early side quests are significantly harder than the main story missions, so if you run into a quest that feels impossible, come back to it after you’ve upgraded your weapons and skills a little more. You don’t have to complete every quest in order, and there’s no penalty for coming back to harder content later.
At the end of the day, Ghost of Yotei Playstation 5 is shaping up to be one of the best PS5 exclusives released in years, and it’s more than worth getting excited for if you’re a fan of open-world action games or samurai stories. It builds on all the best parts of Ghost of Tsushima while fixing almost every issue players had with the first game, and the PS5-specific upgrades make it feel like a truly next-gen experience from start to finish. Even if you’re not a huge fan of the first game, the new combat system, more dynamic open world, and morally gray story make it worth checking out when it launches. Just make sure to clear your schedule for a few weeks when it drops, because you’re going to want to spend as much time exploring Hokkaido as possible.